AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chuck looked as though he was wrestling with the question, as though he was trying to decide the right thing to do. He opened his mouth…
And before he could utter a word, they were interrupted by the growling roar of a car engine.
Millie looked down the dusty track. It was a swanky, black Lincoln Navigator, that shot out dust behind it like the flame tail of a rocket. Somehow, even before the car was close enough she had a feeling.
She knew who would be in it.
As the car pulled up next to the corral, Millie felt as though her veins were full of ice-cold slush.
The change in Chuck was instant. She saw the shock in his eyes when the first figure stepped out of the car.
It was her father, Boris Reynolds.
Dressed immaculately as always, but with a face as hard and unforgiving as stone.
“Millie Reynolds,” Boris said, his eyes burning with anger and shame, “you don’t know what you’ve put me through. You don’t know what I’ve gone through to find you.”
“Dad,” she said, feeling a sudden urge to puke up. Or run away. Or drink every last drop of alcohol in Littlecreek. “What are you doing here?”
“What amIdoing here? What amIdoing here?“ He was furious, almost sputtering as he spoke. “What areyoudoing here? What on earth possessed you to come halfway across the world to a… a pervert ranch?”
Millie felt so scared. Like she’d been taken from the safest, happiest place on the planet, and had been thrown into a snake pit. Her lip trembled, and her arms started to shake.
“Babygirl,” Chuck said, “you don’t have to listen to him.”
Then, things got much, much worse.
“Wait,” Boris said. “Charles? Is that you?”
Chuck turned to face him. “Mister Reynolds,” he said. “Good to see you.”
“What happened to you?” her father said. “You look like you’ve aged about fifty years.”
“Life’s been hard,” Chuck said. “Now, if you don’t mind me asking, why exactly are you here?”
Boris reached up and slid his glasses back up his nose. “I’m here to save my daughter and take her back home. Where she belongs.”
“Dad… I am home,” Millie said, pathetically. She knew that her words wouldn’t have any effect on her dad.
Sure enough, he just scoffed.
“You’re coming back with me. And guess what? There will be no more of these… vacations. No more swanning off on road trips. And certainly no more pretending to be a little baby while grown men change your dirty nappies.”
“Sir,” Takis said, his eyes narrowing, “I’ve put up with you trespassing on my land, but if you continue to insult my staff members, I’m going to have you escorted off the ranch.”
Boris looked back at the car. At his command, two stout men carrying guns stepped out of the vehicle.
“I’m going nowhere,” he said. Then, he said to Millie: “Not without my daughter.” He grunted. “You’re coming back to my stables. And you’re going to work until you’ve paid me back for the horse that you stole.”
As her father spoke this terrible truth about her, Millie felt like she was being suffocated under a blanket of shame. That was the real truth about why she was here. About why she’d run halfway across the world to hide in a ranch in the middle of nowhere.
The truth was, she was a bad person. Back in England, she got drunk and did something stupid. Stupider than stupid. She released a horse. And her dad had never found it.
It felt like the world was falling away. Like everything was ending. The fear was back, and she knew that she deserved this. She deserved to go back.
It had been a nice dream, but it was over now.
She turned and looked at her dad. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll go back.”
