Chapter 11
Garrett
I had barely gotten all my clothes back on when Sid knocked on the front door and let himself in. My breathing was heavy and I just knew he was going to be able to tell I had just slept with his daughter.
“Everything all right? I know it’s a small cabin, but I think it’s better than the bunkhouse.”
“Oh, yes, sir. It’s perfect. I was just trying to clean it up a bit before heading back out to work.”
Sid looked around the cabin at the mess that Forest had left in there. He paused for a very long time and it even seemed like he had looked at the bathroom door that was closed. I desperately hoped he wouldn’t find a reason to go over there and look in the bathroom.
“Have you seen Sarah?”
“Nope,” I lied to him.
I hated to flat out lie to a man like Sid, but I also didn’t want him to chase me out of town with his shotgun, so lying was really the only option. It was a small lie, nothing that would cause too much harm and I hoped that it wouldn’t come back to me.
It was funny to me that I was even thinking about lying at all. As a CEO, the consequences of lying hadn’t really even been on my radar. I lied all the time. I told people what they wanted to hear so I could get what I wanted out of situations. In the business world, I had thought that honesty was a liability. But I was starting to see that my way of thinking had been skewed back then.
As I looked back on my career, I certainly could have been more truthful in my interactions with other businesses. My lies hadn’t ended up saving my company from getting into bad situations, my lies had really only saved me the personal uncomfortable feeling of sitting in front of someone and telling them the truth. But the truth always came out and I always ended up figuring out a better or different way to complete what I had lied to people about.
I had a feeling that eventually Sid would find out that I had been having sex with his daughter. I could only hope that when that finally happened, he would forgive me and not shoot me. Sarah was an adult, she was able to make her own choices, and so was I. If we wanted to have a little fun between the sheets, it really wasn’t any of Sid’s business.
“If you see her, tell her to come find me.”
“Will do.”
“Here, I’ll walk with you back to the horse barn; maybe she’s there,” Sid said as we walked out of the cabin.
There wasn’t time for me to protest, so I walked with Sid out of the cabin and toward the horse barn. At least I was getting him away from the cabin so Sarah could sneak out. I felt like a teenager trying to trick my girlfriend’s father. It was scary as hell and my adrenaline was pumping hard by the time we got to the horse barn. I was just about to ask Sid if he had heard anything about my case, when he started to talk.
“You know, I heard from your placement agent the other day. I didn’t want to worry you, but they said there was word that the man you were testifying against had put a hit out on you. I’m sure you’re safe here and I agonized over whether to even tell you or not. But I think it’s better that you know. He has probably had a hit out on you since he found out you were testifying, nothing new; it’s just new that they actually heard about it.”
My sex high quickly dissipated and I felt like I was going to vomit. Sure, I knew that Frank Gordano wasn’t going to be happy with me, but somewhere deep down I hoped that he would just let justice take its course. It was a naive notion and I felt stupid for even believing it. It was hard to believe that there was a person out in the world that actually wanted to kill me, but then again it was Frank and I knew he was ruthless.
Of course, Frank Gordano wanted me dead. I knew where he flew his drugs to. I knew the people who carried the drugs and the people who picked up the money. I had paid attention in our partnership, purely as a way of protecting myself if the day should ever come. And now there I was, hiding out at a ranch in Montana and scared to death that he would find me and murder me. All the strength that I had had to agree to testify against Frank was a myth. It was just what I told myself to feel stronger about the whole situation. But the reality was I was scared and Sid had just brought that fact right back into my view.
“Thanks. You’re right. I’d rather know it. I won’t go into town at all again, I promise.”
“It’s all right. I doubt anyone even noticed you and it’s been a while since that happened. But you’re right to stick close to the ranch and even keep your eyes open while here. I won’t be hiring any new ranch hands for now; I just can’t be sure who they might be. But still, you will need to stay alert.”
“I will.”
The realization that I had actually put my own life at risk by going into town was even more real. I had never been in a situation like that before and I hadn’t been taking it seriously at all. If I had truly understood the gravity of the situation I would have never have gone into town with Sarah when she asked. Not only had I put myself at risk, but I had put her at risk, too.
