Redemption (The Restoration Series Book 1) (13 page)

 I started to feel sleepy again and allowed myself to rest against my father and let his warmth lull me back to sleep. This time, I didn’t dream of the Demon.

Chapter 10

DAVIS

 I heard the shuffle of boots outside my door. The call of the rooster from across the yard echoed outside my window. Dim yellow light was breaking through the wooden slats of my blinds and bathing my room in stripes of gold. I reached over to check the time on my phone, squinting my eyes to make out the digits. Five-thirty in the morning. I was definitely back on the ranch. I pulled my pillow over my face and grumbled
into it, rolling the slack bed covers tighter around my body.

 Truck doors were loudly closing outside the window and voices drifted upward until I couldn’t keep myself in bed any longer. Last night was one of the best night’s sleep I’d had in a long time, and I was reluctant to leave its warmth. The familiar smells of my room and of the barn behind our house permeated everything around me and gave me a sense of calm and belonging, which I had missed so much over the last few years. I grunted and tossed the dark gray comforter away from me, swinging my legs over the edge of my bed and running my hand through my tousled hair.

 My feet hit the wooden floorboards, which echoed my groaning as I forced myself upright. I reached for the pair of faded jeans that were tossed across the back of my desk chair and found a soft blue flannel shirt in my closet. Once clothed, I pushed my feet into my well-worn boots that rested against the wall by the door, the place I had left them three years ago, when I said goodbye to everything on the ranch.

 When I was washed up and had made myself presentable, I carefully hobbled my way downstairs to the kitchen,
careful not to trip over the crutches tucked tightly under my arms. The smell of freshly made eggs and sizzling bacon wafted through the air, causing my stomach to groan in excited anticipation for my grandmother’s cooking. Three years away and it was probably one of the things I missed the most. No one could ever come close to the amazing food that was produced
from her hands.

 I stopped at the entrance to the kitchen, leaned up against the wall and watched as my grandfather wrapped his arms around her. Mawmaw attempted to work around his embrace, tossing a few more slices of bacon into the cast iron skillet in front of her. His lips met her neck and she giggled, turning in his arms to wrap her small arms around his shoulders. My grandfather grunted and leaned in as if they were still in their twenties and couldn’t get enough of each other. Suddenly feeling warm, I cleared my throat to let them know I was there. There were just some things I didn’t need to see. My grandmother chuckled and stepped away, turning to flip the bacon in the sizzling skillet.

 “Davis, I love you, but go away and come back in a few minutes.” He started to pull my grandmother back into his arms, but she protested, laughing as she pushed him away.

 “Go sit down, old man. You and our grandson need to eat,” she scolded, and he bent to kiss her cheek gently, then stepped over to fill his mug with more steaming black coffee. The screen door to the back porch abruptly flung open and in walked Charlie, the ranch manager, with a wide smile on his face.

 “Davis! You scoundrel. You better get over here!” He said as he reached for me and pulled me into his burly arms. Charlie had been managing the ranch for as long as I can remember. My grandfather hired him in the beginning, knowing that he needed help maintaining and managing the farm as a whole. As it grew larger, Charlie moved to the ranch full time, and soon became a part of our family. I grew up with him, worked with him, and wrestled with him at family holidays. If anything, he was like a second father to
me, and had taught me so much about taking care of the things you are responsible for. When my own father had died, he was the one who stepped in to fill the gap. He had an amazing ethic and had instilled those characteristics into me.

 “It’s good to see you,” I grunted as he squeezed my shoulders just a little bit roughly. His arms released me and he stepped back, quickly wiping a small tear before anyone could see it. I pretended not to notice.

 “You too, son.” He cleared his throat and moved to the table. “You going to help out this morning?”

 “I was planning on it. I figured it was about time for me to take over some of the responsibilities around here. Let the old man get a break every now and again.” I winked at my grandfather and slid into the seat at the head of the table. He reached over and smacked the backside of my head.

 “Out of my seat, boy.” I winced, rubbing the stinging spot on my head, but swiftly transitioned to the next seat, laughing as he continued gruffly, “And, I’m not an old man. I can still do more work around here than you can, especially since you’ve taken
yourself a nice long three-year break.”

