Chapter Eight
She got paid at the end of the week, but she didn’t leave. She told herself that she would. Every day. It was strange, acclimating
to living with someone else. A man. A rather large one who rambled about the space with firm, decisive movements. He made
breakfast; he went off to work. She spent the day doing whatever Denver, Justice or Landry assigned her to do. They usually
ate at the ranch house, with everybody.
She was still wary of the women, because she didn’t quite know how to relate to them. In her world, the only women around
were sleeping with the various men who helped her dad make moonshine, and there was a very clear line between them and Bix.
Drawn mostly by them. She was one of the workers. They weren’t.
There was no such line here at King’s Crest. It was equitable, and easy, but still, she was more comfortable with the three
men she spent most of the day working with than she was with the women. Though every night part of her ached to figure out
how to join their conversation. But she never really had friends, and she didn’t know how to go making them.
There were some moments with just Daughtry, but she found she liked him better when they had a buffer between them.
Denver and the other guys never asked her about her dreams. They applauded her when she climbed the barn. They were excessively complimentary about her carpentry skills, and they made sure to praise her profusely over the different suggestions she made for how to fix things on the cheap. They were easier than Daughtry.
They cursed regularly, they liked to tell stories, and that kept conversation light and easy. And best of all, impersonal.
The new roofing shingles came in, and she ended up getting started on that project. And once that week ended, she didn’t feel
like she could abandon it without seeing it through. And then once it went into part of the following week, it just didn’t
seem like she ought to leave in the middle of the week.
Every night, she lay down in her bed and looked up at the ceiling. And told herself it ought to be the last night she went
to sleep in that bed.
She fantasized about getting up in the morning and asking Daughtry to cut her check for the work from the previous few days,
and getting on her way.
She was squirreling away quite a bit of cash at this point. It was way more than she needed for a new starter. It was starting
to be a respectable amount for...
A lot of things.
The Kings paid well, and her room and board was included. She was beginning to find her feet in a way that she never had the
opportunity to do before.
Hell, if she stuck around for just a little bit longer she might be able to put down a deposit on an apartment.
Of course, she didn’t have any credit. And there was nobody to cosign for her.
It was always this. The circles. A little bit of hope, a little bit of a setback.
It was why she didn’t like to dabble in hope.
Then they broke ground on the four new cottages they were building as guest rentals. She was fascinated by the process. And
she ended up staying as the foundations got poured.
And it got harder and harder to remember why she had ever been suspicious of any of them.
Being on the ranch began to feel safe.
She didn’t pile her plate quite as high with food.
She wasn’t worried about it being taken away tomorrow.
And still, she thought, as she went to bed that night, that in the morning she might decide to leave. But it would be on her
terms. It would be her decision.
She had been at King’s Crest for about a month when Daughtry came home from his shift with the state police and told her it
was town hall meeting night.
“What?”
“Yeah, you missed the last one by just a hair. Once a month we get together and have a big family meeting.”
“Don’t you guys do that every night?”
“No. I don’t just mean the Kings. I mean everybody else. Us, the Garretts, the McClouds and the Sullivans.”
“You mean, everybody?”
“Yep. You haven’t even seen the whole rest of the facility.”
It was true. She had pretty much been sticking to her well-worn route ever since she had gotten here. She hadn’t even ever gone into town. It was complicated. She felt safe here. There were people she was beginning to trust. It was nearly painful to admit that to herself, but it was true. It was just different here.
The idea of stepping into the broader ranch world did something strange to her. Because she was so... She was still going
to leave.
But maybe it would be worth seeing everything first. Seeing all the things.
She and Daughtry hadn’t spoken like they had that night over three weeks ago again. They talked. But they kept it light. He
didn’t ask her about dreams.
In fact, weirdly, even though they lived together, she saw him the least. He worked long hours away from where she worked.
