For the second time in as many months, I was staring at a friend who looked like she’d just gone one extremely unsuccessful round with Mike Tyson.
Khloe Olson stood at Silas’s front door, bloody, bruised and battered.
“Oh my god.” I pushed around Silas and threw an arm over Khloe’s shoulders, steering her inside. I didn’t need to ask her what had happened.
This was all Derrick.
“I’m sorry for bothering you,” she whispered. “I didn’t know where else to go.”
“Don’t apologize. Let’s sit down.”
Silas followed us inside, then swiped his phone from the kitchen counter and mouthed, “Jess?” When I nodded, he started dialing while I sat with Khloe on the couch.
“Silas is calling the cops.” She flinched and her eyes widened, but I didn’t let her protest. “It’s time to stop this, Khloe.”
“I know.” Her frame slumped in defeat. “I’m just scared. Derrick won’t like that I involved the police.”
“We’ll think of something,” I promised.
“Jess is on his way,” Silas said. He came to the couch and smiled at Khloe, giving her some space. “Don’t worry.” He gave me a sad smile before jogging upstairs to put on a shirt.
“I really believed that he had changed,” Khloe whispered before starting to cry. I let her lean against my shoulder while I stroked her hair and let her talk.
“Things were going great.” She sniffled. “He’s been a different man lately. Loving and sweet. Just like he was after we got married. And he quit drinking.”
“Was he drunk tonight?”
“Yeah. We were supposed to go to a dinner party tonight but I’ve been sick so I stayed home. He told me he’d be fast, that he’d make his appearances and then come home to take care of me. And he promised me that he wouldn’t drink.”
Obviously, he’d broken that promise along with a whole slew of others.
“He came home late. Drunk. He wanted to have sex, but I told him no because I was sick. It sent him into a drunken rage. He told me that if he couldn’t get off one way, he’d find another. And then he hit me.”
Derrick must have focused all his blows on her face because there wasn’t an inch of it that wasn’t red, swollen or cut.
“You have to press charges this time.”
She started crying harder, but nodded. “How could I have let it come this far? I’m a stupid, pathetic woman.”
“Don’t say that, Khloe. This isn’t your fault. It’s his.” In addition to the physical abuse, I was sure that prick Derrick had convinced Khloe that she was to blame. I fought to keep my calm and not storm out of here with my stun gun. That guy deserved more than a few jolts.
“Here.” Silas was standing over us with a glass of water and three painkillers.
I left Khloe to take her medicine while I pulled on my jeans. “Damn it,” I muttered to myself. I should have gotten Jess involved sooner. I should have pressed harder with Khloe. Maybe all of this could have been prevented.
Before I could go back to the couch, Silas came to my side and pulled me in for a hug. “Are you okay?”
I shrugged. “I should have done more.”
“You’re a good friend, babe. There’s nothing else you could have done.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“I am,” he said. “She’s here because you gave her a safe place to go. Your friend trusts you. If she didn’t, she’d still be at home with that fucker and not here with you.”
“Thanks.” I melted into his side. Silas always knew what I needed to hear to chase the doubts away. We broke apart, and I went back to Khloe while he pulled the mattress upstairs.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your night,” she said.
“Don’t be.”
“I didn’t know where else to go.” Her voice broke. “He’d find me at the motel and I don’t have any other friends. No one wants to hang around with a woman who’s too dumb to leave her abusive husband.”
“It’s their loss and you’re not dumb. You’re just going through a rough patch. We’ve all had them. Anyone who would abandon you to go through it alone isn’t much of a friend at all.”
She rested her head against my shoulder. “Thank you, Felicity.”
“You’re welcome.”
Over the next hour, Silas, Jess and I listened to Khloe recount tonight’s events in detail. She also told us about numerous other times that Derrick had hurt her, and Jess promised that with her official statement and hospital records, Derrick stood no chance of avoiding jail time.
While Khloe went to the bathroom to clean her face, I stood with Silas and Jess in the kitchen. “You two look murderous.”
“Just praying that fucker tries to resist arrest,” Jess said.
“How long will Derrick be in jail?”
He shrugged. “I’ll do my best to keep him as long as I can, but he’ll probably get out on bail before too long. The judge will put him under a restraining order but that might not keep him from trying to talk to her.”
“I don’t think she should stay at home. I don’t trust Derrick.”
“I agree,” Silas said. “He’s a stupid fuck up and always has been. I don’t see him taking this well. He’ll go after her.”
“Got any ideas where to stash her?” Jess asked.
She could stay with us but the only place for her to sleep would be the couch. Olivia would be more than willing to have a guest but I didn’t think Khloe would be comfortable around Elliot. “What about my house? She could stay there.”
