Page 48 of The Cowboy's Second Chance Bride

“Start texting people and let them know what’s going down. Start with Meredith. She can text people over there, and maybe they’ll drive over. I’ll put it on the website and send out notifications.” She reached for her bag and laptop.

We had a plan and were putting it into action.

At three in the afternoon, Cal stood in front of a crowd of fifty or more, a mix of all ages and genders. Cricket had been right. People from neighboring towns had driven over to attend the class. I was excited to watch Cal do his thing. I wanted to know this other side of him. He was dressed casually in dark jeans, running shoes, and a blue jacket over a gray T-shirt. He looked almost nondescript, and I wondered if that was by design.

Cal explained who he was and what he did. He talked briefly about the app and how they could use it for personal safety. Then he ran through some scenarios and asked the crowd how they would respond. This got them really engaged.

“What do you do when it’s nighttime, and you hear something outside?”

“Make sure it’s not a bear!” someone hollered.

“Once you rule out that it’s not a bear,” Cal said. “Because sitting there paralyzed and waiting to see what happens may not be the best response. What do you do when you’re walking to your car, and it looks like you’re alone, but you can sense someone nearby? Or how about when the person walking toward you gives you a bad vibe?”

“What exactly is a bad vibe?” a guy in the row behind Sabrina asked.

“All the women in this room know what I mean about a bad vibe. Intuition. We develop that over time, but society has a way of trying to make people feel bad for listening to it. Often, women ignore that bad vibe because they feel their response isn’t socially acceptable. Let me give you a few examples.” He walked over to a woman in scrubs. “Ever have to stay late at work with a coworker you distrust? Or work with someone whose ego does not accept ‘no’? And your gut keeps you on high alert?”

She nodded.

He moved to a young girl, a high school student. “Ever feel pressured to take a drink from someone you don’t know or who gives you the creeps? Or maybe you feel pressured to get into a car with a friend of a friend, despite feeling uneasy.” She nodded and swiped a finger under her eye as if Cal had struck home with that one, bringing her to tears.

He stood near a middle-aged man. “Ever tell your kids to give someone a hug, like a relative they barely know, and they resist but you make them? That’s teaching them to ignore their instincts. That’s teaching them that being uncomfortable is just something they have to live with. And it’s not.” He moved back to look at the crowd. “When I was a young teen, my dad’s mother passed away. At the funeral, he made my sister and I go up and kiss her goodbye. It was open casket.”

Only a few people in the group gasped. One person called out, “Yeah, but that’s creepy because she was dead.”

Cal nodded. “Yep, that was part of it. The other part was that my grandmother was a mean-spirited woman. She looked for reasons to hit us. Even animals avoided her. My mom said the first time my grandmother held me, I wailed uncontrollably. Same for my sister. That’s intuition. There’s an observation part to that as well, but I’ll get to that. My point is if your first reaction is to back up, say no, or run—listen to it.”

He walked over to a mother who was cradling a baby. “Ever been loading up groceries and strangers come to help?”

She nodded and smiled. “All the time. People in this town are so kind.”

“Ever been worried about it? Ever got a bad feeling as it was happening?”

She shook her head. “Of course not.”

“What would you do if you did?”

She shrugged.

“That happened to me,” another woman said. “I was in the city and stopped by a big-box store. I had my kids with me, and this guy, I had seen him in the store and felt like he was following me. But that made no sense. Why would he do that? He checked out when I did. At my car, he stopped to offer to help me unload. I didn’t know what to do. Should I let him while I put my kids in the car?” The woman rubbed up and down her arms as if remembering he was giving her the creeps. “I said ‘No, thanks,’ but he insisted, said he knew how hard it was to do these thing with kids, and he just wanted to help. If the couple in the truck next to us hadn’t come out, I don’t know what I would have done. The stranger loaded my car but didn’t leave, and I had two littles still sitting in the cart. Thankfully, the gentleman next to us heard me telling the stranger thanks and that I could take it from here. I’ll admit I said it pretty loud.” She paused to take a breath.

Someone from the crowd asked, “What happened next?”

The woman crossed her arms and gave a shiver. “He wouldn’t leave, and I just got scared, so I told him that. I said, ‘Thanks for the help, but you are making me uncomfortable.’ That’s when the guy next to us turned his attention to me. He asked if I needed help. Thank the Lord he was a big guy too. The stranger took off. The couple watched me load the kids and gave me a piece of paper with the stranger’s make, model, and license number. They told me to drive around a few times to make sure he wasn’t following me before I went home. All I could think about was how there are stretches on the road home that are long and not a town or house for miles. Sometimes you’re lucky if you see another car. I was really scared. Truthfully, I didn’t know what to do.” She shrugged, palms up, looking uncertain, and the woman next to her gave her a hug.

Cal gave her a warm smile. “You did a few things right. And you did nothing wrong. You spoke up. You were loud. You called him out. You got his vehicle information. If you ever find yourself in that situation, listen to your gut. As you’re checking out, tell the cashier your observations and fear. Sometimes they’ll call a manager, and that person will escort you out. Sometimes you can wait at the customer-service desk for the creep to leave. Typically, a good manager will make sure the creeper has driven away before escorting you out. Any decent person would. Better to look foolish than to be dead or sexually assaulted.”

This went on for a few more examples. The crowd was entranced. Cal was good at what he did. He was genuine. He didn’t make people feel bad about their reactions. He simply explained the alternatives and backed them up with real stories. There was a case in Wisconsin about a woman being attacked in a parking garage. He quoted sexual-assault statistics. He wasn’t fearmongering but fact laying.

He was powerful, and he had found his calling. Cal had gone to law school because that was what his dad wanted, and Cal needed to take over the family business. He’d never seemed happy with the choice, just matter-of-fact about it. But this man here, he loved what he did. He came alive. I now saw why saving this app was so important and why we needed one like it. If everyone who was interested in the app could spend half an hour with Cal, there would be no hesitation to join. No issues with trust. He genuinely cared about people.

“Let’s talk about awareness. Ever heard of the Color Code of Awareness? It was created by a former marine colonel Jeff Cooper, and it describes the different states of alertness.”

A few vets in the crowd raised their hands.

“White, yellow, orange, and red. Right now most of you are in white. Totally unaware. Prime targets for a surprise or attack. You aren’t paying attention to your surroundings.” He explained the other colors.

“Let’s get into some basic self-defense.” He pointed to the woman who had shared her story. “You’re on a run or you’re at the store. Or maybe you’re coming off a bad date, and the person will not leave. What do you do?” He took off his jacket and tucked it into a duffel bag, then walked over to me, extending his hand. “Will you be my assistant?”

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