Chapter 5

Spencer’s definition of ‘free of Ron’ was somewhat different from everybody else’s but they didn’t need to discuss that.

“But what if everything doesn’t work out? You’re not putting Annie in danger. She has been through enough; I won’t let you get her hurt.”

“Mr. Geyer, I can promise you that no one will hurt Annie. I will protect her. I would never do anything to put her in danger.” Spencer took her hand and she turned to look at him. The trust he found in her eyes was surprising. After all she had been through it was hard to believe that she would ever trust again. Her smile warmed his heart. When he answered her smile with one of his own, his dimple showed and she touched it gently with her finger, moving closer than necessary. The room was definitely getting warmer. “When I promised to take care of your girls, I meant all of them.” Keeping Annie’s hand in his, he turned to face Walt, “And speaking of your girls, I think it’s time we get heading that way. Milking time will be soon, and we want to keep on schedule. I promised Annie we could stop to pick up some plants and I always keep my promise.”

Walt studied Spencer.

“We really do need to go Papa. I’ll call you tonight. I need to get back before Barney gets there.” Leaning in to give Walt a kiss goodbye, she whispered, “I trust him, don’t worry.”

As they climbed in his truck, Spencer spotted Ron’s guys. He nudged Annie and looked their way. When she tensed up, he covered her hand with his and gave her a gentle squeeze.

“Let’s go buy some plants, shall we?” he asked.

“Sounds good to me,” she said trying to smile.

The greenhouse was busy with everyone getting an early jump on their gardens. The weather was just perfect to get things in the ground and one thing Annie learned as a small child was, the weather changed quickly from day to day and when you had a good one, put your garden in. She and Walt had always had a huge garden. Walt loved to work the soil, Annie loved to plant. Walt would pick the crops and Annie would put them up. She loved canning and freezing what they had grown all summer, knowing that they would feast on it all winter. They usually would freeze the fruit they grew, and Annie would go to the farmer’s market to buy the fruit she used in her jams and jellies. She had always loved the fall for so many reasons but the canning and jelly making was one of her favorites. Her thoughts then moved to last fall and how she had gone to California before harvest. Her life had been perfect until Angelina had called that day, so much had changed.

“Annie,” Spencer said again, realizing she had drifted off into thought. “Do you want a wagon to put the plants in?” he asked. She was still looking at him, but he wasn’t sure anything was registering with her.

“Annie, how many plants do you plan to buy? Will we need a wagon?” he asked again.

“No, no, we need a cart with shelves, a wagon isn’t big enough.” she finally answered.

“Just how many plants are you planning to buy?”

“A lot” she said walking toward the vegetables. I need flowers for around the house plus I need all my garden veggies. Walt and I always have a grand garden” she said smiling.

“But Annie, if you aren’t staying, why go to all this trouble and expense?”

“Because I am staying. This is my home; I should never have left it and now I have to fight to get it back. I belong here.” She picked the plants with Spencer’s help, he knew more about gardening then she would have believed, he even talked her into buying some veggies he liked, even though they both knew he wouldn’t be there to eat them. She paid for the items and they headed home. As they turned down Buttercup Lane, another truck turned in behind them. Annie turned to look, it was Barney. Sloan was standing at the edge of the lane when they pulled up.

“What took you so long little brother, I was starting to get worried?”

“Sorry. Annie’s visit with Walt just took a little longer than we thought.”

“Was it a good visit?” he asked.

“Yes, and successful too.” he added with a smile.

“If you are asking if I told Walt about Ron, then the answer is yes, at least most of it.” Annie said.

The second truck stopped, and Barney got out and walked their way.

“Hi Annie, it sure is good to see you.” Barney said giving her a hug.

“Good to see you too, Barney this is Spencer and his brother Sloan, they are good friends of mine and are helping me out of this little mess” she said.

“Annie you know I’m really sorry about Walt. If I had stayed maybe, he wouldn’t have been hurt. I don’t blame you if you don’t want me back.”

“I don’t blame you for any of this, this is my fault. You did what you had to do to protect your family; you didn’t have to come back.”

“Yes, I did, Connie reminded me that Walt is my family too. We are closer than brothers and he has never treated me like a hired hand. You are like one of my own kids and how could I leave you two here to get through this alone?”

“I’m really glad you feel that way because it’s milking time and we sure can use your help.”

“Good, I’ll move the cows in to the parlor and get the first group started” Barney offered.

“Ok, Spencer will you feed them, and I’ll get the grader and scrape the barn.”

“What can I do?” Sloan asked.

“I thought you would like to rest before your flight.” Annie offered, “You were working the whole time we were gone.”

Before Sloan could object, Spencer suggested he unload the truck.

“Ok, I can handle that, where do you want everything?”

