I posted before Tora! *evil laugh*
Also Chapter 4 of her story is ready... soooo use that information to your advantage! haha
Cowboys can be such a**holes…
Stevie made it over just in time to stop the new girl from slapping Sam. "Hey, hey, easy spitfire." He said, gently grabbing her arm, offering his signature smile.
Mercedes looked at the man in front of her, she blink taking him in before furrowing her brows. "How many of them are you?"
He smirked, slowly easing her away from Sam. "How about I show you some of the ropes while grumpy over there goes and cool down."
Mercedes looked over shoulder at Sam before sighing. "Anything to get away from that oaf."
Stevie led Mercedes away from Sam and towards the gate. "So, what brings you to Evans Ranch, sweetheart?" he asked.
"My father hates me." She replied nonchalantly. "No offense but this is not for me." She added, waving her hand around.
He chuckled. "And by this you mean the ranch, I assume?" Mercedes nodded and Stevie sighed. "Did pop show you the pond?"
"Briefly, it was a lot to take in."
"How about I show you it closer?"He offered, steering them towards the far end of the property. "We can get some chores done on our way over, deal?"
Mercedes nodded, happy to get away from Sam and be in better company.
Stevie led Mercedes around the property, showing her all of the different tasks that had to be done on a daily basis. He explained to her how the cows needed to be fed, given the proper supplements and making sure their pastures were well tended and how they were taken care of in general.
He taught Mercedes about how to mend fences and repair broken tools, as well as taking care of any livestock that was on the ranch. As she watched him do all of these different chores with ease, she began to realize why this place was so important to his family; it provided them with a way of life, something that could not easily be replaced or duplicated anywhere else.
Mercedes was surprised at how much work went into maintaining the ranch. She had always assumed it was like movies but Stevie showed her the true behind-the-scenes of ranch life. "Wow, I had no idea." She commented as they finished tending to the cow's pasture and moved on to repairing some fences.
"I'm glad you're getting a taste of reality now." Stevie joked, handing her a hammer. "Grab some of those nails over there."
Mercedes grabbed the nails and started hammering away, impressed with her own strength as she fixed the fence with ease. Stevie watched in amusement, seeing how quickly she caught onto things when given the chance to trial and error.
"You're a natural at this." He complimented her.
"Quiet as kept, I've never done manual labor before, but I think I hammering stuff." Mercedes joked, taking a break to wipe the sweat from her brow.
"Well, that's good because around here there's always something that needs fixing or tending to." Stevie smiled at her. "But don't worry, it's not all work and no play. We have lots of fun too."
As they continued working together, Mercedes found herself opening up to Stevie about her life back home and why she ended up at their ranch. She felt comfortable talking to him and could tell he genuinely cared about what she had to say.
It wasn't long before they reached the pond at last and Mercedes gasped when she saw it for herself. The water glittered like diamonds in the sunlight, creating a beautiful sight.
"Wow..." Mercedes said contently, taking in her surroundings. She'd traveled the world and seen some of the most beautiful places but even she had to admit that the sight before her was unreal.
Stevie walked up, smiling. "Yeah, it never gets old. Crazy to think that when grandparents bought this land this wasn't originally part of it. They had to work really hard to earn enough to buy it..." He said, sighing.
Mercedes looked at him. "How long?"
He turned his head slightly. "I was fifteen when they passed. Grandpa went first and six months later, grandma went..."
As she glanced back at the pond, a lump formed in her throat. "I don't remember my mother," she murmured. "All I have are stories and pictures."
Stevie looked down at Mercedes, before playfully nudging her. "Way to get morbid." He said teasingly and she couldn't help smiling at him. "I should be hitting on you but instead, we're talking about dead people."
Mercedes laughed, thankful for the subject shift. "Yeah, that got a little dark."
He nodded, taking one last look at the pond. "Let's go, there's a few more things we gotta do before quitting time."
As they walked away from the pond, the sun began to set, casting golden hues across the sky. The air was crisp and there was a gentle breeze making the trees sway. The two of them walked in silence, lost in thought. Stevie led them to the far right side of the property, there was a fenced off area that had a single cow in it.
She looked at him suspiciously. "Why that cow alone?"
"She's special." They heard and Mercedes dropped her head.
