Chapter Seven

Stepping out into the brisk night, Emma Jean pulled her knit cap down over her ears. Several nights ago, the day after Thanksgiving, she’d started going out to the stables to visit the horses. Just their presence was enough to calm the chaos in her mind. Thoughts of where she would go and what she would do were put to rest the moment the sweet scent of hay filled her nose and the sound of soft whinnies filled her ears. Inhaling deeply, she made her way to Dandelion’s stall first.

        “Hey, sweet girl,” she cooed to the mare known for her gentle nature. She pulled a baby carrot from the baggie in her pocket and held it over the stall door just as Heidi, in the next stall, made her envy known. Emma Jean smiled to herself as she pulled a second carrot from the bag. “Now, you didn’t really think I’d come unprepared, did you?”

        She showered both horses with sweeping strokes over their muzzles before taking her treats and moving on to Thatcher and Willow and the rest. Each horse got a carrot and muzzle rubs as she moved down the line. What had quickly become her nightly ritual was briefly interrupted by Larry bumming for attention. Granting the demanding feline a few head scratches, Emma Jean looked around, wondering if she should start stuffing her pockets with cat treats in the future. As if to answer her unspoken thought, the pet door opened and two more cats, the ones Tuck named Raptor and Pancakes, strolled inside.

        Folding her legs to sit on the cold, hard floor, she let the cats come to her. She sat in silent contentment as they wove around her, swishing their tails, butting her hands with their heads, and sniffing for food she didn’t have.

        “I’ll bring some next time, I promise,” she chuckled, scratching Little Foot under the chin and closing her eyes at the dulcet sound of his purr. She let the rhythm wash over her and relax her muscles.

Surrounded by animals was the one place she felt most at home. She could be herself with animals. They wouldn’t point out her weight gain or tell her she was worthless. They wouldn’t strike her if they ran out of beer or didn’t like the dinner she made or if it was Tuesday. They only loved, and usually, unconditionally. It’s why she felt so safe she didn’t hear someone else enter the stables.

“ Should’ve known that bitch would try to take you from me.”

Emma Jean’s blood ran cold and her heart stopped. Her lungs froze with the breath she’d just taken in as fear seized her body. The cats scattered from the vicinity as she slowly turned her head to meet the cold gaze of her husband. She started to stand, but she’d barely gotten her butt off the hard ground when he grabbed her by the hair and yanked her to her feet.

He backhanded her when she cried out at the pain. “Shut up!” he bellowed.

The strike sent her tumbling, but with her arms out in front of her, she managed to catch herself on a support beam before she hit the floor. “Cody…” she tried, though she knew it would only make things worse. “Please don’t do this.”

His fist clenched, poised for another hit when Emma Jean did something neither of them expected. She screamed.

Momentarily stunned, Cody’s eyes widened before he clamped his grip around her throat and began to squeeze. “I told you to shut the fuck up!”

Emma Jean didn’t know if it was her surroundings, the fact that she was in her safe space, or if it was knowing that someone would eventually come to her rescue, but she felt emboldened. She’d never fought back before. She had always just taken whatever punishment Cody had doled out and went about life the same as she always did since marrying him. She kept her head down and her opinions to herself.

Not anymore.

Not now.

She began to kick as Cody’s grip tightened, starting to cut off what little oxygen she was already gasping for. Her nails dug into his forearm as she scratched, inflicting what little pain she was capable of. Her vision started to dim when she thought she heard a muffled shout.

Suddenly, her feet were planted on the floor and her vision cleared as oxygen filled her deprived lungs. She swayed a bit as she looked up to see Noah, sweet Noah, pummeling Cody’s face and  spewing hateful threats.

“Noah…,” she croaked. She swallowed roughly and tried again. “Noah!”

Noah seemed to snap out of whatever rage had blinded him and swung his head in her direction. Dropping both his bloody fist and Cody, where he had him clenched by his shirt, he turned to her with wide eyes.

“Emmie...are you okay?” He took a step in her direction but stopped when she countered with a step back, her gaze flickering to his bloody hand. “Shit,” he muttered.