“No, I won’t put you out.” All of our eyes swung toward Khloe as she emerged from the bathroom. “I’ll just go to the motel.”
I shook my head. “I think that’s too dangerous. It’s the first place he’ll look for you. My house is empty and free. I rarely go over there, and when I do, it’s for five minutes to get some clothes.”
“If Derrick knows you two are tight, he’ll find her.”
“He doesn’t,” Khloe said. “He doesn’t care about my friends. We talked about his life, not mine.” Her newfound anger was giving me hope that she’d be done with Derrick for good. “Are you sure I can’t go home?” she asked Jess.
“Until we know how Derrick is going to react to all of this, you gotta lie low.”
“Please?” I begged. “At least stay there for a few days. It would give your face a chance to heal and for your cold to go away.”
“All right,” she said reluctantly.
With that decision made, we set off from the barn. Jess went off to arrest Derrick while Silas and I got Khloe settled in my house. We hid her car in the garage and I packed myself more clothes for Silas’s closet. After handing her a bottle of cold medicine, I sent her upstairs to bed and we drove back to the ranch.
“Babe?” Silas asked as we drove home.
“Yeah?” I yawned.
“I think I need to get the full roster of your friends. That and a quick synopsis of everything they have going on in their lives.”
I giggled. “I think we’re safe after this one.”
“Life with you will never be boring, will it?”
He laced his fingers with mine and drove in silence through the darkness. Maybe one day Khloe would be lucky enough to find a man like mine.
Then again, he was one in a million.
“You’re burning up.” I pressed the back of my hand to Silas’s forehead. “I’m getting you more medicine.” He had gotten Khloe’s cold but had spent the last two days working like normal, pushing his sick body too hard, and now he was exhausted with a fever.
“No medicine.” He grunted and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Dad and I are heading up into the mountain today to deliver salt blocks. He can’t go alone and I can’t be drowsy.”
“No way, baby. You’re not going anywhere but back to sleep.” I pushed his shoulders, surprised when he didn’t put up much of a fight. Oh, lordy. That meant he felt even worse than he was letting on.
“Can you just tell Dad that I’ll take the blocks up when I’m feeling better?”
“Yes, I’ll take care of it.” I made him take a heavy dose of cold medicine and left him sleeping as I went in search of his dad.
“Elliot?” I called into the barn.
“What?” he snapped, not bothering to look at me.
This guy was never going to give me a chance, was he? Not that I was surprised by his greeting. After the drama between us at the branding, I doubted Elliot and I would ever get along.
“Silas is sick today so he asked me to tell you that he’d take the blocks up to the mountain when he’s feeling better.”
“Figures,” he muttered, tossing a big brush onto one of the work benches. “Leaves me to do the work alone.”
“He’s really sick.” I was pissed that he’d act this way. Silas was not the type of man to fake an illness to get out of work, and his father, of all people, should know that.
“Ever since you showed up, all he’s been is distracted. Now he’s sick. It’s the end of May, and we’re weeks behind. I can’t afford to wait until he’s better, which means I’ll be making a two-man trip myself today.”
“Silas said you were behind because of the rain,” I argued. Elliot was placing unfair blame and I wasn’t going to let him do that to Silas.
“Whatever,” he muttered. “We’re still behind.”
I pushed out a long breath, dreading what was about to come out of my mouth. “Is it something I could help with?” I had no desire to spend my day with Elliot but it might make Silas’s life easier and give him an extra day to recuperate.
Elliot stared at me for a minute until he started laughing. “You couldn’t do it if you tried.”
Ass. Now I’d do it just to spite him. I’d prove to him that I did belong here and a day of hard work wasn’t going to scare me away. “I guess we’ll see about that. I’ll take Silas’s place.”
His laughter stopped as he sneered. “Stay home. You’re in over your head, city girl.”
My hands fisted on my hips. “Like I said, I guess we’ll see.”
Elliot’s evil grin had me questioning my rash decision but I was too stubborn to give in.
“We’re delivering those.” He pointed to a stack of pink rectangular salt blocks. “The only way to get to the mountain pastures is on horseback.”
I nodded. “Okay. I’ll saddle up Lulu.”
“Lulu’s out in the pasture. You’re on Courage.” His sneer spread and I swallowed hard. Silas and I had been spending a few mornings each week riding but I was still a little uncomfortable around his horse. Courage was just so damn big and intimidating.
But my stubborn streak won out and I walked to the saddles, preparing the one I always used on Lulu.
“Oh, and you can’t use that saddle,” Elliot said. “It’s too small. You have to use Silas’s.”
“Fine,” I clipped and went to Silas’s saddle instead.
