“What’s this Garret doing with his free time?” Ray muttered darkly.
“He cooks three meals a day for all of us,” Shay said. “It frees me up to do a lot of other things that need to be attended to around the ranch.”
“Then you’re giving them these houses for free?”
Her hands knotted in her lap. “I already told you they are giving me fifteen percent of their income each month.”
“It’s a damned handout! Who the hell gets a free house?”
“Maybe you see it like that,” Shay shot back, “but I don’t! People need to help one another, Father. I know you don’t believe in that, but I do. The land they are being built upon is my donation to each of them. They’ve earned the help I can give them.” Her breathing was becoming chaotic as she locked in with her father’s escalating rage.
“You don’t ask for help, girl. You know that!”
Reese stirred. “Sir, I’m only going to say this once to you. Your daughter deserves the same respect you give me. She’s not a girl. She’s a woman. She’s your blood and she’s saving the Bar C. I think you need to reassess how you’re treating her. Don’t you?”
Shay heard the steel in Reese’s low, hard voice. She’d never heard him speak like that to anyone. Now, she was seeing the Marine Corps officer coming out in him; a man in charge, a man who was going to have it his way or else.
“She’s my daughter, dammit. I’ll treat her any way I like, Lockhart! You butt out.”
Reese slowly got up and looked down at Shay. He held his hand out to her. “This conversation is over,” he told her quietly. “Come on, we have better things to do with our time.”
“Now you hold on a minute!” Ray snarled, sitting up tensely on his bed.
Reese held the older man’s glare. “No sir, we won’t. No one deserves this kind of abuse, Mr. Crawford. Your daughter should never be treated as you’re treating her right now. And until you can talk respectfully to her, she’s not coming back here to see you again. Instead, I’ll drop by when I can, to check in on you. Are we clear?”
Shay gripped Reese’s dry, strong hand and stood. Her knees felt shaky. It felt like a bomb had just gone off in the room. Her father turned red in the face, his expression one of shock. He was speechless. She felt Reese’s fingers move gently around her own. He placed her in front of him. As they reached the door, Reese released her hand and turned toward her father.
“Mr. Crawford, you owe your daughter an apology. She’s done nothing in this last year but help you as much as she could. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like a dog. If you need anything, you call the ranch and you ask for me. As of right now, Shay is out of the mix. Understand?”
Stunned, Shay numbly opened the door, hearing her father gasp. Reese placed his hand on her shoulder, guiding her out into the hall. He turned, closing the door, looking down at her, assessing her.
“I’m sorry,” he told her, sliding his hand across her slumped shoulder. “Are you all right?”
Hot tears jammed into her eyes and Shay gave a jerky nod. Turning, she walked quickly down the hall toward the entrance area. Pressing her hand against her eyes, the tears falling, she knew the people at the desk could see her crying. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Reese guided her to the front doors and then halted. “Listen, I’ll be at the truck in a minute. You go ahead. I need to talk to the manager of this nursing home for a moment.”
She twisted a look up into Reese’s hard-looking face. His green eyes were dark and filled with anger. “But—”
“No,” he rasped, giving her a gentle look. “Let me handle this. Your father needs to learn a lesson and I intend to enforce it. We’ll talk later.” He opened the door for her.
Hesitating, Shay whispered, “Yes . . . I trust you, Reese.”
Reese turned, moving with purpose toward the desk, where two women and a male nurse stood warily watching them. He was sure they’d probably heard Crawford’s voice down the hall, even though the door had been closed. It wasn’t lost on them that the bastard had been verbally abusing Shay every week. Now that he had seen it happen, Reese wasn’t about to let it go on. Halting at the desk, he said, “Who is the manager here?”
“Mrs. Dodge,” the blond-haired girl said. She turned and pointed to the office behind the desk. “She’s in there if you’d like to speak to her.”
“Yes, I’d like to. Thanks.”
*
Shay waited out in the truck, the window rolled down, allowing the warmth of the summer day to flow through the cab. In about ten minutes, she saw Reese walking out the door of the nursing home. There was determination in his expression. Her stomach was tight and raw from her father’s attack. It was always like that when she left his room. And right now, Shay was in mild shock. Reese had stood up and put himself between her and her cranky father. Wiping the last of her tears off her cheeks with trembling fingers, she watched him open the door and slide into the truck. He placed the briefcase on the seat between them and turned to her.
“How are you doing?”