Page 11 of The Maverick

The police arrived and looked over the scene, making notes, taking photos, and statements from Nick and Rachel.

After the police were finally gone, Rachel stood in the living room. She turned toward him. “I need to pack.”

“Do you need help?” asked Nick.

She shook her head. “It will only take a few minutes. We’re not moving out there permanently.”

You will be if I can convince you.

CHAPTER4

The drive to his ranch was quiet. Rachel stared out the window. The landscape was dark, and only with the light from the moon did she make out shapes of clusters of trees on the tiny hills. Off to the west she saw the snowcaps of the high mountains shining in the moonlight.

She didn’t know what to say. Greg had clearly lost his mind. Should she have seen this happening? Maybe she should have. She thought back to their move and his behavior in New York and refusing to abide by the restraining order. Rachel knew she’d have to file her restraining order here in Denver, but she was grateful that the New York RO was good from state to state. She’d wondered how much trouble getting a new one would be. Hopefully, when she showed them the paperwork from New York, they would grant the order. He was supposed to stay at least one hundred feet away from her. This was clearly in violation of that RO.

Nick looked over at her. “You should call your mother and let her know what’s happening and where you’ll be. I don’t want her accidentally walking in on him.”

“Good idea.” She pressed a button on her phone and waited for a few rings.

“Hello.”

“Mom, hi. How are you?”

“I’m painting your old bedroom.”

“Why didn’t you get one of my brothers to do that for you? There are three of them, surely one was available.”

“I like to paint and decorate the house. So, what are you doing?”

“I’m on my way to Nick’s ranch. I need to tell you something.” She relayed all that had happened with Greg.

“Oh, my God. I’m glad you called the police. That man needs to be arrested. He’s a menace.”

“He is, I don’t deny it. Nick says we’ll be safe at his ranch, so Jake and I will be there for a while anyway. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to the house. I don’t feel safe there. Look I have to go, but I wanted to let you know where we are. I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Ladybug. I’ll see you soon. Stay safe.”

“I will. Bye, Mom.”

“Bye.”

Rachel ended the call and dropped her phone back into her purse.

Nick turned off the highway onto a paved driveway. It stretched forever before the house came into view. Actually, when they got close, she realized it wasn’t a house but a mansion. The two-story brick home had what looked like marble pillars across a wide porch holding up the roof, which jutted out from the second story. The roof had a wrought-iron fence around it. The entire structure reminded her of the plantations in Louisiana.

“Wow! This looks amazing. If it’s half as impressive inside as outside, I won’t know what to do. It’s really beautiful, Nick. Not at all what I imagined for a ranch house.”

“My ranch isn’t what you expect from a ranch, either. I don’t specifically raise cattle; I breed cutting horses. I got the idea from Ray; he breeds and races thoroughbreds.”

“What are cutting horses?” asked Jake from the back seat.

Rachel turned and gazed at her son. He’d put his game away and watched as the car made its way up the long driveway.

“Cutting horses are especially bred and trained to cut cattle from a herd. Suppose you want just one cow out of a herd. The cutting horse and rider go into the herd and move that one cow out from all the others. That’s called cutting. The horses are great to watch in action. I do have cows they can practice on, about twenty of them.”

“That sounds like fun. Do you have horses we can ride?” asked Jake.

Nick nodded as he steered slowly down the driveway. “I sure do. Do you know how to ride a horse?”