Page 40 of Falling For Her Cowboy
“I know, Dad,” she whispered.
She held Theo’s gaze until he disappeared behind the doors. She wasn’t going to back down from him.Not ever again. He’d thought he’d intimidate her through the entire trial, but he’d failed.
Melah blinked and came back to the present. The sheriff’s vehicle stopped. Buck walked over to it and met the officer who stepped from the truck. She inhaled sharply, prepared to answer all of his questions.
If this was Theo, he was going to wish he’d forgotten her.
“What they calling a meeting for?” Trent muttered, coming to stand next to Melah.
She already knew what it was for, but she shrugged. Andy and Buck had sent out a message to all the hands who were working that day to stop at the barn for an important meeting before they left.
She eyed the group of about thirty who gathered around. Everyone had the look of working a hard day. It had been a long one. Melah would love to take a soak in a hot bath, but unfortunately, the bunkhouse only had showers. Today, she had brought Daisy out and she had done amazing on her foot. There was no limp, and she’d jumped right into work when it was time to move cattle to another area.
“We aren’t going to keep you. We know today was hard, and I’m sure you’re ready to get the hell up out of here,” Buck said.
Chuckles went around the group. Some of the hands were permeant employees, but most were like her and Aimee. Former servicemen and women who needed help. She eyed them and saw a few men from her therapy group. Seeing their faces reminded her that they had another session scheduled for tomorrow. She wasn’t going to miss it.
“Is something wrong, boss man?” a thick drawl called out from the back of the crowd.
“We just want to alert everyone that there has been a security breach at the women’s bunkhouse. Now I’m not going to go into too many details unless the ladies want to share, but someone broke into their house,” Andy announced.
Silence fell across the group. Where there had been small, quiet conversations going on before, they all ceased. Tension rose in the air.
“Was anything stolen?” Ethan’s gaze landed on her through the throng of people.
Aimee was standing not too far behind her.
“No, nothing was stolen.” Melah tilted her chin upward. She refused to show weakness. She didn’t know every person who worked the ranch, but ifAndy and Buck believed it had to be someone from the outside, then she’d listen to them. “But I promise you, this will be the last time they enter our house unannounced.”
“They sure as shit won’t be walking out,” Aimee chimed in.
Tense chuckles went around at her comment.
But she wasn’t joking, and neither was Melah.
Melah was a deadly shot. She had earned plenty of awards for her marksmanship, and even deployed, her shot always hit its mark.
“If you ladies need anything, don’t hesitate to call,” Trent said.
In her short time on the ranch, she had already felt Trent would be a person she could call a friend. She jerked her head in a nod at his offer.
“Want some of us to do walk throughs at night for the next couple of days?” someone else offered.
Other suggestions were made, and it warmed Melah’s heart. Andy’s words came back to her.
You are one of us, and we protect our own here.
“What do you think?” Aimee asked. She came to stand next to Melah.
She didn’t have an issue with any of the guys driving by at night to ensure everything was safe and sound for them.
“I’m good with it if you are,” she said.
“A few days should be fine, just to ensure whoever this fucker is don’t come back,” Aimee announced.
“Don’t worry about wondering if we’ll lose sleep.” Trent smirked. He ran fingers through his hair. “I can’t even remember the last time I got a full night’s rest.”
“Same,” other men muttered.
