Page 20 of The Earl's Wrangler
Sawyer shook his head.Maybe these people would leave him alone.
Alan came in with George right behind him.Sawyer hated that he had brought all this trouble here.This was something none of these folks should have to deal with.
“This is Alan and his husband, George,” Sawyer explained.
Jase nodded and they sat down.
Alan spoke first.“What do we need to do to keep Sawyer and everyone here safe?My men all have guns, and they know how to use them.If these people trespass, we can take them out.”Damn, Alan was as wound up and serious as Sawyer had ever seen him.
“The biggest thing you can do is show these guys you’re strong when they show up.Make sure they know that trying to come after you is going to be a hell of a lot of trouble.”
“Is that all the advice that you have?”Alan asked.“These people have no right to come here or demand anything.We have made the sheriff aware of the possibility of trouble, and he’s going to be on the lookout.This is a small town, and I somehow doubt that they are going to receive any support or cover from anyone here.”
“That’s better than I had expected.”
“The sheriff will give them my father if he gets the chance, but that’s between the two of them.”Sawyer swallowed as another notion occurred to him.“Do you think my father will just ‘disappear’ and never be seen again?”
Jase shrugged.“I don’t know.I was asked to come here and give you an honest assessment of the situation.”
Footsteps hurried in from the kitchen, and everyone turned.Chip almost skidded to a halt, his eyes huge.“What’s this?Did I miss a family meeting or something?”He looked at everyone in turn.“Is this about Sawyer’s dad?I saw him in town this morning.”His eyes grew wider.“He had a black eye and was walking funny.I think someone beat him up pretty bad.”
“They know where he is, and they’ve most likely given him a deadline.”
Sawyer groaned.“Which means he’s going to get more and more desperate.”Great, just what he needed.More trouble.“And it means we can expect to see him pretty soon.When it comes to saving his own skin, he isn’t going to stop trying to get to me.”
“You have plenty of people behind you,” Randall said quietly.
“Yes, you do,” Alan told him.“What can you do to help?”he added to Jase.
“I was asked to provide an assessment, and if I’m honest, I could bring in a number of people to beef up security and turn the ranch into a fortress.It’s all a matter of the resources that you want to put into it.But that may be massive overkill.I’d like to stay for a few days if you’re agreeable and keep an eye on things.I’d also like to see if I can find out who they are.So far we’ve talked about them as nameless, faceless people.Once we know who we’re looking for, we might be able to see them coming.It would be stupid of them to cause enough trouble that they bring extra attention to themselves.”
“They were foolish enough to let my father bet on credit, so they aren’t the brightest bulbs on the string.”
“See what you can dig up.If we’re going to have to fight, then we need to know who we’re taking on.From there we can devise a plan to keep everyone safe.Because damn it all, this is really starting to piss me off,” Alan said.
“Me too,” Randall whispered from next to him before he placed his hand on Sawyer’s.
“DO YOUreally think I should just sit here and do nothing?”Sawyer asked once everyone had left the meeting.Jase had said that he was going to try to perform some additional research.
“I know this: there is strength in numbers.So let Jase do his job, and we’ll do ours, which is making sure that everyone on this ranch is safe,” Alan told him, holding his gaze until Sawyer nodded.“Good man.”Then he exited the room, leaving Sawyer and Randall alone.
“I feel so helpless.”And that went against everything in his nature.He liked being in control of his life, and this was the exact opposite.Without thinking, he leaned against Randall.
“Sometimes we all need help,” Randall said softly.“You know I hate talking about this, but after my dad would beat me for whatever he thought I had done, I used to hide in my room for days because I didn’t want anyone to know.I’d take food from the kitchen and eat in there just so no one would see me.Once I could cover the hurt, then I’d come out and act like everything was normal.I was so ashamed of what had happened, like his actions were my fault.”
Sawyer nodded slowly.“Yeah, I get that.”
“This is not your fault any more than I was responsible for what my deranged father did.He was sick in a lot of ways.But I let him make me feel guilty.You can’t do that.The only way to stop it is to stand up to him.”
“Did you ever do that?”
Randall nodded.“I did.Just before he died.He was drunk and angry.He came after me with the strap, but this time I grabbed it from him.I yanked it away and refused to give it back, and when he came at me this final time, I swung it low and got him in the legs.He went down, yowling like an idiot.I swung at him once more, getting him across the back.My father hit the floor and passed out.I don’t even think he remembered what happened when he came to.But the strap was gone.I burned it, and then I went back to school.I never saw him again, and just after I turned eighteen, he died and I inherited the estate, the title, and the responsibilities that he had largely been shirking for years.”
“Yeah, I get it.I really do.”He rested his head on Randall’s shoulder.“Some people were never meant to be parents.People have to be approved to adopt a dog from a shelter, but anyone can have a kid.”
“Yeah.Well… I guess all we can do is our best with the situation we’re given.”
“Yeah.We take it one day at a time.”
