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“Yes. I’m sorry. I know I really took advantage of you guys —”
“You didn’t. We were happy to help. Now, if you’re in danger, hang up right now and call the police. Otherwise, hold tight until we get there.”
“I’ll wait,” Alaska said, quietly, almost whispered. “I’m scared.”
“We’ll be there. We’re not going to let anything happen. Now, I’m going to go, because I’m going to call and get some help.”
“Alright.”
By that time they’d reached the truck. Travis opened her door, but didn’t stay to close it for her. Rather, he ran around and jumped in on his side.
“If Tadgh is watching us, he’s going to think we’re rushing off to get married.”
Travis laughed, although he had already started the truck and put it in reverse, backing up to get out.
On the seat, Chewy whined, lifting her head and looking at Ellen. It was like Chewy knew that there was a problem too.
“It’s okay,” she said, as much to calm herself as to calm Chewy.
“I’m going to call Ezra.” Travis spoke as soon as he had it in forward gear, heading toward the highway.
Ellen wanted to ask why. She knew who Ezra was, and had met him a couple of times. His family, the Clyborne, consisted of twelve kids, including Ezra who was the oldest. From what Ellen understood, he was close to forty. She knew Travis had invested in their ranch, the Sweet View Ranch, and he and his siblings had been working hard to make it successful.
They had been supposed to move in eight years ago, but there had been some kind of hang up. She wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe that was something she could talk to Travis about at some point, but she hadn’t seen him long enough to run out of other things that she felt were more important. Like when they were going to get married.
“Hello?”
“Ezra. It’s Travis.” Travis’s voice cut through her thoughts.
“Hey, man,” Ezra said easily.
Ezra had always struck her as a quiet, confident man who was used to being in charge. As the oldest of twelve siblings, it stood to reason that he would need to have a commanding nature. Especially since from what Ellen understood, he had been the head of the family since their parents had been killed in a car accident.
“I have a woman who needs a job. She doesn’t have any references, and... I can’t even tell you for sure whether she’s going to be a good worker. I just know that she’s scared, and needs a safe place.”
“Send her out to the ranch.”
“I figured that’s what you would say.”
“It’s gated, and with all the people and dogs around, we’re not going to have someone come in without us knowing about it. If she has any kind of aptitude at all, I can put her to work as my personal assistant. I’ve been looking for one for a while. Just haven’t taken the time to actually interview anyone.”
“I can’t vouch for how honest she is. Or anything.”
“You send her out. We’ll make sure that nothing happens to her. If she’s not honest, I can’t guarantee we’ll give her a job, but at least she’ll have food and a place to sleep.”
“There’s a hitch.”
“Hit me.”
“She might have two children with her.” Travis’s face squeezed like it pained him to say it, but Ellen agreed that the children should be with their mother if it was possible and she admired the sacrifice it obviously was for Travis to admit that. “One is a small baby.”
There was silence on the line. Ellen found herself holding her breath. Was that going to ruin everything?
She almost opened her mouth and said that they could take care of the baby, even the little boy. They could take care of both of them. But, as a woman, she couldn’t imagine walking away without her children and she didn’t want to make Alaska do that.
“I’ll make sure they’re safe.”
“Thank you.”
