Owned (2 page)

“Yes I did,” he answered, raising an eyebrow. “Considering I carried you here and got you into bed I wouldn’t be too concerned with me putting a hand on your shoulder.”

“You’re right, my apologies. Now remove the hand so I can get up, Sir.” I kept my voice calm but firm, giving him my best
move-it-or-lose-it
look. When he did I smiled at him. “Thank you for bringing me here and making sure I was okay.”

“Not a problem, but I don’t think you should be rushing off, that was quite a vomit session.”

“It’s not what you think. It wasn’t from the training, the Commander had to tell me, um, something personal.”

“Wasn’t good, was it?” he asked softly, concern apparent in his face.

“No, it wasn’t and I’ve got to deal with it,” I mumbled. Slipping my normal expression that most people couldn’t read back into place, I sat up. “Thanks again.” I got out of bed on shaky legs and quickly headed over to the Commander’s office to apologize and smooth things over. After he assured me that he understood, he let me use a small empty office to make my calls.

“Hello?”

“Gramp? It’s Kate,” I said quietly. “Are you okay?”

“No, not really, sweetheart, I’m really sorry to have to interrupt your training. I thought about not telling you, but I figured you’d be downright pissed if I didn't give you the news right away,” he answered carefully.

“How could you not tell me Gram was sick?” I whispered, trying to not show my anger. I was pissed as could be, but I could be angry later. Right then, my gramp needed to feel my love.

“We didn’t want you to cancel your training. You had already signed your contract with the Navy when we found out,” he said with a huge sigh. “Your gram started feeling ill, and not just getting-older ill, back in January. She went in for some tests, but by the time they found the cancer, it was everywhere. There was nothing that could be done, and they gave her six months.” He choked on his words and started to cry.

“I’m so sorry, Gramp. Let me see what I can do to get home.” It was ingrained in me to fall into my normal rational behavior whenever an emergency came up.

“Kate, I want you to stay. There’s nothing that can be done now,” he told me. “You just finished college and you’re starting the rest of your life. Don’t worry about me. I’ve got lots of friends and neighbors around to help me through this.”

“It seems wrong not coming home,” I said, trying to stay calm. The idea of not being there when he needed me filled me with horror and knotted my stomach.

“Not when your gramp and legal father tells you to,” he countered, trying to get authoritative. But he wasn’t fooling me.

“I love you, Gramp, with my whole heart and I’m sorry I’m not there for you right now.”

“I know, sweetheart, but I’ll see you at your graduation in a few months before they ship you out, okay? We’ll talk as much as you need, don’t you worry about the rules of calling, I had a chat with your Commander.”

“You pulled rank, didn’t you?” I asked with a laugh. My grandfather had retired from the Army after thirty-something years of service as a Brigadier General.

“Yes I did, and don’t expect me to feel bad about that. He needed to know that this wasn’t a normal case of losing a grandparent. You’ve been our daughter for over six years now.”

“I know. I don’t want you to feel bad. I’m glad you did it, so I didn’t have to. Have you talked to Kyle?” I asked, feeling even worse that my gramp had to deal with my uncle all by himself.

Well technically he was my brother since my grandparents adopted me after my parents died. Kyle was a real piece of work. He was my mom’s younger brother and liked to take every chance he could to treat me like I was some poor relation. Someone that everyone should take pity on. I was their granddaughter, for god sakes, not some distant relative!

“Haven’t heard back from him yet. You know how busy he is with all his work,” my gramp said, almost in defense of him. I had to bite my tongue, since my grandparents had huge hearts and tended to overlook people’s faults. Especially after my mom, their only daughter, died.

Kyle was their only child left and they doted on him. He was thirty when I came to live with them. He was as lazy then as he was now. His
work
consisted of whatever get-rich-quick scheme he had going on before he would be broke and come back to the ranch. Every time he did, he expected a handout, blaming everyone and everything but himself for why this “business venture” failed. It got old real fast.