If, by some chance, someone had been placed there to watch out for me, then they would have seen me talking and laughing with Sarah. They would have questioned if I had told her secrets and maybe even decided that they wanted her dead, too. The guilt filled me and nausea took over. I couldn’t be that naive again, I had to be more responsible with my life as well as with Sarah’s life.
“What are you two men talking about that’s so serious?” Sarah said as she walked into the barn.
Her smile beamed from one side of her face to the other and I couldn’t help but take some pride in that. Making love to her had been the highlight of my time at the ranch and seeing her happy made me even happier. She was a sweet girl and she had been hiding behind that grumpy face for far too long. Sarah was too damn beautiful to be sad, or grumpy, or any other negative feeling. I made myself a promise to do absolutely everything right from that moment forward. No more making selfish mistakes that put my life or hers into jeopardy.
“Oh, you know, just talking business,” Sid said as he gave Sarah a quick hug. “Thanks again for the photos of the land. I appreciate all you’re trying to do.”
“Sure thing, Dad. I want you to be able to retire someday and the only way we are going to make that happen is if we get you some serious money.”
“I can’t argue with that. It sure would be nice to retire. Your mother has been begging me to buy one of those campers and drive across the country. Maybe someday,” Sid said nostalgically.
“I’m going to make that dream come true for you,” Sarah said.
I believed she would. Sarah was a dedicated daughter and she was determined to sell that land at a price that was worth it to her parents. I had no doubt in my mind that she would get them the money they needed to take a step back away from their ranch work.
There really was no reason Sid couldn’t hire a lead ranch manager to take over the duties he was doing. As long as he had a decent amount of money and could afford the person’s salary, a manager would take the pressure off of Sid and Meredith and give them the time they needed to actually start relaxing and enjoying their life. I suspected they didn’t take much time away from the ranch and had problem not even gone on many vacations over the years.
“All right, enough of all this. You two get back to work,” Sid said and then turned to leave the barn.
“That’s my Dad, he’s so mushy and feely all the time,” Sarah joked.
“Your dad is a good man,” I said as we watched him walk across the ranch toward the main house. “He’d kill me if he knew all the dirty thoughts I was thinking right now.”
I grabbed Sarah and pressed her against the horse stall as my lips moved to meet hers. My adrenaline was running wild from the combination of making love to her and hearing the news from Sid. I felt like a teenager sneaking away to make out with his high school girl.
Sarah kissed me back a little bit and then pushed me away. She looked around to make sure no one had been watching us before she pulled me close for one last kiss. She already felt comfortable to me and I knew it was going to be hard to act normal around her when we were working during the day. All I could think about was getting her back into that damn bed.
“We can’t be doing this out in public.”
“I know. I know. But when? I can’t think straight. I keep seeing your naked perfect body walked away from the bed.”
I groaned and pulled her close to me again. With my hands on her ass I tried to kiss her, but she pressed me away. She looked around the barn to make sure no one had seen us and I couldn’t help but smile.
“I’ll come to your cabin tonight after everyone goes to bed,” she whispered to me.
I held onto her for a moment before releasing her. I couldn’t wait to have her again. I was going to work my ass off to get all my jobs done and hurry to get back to the cabin and finish cleaning up before she got there. I was so happy I had taken Forest’s job and had my own little home to bring Sarah to.
That night, and for many nights after, I made love to Sarah in my little cabin on the ranch. Life was good and I really couldn’t complain at all. I loved working on the ranch now and I looked forward to waking up each morning and getting to see Sarah. She was everything I had never known I wanted in a woman and I couldn’t get her out of my mind.
We flirted and teased each other like we were teenagers. It was fun, and exciting, and just what I needed to take my mind off of the thugs that wanted to kill me. I laughed more when I was with Sarah than I remembered laughing the entire year before I had arrived on the ranch.
As the weeks went on I stopped worrying so much about the news that Sid had given me though. Obviously, they wouldn’t be able to find me on some random ranch in the middle of Montana. I didn’t leave the ranch, not for any reason, so there was no way for them to really know where I was. Even if they had gotten close enough to figure out I was in Montana, they would never know where I was in the massive state.