Annie said he could just put the flowers by the back porch and drive the truck around to the garden and unload the rest there. Annie quickly graded the empty side of the barn and then ran in to put something on for dinner. Dinner tonight would be a pre-made frozen meatloaf with baked potatoes and she would heat a veggie dish closer to dinner. When she went back out the other side of the barn was empty, so she graded it. She went in and worked on the computer for a while till she looked up and spotted Sloan standing in the doorway.

“All done?”

“I have been. I helped Spencer feed the cows in the back two barns and helped Barney milk a few cows. The reason I’m here is because I found a hand tiller in the shed by the mower and wondered if I could till for you?”

She went over and gave him a hug, “You are so sweet. I know this is a job for your brother but why are you going to so much trouble for me?”

“Let’s just say I have my reasons.”

She just stood there looking at him. When he realized that she expected more he wasn’t sure how to respond.

“I come from a close family, we just do things for each other, there is no reason, we just do.” Sloan hoped that she would take his statement like he was doing this for Spencer; it was too early for him to explain that he thought she would be a part of his family someday. Spencer wasn’t even ready too considerate yet; Annie would definitely need more time.

Looking at her watch she turned off the computer.

“We still have some time till dinner and maybe if we work the garden together, we can get a good start.”

They worked for an hour and did get a big section tilled and mounded. The garden was a big one and it would take lots of work to finish the tilling before she could plant but Annie had never been afraid of hard work. As they walked back to the house, Annie stopped Sloan.

“Thanks again, for everything.” He only smiled. “Maybe when you come back, I’ll have it planted,” she said hopefully.

Spencer was sitting on the swing on the back porch when they got there. He was all showered and was drinking a beer.

“What took you two so long? He asked giving Sloan a look of concern.

“There’s just a lot of work to be done and since I’m not a farm boy, it takes me a little longer.”

“Not a farm boy my fanny, did he ever tell you where we were raised?” Spencer asked Annie.

“No, I don’t think we ever talked about it. Why?”

“We grew up on a ranch in Texas. So, he is a farm boy.”

“Not technically little brother, ranching is different than farming if you remember correctly; you and I ran the cattle. Jamie and Parker got to do most of the farm stuff. Even Chase and Cole helped out too, didn’t they?”

“Yea, they helped out too. But I could never figure out where those two came from, they couldn’t tell a pig from a cow. They messed up more than they helped. We used to joke that they would have to marry rich women because neither would ever be able to hold down a job.”

“Yea and now look at them. They sure make you proud, don’t they?”

“I guess we all had our own hidden talents that just didn’t come out till we were grown.”

“Thank God!” The two men laughed like there was an unspoken joke.

“I’m going to put on some carrots to steam so if you want to shower Sloan, you’ll have plenty of time.”

“Go on, I’ll save you a cold beer and we can catch up when you’re done.”

When Sloan came back through the kitchen it smelled heavenly. The table was set, and the carrots were still steaming. Annie had just put a plate of sliced tomatoes and onions on the table. She handed him a cold beer and he went out back. As she tested the baked potatoes and pulled the meatloaf out of the oven, Annie noticed the laughter and joking that was taking place on the porch. It was so nice. This house was meant for laughter and happy times, good memories and a loving family. It had always just been her and Papa, but this seem better, she secretly wished that they could stay.

“Something smells darned good in here, is dinner ready yet?” Sloan asked.

“Sure is, come on in.”

After dinner Annie went to take a shower and Sloan brought down his bag and was getting ready to go when the phone rang so he answered it.

“Hello.”

Click.

He hung up the phone.

“I was going to tell you this earlier but forgot with everything else going on.”

“Tell us what?” Spencer asked.

“Well the phone rang off the hook today and every time I answered it, they hung up just like yesterday. Think maybe they didn’t want to talk to me?”

“Well next time it rings we’ll let Annie answer it, but we’ll listen in.” Spencer said pointing to the extension.

“You know Spence; I’ve been thinking that maybe you should give me some cover leaving here.”

“What do you mean cover?”

“Well if they are watching us and they know that there are two of us, but they don’t know who I am or where I came from, maybe we should keep it that way. If they follow me to the airport, it won’t take much to find out who I am or where I’m going. Then they will know that you two are here alone and that might not be a good thing either. If I just leave and they don’t know that I went to the airport, then it will be that much harder for them to figure when I will be back. It might give us a small element of surprise.”

“True. Maybe Annie and I should get in my truck and drive into town for some pie and coffee.”

“They can’t follow us both. They are down to two. The sheriff is still holding the other one and I know you can handle the other two.”

“Gee thanks for the vote of confidence. But you know those two jokers that work for Ron, aren’t even a challenge. I almost wish he had sent someone interesting.”