Chapter 10

Early the next morning Annie had coffee and muffins ready when everyone else got up.

“Eat up boys; we have a big day ahead.”

Barney and Walt finished up first and headed out to the barn. “I’ll be out in just a minute,” Spencer called, “I need to return a few phone calls.” Annie took the hint and followed Barney and Papa to the barn. Only a few minutes later Spencer headed out to the barn. Dave was already out there and had started to set things up. Annie was telling him that when he comes to work in the mornings, that he is supposed to come in and have some breakfast with them. He smiled and said ok. The morning went so fast and Dave picked up so quickly that Annie found she was just in the way. Well that was ok; they would need her for the second milking. She weeded some in the garden took the horses to the other pasture. It was beautiful and they could use the extra run. When she got back to the house, everyone had washed up and was getting ready for the rib cook off. But Spencer was mad. She could see it all over his face.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Well what is it?”

“Didn’t I tell you that you could not go anywhere alone? Who went with you to take the horses to the back pasture?”

“I left a note and I’m sure I’m safe on the farm.”

“Are you?” he asked.

“You have to be kidding; the next thing will be that I can’t go to the bathroom alone.”

“Well if I could figure out a way, you wouldn’t.”

“Oh brother!” she said stomping off to wash up. On the drive in to town she was so mad that she sat in the back seat with Barney. At the festival they each ordered a rib sampler and she never spoke through the meal either. Papa could tell she was mad because she had never gone that long without saying something. Spencer couldn’t stand it any longer so he leaned over and whispered that if she didn’t want him to escort her through the crafts, that he would just ask Sheriff Drake to. When Annie looked up, she could see the sheriff was dressed in plain clothes and headed right for them.

“That would be lovely.” She whispered back between clenched teeth.

Spencer was shocked but true to his word. When he asked the Sheriff if he would escort Annie, the Sheriff was delighted to. They strolled off together and Annie never looked back. Spencer was not sure that was the best move he could make but it was done, and he had no real reason not to trust the sheriff. As the day progressed, Spencer spotted Annie several times and she appeared happy and safe. Walt caught him watching and Spencer always responded that it was his job. Walt pulled Spencer over to a group of people and introduced him. One of the women in the group was Beth. She had known Annie most of her life and Beth had been Walt’s head nurse at the hospital.

“Yes, Annie has mentioned you; it is so nice to finally meet you though. Walt introduced Beth’s husband and the rest of the group and Spencer found they were all nice people. He turned just in time to spot Annie and the Sheriff again. Beth followed his look.

“They look good, together don’t they?” Beth asked.

“Excuse me.” Spencer asked.

“Pete and Annie, they look like a good match, don’t they?”

“Well yes, I guess they do.” Spencer said sounding confused.

“I don’t think it’s a big secret, Pete Drake has always had a major crush on Annie. He has always been a little shy with the women, but we knew how disappointed he was when Annie got married in California. He always thought she would come home and then he could tell her how he felt but since she’s been home, I don’t think he has spent any time with her, until today.

The pieces fell together. The Sheriff wasn’t going to hurt her, and he wasn’t working for Ron, he was in love with her and Spencer had just pushed her into his arms. He could see a smile on the Sheriff’s face that he had never seen before. Annie was beaming and they did look good together. Damn, how could he have been so dumb. The Sheriff had sensed that Spencer was more to Annie than a body guard, so he backed off, but now.

“Spencer what’s wrong?” Walt asked.

“Nothing” he lied, “why?”

“Because you look strange, like you’ve been gut kicked.”

“No, don’t be silly, I’m fine.” Spencer said smiling. “What time do we need to head back to the farm?” he asked.

“Oh, I don’t know, pretty soon though, why?’

“I was just thinking that I would walk through some of the crafts before we leave.”

“Ok, we can meet by the clock tower about 4:00.”

“Great, if you see Annie let her know and if I run into her, I’ll tell her. See you later.”

Spencer vanished into the crowd; Walt knew that he would see Annie first, since he hadn’t taken his eyes off her all day. But now Spencer didn’t want to see Annie first. He didn’t want to let her out of his sight, but he didn’t want her to see him watching. At 4:00 he headed to the tower and sure enough Walt was waiting with Annie and the Sheriff.

“Everybody ready to go?” he asked as he approached.

“We sure are, Barney has already headed to the car. Ready Annie?”

“Yes, I am so tired I can’t wait to get to the car. Thanks again for such a nice time.” she said turning to the Sheriff.

“Those sure are pretty earrings you’re wearing Annie; did you get those here?” Spencer asked.

“Yes,” she said, “Sheriff Pete bought them for me.”

“Sheriff Pete.” Spencer said walking away.

The drive home was just as quiet as the drive there.

