Chapter Twenty-Three
Next Day
As pretty as the newborn foals had been and as excited as Sophie had gotten to see them, Poppy hadn’t been able to shake the nervous feeling that had taken her hostage since Neil had raced off in a hurry to speak with Lucy yesterday.
It was noon the next day, and Poppy still hadn’t had the chance to talk to him about it yet.
Her anxious mind was spinning ever worse thoughts of what could have happened between them. After all, Lucy was his former fiancée. They had history.
By the time she got back to the house the day before to start cooking dinner for everybody, Neil and Lucy were both gone, which immediately put Poppy into a panic.
Had Neil left with Lucy? Had he realized that he still had feelings for her?
She had been quite the vision in her red outfit yesterday, so had she been able to win Neil back?
If so, what did that mean for her and Sophie? Would he annul their marriage and kick them both out of the house? Where would they go? What would they do? Poppy realized once again how alone she was, how she had nobody she could turn to.
Poppy’s heart started racing, and the palms of her hands got clammy when real fear almost paralyzed her body.
She had no idea what to do, but then Paul had informed her that Neil had gone into town for some important business meeting and not to wait up.
Neil would most likely stay in town until late, having dinner with these people.
It had done little to calm her nerves, but it was something to hold onto, to explain his absence.
She hadn’t slept a wink, and by morning, Poppy had her mind set on talking to him right after breakfast. Neil had seemed absentminded and deep in thought, which made her all the more nervous, but she didn’t bring it up with everybody around and waited patiently.
As it turned out, Neil had an early appointment at the bank, so he had left right after breakfast and went back into town again. Poppy couldn’t believe it.
So after being left alone with her thoughts for over twenty-four hours, Poppy was close to losing her mind. She couldn’t shake the suspicious feeling that he was trying to avoid her, because he had barely said two words to her the entire time.
Knowing that Lucy was his former fiancée didn’t help the situation, and it kept popping up in Poppy’s head, driving her insane. What if her suspicions were true? What if he really did want to kick her and Sophie out of the house so he could bring Lucy back into his life?
As much as Poppy was pondering over her legitimate fear of losing their home here on the ranch, there was also something else nagging at her.
It was a feeling that was entirely new to her, so she couldn’t identify it immediately.
All she knew was that it didn’t feel good.
This new emotion was unsettling, nerve-racking, and painful—almost in a physical sense.
It made her pulse race, and her breath came in restless bursts.
It was as if her heart hurt. It was like a stabbing pain deep inside her soul.
Poppy wasn’t just scared of losing their home. She was scared to lose Neil.
Not knowing what else she could possibly do, Poppy lost herself in the one thing that would help her survive this day and the endless waiting hours. Prayer.
Dear God, I need Your strength today. Please help me overcome this. I’m losing my mind, and I don’t know what to do. I need You to guide me through this.
She prayed all morning while she did as much work as she could, tackling all the chores in the house, all the while watching Sophie. She even started to do laundry, which was a monumental task by itself and would probably take all day since she had to do it all by herself.
The little angel she was, Sophie wanted to help, so both of them worked outside. It was a gorgeous spring day, warm and sunny with bright blue skies, and if Poppy’s mind hadn’t been so preoccupied, she would have enjoyed it a whole lot more. Instead, she wanted to keep as busy as possible.
They used various buckets full of water and several bars of soap, scrubbing, washing and rinsing sheets and undergarments before they rolled the items through the heavy press to get most of the water out. Then they hung them over the lines to dry. It was physically demanding, but Poppy welcomed it.
Sophie asked her to sing, and as much as Poppy really didn’t want to, she couldn’t deny her little sister’s innocent wish, so she did.
Suddenly, there was yelling near the barn. It sounded alarmed and hectic.
Poppy immediately took Sophie and lifted her onto the back porch. Whatever was going on over there, Sophie needed to be somewhere safe. There was loud whistling and calling spreading out in all directions.
“Promise me to stay here until I’ve found out what’s going on, okay?” she said to her little sister, who nodded with wide eyes. “I’ll be right back!”
Poppy turned around and ran across the backyard toward the barn to where the chaos had erupted.
She had made it halfway across and stood in the middle of an open field when four horses came galloping straight toward her.
Their powerful, long strides made them seem so much larger than what Poppy remembered them to be.
One of the mares even jumped over the fence to follow the rest of them.
They looked panicked, wide-eyed with nostrils flared as if they were being chased.
They seemed to be aiming straight for her, and Poppy screamed.
But as they were barreling toward her, the animals spread out, so Poppy didn’t know where to run to.
The ground shook with thundering hooves.
She screamed louder and waved her arms, trying to make herself look bigger and more visible for fear they might run her over.
Then she stumbled and fell to her knees.
At the same time, Paul’s voice came from the side, yelling and whistling as he rode his horse past Poppy in between her and the loose animals, which made them immediately turn away from her and race to the other side.
Clumps of earth kicked up, and Poppy needed to shield her face from loose gravel and debris.
“What happened?” she screamed after Paul, who didn’t stop and kept chasing the loose horses.
