Page 18 of Caleb’s Cause (Broken Wheel Ranch #12)

“Over, and it’s been that way for a long time,” Katherine snorted a laugh.

“I know this isn’t a laughing matter, but they’ve only been together for roughly six years, married for three.

I think she only married him because she was lonely.

While I was still little, and in school, it was just the two of us, then I left for college, and after that, she mentioned him.

I can’t say I hated him the first time I met him, but I can say I tolerated him.

” She shrugged as she looked off to the side.

“I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something about him that always rubbed me the wrong way.

It was like he sat back and studied both Mom and me, like we were specimens under a microscope. ”

“Okay, we’ll get into that, but what about their day-to-day marriage?”

“Oh, Mom worked as a lawyer, Larry would say he worked, but he had nothing to show for it. However, I do remember I walked into one fight when Mom said if he didn’t contribute to the bills he made there, then he could get the hell out of her house.

He looked up, saw me standing there, and told me that is was disrespectful walking into his house uninvited.

I laughed at him, and Mom told him that I had more rights to be in her house than he did.

He got pissed and stormed out. Mom then cancelled the cable service.

” She shook her head as she remembered. “As she did, she shoved the bill in my hand. It turned out that Larry had signed up for every single pay channel there was. HBO, Netflix, you name it, he had it, oh, and there were several charges of pay-preview boxing fights. The bill I saw was almost six hundred dollars.”

“Damn, that’s a lot.”

“Yeah, and all Mom was asking was for him to pay for what was his. He ordered all of those. Mom never watched TV and if I wanted to watch something, I had the apps on my iPad.” She shook her head and got up to get more coffee for everyone.

She sat back down and looked directly at Duane.

“Again, probably too much information, but that was the weekend that Larry moved into one of the spare bedrooms, and from that point on, they were cordial to one another. I would say more like roommates but without any benefits. Before she sent me away, I asked why she stayed. She said that she’s trying to gather more information.

I told her not to do anything stupid. So, to answer your question, I believe, deep in my heart, it was more of a marriage of convenience than anything else.

” She sipped her coffee and looked at Duane over the rim of her cup.

“However, I wouldn’t put it past Larry to somehow put a tracker on Mom.

Whether on her car, or in her purse or briefcase. ”

“Holy shit,” Duane said and immediately pulled his phone, and rushed out of the cabin.

He returned ten minutes later and nodded.

“I contacted Grayson about that possibility, and briefly discussed what you said about the plane. We’re going to meet him Sunday afternoon up in Colorado Springs. He wants to talk to you personally.”

“We who?”

“You, Laurie, and me. We will be a family going shopping.” He wrinkled his nose at Laurie when he laughed.

“She pointed out to me that you need clothes. I know you have the cash, but I don’t want to bring unwanted attention to us by flashing all of that around.

Laurie and I agreed she would use her credit card, and you can pay her back when we return. ”

“I don’t want to put anyone out.”

“Trust me, you won’t.”

“I’m going,” Caleb blurted out and shrugged at their looks. “Family outing, meeting the daughter’s boyfriend.”

“Ah, got it.”

They made plans for that day, and once they left, Caleb looked at her intently. “How do you feel about all this?”

“I just want to make sure Mom is safe.” Before she could continue, the door opened, and Duane stood there with a gigantic grin on his face.

“What?”

“You were right. There was an agent already in the office talking with Lyle, he went to your mother and explained what we said. She immediately handed over her purse and briefcase to the agent. He found a bug in the briefcase, it was like someone just dropped it in. Wait, sorry, it was her laptop case.”

“Great, but why the grin?” Katherine asked in confusion.

“Grayson is sending a female agent to your mother’s office to retrieve it, and her orders are to go shopping all over Los Angeles.” He shook his head with the grin. “This agent will be made up to look like your mother from a distance.” The three of them laughed and he quickly left.

“Now what?” Katherine asked with a heavy sigh as she rose from the table and quickly dispensed with the dishes into the washer. She wiped her hands and turned to Caleb.

“Now, we go over to the barn, and I pass you off to Naomi.” He grinned when she gave that cute wrinkle in her nose again. “Not a fan of barn work?”

“No. Don’t get me wrong, I won’t not do as I’m told, it’s the least I can do in order to hide out here, but I’m really an inside girl and I really miss my job.”

“What did you do?”

“I was the manager for a local business. I did the books, made small reservations, made sure everyone was doing their job, and put out any fires that might crop up. There wasn’t any one thing I did all the time. It was a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“What can you tell me about what I’m going to be doing?

” she asked as she sat on the chair to put her own shoes on, then looked at him in shock.