As the weeks turned into months, I was coming up on my one year anniversary at the farm. Sid and Meredith were like family to me, and Sarah was my love. I hinted that I wouldn’t be around forever, and Sarah said she understood and was happy we had the time together we did. But I never truly felt like she understood that I would actually have to leave the ranch someday.
Overall though, I couldn’t have asked for a better placement while I waited for the trial. I hated that it was taking so long to bring Frank to justice, but I was happy where I was at. I was growing into a better man while I was on the ranch and I had Sid, Meredith, and Sarah to thank for that. They were good people and sometimes I felt like I was a better man simply because I had met them.
“Come have dinner with us tonight,” Meredith said to me one afternoon as I was watering the flowers in front of my little cabin.
“Sure,” I quickly replied.
I wasn’t about to turn down the opportunity to enjoy some good conversation with Sid, Meredith, and Sarah. The other ranch hands had become my friends, but I enjoyed hanging around the Miller’s the most.
Sarah and I snuck around and spent a lot of time together. I was certain that Meredith knew what we were doing, but I wasn’t so sure that Sid knew. If he knew what was going on, he didn’t seem to care too much. If he didn’t know, I felt horrible because I had lied to him on plenty of occasions about where I had been as well as where Sarah was.
“I know Sarah will be happy to see you,” Meredith said with a knowing look in her eyes.
Meredith was a smart woman. Even though I was sure that Sid hadn’t come out and told her who I was or everything about my past, she seemed to know there was so much more to me than what was on the surface. She also was a great bridge between Sid and Sarah and I. The longer I stayed on the ranch the harder it had become to hide my feelings for Sarah. We were still careful and didn’t come right out in the open and say we were sleeping together, but I knew that Sid and Meredith weren’t stupid. They had to know something was going on between us.
The way Sarah and I looked at each other, it was hard to hide our feelings. I was happy to see her and it didn’t matter if I had just seen her an hour before. Sarah was a vibrant and fun woman and she made me happy. Just being near her in the barn made me happier than working alone in there.
“What time should I come?”
“Let’s make it eight o’clock so we are all done with our chores for the day and can relax. I’ll open some wine.”
“Now that sounds like an invitation I can’t refuse.”
“We will see you then.”
I hurried off to find Sarah and tell her about her mother’s invitation. Sarah could tell I had something on my mind as I walked quickly toward her near the pigpen. I usually avoided those animals, they were the only ones that I still hadn’t been able to conquer. They were cute pigs, but I still felt the pain of that bite on my leg.
“What do you have up your sleeve?” she asked.
Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail and she had a beautiful grin across her face. What Sarah had said was her resting bitch face had all but disappeared in recent weeks and I took full credit for it. She was happy and it radiated from the inside out. Sarah’s happiness was certainly one of the clues to Sid and Meredith that something was going on between us.
“How do you know something’s up?”
“Because you wouldn’t be coming near these pigs unless it was important,” she laughed. “They are dangerous.”
Sarah held up one of the tiniest piglets and pressed it toward me jokingly. It was adorable, I had to admit it. But the pig that had bitten me wasn’t nearly as adorable and the rest of them seemed to mock me every time I came near them. I had settled on the fact that I just wasn’t a pig guy and luckily I had enough other farm hands around that I didn’t have to worry about being in charge of the pigs.
“I know, they are dangerous,” I joked. “Your mother invited me to come to your house for dinner tonight.”
“Really?” Sarah asked, not looking excited at all.
“Well that look was sort of depressing. Isn’t it a good thing? We can sit together at dinner and have a nice meal.”
“They are up to something,” Sarah said as she put the piglet back in the pen. “My mother is a sneaky one. You’ve got to keep your eye on her at all times.”
I had to laugh. Sarah’s mother was by far one of the sweetest women I had ever met in my life. If my own mother had still been alive she couldn’t have compared to how sweet Meredith was. I found it hard to believe she had any other ulterior motive than to just enjoy a nice meal.
“Didn’t your parents ever invite Forest to sit down for a meal?”
“I’m not sure; I was only here a few weeks while he was here. But I doubt it. I think my father just likes you.”
When I had first met Sid, I thought he hated me. The firm look at was across his face at all times had me constantly worrying that I had done something to piss him off. But the more I worked with him, the more I got to know him, and I realized he was just a serious guy. Sid didn’t have any time for worrying about if people liked him or not, he was trying to run his ranch. But everyone liked him. It was a relief to deal with someone who was always upfront and clearly a really good man.