As she caught sight of Sam on his mount, she sighed heavily and muttered, "So much for getting away from you..." The sun was behind him, giving him an ethereal glow, like many of the cowboys in the movies. It was quite a sight and she hated that she couldn't look away.
Sam looked down at her. "You have one last task, then you can go." He said dismounting, Stevie looked at his brother wide-eyed.
Stevie shook his head. "Sam, don't."
"Don't you need to check in with ma?" He replied, croaking his finger in a come here motion at Mercedes.
Mercedes followed Sam to the fenced off area, still feeling a little uneasy around him. She had hoped that she could avoid him for the rest of the day, but it seemed like fate had other plans.
"What do you need me to do?" She asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
Sam turned to face her, his expression serious. "I need you to help me with this cow." He said, gesturing towards the angry-looking animal in the pen.
Mercedes took a step back, feeling a bit intimidated by the large cow who was now glaring at her. "Uh...I don't know anything about cows..."
"It's easy," Sam reassured her. "Just help me calm her down so I can give her some medicine."
Jack walked over to check in on Mercedes' progress, seeing his brother leading her to Besse. "What the hell is he doing?" He mumbled, rushing over to them.
Reluctantly, Mercedes stepped into the pen with Sam close behind. "... Just do like I said and slowly walk up to her on the side and I'll tell you when to grab her."
Mercedes took a deep breath and followed Sam's instructions. She moved slowly towards the cow and tried to keep her nerves under control. The cow snorted and shuffled her feet, Mercedes hesitated looking to Sam for reassurance.
"Go on, she won't bite." Sam said from behind her. "Reach out and grab her collar."
Mercedes let out a shaky breath, but then reached out and grabbed the collar. She held on tightly as the cow shook her head and tried to pull away.
"SAM STOP HER!" Jack shouted, running faster.
Suddenly, the cow reared, turned and head butted her in the side. She stumbled backwards, crying out in pain. Sam moved quickly to catch her before she could hit the ground.
Jack rushed into the pen too, helping his brother carry Mercedes to safety. Her breathing was shallow and her face was contorted in pain. He looked at his brother before shoving him, pinning him to the ground.
"Get off me!" Sam grunted.
Jack pinned him down harder, bringing his fist up before slamming into the ground next to his head. "What. the. fuck. did. you. do?" He asked, his voice was a low growl, each syllable dripping with rage as he demanded an answer.
Sam gritted his teeth. "Showing her the ropes!"
Dwight, Mary, Stacey and Stevie came running over seeing Jack pinning Sam down while Mercedes laid, crying and holding her side.
"WHAT HAPPENED!" Mary shouted, running over to Mercedes with Stacey close behind.
Dwight stomped over to his son, grabbing Jack by the collar and practically throwing him off of Sam. "Explain and by God, it better make sense."
Sam stood, dusting himself off, shooting his brother an angry glare. "She needed to learn everything, so I was showing her how to give Besse her medication."
The older man bucked, stopping himself from fully lunging. "You... take a walk." He said, walking away from his son disappointed.
"Okay honey, I need to check to see the damage." Mary said, Mercedes winced allowing Mary to slowly lift her shirt to check to see if there was any damage done to her ribs.
Stacey kneeled down, looking closely at her bruise. "Looks superficial but... we should definitely get Santana out here. We can get her moved to the house but I don't know if we should move her… I'll go get Santana, she's not far."
Stacey ran off, leaving Mary to sit with Mercedes. Dwight and Jack walked away, talking in hushed tones as Sam stood still, unable to look at anyone.
"Ow, ow, ow." Mercedes cried.
Mary offered a soft smile."I know, honey... I just need you to lie still and we'll get you some help." She said soothingly.
Mary held Mercedes, trying to keep her calm and Dwight checked on Besse. Sam stood in silence as he watched his mother fuss over Mercedes before shaking his head and storming off.
Finally, after what felt like hours had passed, Stacey returned with Santana in tow. The med-tech was a petite woman with long black hair and deep frown on her face. She took one look at Mercedes before sighing and pulling out her medical supplies.
"Let's move her into the house where I can properly tend to her injuries." She said sternly, watching Sam walk away with narrowed eyes.
She didn't say anything else as she helped Mary lift Mercedes up gently and carry her towards the house where she could further assess the girl without any distractions.