While Elliot saddled his horse, I combed Courage and tried to bury my fears. “Courage,” I whispered. “You’re scary, bud. Please be nice to me today. Please?”
It took me five tries to get Silas’s heavy saddle on Courage’s back. The thing weighed at least twice as much as mine and Courage was a good deal taller than Lulu. Frustrated and almost in tears, I’d heaved and given the saddle one last swing with all my might and a loud grunt. Miraculously, I’d managed to get it up high enough to push it the rest of the way onto Courage’s back.
“Thanks,” I told Courage. He hadn’t budged since my earlier confession.
When the saddle was strapped on, I turned around, ready to lead Courage out. Elliot was standing in the middle of the barn with a smug grin aimed my way. That bastard had seen my whole saddle fiasco, but rather than offer me a hand, he’d just watched me struggle.
Don’t let him win. Don’t let him win. Hold that tongue.
“Ready?” I asked with a fake smile.
“Are you?”
Grrr. Was there any manure around? At this point, I’d grab it with my bare hands just for the chance to throw it in his face.
After loading up the trailer with the horses, two mules and the salt blocks, we set off toward the mountains, driving in uncomfortable silence. As Elliot scowled, I stared out my window, wondering what I had gotten myself into. I had a feeling that the saddle incident was just the beginning.
And I was right.
Seven hours later, I climbed back into the truck, utterly miserable. I was in pain, stiff and ready for a good angry cry.
Today, we’d ridden over steep hills and rocky trails deep into the forest. Courage and I had led one pack mule while Elliot and his horse had led another. We’d delivered eight salt blocks to various mountain pastures where about three hundred of the Grants’ cows and calves were spending the summer.
Silas’s saddle had been much too large for me and I’d had to grip it hard with my thighs to stay in place on the rough terrain. I couldn’t see them, but I was sure there were blisters by the seams of my jeans. My arms and shoulders felt like jelly and I had scratches all over my hands from batting away tree branches that hung low over the trails.
My only break today had come from Courage, who must have sensed my misery. Not once had he gone too fast or jumped over the logs that had fallen on the trails like Elliot’s horse had done. He’d just plodded right over them. Regardless of his care, by the end of the trip, even those gentle steps were pure agony.
When Elliot turned off the road and pulled up to the ranch, I sighed with relief. All I had to do was get Courage unsaddled, brushed and settled in his stall. Then I could go inside for a long, hot bath.
“Anything else?” I asked when I was done brushing Courage. Elliot had basically ignored my presence all day and only spoken to me if I had been doing something wrong, so I half expected him to stay quiet.
“No,” he muttered from his horse’s stall. No “thank you” or “good-bye.” Just “no.”
I turned and started walking toward the door. My steps were slow and painful but I managed not to limp or grimace. I’d do that once Elliot was out of sight.
“Felicity?” he called.
I straightened my spine before glancing over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
“He deserves someone better.”
My eyes watered and I turned away so he wouldn’t see my tears. “You’re probably right,” I said, “but I’m not letting him go.”
Elliot scoffed. “Selfish. Just like you always were. Tell me, if he’d come home from Iraq in a body bag, would you have cared?”
Ouch. One tear fell and three took its place. With my chin quivering, I kept walking out of the barn and around the side. When I knew Elliot couldn’t hear me, I covered my mouth to muffle the sob I’d been holding in. Tears poured down my face as I fought to cry in silence.
When I heard the barn door close behind me, I pulled in a few shaky breaths, drying my eyes and then limping through Silas’s door.
“Felicity?”
“Hey,” I said when he appeared in the hallway. “You’re up. Are you feeling better?”
“A little. Where have you been?”
“I went up with your dad to deliver those salt blocks.” I smiled and tried to pretend it was the best day I’d ever had.
His mouth fell open. “What?”
“I’m beat. Do you care if I take a quick bath before making dinner?” I didn’t wait for his answer before slipping into the bathroom and closing the door.
Alone again, the tears came back. My arms protested when I pulled off my army-green tee, I struggled to get my boots off of my swollen feet, and as I slid off my jeans, I couldn’t help but cry out when they peeled away from my thighs.
I bit my lip so Silas wouldn’t hear but his arms were soon wrapped around my chest.
“What’s wrong?”
I sniffled. “My legs are sore.”
“How bad is it?”
“It’s nothing. I’ll be fine,” I lied.
He sighed and let me go, dropping to his knees to help me out of my jeans. As he inspected my thighs, the crease between his eyebrows kept getting deeper. “They’re practically rubbed raw.”
Indeed, my skin was chafed bright red and bleeding slightly in a couple of places, and there was one small blister close to my knee where the seam of my jeans had been rubbing particularly hard.