Although Sarah had no idea, I knew that Sid had taken in others like me before. I knew his heart was big and he had opened his home to people who couldn’t be safe anywhere else. I appreciated that and would always care for Sid because of his willingness to help me. In my life, before coming to the ranch, I thought I was a generous person, but I really had only been selfishly generous. I threw fundraisers and parties, but only when they suited me. I gave away money to charity, but mostly because it was a good tax write off. I certainly didn’t think I was a bad guy, but my charity had been given selfishly.
Now, after seeing the work that Sid was doing on the ranch, I felt like I would someday be able to return to my life with a new sense of purpose. That was, if I was ever able to return to my life. It had been a year since arriving at the ranch and my life was now the life I knew there. I had no news of my company. No idea if the man I had left running it was doing a good job or not, I really wouldn’t even know where to start when I returned to work again.
“I like your father, too,” I added. “He’s a good man and your mother is a good woman. You’re really lucky to have them in your life.”
Sarah looked like she was about to ask me something but then decided not to. I knew she wanted to know more about me and she had always seemed so unsatisfied by the answers I gave her. My vague, non-answer responses just weren’t what she hoped for. But I couldn’t flat out lie to her; I didn’t want to and I tried to avoid it as much as possible. So, when Sarah stopped asking me questions about my past I was beyond relieved.
“Well, we better get our work done so we can enjoy dinner then,” she said and snuck a quick kiss to my lips in before she went back to dealing with the pigs. “I bet they want to know why I’ve been so damn happy lately.”
Over the last several weeks, Sarah had become bolder and bolder in showing her affection toward me. I didn’t mind; I loved it. I still tried to sneak in a quick feel or a kiss when I could as well, but I was much more careful than she was. It was funny how things had turned around for us.
Life was good for us there on the ranch; I was happier than I had ever been in my life before. The simplicity of working all day and making love all night was perfection. If I didn’t have a company to run, I could have seen myself moving back to the area and keeping Sarah by my side.
Although I wasn’t really sure of the protocol when it came to a relationship that formed while you were in the protection program. I made a mental note to ask my agent the next time I talked to him.
“See you at dinner, dear,” I said with a wink as I walked away.
The day seemed to drag on forever, but finally I finished all my jobs and jumped into the shower to get ready for dinner. I didn’t exactly have any nice dinner clothes, but at least I had some clean jeans and a t-shirt I could wear. I wrapped a towel around me as I stepped out of the shower, but to my surprise I came face to face with a naked Sarah looking right at me as she stood in front of the bed.
Oh, how I loved to look at her body. She was a womanly woman and it made me hard every time I saw her naked. Her voluptuous breasts stood perky and teasing me with her hard nipples as I tried to look her in the eyes and not just stare at her naked body.
“Here or in the shower?” she said as she smiled.
“We need to get to dinner. I don’t want to be late.”
Sarah looked at me firmly and walked toward me. I could tell she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She licked her lips and pulled my towel off of me before shutting the bathroom door behind us.
“I guess it’s in the shower then,” she giggled.
Her skin was warm and soft and the feeling of her pressed up against me had my whole body on fire. I no longer cared how late we were for dinner with her parents. My mind couldn’t think about anything else except getting her into that shower and feeling her wet skin against me as I thrust into her.
“Come here, you naughty girl,” I said as I slapped her ass and pulled her into the shower with me.
She turned around and bent over right under the shower as she pressed her naked ass up against my throbbing body. I smiled at her aggressive move. We had made love in many different locations around the cabin, but never in the shower yet. It was another spot we could check off our list.
My body slid into hers and I pulled her shoulder’s up so the water dripped down them as we moved together. It was a hot sex scene like something out of a movie and I was beyond turned on by her.
Sarah turned me on with everything she did though. She could simply be bending over to fix her pants leg and her boots and I couldn’t help but think of her bent over and me thrusting inside of her. At first I thought I was so fond of her because she was the only woman around. I had been on the ranch for so long and away from all women, but soon I realized that wasn’t it. I genuinely enjoyed being with her and looked forward to seeing her, talking to her, and working with her every single day.
