Natalie Acres Read Online Free PDF

haven’t been out to the camp in three or four days. You know Claude. He hates for me to go all the way out there alone. I’m sorry, Brock. I can’t leave Claude right now and I just don’t know how I can manage the place on my own.”
    “Hey listen. No problem. In fact, I was planning to call you. Rory and I are taking Trixie out of town today. We’re headed north but I wanted to swing by the lodge and stay for a night or two.”
    “The camp is in outstanding order,” she said proudly. “We had high hopes, you know. We had thought Mitch might want to reopen the place. We worked hard to make sure the property was just as he’d left it before he was sentenced.”
    Brock smiled to himself. The couple had actually gone out of their way to leave the camp precisely as Mitch had left the facilities. He and Rory had driven to Abingdon the year before. It was almost eerie. Cow Camp hadn’t changed a bit in the seven years since they’d been there.
    “Tell you what, since Claude isn’t well, you take off a month. I’ll make sure someone tends to the place.”
    “Oh, Brock, I can’t put that on you.”
    “Hush now. Yes you can. Mitch would want us to take care of the property and give you time to nurse Claude back to good health.”
    After their meeting with Mitch, he was one hundred percent certain Mitch wouldn’t want them anywhere near the place, which was all the more reason they were stopping over for a few nights. He wouldn’t think to look for them there.
    “Mitch ought to get his little fanny back over there. A lot of kids had hoped he’d reopen the camp.” A heavy sigh filled the line. “He called, you know.”
    “He did?”
    “Yes. He wanted us to know he was out. Claude asked him if he planned to reopen the camp. He said he didn’t want to think about it. Makes me damn mad if you want the straight of it.” She clucked. “Have you heard from him?”
    “I saw him yesterday, as a matter of fact.”
    “You did?” Her excitement couldn’t be contained. “Well how is he? You tell him I asked about him when you talk to him again. Will you?”
    Brock smiled to himself. Poor old Bertie. She could bitch about Mitch all day long, but down deep the woman loved him better than peaches on brownies.
    “I will indeed,” Brock said, realizing he probably wouldn’t see him again until they returned from Abingdon.
    He couldn’t help but feel a little sinister. He and Rory were taking Trixie to Cow Camp for a retreat, but they were running away from the man who owned the camp, a man who would sit in his hotel room and anticipate their return.
    Yes, Cow Camp was the perfect place for them to go. Mitch would never think to look for them there and he wouldn’t return there himself because of the daunting cruel reminders of the past.
    “So you’ll take care of everything then?”
    “I will,” Brock promised. “Tell Claude we hope he’s on his feet again soon.”
    “I’ll do it,” Bertie promised. “And, Brock? I love ya. I’ve watched you and Rory become fine young men and hope to one day meet the little ones. You bring ’em to see us sometime in the future. Will you?”
    “We will, Bertie.”
    They said their good-byes, and Brock hurried through the house and secured the locks and turned out the lights. Before he shut the door, he glanced around at the spacious foyer, eyeing the ride-along toys parked next to the stairwell.
    He and Rory had built a life there with Trixie. They had started their family. He’d be damned if he’d let Mitch Colony or anyone else threaten to destroy the happiness they shared.
    No. It just wouldn’t happen. Not on his watch. Not on Rory’s. They protected what they cherished. They guarded what they loved.
    Mitch might covet the woman they’d married, but he would not possess her. He could wish for the things that might have been, but he’d made his choices a long time ago. Now, Mitch Colony would have to live with them.
     
    * * * *
     
    Mitch threw a left hook