Chapter 52
I’m Movin’ On – Rascal Flatts
Tally
The courthouse steps felt like a mountain that I wasn’t sure I could climb.
Wilder stood on one side of me, Liam on the other, while Cole and Nash, gripping Lily’s hand, flanked us staring straight ahead and looking ready for business.
I felt frozen to the bone, despite the thick sweater and coat I was wearing.
“You don’t have to do this if you’re not ready,” Wilder said quietly, his hand finding mine.
“Yes, I do.” My voice was steadier than I felt. “He needs to face what he did.” I lifted my arm in the cast. “I wouldn’t have this or a six inch scar on my side if it wasn’t for him. And I haven’t been able to paint my nails for weeks!”
He didn’t speak, just gave me his usual silent support as he led me into the marbled foyer.
The courtroom was smaller than I expected, all dark wood and fluorescent lights that made everything feel harsh and clinical.
Glenn sat at the defendant’s table in a suit, shirt and tie and I could see him as a banker, the job he’d had in the city.
He looked more comfortable dressed like that than as a ranch hand, that was for sure.
His shoulders were hunched as his eyes met mine across the room and a chill ran down my spine.
“You okay, Talls?” Cole asked, leaning in between me and Liam as we took our seats. I gave him a nod, my mouth too dry to speak.
Liam’s hand rested on my knee. “You’ve got this, sweetheart. We’re with you.”
Wilder pulled my hand into his lap sandwiching it between both of his. His knee was bouncing as he looked straight ahead, and I knew it was because if he looked at Glenn he’d lose it.
“Here we go.” Liam’s voice was low as he nodded to a door opening from an ante room at the back of the courtroom.
“All rise for the Honorable Judge Martinez.”
As the judge took her seat and the jury took theirs it felt like I was watching a movie about my own life.
The prosecutor, a sharp woman in her fifties who’d said, ‘Call me Marge, doll’, laid out Glenn’s crimes with clinical precision.
The messages on my phone displayed on a screen for everyone to see.
Photos of my trashed cabin and the pink scarf with purple horseshoes that I hadn’t realized Glenn had taken from the hook by the door.
Medical reports of my injuries and finally an image of Petey and the welt across his hind quarters.
“The defendant engaged in a sustained campaign of stalking and harassment over a period of several weeks,” she said, her voice carrying across the quiet courtroom.
“This culminated in a deliberate assault using a two-thousand-pound bull, the one in the image, which I think that you’ll agree, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, he’s a big boy.
” That earned her a quiet chuckle around the room.
“The letting loose of the bull and let’s say the encouragement for him to charge, resulted in serious bodily harm to the victim, Miss. Brown.”
Proceeding continued, with Glenn’s lawyer claiming he was set up by my jealous boyfriend, Wilder Miller and if that was what his defense was based upon it was laughable.
Anyone could look at the way I looked at Wilder and know for certain that he had nothing to be jealous of.
Comparing him to Glenn was like comparing the best piece of steak to a cut price beef patty at the school fete.
Sheriff Jackson was up first to talk about the evidence he had against Glenn including eventually finding him in Boulder with Lily’s stolen truck.
Once he’d finished, Lily was up to testify.
She spoke strong and clear, telling everyone about Glenn stealing her truck and how he’d yanked her from the vehicle so hard she’d sprained her ankle.
When her hands started to tremble, Nash shifted in his seat, and I thought he was going to get up and go and rip Glenn’s balls off.
When she finished and sat back down, Nash wrapped an arm around her. “You did so good, Lila. So damn good.”
Then it was my turn.
Wilder gave my hand one last squeeze and then I was walking to the witness stand. The longest walk of my life. Wilder’s eyes never left mine as I was sworn in, his presence anchoring me.
“Miss. Brown,” Marge said gently, “can you tell the court how Mr. Cameron’s actions affected your daily life?”
I took a breath, finding my voice. “I stopped sleeping. The messages were bad enough but after the break in of my cabin I was afraid to be alone. Afraid to go to work, afraid to leave my cabin. I had to move into the main house just to feel safe.”
Marge looked over at Wilder. “Some perks to that, though, hey, doll.”
