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Will frowned. “I told ya he wouldn’t...”
She decided to throw caution to the wind. The only way she’d get to tell Will was just to tell him and pray to God he saw the gravity of the situation and was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. “Last night Luke had some kind of meltdown. He thought I was Trish. I’m really scared of him. You have to help me.”
Will avoided her eyes.“He was real hurt about that. When she died, he almost lost the ranch. He wouldn’t get outta bed. We had to pick up his slack and between that and feedin’ ourselves, it was a rough few months. Did he hurt you?” Even as he said the words, Veronica knew he wouldn’t believe it if she said that he had.
She wasn’t sure how to answer. She didn’t want Will privy to the thing that had almost happened between her and Luke. That was too private, and in many ways too humiliating. What had most scared her was when he’d taken off his belt and then called her Trish, proving he’d left mental health a long time ago.
“No, but he seems unstable. You didn’t see him last night.”
Will set his thermos down and went to the cabinet to get a coffee mug. He poured a cup and handed it to Veronica and led her to the kitchen table. “Sit and drink this. You need to calm down before you hyperventilate. I don’t know what happened with you two, but Luke’s not crazy. You can take my word on that. I’ve worked with him day in and day out for years and years. He had a rough patch after Trish died, but he’s not crazy.” The ranch hand seemed to be in denial about the situation, as if saying it enough times would make it true.
“Why won’t you help me get out of here?”
“Just sit and talk to me for a minute.” Will sat at the table and nodded to the chair opposite from him.
Veronica sank into it. “How long ago did she die?”
“A couple a years now. I never seen him so over the moon for a girl before. And when that baby was comin’, I never seen him so happy. Usually he was all business about the ranch. Didn’t have time to bother with no woman, even when we suggested he settle down to take a little of the load off us. You know what with the cookin’ and basic homestead stuff. That’s why I don’t think he’ll hurt you, no matter how he got you here. You remind him of her. He never coulda hurt her.”
“And that could be a bad thing. What if he snaps and hurts me because he can’t stand to look at me anymore? Sooner or later he’ll realize that I’m not her. All I can be is a painful reminder.”
“He knows you ain’t her.”
“Are you sure about that? Because last night, he didn’t.”
The ranch hand looked like he might waver, but then the kitchen door opened, and Luke walked in.
“Will, you taking a break?”
Will raised his thermos. “Just came for the coffee. It’s too close to breakfast for a break.”
“That’s what I like to hear. Robert and Jake are bringing the new cattle in today. They got some good deals at the auction.”
The ranch hand took one last uncertain look at Veronica and Luke, then he headed out the door back to his work.
When they were alone, Luke crossed his arms over his chest. “Why haven’t you started breakfast?”
“I-I was about to.”
He sighed and sat at the table across from her. “I’m sorry I scared you last night. I don’t know what came over me.”
“You thought I was her.”
“I got lost inside my head for a minute. I know you’re not her.”
“But you wish I was.”
“Do you want me to lie, Ronnie? I took you because you look like her. You know that. I’m sorry I lost control last night and that I scared you. I heard part of what you said to Will.” He nodded over to the open window. “I was standing on the patio, and the voices carry out that window. I’m not crazy. I know who I am. I know who you are. And you and me aren’t finished. It’s going to happen, princess. I’ll do damage control with Will. You make breakfast.”
There went her only shot at help. Because if he talked to Will, he’d probably talk to Jake and Robert, too. By the end of the day, she’d look like the crazy one.
* * *
After lunch,when the garden had been checked on, the chickens had been fed, and most of the household chores were done, Veronica wandered to the end of the yard where the grass ended. From there, dirt stretched out with barns and pens until the ground turned to green again at the start of pasture.
She liked to think she would have protested more loudly about the work she wasn’t being paid for in any other circumstance, but she’d seen off in the distance that the men worked harder than she did. Of course, they were being paid. Luke had made it clear he’d take care of all her needs. It grated that she didn’t have her own money, but what was she going to do with it? Get into more debt? She wanted to believe she’d learned to be more responsible, but her recent cutbacks had been out of sheer survival necessity and the fear of going hungry.
And if she started spending money with her name attached to it, the creditors would line up at the door. She’d started to see herself as part slave, part fugitive, and the fugitive part made her wary about demanding her rights to a paycheck that debt collectors would just swoop in and take. Luke was right. Paid or unpaid, with so much debt, she was a slave, and there didn’t seem to be an exit ramp in sight.
