Gerald laughed once.
Humorless.
Then he climbed back into his truck.
A moment later he drove away.
Dust rolled across the yard.
Silence followed.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Then one of the teenage ranch hands finally whispered:
"Wow. That guy is crazy."
The second nodded.
"Yeah."
The third looked at Beast.
Then wisely looked away again.
Hank emerged from the barn.
Slowly.
Thoughtfully.
His gaze moved from me.
To Beast.
Then back again.
And for the first time since Gerald arrived...
I saw relief on my father's face.
Because Beast hadn't just stood between Gerald and me.
He'd stood with me.
And somehow...
Those two things felt very different.
13
BEAST
Ishould've known something was wrong when my phone rang at five-thirty in the morning.
Nothing good ever happened at five-thirty in the morning.
