The Ranch (Book 1): Troubled Times Read Online Free Page B

dreading. Since it was her idea in the first place, she knew it was only right that she be the one to talk. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. She couldn’t look her father in the eyes while he was so upset with her, so she looked at the floor as she spoke.
    “I’m sorry, Daddy.” It had been years since Debbie called him that, but at that moment, she felt like a little girl. “We were just trying to catch the person who had been moving the rocks. And then we were worried about what happened to James.”
    “If you were worried that something bad had happened to James, then don’t you think that was a clue that you shouldn’t be out there…especially at night?” He said, teetering on the line between anger and heavy concern.
    “I know, but we wanted to help. All we do is cook, and we wanted to be more help. We thought if we caught the person coming on our property, it would be one less thing for all of you guys to worry about.”
    “Well, now I have to worry about that, and have the added worry of knowing that my daughters like to sneak around late at night. What if Thomas was nearby and thought you were an intruder? What do you think would have happened?” He was frustrated, and hoped he was handling things right.
    “We didn’t think about it. We just waited until you were sleeping and the guys were at the perimeter.”
    It was obvious to Andrew his girls felt bad for making him worry. He didn’t want to yell at them, but he wanted to make sure they understood how dangerous what they had done was. He took a few minutes to gather his thoughts, and during that time, Debbie and Connie went to make more coffee. Beth and Amy were so upset about everything that happened that they sat in silence, unable to speak, and barely able to look at their father.
    When the two older girls returned, Anthony spoke in a calm but firm voice, “I want all four of you to look at me.” He waited until all four girls mustered the nerve to look into his eyes and then spoke again, “It is very important that you all stop this mission that you are on. We will figure out what is going on with the rocks, and James is back now. So there is no need for you to be sneaking around at night. It is dangerous, and my job is to keep you safe.” He looked at them and waited.
    Thomas also spoke up, “Girls, you are gonna be the death of me! I don’t know if you realize how much we all worry about you. You’re not just Andrew’s daughters, I feel like you are my family as well. Please don’t scare us like that again.”
    As if having their father upset with them wasn’t bad enough, the thought that everybody else also was upset really hit them hard. Debbie spoke for all four of them, “We’re really sorry, Dad. Sorry to all of you, really. We didn’t mean to upset you and we won’t do it again. We just wanted to help.”
    “Why don’t you all go up to bed? It’s the middle of the night and I think spending some time in your rooms to think about things will help.” Andrew wasn’t making a request, and the girls knew it. So they said goodnight and headed to their rooms.
    Once they were settled in and the ceiling above stopped creaking with their footsteps, Andrew turned and looked at James once again. “I’m still not convinced your story is exactly what happened. I absolutely do not like feeling like I can’t trust someone, and right now you aren’t giving me a really warm and fuzzy feeling.”
    “Sir, I really don’t know what you expect me to do or say. I went fishing, it wasn’t productive where I was so I moved to another area and caught a lot of fish. It’s all in the shed now. I could show you.”
    Feeling like he really needed to see that James had indeed caught a lot of fish, and knowing that he wouldn’t sleep until this situation was behind him, he put on his shoes and coat and led James out to the shed.
    “See, sir, it’s all right there,” James said when Andrew unlocked the shed and slid the door