“Let’s go, big boy; we have to get to dinner,” she teased me.
“Yes, ma’am.”
I grabbed her hip with one hand and reached around and with my other hand I reached around and played with her clit. She started to moan almost instantly and that was all I needed to feel myself building to climax. I waited for her, as her body slowly got more and more excited, and when she finally tensed up and released; I let myself release as well.
“Good thing we chose the shower,” she said as she turned around and grabbed the soap to start washing her body.
“Yeah, I’m sure your parents won’t think it’s odd that we are both soaking wet when we show up to dinner.”
“I did forget to think that one through,” Sarah admitted. “Do you have a hair dryer?”
One of the best things about Sarah was how honest she was. We didn’t argue; we didn’t even have quibbles about things because she could always see my point of view. She might not agree with me, but she was so kind and respectful that there was nothing to fight about. Even the fact that she so easily said she hadn’t thought through our sex in the shower thing, it showed how truly honest she was.
“Look at these lovely, golden locks. Do they look like I use heat on them?” I laughed.
“Oh, all right. I’ll have to just pull it up in a bun or something and hope they don’t realize I wasn’t in the house at all to take a shower.”
We finished our shower and dressed for dinner. I let her leave first and I agreed to come a few minutes later. Hopefully she would be able to slip up to her bedroom and turn the shower on before her parents noticed her. But even if they did see her, I didn’t think they would automatically assume she had been in my shower. Certainly, there could have been some other explanation for her hair being wet; maybe she had fallen into the damn pigpen water. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself as I made my way over to the house.
I was nervous, which was weird. I knew both Sid and Meredith pretty well by that point and wasn’t nervous around either of them during the day, but there was something a little different about going to your boss’ house and sitting down to a meal with them. It didn’t matter that Sid wasn’t my real boss and I would be returning to my real life someday; for the time being he was my boss. He was also the father to the woman I had been sleeping with.
“It’s nice to see you,” Meredith said as she opened the front door.
“You too.”
I felt awkward, which was strange for me. I had spent most of my adult life socializing and going to business dinners, yet as I stood there it was different. Meredith and Sid were keeping me safe, they were also my employers, and the parents of the woman I was starting to care a great deal about.
“Grab a beer,” Sid said from his recliner in the living room.
Sid looked like a whole different man with his cowboy hat and boots off. He seemed much more exposed and more like a normal man than he had seemed to be before. When Sid was wearing his hat and boots, he appeared to be like an old west hero; someone that could do anything he wanted.
“Thank you, sir,” I said as I went to the kitchen behind Meredith and she handed me a beer.
Sarah was also in the kitchen and I nodded to acknowledge she was there. I didn’t go out of my way to say hello to her, but we shared a knowing smile about how our day had been spent just a few moments before.
“Come in here and watch the race with me while the ladies finish up with dinner.”
Sid was a man’s man, there was no denying it. I assumed that he had probably never, or very rarely, cooked a meal for himself. On the other hand, Meredith seemed to be able to do it all. I had seen her cook for a dozen men, clean up after the horses and easily grab a pig out of the pig pen. Meredith made everything look easy and she did it with a smile on her face and a gentle nature about her character.
I looked toward Meredith and Sarah for approval to join Sid in the living room. I didn’t like leaving them to do all the cooking, but I suspected they were just fine with me being out of the way and keeping Sid company while he watched his NASCAR race.
“On my way,” I said as I left the ladies.
“So are you a fan?” Sid asked as he pointed his beer toward the screen.
I tried to think of my fake profile and what I was supposed to say, but I just couldn’t remember if I liked NASCAR or not. Instead, I decided to go with the truth.
“I don’t really know very much about it, but it seems like a fun event to go to.”
“Oh, yeah man. I went a few years ago and it was insane. Now it would be really nice to go in one of those RVs and stay nice and close. I’d love to climb up on the top and watch the race from there.”
“Now that sounds like a good time.”
“Sarah never got into racing. If she had been a boy, I would have forced her to love it like I do. But I suppose it’s not really a woman’s thing.”
I had to laugh as Sid went on and on about his NASCAR while we waited for dinner. It was obviously something he was passionate about and I liked seeing that side of him.