Blackhill Ranch (21 page)

I held Carol even closer
as she was losing it and whispering that she didn't want to die.
Chris started to head our way staring straight at Carol and had the
barrel pointed right to her forehead, but suddenly out of nowhere I
saw Chloe charging at him like a Denver Bronco linebacker. She
tackled him right to the ground, and Chris let out a loud grunt and
landed down on the ground, sending the .45 spinning out of control.
Rhet and Cole took action and kicked his gun away. My dad grabbed
it and held it up, making sure Chris wouldn't lay a hand on it
again. Carol and I screamed but Chloe did some crazy move on him
that ended up leaving him in a head lock and a very red face. Soon
he started shaking and went limp in her arms. She jumped up and
brushed the dirt off her pants. We all just stared at her with open
mouths.

“What? I didn't kill him,
he's just passed out.” She said plainly and shrugged her
shoulders.

“What the hell was that?”
My dad yelled and pointed down to our new sleeping beauty, who was
anything but beautiful.

“Oh that? Remember those
self defense classes you made Lexi and I take? I did really well in
them and I don't know, I just remembered a few things. I guess I'm
more of a take action kind of girl. You have to be when you're from
L.A. That asshole was so drunk I knew I could take him.”

It took us all a minute to
get back into reality and to quit staring at Chloe with huge eyes,
but soon Rhet was yelling at us that we would go and get some rope
to tie up his arms. Cole ran after him to help and my dad stood
right next to him, making sure he wouldn't do anything crazy when
he came to.

I stood up, lifting Carol
with me and headed straight to Chloe. “Oh my gosh, that was bad
ass!” I screamed and pulled her into me. She laughed and started to
shake a little.

“Crap, what did I just
do?” she said and we both let a nervous laugh out.

“You were like Ray Lewis
and knocked his ass out!” I said and she loosened up a little and
looked over at Carol.

“Are you okay?” she asked
and Carol shook her head.

“I am so sorry you had to
deal with that. I was hoping he would go get help once I left, but
it seems he just drank more.”

Tina came running out with
Cole and Rhet, and just as they walked over to Chris he started to
rustle around and mumble some incoherent words. They tied him up
and I noticed Tina was sitting next to my dad on a bench rubbing
his face.

“Tina is everything okay?”
I asked and started to get nervous when I noticed my dad's coloring
was a little gray. “Dad!” I yelled and ran over to them. Everyone
else gathered around too, and saw Tina rubbing his chest. My dad
was still with it but was saying something about his arm feeling
weird and his chest hurting.

“No, dammit!” Cole yelled
and went to help prop my dad up. “He's having a heart attack!” he
yelled again and we all gasped. Tina started to cry and told him to
hold on and that help should be here soon! I told the police I saw
Chris waving a gun around, so an ambulance should be on it's
way.”

Rhet grabbed me and pulled
me into him. I started to sob against his chest as I helplessly
heard my only parent slipping away from me.

**

After what seemed like a
lifetime, two cop cars and one ambulance finally came barreling
into the ranch, sirens and all. We all watched with heavy hearts as
my dad was lifted and strapped into the back of the ambulance. Cole
informed the paramedics about his previous heart complications, and
told him he was taking an aspirin a day. They nodded and told us
they were ready and took off just as fast as they came
in.

Tina jumped in with them
and told them she was family, and none of us argued and told her we
would be right behind them. Chloe told me she would stay at the
ranch with Carol and make sure scumbag Chris, was taken care
of.

Rhet, Cole, and I jumped
in my car and followed the ambulance, well the best we could, all
the way to the hospital. Cole called Sarah and told her everything
that had happened and she said she would help out in anyway
possible. He told her just to take care of Wyatt and to wait for us
to call and give updates.

Once we pulled into the
Emergency Room, they had already brought him in and started doing
tests on him. They told us to go to the waiting room and they would
send a doctor out when they had any news. We all sat, paced, cried,
and just stared off to space for what seemed like forever. Finally,
a young doctor came out to tell us the news.

“Your dad suffered a very
acute MI, or heart attack, but we did get his vitals stable. We
gave him some medicine that successfully
opened his blocked artery. We are keeping him over night to
monitor his stats, but he should be okay. He was very lucky he got
help as fast as he did, and taking that aspirin may have saved his
life.” The doctor smiled and headed back out the door.

“He's alive,” I whispered
and started to sob into Rhet's shirt. He rubbed my back and told me
everything was going to be okay. I let him hold me for what seemed
like hours, until I thought I could talk normally without breaking
out into hysterics. Cole came over and gave me a huge hug, and said
dad was going to be okay.

We all stopped and looked
at Tina, sitting in the chair with her head in her hands. I walked
over to her and placed my hand on her shoulder. “We know you love
each other.”

Tina broke down and
started sobbing uncontrollably. I rubbed her back and she looked up
at us all with her red splotchy face and sucked in eyes, “I love
him more than I could have ever imagined, so yeah, I don't care if
you guys know. I love him,” she said in a whisper and started
crying again. We all gave our blessing on their relationship and
she started to regain her composure and we ended up in a huge group
hug.

Rhet and Cole headed back
to the Ranch, while Tina and I took turns checking in on him. He
had regained his color and looked a little better each hour that
ticked by. The doctor informed us that the medicine completely
worked and that there was very minimal damage to his heart. They
did recommend that he needed a stint to be put in to prevent this
from happening again. We agreed and told them we would make sure he
got something set up.