“Come on.” Silas grabbed my hand and pulled me to the stock-tank bathtub.
While he got the water going, I eased out of my bra and panties. Then, holding his hand to steady myself, I sank into the hot water. Wincing as the water touched my raw skin, I took a few deep breaths until the pain eased away.
“Better,” I sighed and closed my eyes, resting my head against the cool metal edge.
“What happened?” Silas had pulled up a stool and was sitting by my side, gently stroking the side of my face with his thumb.
“Just too many hours in the saddle. It was a long ride and I kept sliding around in the saddle.”
“That saddle fits you perfectly. Why were you sliding around?”
“Well, I had to use your saddle because your dad said mine wouldn’t fit on Courage.”
His hand froze. “You rode Courage today?”
My eyes opened. Silas’s jaw was clenched tightly as he raked his hands through his hair. “Was that wrong? Your dad said that Lulu was in the pasture.”
“She is, but Dad should have gone to get her. No one rides Courage but me. He doesn’t like strangers and we’re damn lucky he didn’t throw you. Something Dad sure as fuck knows.” His head dropped down. “I should have gone today.”
“You’re sick, Silas.” Even after a day of rest, his skin was pale, and he looked exhausted.
He shook his head. “It still should have been me to go up. I don’t like that you could have gotten hurt, and Dad better brace because he went too far.”
Silas’s temper was on the rise. He started shifting on the stool and fisting and un-fisting his hands.
“Hey.” I flicked a few drops of water in his face. His eyes snapped to mine as he wiped them away. “I’m fine and today is not the day to fight about this with your dad. For now, let it go.”
His face went from angry to anguished. “You could have gotten hurt, Lis. And then what would I do?”
My heart melted at his concern. “Hey, I’m okay. If you want to get after your dad about it, I’m not going to stop you. He shouldn’t have put me in danger, but baby, you have to keep your temper under control. All of this arguing back and forth isn’t working. Maybe it’s time to try another tactic.”
He thought about my words for a minute. “Maybe.”
“Courage was actually great today. He was gentle and slow. It was like he knew I was struggling and wanted to make it easier on me.”
“Maybe he knows you’re special.”
I smiled. “Maybe.”
“Did you know I named him after you?”
I jerked in surprise. “You did? Why’d you pick Courage?” I could think of many, many more accurate words to describe myself.
“Do you remember that trip we all took out to the lake when we were kids? The cliff-jumping trip? I think it was right before my junior year.”
I closed my eyes again, relaxing to Silas’s calming, deep voice. “Yeah. That was the summer before I started high school.”
“You were the only girl.”
I opened my eyes and flicked more water. “Something you, Wes and my brother failed to mention until we got there and I saw the entire male population of Prescott High.”
He chuckled. “We knew you wouldn’t have come otherwise.”
“You were right about that. Remember how everyone was just standing around? I thought it was so funny that all these big, tough guys came out to jump in, but no one would.”
“Until Jess. He was the first one to go. Then me. Then Wes.”
My heart had been in my throat that afternoon. Seeing my brother and his two best friends catapult off that rock ledge into the dark water forty feet below had scared me half to death.
“I was so proud when you jumped,” Silas said. “When we were swimming below, we could hear the guys taunting you. Your brother and Wes kept saying that you’d never jump but I just kept my eyes on that cliff. I knew you had the courage to do it, and you did.”
To this day, I couldn’t believe I’d actually jumped. It had been one of the most thrilling and terrifying things I’d ever done.
Silas grazed my cheek with his knuckles. “I remember thinking, ‘That’s my girl.’ I was planning on asking you out that night.”
My eyes opened and blurred with tears. “You were?”
“Yeah, but Wes beat me to it. The asshole knew I was going to do it, and he did it first.”
Another what-if echoed in my head. I was getting really sick of them.
I’d had a crush on Silas back then. I’d only agreed to date Wes because Silas had seemed so far out of my league. Wes had been handsome, and I had been so young, only fourteen at the time, so of course I had said yes when Wes had asked me out. It had never occurred to me that Silas’s sweetness was because he’d seen me as more than just his friend’s little sister.
“When did you get Courage?”
“About six years ago. Right after I got home from the army.”
“And you named him after me? Even though you hadn’t seen me in a decade?”
“Just because you weren’t here, doesn’t mean you weren’t here.” He reached into the water and pulled out my hand. Dripping wet, he pressed it against his heart.
My heart swelled so full of love, the only thing I could say was, “I love you, Silas.”
“I love you too, Lis.”
I relaxed further into the bath but kept my hand on Silas’s chest. With each one of his heartbeats, my aches and pains melted away.