“They got out!” he replied, but whatever else he yelled back to her got lost in the racket of trampling hooves and whistling.
Poppy scrambled to her feet and saw some of the other ranch hands rounding up more horses near the open road leading away from the ranch. Most were on horseback, but some were on foot, trying to steer the wild animals back to the paddock they had run out of.
Looking back toward the porch, Poppy saw Sophie still standing there, hugging one of the beams with a worried look, but at least she was safe.
Lifting up her skirt, Poppy turned and ran back toward the barn to see if she could help in any way.
She had no idea what she would be able to do, but she wanted to make herself useful.
Losing the horses would definitely affect Neil’s livelihood, which in turn affected her and Sophie’s life, too, so Poppy wanted to do something to help.
Unfortunately, seeing the horses inside the paddock or stall, calm and relaxed, was entirely different from seeing them on the loose, wild, and impossible to calm down.
Their impressive sizes were terrifying, and Poppy also knew how deadly they could be if she weren’t careful around them.
Since she didn’t really have any experience with them, she could feel her fear bone deep, but Poppy pushed past it.
She managed to reach the large gate right next to the barn, which was wide open, but the way it sat, it also prevented any returning animal from easily running back inside the paddock.
Poppy put all her strength into lifting and walking it into a more open position so some of the horses that were being rounded up right now could go through a little easier.
She managed to do it just in time. The second she had opened the gate, Paul came racing back toward her with the four earlier escapees, which were once again barreling directly toward her.
“Watch out!” Paul called out to her. Was he swinging a lasso?
Poppy squealed and jumped out of the way when one of the horses galloped straight in her direction, but then she pulled herself together, spun around, and waved her arms to help guide them toward the larger fence opening. One after another, the horses returned to the paddock.
“Good job!” Paul exclaimed. He blocked the gate with his horse, keeping the four he had just brought back inside the paddock from leaving again.
“Can you get to the gate?” he called out to Poppy, pointing at the end she had just moved all the way into the open position. “Wait until the other ones are inside, then close it!”
Poppy nodded nervously. Would she be able to do it, or would the horses escape again if she couldn’t close the gate fast enough? Her heart was racing.
Whistling from behind her let Poppy know that the ranch hands from the road had also gathered their horses, which came galloping up toward her from the other side. Poppy rushed back behind the gate and waited for her turn.
Four men on horseback corralled at least a dozen horses straight toward her. Everything happened so fast, she barely had time to count them all, and as the large bodies ran straight past her—squealing and neighing—Poppy had to shield her face once again from flying dirt and debris.
The four riders chased them inside the paddock, waving rolled up rope to guide the wild-looking animals in the general direction.
“Close the gate!” someone other than Paul yelled, and Poppy immediately sprang into action. She lifted the heavy wooden gate as high as she could, trying to lean the top beam over her shoulder as she walked it in a large half circle to where it would meet with the connecting fence post.
There were horses behind her, neighing and rearing up, but those were ridden by the ranch hands and Paul, so Poppy wasn’t too worried. She hurried to close the gate as quickly as she could, and once it was done, all of the men cheered. Poppy looked back and saw that two men on foot had helped her.
“Is that all of them?” another one asked, as he turned to look around.
Paul counted the ones they had brought back in and nodded.
“That’s all of them!” he called out to his men. “Well done!”
It was an elating feeling to know that Poppy had helped in some way.
“You did great!” Paul exclaimed as he jumped off his horse and walked toward her. “Are you all right? Did you get hurt?” Poppy shook her head.
“No, I’m fine,” she said breathlessly with half a smile. Her lungs were burning, her back hurt, and she had slight abrasions on her hands where the rough wood of the gate had scraped her soft skin, but none of that mattered. “How did this happen?”
“Somebody must have left the gate open,” Paul said as he pulled off his hat and scratched his head.
“Which is strange to me, because all of our men know that this gate is never to be opened, unless the horses are moved from one pasture to another, or for things like the auction. None of that was scheduled today. None of our workers would have done this.” He put his hat back on and looked into the far distance.
“I am certain this was another act of sabotage.”
Poppy’s eyebrows shot up. “Do you think it was the same person who tried to poison the horses?”
Paul replied with a slow nod. “I think we all know who we are talking about. We just can’t prove anything,” he said with clear frustration in his voice.
“I want to know how these people manage to get onto this property unnoticed. We are all extra vigilant, so how and when did this occur?” Paul released a deep sigh.
“Anyway,” he continued, turning to Poppy with a warm smile on his face. “You did great today. This was no easy feat, and you managed it with little guidance. I can’t wait to tell Neil how fantastic you worked with us during his absence. You’re turning into a true rancher, Poppy.”
Poppy’s smile faded the second Paul mentioned Neil’s absence. In all the chaos, she had forgotten about her worry regarding her husband. She wondered what Neil was doing in this very moment, and if he even cared about any of what Paul mentioned.
If he cared about her at all.
Staring back at the road disappearing into the far distance, the possibility that he may not felt like a knife twisting in her heart.