 “Yes, sir. I imagine you’re right about that.”

 Mamaw slipped a plate in front of me, stacked high with eggs, bacon, and toast. My mouth watered as my eyes took in the steaming feast before me. She poured me a mug of coffee and set it down in front of my plate, before leaning down to kiss my cheek.

 “Thanks, Mamaw” I grinned up at her and shoved a piece of bacon in my mouth. She laughed and patted my shoulder in response.

 “So…,” Papaw began questioningly. “What would you like to do today?”

 “What needs to be done? I’d like to take a ride around the ranch, just to see everything for myself this morning after we take care of the animals. Then we can talk about anything that needs to be done.”

 “Sounds good. I’ve already eaten, so I’ll get Speedy and Racer ready for the ride.”

 I nodded as I continued to fill my stomach with the amazing food in front of me. Papaw stood and walked out the door after giving my grandmother another brief kiss.

 Ten minutes later, I stepped outside and carefully walked down the wooden steps, gripping the crutches tightly in my hands and crossing the gravel lot toward the barn. Papaw stepped out of the large wooden barn doors, holding a set of reigns in each hand, leading our horses behind him.

 Racer was my horse, coal black in color and about seventeen hands high. His coat was shining with reflections of the sun, and I stepped slowly toward him, offering my hand to let him get familiar with me once again. A few moments later, he was nuzzling my palm as I rubbed my other hand
up his face and down his neck.

 “Good boy, Racer. I missed you.” When I knew it was safe to proceed, using my uninjured leg, I placed my booted foot into the stirrup and lifted myself up and over the top of his back, sliding into the leather saddle. The horse took a few steps forward, getting comfortable with my weight, and then settled as I continued to caress his neck gently. After adjusting the stirrup to my injured leg, I tested the pain level as I jostled the leg up and down and out to the side. It felt decent, a bit painful, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I wouldn’t be walking, so I should be fine. Pawpaw took my crutches and set them against the side of the barn, waiting for when we would return.

 I waited for my grandfather to mount his horse, and when he was ready, I pulled the rains and hollered, digging my heels lightly into Racer’s sides. “Yip, yip!” Racer took off as I let my body move fluidly with his thundering trot. I steered him out of the corral and through the pasture, heading toward the south side of the ranch where the pond settled in the valley and the cattle were grazing lazily in the sun.

 I slowed my pace when I reached the edge of the valley and took post at the top of the ridge, looking down
across the view. It was beautiful and breathtaking, my favorite spot on the entire farm. It was a place where I came to think, to watch, to just be alone with nature and with God. I closed my eyes briefly, letting the heat of the sun warm my face and body.

I first heard the clicking of hooves, followed by Papaw and his horse moments later. He lifted the dark hat from his head and wiped his sleeve across his brow.

 “Man, that horse can move fast.” His breath came in heavy gasps as he replaced his hat to block the glare of the sun.

 “Or maybe you’re just getting older. You and your horse.” I ribbed, smirking at him.

 He chuckled, shaking his head as he dragged his water pouch from the saddlebag behind him. Taking a quick drink, he wiped his lips and passed it to me.

 “So are you going to let me in on the details of what happened over there? I know what Drake said, but give me the details. Your mother was worried all night.”

 I sighed, pulling my reigns up to nudge Racer to walk slowly down the hillside, and waited for Pawpaw to match my pace.

 “I can’t really discuss the
details of course, you know that. But I went undercover, and things went a little bad before they panned out. I’m fine though.”

 He looked me over carefully, waiting to see if I would elaborate further, before sighing.

 “You definitely don’t look fine, son. Something else is bothering you, I can tell.”

 A small smiled graced my lips before I spoke. I never could get anything past him. I was his grandson, and he knew me inside and out.

 “I’m conflicted a little, worn out from the job. I just…” I came to a stop beside the pond, one of many on the property. “I guess I’m just tired and emotionally drained. For the last three
years I’ve been working in intense and stressful situations and I guess this last job really got a hold of me and I feel a little broken. I can normally separate myself from the things going on, but for some reason, I just couldn’t do that this time.”