Her eyes darted over his shoulder suddenly, and he whirled to see Cody hightailing it out of the stables. He clenched his fists and tensed to run after him, but Emma Jean stopped him.

“Let him go, Noah.”

“He hurt you. Again,” he bit out.

“And that’s on him. Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up,” she rasped, wincing at the pained sound.

Noah let Emma Jean lead him to the sink in the tack room so he could wash the blood from his hands. She turned the water on for him, so he wouldn’t get blood all over the faucet, and filled her hands full of the antibacterial soap that sat on the shelf over the basin. Noah began scrubbing his hands together under the water, and Emma Jean lathered the soap between her own hands before joining hands with Noah and washing the blood away. She glided her hands over his, mindful of the torn skin on his knuckles.

“Sorry,” she whispered when he hissed.

“We should get you to a hospital,” he said, his gaze fixed on the bruising she was sure was developing around her throat.

She shook her head once. “No. No more hospital for me, thanks.”

“Emmie,” his voice wavered, “we have to take care of you.” He stopped her ministrations to enfold her soapy hands in his. “Let me take care of you.”

Unsure of what she was seeing in his eyes, she gently pulled her hands from his grip and rinsed them quickly before stepping back, unable to make eye contact. Suddenly, very aware of him, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to throw herself at him or run screaming for the hills. She took another step back, hoping for clarity. “Thank you. For what you did,” she added, looking at her feet. “Nobody’s ever…” She waved her hand as though the end of her statement was obvious.

“Nobody’s ever stood up for you before?” His tone was a mixture of disgust and disbelief.

Her slender shoulders jerked. “Well, in their defense, nobody knew.”

Noah scoffed. “Trust me, honey, they knew.” Looking down at his hands, the knuckles already starting to bruise around the torn skin. “I should have done that sooner,” he muttered.

When she didn’t respond, he sighed. “Come on, sunshine, let’s get you to bed.”

***

        “Why were you even here? I mean, thank God, but why?” Tally asked her brother as they stood in the kitchen after making sure Emma Jean was settled into bed with an ice pack and a cup of chamomile tea.

        Emma Jean had refused, yet again, to go to the hospital.

        Hanging his head, he answered, “I was just coming over to check in on her.” He chuckled humorlessly. “I gave her my number, but she never uses it.”

        “You want her to use it.” It was a statement, not a question.

        “If she needs me, yeah.” He raised the beer Tally had thrust into his hand to his lips.

        “You want her to need you,” Tally stated, sure of her assessment of Noah’s emotional state.

        Noah pressed his lips together, refusing to respond to his sister’s knowing look, despite the fact that she spoke the truth.

        “Alright, big brother, what are you going to do about it?”

        “For starters, I’m going to be paying a visit to Sheriff Jenkins first thing in the morning.”

        “Good. Make sure you add trespassing to your list of grievances. I can’t believe that piece of shit had the nerve to show up here,” she muttered.

        Noah almost cracked a smile at the level of indignation in Tally’s words. This land, especially the stables, was sacred territory to Tally. Cody Sampson was probably lucky it was Noah who had happened upon him with Emma Jean rather than Tally who, no doubt, would have flayed him alive just for being there , let alone what he was doing to his wife.

        “You should take her away for a while,” Luke, Tally’s fiancé, said from the doorway. “She’s obviously not safe here unless someone is with her twenty-four-seven. We didn’t even hear her scream.”

        Noah nodded slowly, thinking. “I could take her to my place.” His place was a two bedroom apartment over an empty storefront in the heart of downtown Medicine Wheel. Since he worked from home, he’d always be there if she needed him, and he could bring her to the ranch whenever she wanted to spend time with the animals as she had been doing.

        “Maybe that’s for the best,” Tally agreed. “I promised her she’d be safe here.” The guilt and remorse in his sister’s voice rang in Noah’s ears.

        “Don’t, Tal. This isn’t your fault.” He’d be damned if he let his sister carry that burden.

        Noah polished off his beer before bidding goodnight to his sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law. Driving home, it finally struck him: he was going to have the one woman he’d always wanted in his living space. Despite the circumstances, he couldn’t help but feel elated.