“Remind me to purchase some boots while we go shopping on Sunday.” As she finished getting dressed, Caleb grabbed the pad of paper from the center of the table and wrote down a few things, then left it there.

When they went outside, Caleb almost ran into her when she stopped suddenly at the top of the stairs. “Holy shit, is this a town?”

Caleb laughed as he helped her down the stairs and to the car. “No, this is Broken.”

“Broken?”

“The Broken Wheel Ranch. We’re five miles from the main house, and as you just saw, those cabins are where the men and women you met the other day, live.

That large cabin and this one are the only ones that have four-bedrooms each.

These are used for guests.” Before he opened the car door for her, he took her hand, and tightened his grip when he felt a tingle, and pulled her along beside him.

They were on the backside of the cabin, and he used his arm to point out over the area.

“Scott and Manny are in charge of building more cabins for everyone. Over at New Double, that’s where Uncle Ry, sorry, Ryan is building more cabins for the workers there. ”

“How many workers are there?”

“Unfortunately, not enough. There are four taking care of almost thirty horses, and Erin would like at least a dozen more people. It’s hard with the background checks.”

“Why?” They headed back to the car, and climbed in.

“People aren’t agreeing to them, or if they do, they don’t pass. Don’t quote me on this, but I believe that out of the last six applications, four of them were arrested for outstanding warrants.”

“Damn, that’s bad.” She nodded as he started the car and slowly drove to a gigantic barn. When he parked the first thing she saw was a man playing ball in the fenced area beside the gigantic red barn. She didn’t know if that caused her to smile, or the steam coming off the grass as the sun hit it.

“You’re here early,” Caleb called out to the man who had just tossed a ball, and smiled when the horse kicked it back. He looked at Katherine when she joined him. “That’s Reid, the man, and that’s Katie, the horse.”

“Oh my god, a horse plays ball?”

“Yes,” Reid said as he tossed it again, and watched as the horse ran after it.

“It’s not only good exercise for her, but also for me.

I know you told us your story when you first arrived, but you don’t know all of our stories.

I’m sure if you stay here, you’ll eventually hear them, but if I could get you to understand something first, then I think you’ll work out well here. ”

“What’s that?”

“Just remember that with every person comes a story of how they got to where they are in life now. Think of your own story. You’re here because your life is in danger for what someone else did to you and others.”

“Okay, I understand that.”

“Good, then please understand that all the horses here at Broken have a story too.” At her confused look, he laughed when he was hit in the back of the head by the ball, turned, took it, and then threw it for the horse to run after.

“Katie was abused by her former owner. That owner did time in jail for his mistreatment of her. When Erin got her, she was depressed. Yes, she would eat and drink, but she never ran, she never even picked her head up. One day, I was standing in the middle of the aisle trying to remember what I was supposed to do, because I sure as shit didn’t know anything about horses, when I was almost knocked flat on my face. ”

“What happened?”

“Katie. She was behind me and she nudged me with her head. I didn’t think, I reached out and found a ball, it was in sad shape, dirty, patched, and was almost completely deflated.

I threw it outside, and imagine my surprise when she brought it back to me.

I went out and played with her. Little did I know that Erin and Tom were watching.

Tom, he’s the vet, had come to talk to Erin about putting Katie on anti-depression medication. ”

“Holy smokes.”

“Yep, she doesn’t need it now, and I come over here definitely once, sometimes twice a day for two hours to play with Katie.

I’m here early today because I have things to do over at Erin’s Way, but no matter how busy I am, I will always make time for her.

” He held out his hand, then patted his chest, and the horse stepped up and rubbed her head into his chest, then actually kissed him on the cheek as she turned and walked away.

Reid looked at Katherine and Caleb with a grin.

“That’s my signal, patting my chest, that I’m done for the day.

If she rubs her head on my chest, then she’s fine with it. ”

“What happens if she’s not?”

“She’ll run away and refuses to play.” He laughed as he leaned in.

“Don’t tell her, but she gets in a snit.

So, Katherine, everyone has a story, whether it’s human, equine, canine, or feline.

They all have a story. I just wanted you to know that before you entered the barn, because the ladies and men inside are still working with some of them to get them to come out of their shells.

Don’t expect that if you put your hand out, they will come running to receive affection from you. ”

“I have to earn that affection and trust from them.”

“Exactly.” Reid nodded and looked up and nodded with his head. “Looks like they’re waiting for you.”

Katherine turned and saw several women waiting for her, and before she took a step forward, Reid whispered. “It’s okay if you don’t remember our names for a few days.”

“Thank you,” Katherine said on a sigh, looked at Caleb and took the first step forward.