“I guess,” I said with a giggle following her gaze. “The point is he took away my sense of safety in the place that was supposed to be my home.”
“And the day of the attack?”
“I was feeding Petey, the bull, an apple. Just being normal for the first time in weeks. Then, as I walked away, I heard Wilder screaming my name and when I turned I saw Petey charging at me. I was petrified. Stuck to the spot thinking I was going to die.” I met Glenn’s eyes across the courtroom.
“He used an innocent animal as a weapon against me.”
Once Marge had finished her questions, Glenn’s lawyer stood for cross-examination, but there wasn’t much she could do, the sheriff’s evidence was overwhelming, especially the burner phones with the messages on.
Finally, Glenn took the stand. He was contrite at first, apologizing and saying he never meant to hurt anyone. “Tally…Miss. Brown…she was always friendly with me. Smiling, talking to me. I thought maybe she was interested.”
“Mr. Cameron,” his lawyer said carefully, “do you understand why your actions were inappropriate?”
Glenn’s jaw tightened and instantly his demeanor changed. “She led me on. She’d come and talk to me by the stables, bring me coffee sometimes. What was I supposed to think? Then suddenly she’s with him…” he glared at Wilder. “Acting like I didn’t exist all of a sudden.”
The way he spat out his words sent a murmur through the courtroom. Even his lawyer looked uncomfortable.
“I was just trying to show her how I felt.” He threw his hands in the air. “Maybe I went about it wrong, but I wasn’t trying to hurt her. She shouldn’t have let me think we could have been something.”
Judge Martinez leaned forward. “Mr. Cameron, are you saying Miss. Brown bears some responsibility for your actions?”
“I’m saying she sent mixed signals. I was confused.”
His lawyer cleared her throat. “No more questions. Mr. Cameron, you can step down.”
Glenn’s ex-boss was called for a character reference, but it was pretty underwhelming, stating he was hard working and always took a turn buying the office coffees.
After that were the closing statements and then we were asked to wait in the hallway while the jury deliberated.
It felt like hours but after only thirty minutes we were invited back in to get the biggest shock of our lives.
Glenn had asked to change his plea to guilty.
“The fucker is trying to get a lesser sentence,” Wilder hissed. “Can he do that?” he asked Marge who had just given us the news.
“Sure can, but I promise you the judge won’t look kindly on him wasting the time and money on a trial when he could have done this weeks ago.”
And she was right. Judge Martinez sentenced him to ten years in a state prison. Four for stalking and four for aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury and two years for breaking and entering.
When the judge’s gavel came down with an air of finality, Wilder and I let out synchronized breaths of relief. As Glenn was led away, he turned back once, his eyes finding mine, but I no longer felt any fear.
Wilder’s arm came around me as we walked out into the sunshine. “How do you feel?”
“Free,” I said, meaning it. “Finally free.”
“You did great in there, Talls,” Liam said, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Yeah really great, sis.”
Nash checked his watch. “We should get back, check how Bertie is doing on her first day as foreman.”
Lily clapped her hands excitedly. “Yes, let’s go home and see our little girl boss.”
For the first time in months, I wasn’t looking over my shoulder as we walked away.”
A quick change of clothes once we got back to the ranch and we were all at the kid’s camp.
It was a hive of activity; the sound of children’s laughter mixed with horses nickering as around a dozen little people milled around like worker ants.
Some were heaving small bales of hay into the small stable of four horses that Gunner had purchased for the camp.
Two were brushing the yard, and one brushing down my Dreamy.
He was being such a good boy, standing still as a statue while Gunner instructed the little girl on the direction of the brush.
Then there standing on an upturned crate, arms crossed, was Bertie looking like a mini Nash in her mini roper boots, jeans, plaid shirt and cowboy hat.
She was watching on with her eyes narrowed on the proceedings as dust motes danced in the afternoon sunlight.
“Oh my God, Nash,” Lily said, her voice soft and gentle. “Look at our little girl being all bossy out there.”
Nash’s arm was around his wife’s shoulder as he blew out a breath. “She’s growing up and I fucking hate it.”
