“Don’t take another step!” George shouted and put his gun to Melissa’s temple. “Come any closer, and I will put an end to all of this right now!” He looked Daniel up and down. “You say that you have come here in peace, yet you’ve brought an entire arsenal along with you!” he accused him as he looked at the knives in his belt.
Melissa moved her head aside as she tried to get as far away from the barrel of the gun as she possibly could.
“These were just a precaution.” Daniel raised his hands in the air to signal his intentions. “As I ken ye would have done if ye were in me shoes.” He slowly reached down and retrieved the deeds to his castle and lands. “I have what ye asked for here. Now, put the gun down.”
“What are those?” George asked as he pressed the barrel of the gun harder into Melissa’s temple, making her grimace with pain.
“I know yer asking for money,” Daniel said. “In exchange for Melissa, I’ll hand ye the title deeds to me castle an’ all of the surrounding lands. I am prepared to sign the castle over to you along with the cherry orchards, in exchange for ye releasing Melissa to me right now. This doesn’t need to end badly. I agree to do this, and ye agree to give me Melissa. We both get what we really want, and no one has to get hurt. What do ye say?”
Melissa felt as if her heart would burst with love for the man she had married. She’d been questioning whether or not Daniel loved her, and yet here he was, willing to exchange all that he had in an attempt to save her life.
“Daniel, please, don’t do this!” she suddenly shouted as she realized what he was about to do. She’d never be able to live with herself if she were the reason he lost everything that he loved.
“Be quiet!” George nudged her head with the barrel of his gun. “This is a discussion between men, you have no right to interfere.” He licked his lips hungrily as he looked at the papers in Daniel’s hands, not realizing that he’d placed all of his weight on the gun.
“Don’t hurt her!” Daniel angrily hissed through his teeth as the barrel of the gun drew a trickle of blood from Melissa’s head. “The deal is off if she’s harmed in any way.”
Melissa felt dizzy as more blood trickled from her head. She kept her eyes closed and took a few deep breaths before regaining her composure. Her head was stinging, yet she had too much hope pumping through her veins to worry about the physical pain her father was inflicting on her.
The idea that Daniel was prepared to sign away everything he owned to her father in exchange for her safety made her love him even more than she ever thought possible, but she simply couldn’t let him make the biggest mistake of his life. She needed to do something.
Glancing up at her father, she noticed how deep in thought he was because of the proposal that Daniel was dangling in front of his face. Taking the opportunity to shift her body in a different angle ever so subtly, she remembered Daniel’s words.“Distract, defend, attack.”
Taking a deep breath, she counted silently to three, and with all the strength she could muster, she leaped to her feet and headbutted her father square on the chin, making him stumble backwards.
Daniel took the opportunity to leap forward and put himself between Melissa and George, using his body to shield his wife.
“You witch!” George shouted, rubbing his chin as he struggled to get to his feet.
“You will never ever lay hands on Melissa ever again!” Daniel yelled and shoved her behind him.
“We’ll see about that!” George grabbed his gun once more and pointed it straight at Daniel’s chest.
Noticing that the older man was about to pull the trigger, Daniel quickly jumped forward and grabbed his hand, pulling his arm up above their heads.
Melissa felt helpless and terrified as the scene played out before her in slow motion. The man that she loved was locked in a fierce battle with the man whom she had once calledFather.
Struggling to gain the upper hand as the older man used his weight as leverage, Daniel gripped his wrists with his free hand and attempted to knock the gun from his grip.
George snarled and cried out in pain as they tumbled over the table and cracked the wood clean in two, still fighting for dominance over the gun.
“Don’t make me hurt you,” Daniel hissed through his gritted teeth as they lay side by side on the splintered remnants of the table. “This doesn’t have to end badly for any of us, you are Melissa’s faither, dammit! Stop doing this!”
George grunted and groaned, trying to point his gun at Daniel, ignoring everything that the Laird was trying to say.
Melissa wished with all of her heart that her father would just give up so that the whole ordeal would be over, but she knew that things would likely not end with both men staying alive.
Daniel quickly lifted his knee and kicked him in the stomach, rendering him unable to move for a few seconds as he quickly retrieved the gun and backed away.
“Not so fast, you bastard!” George shouted and pulled a knife out of his pocket.
Daniel noticed that he wasn’t far enough to dodge George’s attack, and if he did nothing, George was going to stab him right in the chest, so he had no choice but to do exactly what he hadn’t wanted to do. He pointed the gun at George’s chest and pulled the trigger.
Placing her hands over her ears as the shot rang out and filled the cabin with smoke, Melissa took shelter on the ground until she was sure it was safe to open her eyes.
“Daniel, are you all right!?” she asked in a gentle voice as she saw the way her husband was standing over her father’s limp body with the gun pointed at the ground.
She noticed the life leaving her father’s eyes as blood trickled down the corner of his mouth. A strange mixture of relief and sadness filled her body as she watched her father take his last breaths. She convinced herself that she saw a glimmer of regret just as his eyelids fell shut.
