“Certainly, ma’am.”
“Thanks for your help. Have a nice day.”
She disconnected the call while walking toward the door, grabbing her hat from a nearby coatrack. She had a few more hours of daylight before it would be time for dinner. Since the rest of this day had gone to crap, she might as well find something productive to do beyond these walls. Otherwise, she might find herself tempted to shake some sense into the lawman invading her life.
She stepped outside and saw strangers still traipsing across her land. She’d had about enough of this situation she was in; the last thing she wanted was to engage with more people who were a direct response to the mayhem in her world.
She walked toward the woodshed. There was a slight chill in the air. At this late hour of the afternoon, that spoke of temperature dips in their future. Their woodshed was full, waiting for the winter months to approach, and natural gas would supply most of their heating needs anyway. But having extra kindling around during a power outage brought on by a random storm was always a plus. So she walked inside the shed to retrieve her ax and gloves, then went back outside to the wide tree stump they used for chopping.
She pulled the tarp back on the pile of logs and grabbed one, standing it in the stump’s middle and picturing Jackson’s face on it. She pulled her ax back and let it fly in an overhead swing, splitting the log clean in two. The sound of the wood cracking sent relief sparking through her. Eager to feel more of it, she repeated the steps until her skin prickled with the sheen of sweat from her labor, and she no longer desired to split Jackson’s head open like a melon.
“You’re either cold as hell or mad as hell the way you’re swinging that ax. Which is it?”
Aja turned around to find Colton leaning against her woodshed with a corner of his mouth slightly turned up into a grin. “Isn’t the point of working with your hands getting to burn through a little natural aggression in a positive way?”
“I guess,” he hedged. “But I sure wouldn’t want to be the person you were imagining every time you swung that ax. You’re scary good with that thing.”
She laughed, and he joined her, and she felt better. The wood chopping had helped her, but the giggling she was doing at the moment almost made her forget what she was mad about in the first place. Almost.
“Let me guess, the big, bad sulking Ranger that’s been barking orders all day at everyone is getting on your nerves too?”
“He has been extra barky today, hasn’t he?”
Colton chuckled. “He’s been all over Storm and me.”
“Then I’m certain he wouldn’t want you slacking off here with me.” She paused and glared at Colton for a moment. “Or did he send you out here to babysit me?”
Colton cocked his head to the side. “Kinda. He relieved me for a long overdue break. He asked that I check in on you while I was headed back in this direction.” He moved closer to her, clearing off the shards left from her chopping, and sat on the stump. “I know Jackson can be a bit much sometimes, but he really is trying to protect you. And if he’s being such a pain in the ass that he’s got a delicate flower like you out here chopping wood like it’s an Olympic sport, it’s only because he’s worried.”
“You’re saying that because he’s your friend.”
Colton shook his head. “No, I’m saying it because it’s true. The situation you’ve found yourself in isn’t a good one. Jackson is doing everything he knows to keep you safe. So keep that in mind while you’re plotting his murder.”
Colton tipped his hat and headed back toward the cabin he shared with Storm. The man had said maybe five words to her since the Rangers showed up on the ranch. But his insight into her dilemma with Jackson was profound. Jackson was taking his job seriously. She honestly should let him do it. But she couldn’t. Not when it meant jeopardizing Brooklyn and Seneca and all the work they’d put into rebuilding their lives.
“You’re gonna be pissed about my decision, Ranger. But you’ll have to deal with it.”
Chapter 24
After sliding the lasagna trays into the oven, Aja sat down again to catch up on balancing the ranch’s books. The physical work of chopping wood had burned some of the frustration and restlessness she was carrying out of her system. Her mind was finally clear enough to make sense of the numbers in front of her.
They were in good standing. Even with the added expense of hiring a larger construction crew to get the work done in half the time. Good, quick work was what they needed to get these cabins up and ready for inspections before the upcoming travel season.
As she wrote the last digit in her balance column, she heard a knock on the front door. She looked at her watch before whispering, “You’re a little early, Mat.” She opened the door ready to greet the parole officer but found her uncle and aunt standing on the other side.
“Aunt Jo, Uncle Ricky.” She grabbed them into a collective hug. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, last I checked, I lived here, chile. We knocked ’cause we didn’t want to scare you none with all that’s been going on.” Her aunt Jo kissed her on the ball of her cheek and motioned for Aja to step aside and let her in.
“We wanted to check on you.” Her uncle followed behind her aunt. “Jackson called to tell me about the attack. Why did I have to hear it from him to find out what was going on, Aja? You’re my niece. It should’ve come from you.”
Aja was caught in that strange place of being an adult while trying to remain respectful to her elders when they were getting on her nerves. She started counting backward from ten in her head and clenched her teeth to keep from letting something she would regret later slip out of her mouth. Her aunt must have seen the tight set of her jaw as a sign of Aja’s struggle, because she waved a dismissive hand at her uncle.
“Leave this chile alone, Ricky. She called me. You were in court all day, and I didn’t want to leave a message like that with your clerk. Jackson got to you ’fore I could. All that’s important is she’s all right.”
Her aunt’s reprimand took some of the air out of her uncle’s displeasure. His shoulders dropped a little and his eyes softened as he looked at her.
“Are you all right?” He touched a comforting hand to Aja’s arm, and any remaining anger she had slipped away.