 “You can’t always separate yourself from your work. It’s who you are, son. You feel everything because it makes you compassionate to those you are helping.”

 “That’s the problem, though. Everything that has happened to me the last few years - after losing Amanda, I just lost it. The compassion wasn’t really there, not truly. Of course, I wanted to see all those girls rescued and healed, but I just got burnt out. This mission though, it was the first time I had felt the fire again, in a very long time. Yes, I had compassion for them, but I felt anger and vengeance, too. I couldn’t let myself grow with that mindset without fear of losing myself completely.”

 Papaw swung his leg over the side of the horse and lowered himself to the ground. After tossing the reigns over a low tree branch, he moved over to me and offered me a hand. I slowly swung my injured leg over
and, using my father as support, dismounted the horse.

 Tossing my reigns on the same branch, I slowly limped forward and found a large rock by the water to perch on.

 Papaw rested beside me. “Why do you think this time was different?”

 “That’s the question, isn’t it? I don’t really know. Other than the fact that I knew the girl we rescued. Well, I sort of knew her. Met her the day she was taken.”

 My grandfather’s eyes widened with understanding, and he glanced at me, waiting for me to clarify the situation a bit more.

 “We met on the beach while I was playing Frisbee with Jared and the crew. I actually noticed her way before I actually had the nerve to speak to her, though.”

 He smiled and swung his eyes to the water. “Sounds like you were interested in this girl.”

 My heart raced a little as I remembered the image of Nova lifting her hand to mine and introducing herself, the sun gleaming off her pale face. I shrugged, trying to downplay the thoughts in my head. “I guess.”

 “So what’s the problem?”

 “There are a few problems, I suppose. One, I don’t know if I’ve truly moved beyond the situation with Amanda. I like to believe I have because I know she’s never coming back, but it still feels so fresh. Two, this girl just went through the worst possible thing any woman can go through in life and I feel horrible even thinking about being around her. She can’t even bear to be near me.”

 He reached up and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, providing some semblance of comfort at my noticeable heartbreak.

 “Grandson, what happened
with Amanda was horrible. I get it. The pain of that will always be with you and will never go away, but it will dull a little. She wouldn’t want you to just bury yourself in a hole and never venture out and try to be happy again. She wasn’t like that. She loved you and wanted you to be happy. I know that much.”

 “She did want me to be happy, no matter what.”

 “So you have to move on, and you can’t feel guilty for having feelings for someone else. Maybe that’s God’s way of pointing you in the direction you’re supposed to go. His ways are always higher than ours.”

 “What about everything else?”

 “Give it to God, and stop trying to make all the decisions right now. Be here, work on yourself, and let Him take care of the rest. He has never failed us, I doubt He’s going to start now.”

 Breathing in the air around me, listening to the rustle of the leaves above us and the soft mews of a calf from a few yards away, I stilled myself and let the calm wash over me.

 “I know you’re right. I guess I just need to be patient and trust.”

 “You’ll get there, boy. In the meantime, we are overjoyed that you’re home. We’ve missed you so much around here. Everything has been so quiet.”

 “I’m sure.” I chuckled, reminiscing
on my teenage years. I was always causing some sort of ruckus.

 “I think we should have a party. What do you think?”

 I shrugged because I knew he’d plan it either way.

 “Good.” He patted my shoulder resolutely and stood. “Now, time to take that look around like you wanted. Let’s get some work done.”

 I nodded and pushed myself up, slowly limping my way back to Racer. After mounting, I waited for Papaw to take his place and we rode out of the valley and across the field toward the fence line, checking for any holes, breaks, or worn boards that would need to be fixed. We came up to the fence line across the back fifty acres of property, where there was a small creek, split off from the river that separated our property from the Drake Farm. I heard soft crying coming from behind the trees on the other side of the small creek. My grandfather continued, not hearing it, and I waved him on as I pulled up slowly to the fence line to get a better look.