“I’m sure he’ll call as soon as he can. If you need me, call, okay? I’ll check on you in the morning. It’ll be early, but I know it won’t bother you any.

“I love you, Kate, my girl,” he said, tearing up again.

“I love you too, Gramp. Get some rest, bye,” I whispered fondly, hanging up. I made a quick phone call to a close friend of mine from college. If I couldn’t be there, damn it, I was going to make sure someone I trusted was.

“Hello?”

“Jamie? It’s Kate.”

“Hey, Kate! Wait, how are you calling me? You’re supposed to be at OCS, what happened, what’s wrong?” she rambled as she realized I wasn’t supposed to be allowed to phone her yet.

“Still don’t know what you want to do now that you graduated?” I asked.

“Not a clue, why? What’s happened?”

“My gram died this morning, and I really can’t get back to the ranch. Even if I could, Gramp doesn’t want me to interrupt my training,” I explained, letting out a big sigh instead of the silent sob building in my chest. “It’s killing me not to be there, but I was hoping maybe while you’re figuring out what you want to do next in life, you could stay there? Even if it’s just for the summer, bring Sara along even if you want?”

I paused, not sure how the idea was going to go over. But I figured with our other roommate from college, Sara, being there, it wouldn’t be so bad.

“I’m sorry, Kate, I truly am,” she said softly and I realized she was crying. “I adored your gram, I really did, she was a great woman.”

“Thanks, Jamie, she thought the world of you too.”

“That means a lot to me. Of course I’ll go stay with your gramp. Your grandparents were the only grandparents I really ever had. I know Sara still doesn’t have any plans for the summer. She just wants to relax before starting grad school in the fall. We’ll help him out and have a summer adventure, maybe even snag ourselves a couple of cowboys! It won’t be the same without you and your gram there, but I loved spending last summer at the ranch.”

I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. “Thanks, Jamie, you don’t know how much better I feel knowing you’ll be there.”

“What about asshole Kyle?”

“He’s not called my gramp back yet. He’s supposedly
working
on something at the moment.” I didn’t have to hide my utter contempt when talking to Jamie, since she knew how I felt about Kyle. Her opinion of him was as low as mine, especially after last summer when he spent the entire time trying to get any glimpse of Jamie or Sara naked.

He also continually made crude comments to them and reminded them at any turn he could do things to them that no other man could. Please! In his mid-thirties and single because no woman would put up with his shit and lies. Like my two gorgeous twenty-two-year-old college friends who could get any man they wanted would ever consider
him
?

“I’ll keep an eye on that piece of shit if he bothers to show, I promise,” she swore in her best reassuring voice.

“I know, that’s why I called you,” I said, trying to show the relief in my voice. “Thanks again, I’ll be in touch, Jamie.”

“I’ll talk to Sara, but even if she doesn’t come, I’ll leave in the morning. Take care, Kate. Don’t go off the deep end into your training, okay?”

“I promise I’ll behave,” I replied, laughing.

“Fuck behaving! Just don’t kill yourself. It’s okay to feel your emotions, Kate.”

“I know. I’ll call you tomorrow, love ya,” I said, cutting off her normal lecture.

“Love ya too.” We said our good-byes before hanging up.

At times it bothered me how well she knew me. Though, most of the time, it was just a relief that I didn’t have to explain myself. After my parents died and I went to live with my grandparents, I went off the deep end. I buried myself in my schoolwork and ended up graduating two years early from high school. I didn’t show much interest in the ranch, I was a kid and it wasn’t my home.

Spending the first fourteen years of my life as a city kid from Chicago, then moving to a cattle ranch in Wisdom, Montana, seemed like a nightmare. I realized when I got older, it wasn’t the ranch that was the nightmare. It was the loss of my parents.