It was just as well because Annie was in deep thought. Sheriff Pete had shared his feelings with her. She had never for a single moment thought that he felt that way about her. She remembered that when she lived here, he did always seem to be watching her, but she didn’t realize why. Annie knew that she could never take his feelings seriously because of the way she felt about Spencer, but she also knew that someday soon Spencer would be leaving. She was not the kind of woman to use Pete either. His feelings were important to her and she would never use him. She would take his feelings as a friend and see where that led later. He had told her that he was aware that she carried feelings for Spencer because it was obvious, but that he understood her feelings because Spencer was there to protect her. When the danger was gone maybe so would her feelings for Spencer. Annie knew that statement was not true, but she did know that when the danger was gone, then Spencer would be too. She would deal with that when she had too.

Spencer, Barney and Papa went to the barn to start milking. Annie went in the house to start dinner. She had pulled her world-class spaghetti casserole out of the freezer that morning and it was ready to stick in the oven. She put together a salad and made some garlic rolls. The casserole would take about an hour in the oven, so she slipped it in and went out to help with the milking.

They were finished milking just on time. Annie had cleaned the horse stables and fed and watered them, she fed and watered the cats and went in to check dinner. Just as she pulled the casserole out of the oven, she heard Barney and Papa’s voices heading her way.

“Dinner is ready” she called out. In no time they were all washed up and dinner was on the table. Annie and Spencer were still not speaking to each other and it made dinner very uncomfortable.

“Let’s play some cards tonight” Papa suggested.

“Sure, that sounds like fun. I still need to close things up in the barn and the horses are still in the pasture but it’s early.” Spencer said, “How about it Barney?”

“Ok, I guess I’m in, but not all night, this man is a maniac when it comes to cards, he never wants to quit.”

“Annie, we need a fourth.” Barney said.

“Ok, maybe later, I need to make a dessert for the church picnic tomorrow.”

“Well let me help you clean up from dinner and you can get started on that dessert.” Barney said standing up and clearing the table. “Here, you guys can get the cards warmed up.” He said tossing a deck on the table.

Annie had all kinds of things she could make, but she wanted it to be something special. She pulled out some of her favorite recipes, but just couldn’t decide.

“I like that one.” Barney said. “And so does everyone else. Is it hard to make?”

“No, but I always make that.”

“I know and so many of us count on it.”

“What did he pick?” Papa asked.

“Cream Puff Cake.” Annie answered.

“Good choice. I was going to mention peach cobbler.” Papa said.

“I could do both, you know there never seems to be enough desserts at these picnics.”

Annie had the cobbler in the oven even before Barney had the dishes done. She mixed up the Cream Puff bottom and had it ready to hit the oven when the cobbler was finished. The rest could wait till morning. They sat to play cards and she was careful to partner with Papa. They had played six full games of euchre before they even realized how late it had become. Getting up early and getting the milking done before church was never hard but getting everyone showered and cleaned up really pushed it. But they made it with ease. The minister invited everyone to the picnic and thanked everyone who had signed up to bring food. He also wanted to extend a special thank you to the Brownlee family for providing again this year, the hog for the roast. After the service several people from the area came over to greet Annie. People she had known all her life and were glad she was back but nosy for details of why. More than one asked if Spencer was her California husband. She could not say no fast enough, but then there was the explanation of who he was. She always said he was just a friend who came to help out because Papa was hurt. It was sort of true, but Spencer found that he was starting to resent that explanation. They were still not speaking, and it was starting to worry Spencer. After the crowd broke up, everyone went home to change clothes and get their covered dishes. Annie had finished her Cream Puff Cake before church so all they needed to do was pick it up. Barney would be going to the picnic on his own, so they dropped him off at his house. He would meet them at the picnic and then he was going to his mother in laws to get his family.

Annie changed into a sundress before going to the picnic. There was no reason to dress up, but she just wanted to look nice. The picnic took place in the big lot behind the church. They had pony rides for the little ones and volleyball for the big ones. There were tables and chairs set up everywhere and the big shade trees protected everyone from too much sun. There were long tables for the covered dishes and long tables of cold drinks. People were clustering in groups and tables were starting to fill up. Barney stood and waved from a table on the east side of the lot, he had saved them a table for four. Slowly they made their way to him. He had been trying to get their attention but now he was quiet.

“Spencer, why don’t we go get some cold drinks?” he finally said.

“Ok, sure, what does everyone want?”

“Tea would be great.” Papa said.

“Yea, tea.” Annie responded.

Annie watched as Barney and Spencer walked away. Barney was telling him something and then they stopped. Barney nodded out by the road and Spencer scanned the area. When they came back Spencer seemed different. He was all smiles and happy and yuck. Whatever made him happy only made her mad. She was still angry with Spencer and he couldn’t be happy again until she was. Ok, kind of childish, so she gave in.

Quietly she asked Spencer what was going on.

He looked into her eyes, it took everything in him not to take her in his arms and run.

“Barney thinks he spotted one of those guys that Ron had watching you. He was parked by the road when Barney got here, but he’s gone now. I know I promised not to put you in any danger, but I really think it’s time we do something to get Ron to make his move. You said you thought he would come after you himself, so let’s set a trap.”

“What kind of a trap, what can we do to make Ron come after me?” Annie asked.

