Last Stand Ranch. Jenna Night

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       THREE

      Elijah’s mom taught him to be respectful of the wishes of a woman, so when a woman asked him to do something, he always listened. But that didn’t mean he always did what she asked.

      The morning after finding Olivia by the side of the highway, he steered his dirt bike toward the back of Claudia’s house. Just after sunrise most mornings, he could find Claudia there feeding her chickens, looking over her property and greeting the morning sun. He found her right where he expected, dressed in jeans and an orange-checked shirt and wearing an old pair of Hugh’s battered blue suede house slippers.

      Olivia stood next to her, slump-shouldered, looking like a withered blade of golden grass. When he drove up she glared at him through bloodshot eyes. Probably the result of a sleepless night. And yeah, he’d gotten the message—she wished he would stay away. Too bad. Sorry, Mom.

      “Morning, honey,” Claudia called out as he killed the engine. At least somebody was glad to see him.

      “Good morning.” He got off the bike.

      Claudia walked over to him, one of her chubby little beagles by her feet. “Have you eaten breakfast? Denise made a pineapple bread pudding.”

      “Yes, ma’am, I already ate.”

      He turned to Olivia, who’d sullenly followed her aunt. “How are you this morning?” He reached down to scratch Jasper behind his ears. “Did you get any sleep?”

      “A little.”

      A brittle spirit showed through in the pinched, angry expression on her face. Elijah knew that feeling well. He’d come home from Iraq and later Afghanistan fighting his own version of it.

      It was likely she wanted to shove everyone away. It was a good thing she had Claudia, who was good at soothing hurts. Elijah’s talent lay more in the realm of poking at whatever hurt until the person realized they wanted to lay down the hurt more than they wanted to coddle it. They appreciated his help in the long run. In the short run, not so much.

      “Ricky told me it would take him at least a couple weeks to fix your car. I thought you might have gotten a ride to the bus station and moved on by now.”

      “It would probably be safer for your aunt if I did.”

      Boy, that “aunt” thing really bothered her. Too bad. Half the town referred to Claudia as “Aunt Claudia.”

      Claudia waved her hands. “That’s enough of that talk about moving on.” She turned to Olivia. “You’re staying.”

      Elijah watched Olivia look down, then look off into the distance. She took a deep breath and her eyes filled with worry. Afraid to stay and afraid to go, most likely.

      He turned his attention to Claudia. “I just stopped by to let you know I’ll be working on that section of fence damaged in that last storm.” He glanced at Olivia. “It’s right at the boundary between Claudia’s property and ours, not too far away.”

      She shrugged as if it meant nothing to her.

      Then he made a point of pulling the pistol out of the waistband at the small of his back, and replacing it, as if he’d just wanted to make the fit more comfortable. Olivia kept her gaze on the gun the whole time. When she looked at him, it was with just a little bit less hostility.

      Good. He wanted her to know at least one person took her fears of being stalked by Ted Kurtz seriously. Even if that person happened to be a guy she didn’t much like.

      “Before you got here, I was asking Olivia where she’d go if she didn’t stay here with us,” Claudia said.

      “Good question.” Elijah nodded. “Where would you go and how would you know when you were safe?”

      “Wow.” Olivia looked him up and down. “You really know how to make a girl feel better.”

      “Running off in a blind panic could make things a whole lot worse for you.”

      She hugged her arms over her chest. Elijah could see goose bumps on the surface of her skin even though she was standing in the sun.

      “I’m so glad to have you here,” Claudia said, reaching out to squeeze her niece’s hand.

      Oh, yeah, that. Sometimes Elijah forgot to say the warm fuzzy words. A fair amount of the time he couldn’t say them because he didn’t really believe them. But in this case he knew they were true. Claudia had been very excited about the visit.

      “I’m glad to be here.”

      In the bright sunlight, Elijah could see the purple half circles under her eyes. Probably been missing out on sleep for a while. She was pale for a woman who lived in Vegas. And her clothes hung loosely on her. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she needed all the help she could get.

      “Your house is beautiful,” Olivia said to Claudia, scanning the yard. Elijah watched her gaze settle on the junipers planted at the corners of the small guest cottage fifty feet away, current home of Raymond and Denise Bauer. Then she looked toward the numerous wooden sheds on the property, their interiors darkened and impossible to see into.

      “You looking for Kurtz?” Elijah asked.

      She snapped her attention back to Claudia, ignoring his question. “Painted Rock is such a pretty, peaceful town. It’s everything I’d hoped for. I don’t want to stay and ruin it for you.”

      “If you leave, you’ll break an old lady’s heart.”

      Olivia let go a laugh. “Please don’t try to guilt me into staying.”

      “I will if it works. And don’t forget about the job interview I lined СКАЧАТЬ