When she did see him, it was usually at group dinners, and then they had the occasional breakfast in the morning. But often
he was out before she was, and sometimes Landry just swung by to pick her up on his way out to the barn. He drove over from
Sullivan’s Point. He and his wife only came to about half of the dinners, because they had a child, and sometimes they just
did dinner by themselves, but also she knew that his wife’s family was very close.
It was weird. To be in this position. Where she wanted to be closer to people, but also wanted to resist it.
“Yeah. I’ll go.”
“It’s great. There’s tons of food. Dancing. A bonfire.”
It made something shift in her chest. “It’s like a party?”
“Yeah.”
She had never really been to a party. Not a nice one. Sometimes there were get-togethers after her dad was done making a big
batch, or they’d had a big sell-through. A celebration among all the men that had helped. But she didn’t feel safe during
those kinds of things. Usually, she hid away.
She did her best to school her face into a neutral expression. “Okay. That sounds all right.”
“I was thinking.” He looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t quite know how, and that was strange. Because Daughtry
always seemed to know exactly what he wanted to say. Even if she didn’t want to hear it.
“What?”
“I’m not trying to insult you. I want you to understand that. But... I was also wondering if you wanted to maybe see to
getting some more clothes.”
She blinked. She’d had the same clothes since she was in high school. It never really occurred to her to replace them. She
had a belt, and sometimes it was the only thing that kept her jeans up. Truth be told, her jeans were feeling a little tight.
She had filled out some since she had come to live at the ranch. Amazing, since she was still working herself to the bone
every day. But there was always plenty of food.
“Why would I be insulted?”
“Because I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with what you have. But you’ve been here a month, and I just noticed that...”
“That I don’t have much.”
“Yes.”
“Well, your brother has been paying me quite a lot of money, so actually I could go buy my own clothes if I wanted to.”
“Understood. But, you have to drive somewhere to get them.”
“Oh. Right.”
“I have to go over to town—to Mapleton. It’s about forty-five minutes away. I just need to get something from the outdoor
store there. Do you want to stop and look at some things?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know. I... I guess.”
“You can get something for the meeting.”
“Wait a minute. Is that why I was supposed to be insulted? Or was I supposed to try to not be. Because really you’re embarrassed
to bring me to the meeting if I look like a raccoon?”
“You don’t look like a raccoon,” he said.
“Well. How am I supposed to interpret this?”
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about. And I have to go to town today. That is why it’s coming up now.”
She wanted to be sulky, but she was far too intrigued by the offer. She didn’t have a bank account, so all her pay was processed
through payroll, and then presented to her in cash. She grabbed a thick stack of it and tucked it into her wallet, and allowed
Daughtry to drive her to town.
They had about four hours until the town hall meeting by the time they got to Mapleton. The town was nice. It was strange,
being away from the ranch.
“I’m tempted to believe that what you’re actually doing is just dropping me off and abandoning me. Like a sad kitten.” Until she had said it, she didn’t realize how much she was actually afraid that was what might be happening.
Okay. So maybe she didn’t feel wholly secure. It was something to do with Daughtry, which was weird, because he was the reason
she was here at all. He was the reason that she had gotten the job in the first place. He let her stay at his house.
“I’m definitely not doing that.”
“You’re not?”
“I would have to drop you off hundreds of miles away, first of all. You’d come right back.”
“I have pride,” she said.
“You’re also a stubborn cuss. So I just don’t think that you would ever let me have the last word on this. Nope.”
She did laugh, because it was true. If he kicked her off the ranch, that would be her main problem. That he had made the decision.
She was going to leave tomorrow anyway.
He went to the outdoor store, and she walked by a few of the little boutiques on the main street while he did. She looked
at the prices on the clothes and nearly died of shock.
When he came out with a bag, and crossed the street toward her, he frowned. “You didn’t get anything?”
“Not in there,” she said, jamming her thumb toward one of the boutiques. “The prices are ridiculous.”
“There’s a Fred Meyer up the way.”