“I know baby, I know.”
They both looked like they were about to burst into tears. It was so cute.
“Lucas!” Our heads all snapped in Bertie’s direction as she yelled at her friend who was hauling hay, her voice carrying across the yard with surprising authority for someone so small. “Make sure you brush up that mess. We run a tidy ranch here at Emily’s Promise.”
“Oh shit,” Wilder groaned. “She’s going to be a fucking nightmare.”
“No boy will walk all over her, that’s for sure,” I added.
“Too damn right.” Nash puffed his chest out with pride.
“I should check on Cassidy,” Lily said as she curled into his chest. “See how the classes are going.” It was quite clear, though, that she didn’t want to leave her happy place, in Nash’s arms.
Part of the camp was to give the kid’s lessons on the history of ranching, and eventually in the core school subjects, expanding it to kids who didn’t feel like they fit into the standard schooling system.
For now, Cassidy and Lily were going to teach there part-time as well as at the elementary school.
“Anyone think Bertie looks a little like Nash?” Wilder asked. “She’s even got the grumpy growly thing going on.”
Giggling, I looked at his oldest brother who was doing the grumpy growly expression.
“Better than the stupid dickweed thing that you have going on.” He reached his hand out and backhanded Wilder in the stomach. “Prick.”
“Shit head.”
“Look at Lucas,” Lily said, giving Nash a nudge. “She’s got him right under her thumb.”
We moved our gazes back to Bertie who was directing Lucas at the correct way to wheel a barrow.
“Do you think maybe she’s taking it a little seriously?” Lily asked.
“If you’re going to do something then…”
“…do it properly.”
Nash and Wilder chimed in unison making Lily and I laugh.
“Is that the family motto?” I asked, slipping my hand into Wilder’s.
“Yeah, and we’re going to have it on a tapestry over our bed one day.” He winked at me and my heart jumped.
It may have been a joke, but it still sounded like heaven.
It felt like a promise of the future I knew I wanted.
The home, the huge bed opposite a picture window looking out over the ranch, mornings spent eating a lazy breakfast on the porch, eating dinner together and talking about our day…
children, lots of beautiful dark haired, brown-eyed babies who looked like their daddy.
“You okay, Brownie?” Wilder whispered. “You tired? Need to go back to the cabin?”
Wrapping my arm around his, I snuggled into his side. “I’m fine, honey. Just thinking how lucky I am.”
He leaned in and kissed the end of my nose. “I’m the lucky one. Lucky that I got my head out of my ass and realized that being friends with benefits was a waste of something incredible.” Touching his forehead to mine, he exhaled; slow and steady. “I love you, Brownie.”
Butterflies, birds, a thousand different wings batted inside my stomach as I inhaled his warm, heady scent. Fresh, citrusy mixed with wood and leather. It was him. My love. My future.
“Hey, you two,” Nash said, interrupting us. “What do you think?”
“About what?” Wilder asked, giving me a quick kiss on my forehead.
“Doing a cookout with all the kids later. Hot dogs, burgers, smores, the whole shebang and then maybe get Gun to get his guitar and sing some songs?”
“Gunner can play guitar?” That was something I had no idea about. “He never said.”
“He wanted to be in a band for about a week. Taught himself three songs.” Nash chuckled. “He’s good at them but there are only three. We’ll just have to sing the chorus a few times.”
Lily shook her head and grabbed Nash’s hand. “Come one big guy, let's go and see how our little girl is doing.”
As she dragged him away, Nash looked over his shoulder and wiggled his eyebrows. “Hear that, Wild, big guy and you know what that means.”
“Yeah, you’ve got a huge fucking head. Dick.”
“Exactly that.” Nash’s deep chuckle rumbled through his chest as he followed his wife who was gazing at him like he hung the damn moon.
“Come on, Brownie.” Wilder tugged on my hand. “Let’s go and join the rest of the family.”
As we followed his brother and his wife, I looked out over the familiar sights and sounds of the ranch as the golden afternoon light cast long shadows across the yard. It was then that I knew this was what I wanted. That one day I really could call The Last Creek Ranch my forever home.