Present Day

Getting out of my car, I looked around the ranch I loved and partially grew up at. I couldn’t help but think back to when I learned my gram had died seven years ago. I’d been at OCS, Officer Candidate School, in the Navy and I hadn’t even been able to come home to comfort my gamp or attend my gram’s funeral.

It was almost easier finding out that my gram had passed because I could talk to my gramp about it. No such luck this time when I received a call yesterday from the local Sheriff that my gramp had passed away during the night. All alone again, I thought before retrieving my purse from the car.

Sean Bingdam, the ranch foreman, walked out of my grandparents’ house as I started towards it. Sean wasn’t a bad looking guy, but he always reminded me more of a mob goon than a cowboy. He was about six three, in his mid-thirties, and about 250 pounds. Most of it muscle, but he did have a good-size beer belly. He had dusty brown hair and light-colored eyes, I never could really tell what color since he was always squinting and out in the sun.

“Hey, Sean,” I said tiredly. The last thing I felt like doing was playing nice with others but I did what I had to.

“Kate, you’re looking well, all things considered.” He smiled at me and I didn’t like it. That grin gave me the creeps. It’s not that Sean ever did anything to deserve my feeling that way. There was just something about him, even when I first met him, that made me not trust him.

“Thanks. Fill me in. I’ve only talked to the Sheriff.”

“I came up to the house yesterday to go over some things with your grandpa about lunchtime. I knocked and knocked, but when he didn’t answer the door I got worried. I hadn’t seen him yet, and that wasn’t like him. You know he always at least made an appearance in the barn every day. I broke the lock on the back door and found him upstairs still in his bed.

“I called 911, but when I felt for a pulse, it was obvious he had been gone for a while already. When the paramedics got here, they took a look at him and Doc came out and said his heart had just given out during the night. He was getting up in years and all. Real shame. Your grandpa was a good man,” he finished, looking down at his boots.

“Thanks, Sean. Doc say anything about an autopsy?” I asked.

“I told Doc we didn’t need one. It was just his time.”

“That’s not for you to say, Sean,” I replied, shocked and trying to keep the anger out of my tone. “Next of kin can only make decisions like that. I’ll call Doc.”

“Now, Kate, you don’t have to worry your head over that kinda thing. I already started making the funeral arrangements—”

“Stop right there, Sean,” I growled, interrupting him. “I’m going to assume you’re just trying to help. But you aren’t family, those decisions are for Kyle or I to make. Give me everything you’ve done and who you’ve talked to and I’ll handle it from there.”

I saw a glimpse of pure hate in his eyes before he quickly hid it and his face went back to his normal good-ol’-boy expression. “Honey, you don’t have to worry about any of this stuff. I already dropped off a check to the funeral home.”

“You did
what
?” I yelled, not holding back my anger anymore. “Since when can you sign checks for the ranch accounts?”

“Don’t take that tone with me, missy!” Sean hollered right back. Guess he was going to finally show his true colors. I also noticed several of the ranch hands heading over, probably curious as to what the shouting was all about. “I went to the bank yesterday and had my name added, now that your grandpa’s gone, you’ll need a man in your life to take care of things.”

“You had no right! That’s not even legal, Sean. I handle all of Gramp’s estate. And what is this shit about needing a man in my life?”

“Your gramp always intended for us to marry one day, and now that he’s gone I figure we’ll get that out of the way in the next month. And of course you’ll need a man to run things. Women don’t run ranches, you wouldn’t know the first thing to do.”

I couldn’t even stop my jaw from hanging open… Of all the nerve! “Gramp
never
said anything about us ending up together, and I don’t need a fucking man to run the ranch for me.”

“Just wait until we’re married,” he growled at me, seeing we had an audience too. “You’ll learn your place real fast. Disrespecting me won’t be tolerated, especially in front of my employees!”

“Have you lost your ever-loving mind? I’m not marrying you! They aren’t your employees. They are
my
employees, just like you are.” Of all the issues I figured I would run into when I got to the ranch, I did
not
see this one coming.