“I’m Just A Hired Girl,” She Sobbed — But The Rancher’s Children Begged Her Not To Leave
Chapter 4
Mara didn’t think.
She moved.
She pushed the children into the bathroom and locked the door.
“Stay here.”
Ellie grabbed her sleeve.
“No!”
“I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t go!”
Mara ran downstairs.
Samuel stood in the hallway holding an old shotgun.
Across from him stood the man from the photograph.
The same face.
The same dark eyes.
The same scar near his left eyebrow.
Samuel’s supposed-to-be-dead brother.
“Caleb.”
The man smiled.
“Hello, Sam.”
Mara stopped.
Caleb looked at her.
“So you’re the hired girl.”
Mara’s stomach tightened.
Samuel stepped between them.
“Leave.”
Caleb laughed.
“You still think you can order me around?”
“What do you want?”
“The ranch.”
“You’re not getting it.”
“Actually, I already have it.”
Caleb pulled a folder from his coat.
“Your bank signed the papers this morning.”
Samuel stared.
“No.”
“Your debt was sold.”
“To whom?”
Caleb smiled.
“You really haven’t figured it out?”
Mara looked at the papers.
A company name appeared at the top.
Blackridge Holdings.
She knew that name.
She had seen it on the foreclosure notice.
“Blackridge bought your debt,” she said.
Caleb looked at her.
“Smart girl.”
Samuel turned toward Mara.
“You need to take the children and leave.”
Caleb’s smile disappeared.
“No one leaves.”
He raised his gun.
Mara heard movement upstairs.
Ellie had opened the bathroom door.
“Daddy!”
Samuel turned.
Caleb fired.
The shot struck the wall.
Mara grabbed Ellie and pulled her back.
Noah screamed.
Samuel fired his shotgun.
Caleb ducked behind the doorway.
“Run!”
Samuel shouted.
Mara dragged the children toward the kitchen.
They burst through the back door into the freezing night.
Snow hit Mara’s face.
The barn stood fifty yards away.
They ran.
Behind them, another shot cracked through the darkness.
Mara pushed the children into the barn.
“Hide.”
“What about Daddy?” Ellie cried.
“He’s coming.”
Mara turned back.
Samuel appeared at the doorway.
His arm was bleeding.
“Mara!”
She ran to him.
“You’re hurt.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Where’s Caleb?”
“Gone.”
Samuel looked toward the road.
A pair of headlights disappeared beyond the trees.
“He wanted us to see him.”
Mara frowned.
“What?”
“He could have killed me.”
Samuel looked at the blood on his sleeve.
“He wanted me frightened.”
“Why?”
Samuel stared at the dark ranch.
“Because tomorrow, I’m supposed to sign the final foreclosure papers.”
Mara’s eyes widened.
“And if you don’t?”
“He’ll take the ranch anyway.”
“Then we need another option.”
“There isn’t one.”
Mara thought of the bank letter.
Then the photograph.
Then the company.
“Maybe there is.”
Samuel looked at her.
“What?”
“The land wasn’t supposed to be yours.”
His expression changed.
“What did you say?”
Mara looked at him.
“The bank documents.”
She remembered something.
A paragraph she’d seen beneath the foreclosure figures.
A clause about inherited land.
“Your father left the ranch under a trust.”
Samuel stared at her.
“He did.”
“Then why can the bank sell it?”
Samuel’s face slowly changed.
Because he suddenly understood.
The foreclosure papers were based on a debt against Samuel personally.
But if the ranch belonged to a family trust…
The bank might not own the land at all.
Mara whispered:
“Someone has been lying about the ownership.”
Samuel looked toward the house.
And for the first time that night, hope appeared in his eyes.