**

My dad was released the
next day, and we set him up at the ranch so he could be waited on
hand and foot for the next few days while recuperating from his
scare. That douche-bag Chris was arrested, because he broke his
restraining order against Carol, and spent a few nights in jail
before being bailed out by one of his drinking buddies. If he comes
close to her again, he will be thrown in jail without the chance of
bail for the next year. I hope that was something that scared him
and made him stay away. My dad made sure that Carol always had
pepper spray on her, and we knew where she was most of the
time.

Our huge next group, a
really crazy family reunion, showed up mid-morning on Monday. The
next few days flew by, and we were all so busy taking care of our
guests and making time for Sarah and Wyatt that before we knew it,
it was time for them to fly home.

When they were all packed,
we said our goodbyes and left with teary eyes. Cole drove them to
the airport Wednesday afternoon, and said he would come straight
back. About ten minutes after they left, Cole's truck pulled back
into the parking lot. He walked up with Wyatt in his arms and Sarah
by his side.

“I can't let them leave.”
He said firmly and gave them both a tight squeeze. We all jumped
and applauded when we heard they were staying for good. Cole ended
up flying back with them a weeks later to help gather up their
belongings. Sarah quit her job that day and never looked back. I
was so happy for them and I had my brother and his family
back.

Chloe ended up going out
to Denver a few times during her visit with me, and fell for Camden
harder each time. She fell in love with the mountains and the
Denver city life, so she decided she would try it and was planning
on moving there at the end of the summer. I was thrilled because it
made her a little closer to me, and I've never seen her this happy
before.

By the end of the summer I
thought my life couldn't get any better, but then I received a text
from Brian that made my head spin...

“
Hey Lex, I know we are over, but I'm twenty minutes away from
the ranch
.”

What the? I read the text
about five times before replying,

“
What????
”

Rhet was right next to me
when I received it and he told me Brian was finally here to fight
for me. I laughed and said that is not Brian's style, but it made
me a little nervous.

A few minutes later, a
rental car pulled up and Brian stepped out of the driver's side.
Rhet was right by me and I introduced them to each other. Brian
smiled and shook his hand and then reached over to give me a kiss
on the cheek. I stilled and looked over at Rhet who started to ball
up his hands by his sides.

“Lexi, it's so nice to see
you.”

“What in the world are you
doing here?” I asked and looked around like this had to be some
candid camera operation.

“I know this is crazy, but
I had to tell you something, something in private.” He looked over
at Rhet and nodded his head for him to leave. Rhet didn’t move an
inch.

“Brian, whatever you have
to say, just say it already.” I said with curiosity in my
tone.

“Okay, well you know how
Chloe hooked me up with her cousin Bre?”

“Yeah,” I said not sure
where this was going.

“Well, we just really hit
it off as well and see, we are getting married next week.” He said
quickly and looked at my face for a reaction.

“Really? Wow. Well,
congratulations. You came all the way out here to tell me that? You
really could have just called.”

Before Brian could answer,
Chloe came bouncing up with a confused look on her face, “Brian,
what the fuck? She screamed and gave him a huge hug. What in the
hell did you come out here to tell us that you could have just
called about?” She said with a confused expression and looked
between the three of us.

Rhet coughed and said he
remembered he had something he needed to do, and shook Brian's hand
goodbye. He gave me a deep kiss, probably to show Brian I was
definitely his, and headed off knowing he didn't need to fight for
his girl. I mean, he should have just peed a huge circle around me
to ward off Brian.

“Brian, do tell Chloe your
good news,” I said and gave him a wink. Brian retold his story and
Chloe just stood there, staring at him with bulging
eyes.

“Seriously? Bre didn't
even call me, that dirty skank, and she's freaking American. She
doesn't need a green card you know,” she said very seriously which
made Brian and I start laughing. “What?” she asked with a confused
look on her face.

“Chloe, I love you, but I
am not marrying her for a green card. I really love her, and we are
excited. I mean Lexi, you are one act to get over. I don't know if
I ever truly will be, but I'm glad you're happy. I just knew I had
to tell you this in person. I didn't want you to read it online, or
hear it from someone else,” he said sincerely and gave us both
another quick kiss on the cheek. “Sorry, this has all been so
quick. I just asked her a few days ago and we jumped on the first
planes out. I have another flight to catch, because I'm meeting Bre
in New York for our engagement party,” he said quickly and said his
goodbyes.

We watched him drive off
and looked at each other, “Well, that was weird,” I said and we
started giggling and headed to the Lodge. Chloe wasn't too mad she
didn't know, and I guess she may be flying out for a wedding
soon.

I walked in and saw all of
my favorite people sitting together in one room. I knew it wouldn't
be like this for long, but I loved being around every one of
them.

Cole and Sarah started to
make plans to build a new beautiful house right on the edge of the
ranch. They renewed their vows a few weeks after she came back to
us for good. It was small and intimate, even her parents came out
and supported her and my brother. She still wants to go back to
school, but I heard a mention or two about another baby, so we'll
see. My brother adopted Wyatt, and loves him like he was his
own.

Carol is still staying at
the ranch and hasn't heard from Crazy Chris since his big blowout.
Tina has been very persistent that she meets Dan, a guy who owns a
mechanic shop in town, but Carol hasn't committed to anything quite
yet. Tina's working on her.

My dad and Tina finally
made their relationship public, and are getting married out at the
ranch next spring. My heart is so overfilled with joy for them, and
I am so happy they finally made the big step.

As for Rhet and I, well he
had proposed to me again a few times, but I am still waiting for
the real deal. He keeps talking about us maybe opening our own
small ranch, maybe even a bed and breakfast for now. There are a
few properties for sale just a little south of here, and we are
becoming very interested in that idea.