“That might be more my speed.”
That was how they ended up there. She gazed longingly at a couple of the nightstands, because it would be a nice thing to
have to put her books on. But she didn’t say anything. She found a section with some nice summer dresses, and some pairs of
cute leggings, and she decided to try them on. She didn’t own any dresses. And she would’ve said that she didn’t want to show
her legs, not in any circumstances, because they were usually knobby and not unlike a scarecrow’s.
But she was pleasantly surprised when she took in her reflection. She had filled out quite a bit, and she looked... feminine.
She was clean, and while there was no real shape to her haircut, her blond hair was glossy now. Her blue eyes brighter.
The scab on her chin was healed.
Her skin looked clear and... She was smiling. She couldn’t even remember making the decision to smile.
She came out of the dressing room, and decided she was going to buy all of the things that she had. It was nearly one hundred
dollars’ worth of things, quite a few items and a lot of it was on clearance. She swallowed hard. One hundred dollars was
just so much money.
But she had earned it.
She didn’t see Daughtry, so she went to the check stand and paid for her clothes. When she still couldn’t find him, she crept
out of the store and looked for his truck. And there she saw him. Loading some big things into the bed of the truck.
“Where were you?”
“I decided I had some purchases of my own to make,” he said.
She hopped up on the back tire and looked in the bed. The nightstand was in there. Her heart thumped painfully against her
chest. There was also a bed-in-a-bag set, and a desk and a chair.
“What’s all this?”
“It’s for your room. I thought it was a little bit threadbare.”
“I’m not staying,” she said.
But now she thought maybe tomorrow wouldn’t be a great time to leave because he had just bought all this stuff, and that was
pretty nice.
It hurt, though. And she couldn’t quite figure out why. He was a sucker. A sap. He was doing too much for her. And she hadn’t
asked him to.
She got into the truck, and was annoyed at where her shoulder strap crossed her breasts. Because her chest felt so damned
sore.
“Did you find some things?”
“Yes,” she said.
“You’re happy with—”
“Let’s listen to music,” she said.
And she let country songs fill the cab of the truck instead of words, because it was easier. Because she really wasn’t used
to spending much time with anybody. She had done quite a bit of spending time with people these past weeks. Tonight there
was only going to be more of it. That was her excuse. It wasn’t really to do with just how much Daughtry had affected her
with his purchase.
She regretted, a little bit, not buying makeup as she got ready for the town hall meeting, but she put on a pair of white sneakers that she had bought, and a floral dress. And she looked... cute. She didn’t quite know what to do with that thought.
She had never really given much thought to being a woman. Except that it was an inconvenience. Because it made her a target
in a very specific way. It made her physically weaker than she would like to be; it made things difficult.
Right then... she thought of what she had told him, all those weeks ago. She would go to a dance. Maybe there would be
dancing at the party.
She swallowed hard, her throat getting tight.
You would think she should be used to all this by now. To being here. The things being... unusual. Different.
Whatever.
She stepped out of the bedroom, and when she saw Daughtry standing in the living room, she stopped dead in her tracks.
He was wearing the same thing he always did when he wasn’t in uniform, except he had a black cowboy hat on his head and there
was something about him that just seemed... more.
He looked at her, his blue eyes flicking over her. “That’s nice.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“You want to bring a jacket?”
She sniffed. “I’m not going to get cold.”
He took a black jacket off the peg by the door. “Suit yourself.”
The truth was, she didn’t have a jacket. She hadn’t thought about that. All she had was her ratty old coat and a couple of hoodies. And she wasn’t going to put those over her cute dress. She would just have to stick close to the bonfire that he had told her existed at this thing that they were going to.
Just stick close to him.
She ignored the little voice inside of her that said that. She didn’t need to stay close to Daughtry King. Because even though
she was parked here for a little while and enjoying some of their hospitality, she took care of herself. Nightstands and matching
sheets weren’t going to change that.