“Well I’ve been giving this a lot of thought and I think I have a plan, but we need to talk about it.”

“Am I interrupting something?” the Sheriff asked.

Annie looked up with the prettiest smile on her face.

“Hi Pete, want to join us?” She asked.

“Sure, I’ll just borrow a chair from over here.” he said adding another chair to their table.

A small group had started playing music at one end and the crowd just continued to grow. Within an hour the long tables were full of food and the dinner was ready to start. The minister said a prayer of thanks, said how happy he was to see such a good turn out and ask Lucy Warwil, the churches eldest member to begin the meal. Lucy has walked with a cane for over 5 years, so it was no surprise that several people had to help her but once she was seated, the feast began. The line was long, but they were only back about half way. Pete walked with Annie and Spencer fell behind. He didn’t want to mess things up for her if she was really interested in Pete, besides as he had pointed out so many times, he was there to protect her not date her. That revelation hit him hard. Pete was an ok guy, but he couldn’t get past his own feelings for Annie. The dinner was terrific, and the hog was done to perfection. After dinner the music continued, and some games began. There was horseshoes and volleyball; several people started dancing in the parking lot. As the afternoon went on there were even people making old fashion ice cream. Small town living sure had a way of growing on you. One of the girls who worked at the diner came over and asked Spencer to dance. They took a few spins on the makeshift dance floor and then went over to try the ice cream. Barney and Papa excused themselves and went to sit with some old friends. Papa had his deck of cards and so the game began. That left Annie and Pete sitting alone under a big oak tree. Spencer watched from a distance and in turn Annie watched him. Annie and Pete looked to be having a serious talk, so Spencer stayed away. When Pete got up and walked away Spencer headed back her way, as he walked past the table that Walt and Barney were at, Barney called to him.

“Spencer, get over here and sit in for me, this crazy old fool won’t take a break so I can use the men’s room.”

“Ok, but just a few minutes.” But when Spencer looked back at Annie, Pete was rejoining her with tall, fresh glasses of iced tea, and she was smiling brightly at him. Spencer’s heart sank.

Barney was back before Spencer hardly had time to sit down.

“Back already?”

“Yes, they are.” Barney said giving Spencer that look.

“They are?”

“Yea, parked right where they were before.”

“Break time” Walt announced, “Why don’t we take a five-minute restroom break.” Walt said standing up and following Spencer.

“Walt, what are you doing?”

“I’m going with you; you may need help.”

“Thank you, Walt, that’s nice but I’m not even sure what I’m going to do yet, I’m just checking out the situation.”

“Ok but I’m right here if you need me.”

Spencer was touched. He had been acting like Walt was a helpless old man who needed his protection too, when in fact; he was a smart, brave man who had just been injured. If he wasn’t there, Walt probably could have handled this whole situation, so far. But that so far, was what kept nagging at Spencer. As he circled around so the goons wouldn’t spot him, he had to wonder what Ron was really up to. The man was cunning and from reports, ruthless, but so far, he had played this like a game. There they were, just sitting there watching the crowd. Maybe they were waiting for an invitation to join the fun. Spencer had half a notion to just walk up and invite them in, but then he really didn’t want to start trouble at church or give them any more reason to gossip about Annie. They had to get this mess cleaned up so he could move on; he had already been here a lot longer then he planned. Most of the time, he wrapped cases like this up in only a few weeks; he was past that dead line now. They were harmless enough, but he needed to get a plan going to trap Ron, clean up this mess and let Annie get on with her life. Spencer rejoined the party and headed for Annie’s table.

“I’m sorry to interrupt but we need to talk.” Annie and Pete had been laughing when Spencer approached and the truth of the matter was, he wasn’t sorry to interrupt.

“Hi Spencer, what’s up?” Annie asked.

“Ron’s friends are back, parked out front and watching. We need to put a plan in to action. I have an idea but like I said before we need to talk about it.”

“Ok, but why so serious, you make it sound like you’re planning to dangle me from a stick like a carrot.”

“I am.”

“What?” Pete said standing up and facing Spencer.

“Well it isn’t as bad as that, but she will be the bait.” Spencer sat and faced Annie.

“Look honey, I know I said I would never put you in danger, but this plan is dangerous, and we have to be honest about it. Nothing we have done so far has helped to put Ron away, he has just been playing with us and I have let it go on too long. Let’s get this guy so you can go on with your life. I do promise that I will not let him hurt you ever again, but there will be some danger.” Annie looked into his eyes. She trusted him, he would not let Ron ever hurt her again, but she was afraid. She had to do this, she wanted her life back and Spencer deserved his back too. Since the day he arrived she had used him. He was her ranch hand, her bodyguard and her confidant. He treated her like a friend and more, but she knew it was time to move on.

“What’s your plan?” she asked.

Sheriff Pete sat back down and waited.

“We want Ron to come after you, right?”

“No. Ok I know what you mean, and I guess we do.”

“What would it take to get him to blow off the grand jury and just do it?”