Mercedes groaned in pain when they got her into the house and with the help of Jack, onto the table so Santana could have a better look at her. Jack offered her a smile before whispering something to DJ, who walked in after all the commotion. The young boy looked over at Mercedes worriedly before running off to do whatever his brother said.
Santana looked at Mercedes for a moment, smirking. "So you're the rich girl?" She asked, pressing around the area earning another groan from Mercedes.
"I have a name and I'm not that rich." Mercedes replied before yelping when Santana pressed down.
"I don't know, you bought this place in one payment and then your dad gave it back like it was nothing, sounds pretty rich to me."
Mercedes couldn't help rolling her eyes. "So, you're like everyone else I meet. You see dollar signs and nothing else." She scuffed, groaning again.
"Doubtful." Santana tsked. "Your ribs are bruised... we may need to take her to the hospital" She said
"No... no hospitals. Can't you like fix it?"
Santana looked at her before sighing, "Fine, I'll treat you here but it's going to be hard and painful. She replied, pulling out some salve from her bag and began rubbing it onto the area around the bruise. "That being said, I'm interested in what happened here..." she said, shooting Jack a glare that could burn holes through steel walls.
"Sam's the one that had her in that damn pen." Stevie said. "I don't… I don't know what's wrong with him."
Dwight sighed. "It won't happen again." He said, more so to Mercedes than to anyone else. "Is she okay?"
Santana nodded. "She's gonna be sore for a few days, she can't work and I'll have to come back to check on her."
Dwight nodded. "I am really sorry that this happened."
Mercedes looked at Dwight, offering a half smile. "It's not your fault."
"But it is…" He said before going to look for Sam.
Dwight could feel the anger boiling inside him as he walked towards Sam's room. It made his fists clench and his vision blur with rage. He had to take a few deep breaths in order to calm himself before bursting through the door. Sam was the only one that had a home on the property, it was on the far end near the back entrance that only their family knew about.
When Sam appeared, Dwight was taken aback by how different he looked from earlier that day. His eyes were red and puffy, like he had been crying and his face was pale with fear. Dwight knew his son well enough to know that those tears were from anger not care.
Sam's jaw clenched. "Why did you agree to have her here? All of you are over there fussing over her like she was severely hurt. She's fine! You wanted me to show her damn ropes so I did and that includes showing her how to care for Besse."
Dwight looked at his son before shaking his head. "Are you fucking serious? She could've gotten hurt worse, on a good day Besse is too much for me to handle and you put her in there? Someone who is untrained to look for the signs of aggression!" He shouted, his voice carrying throughout the living room.
"It is-"
"No, no you shut the hell up. This is not the part where you get to speak, you do not talk until I give you permission!" He said cutting Sam off. "Whatever anger or self pity you have, get rid of it now. Your fucking ego and pride is why that woman is pain right now because of some one sided bullshit you made up in your head."
Sam bawled his fist. "She could've worked with Santana or Stacey or Jane but you put her with me and for no reason except to appease her rich daddy!" He spat back. "What is even the point behind it? To teach his child a lesson? He couldn't send her to some fucking other place?"
Sighing, Dwight rubbed his forehead. "Why does it matter to you? She has been here a day! ONE FUCKING DAY and you made it a point to handle her like she was less than. I've seen you handle wild horses better than you did that girl!"
Sam punched the wall. "If we really own this place outright like you say we do, then you could've told him no. So do we really own it?"
Dwight looked at his son, frowning. "Yes, we own it," Dwight answered. "But I'm afraid that won't change the fact that you hurt Mercedes and now she can't work. You need to make things right with her. So for now, you'll tend to her until she is well enough to come back to work." He paused, looking at Sam sternly. "This is an important lesson for you, as a business owner and a human being: You can't let your emotions run away with you like that. You have to be able to control yourself in any situation."
Sam shook his head. "If it doesn't require a hospital visit then it means she can still work, so that means she doesn't need tending to."
"Listen here boy, this is my ranch and this house is on my land and you will do as I say! You stand there trying to justify your actions but not realizing that if someone did that to your sister you and your brothers would've been in jail! And me having to even go there for you to humanize that girl is the fucking problem." Dwight replied, pacing.
"Pop-"
Dwight raised his hand, scowling at his son. "You… no son of mine would ever treat a woman like that, let alone any person but you acting like this means I messed up somewhere raising you." Sam shook his head, opening his mouth but quickly closed it. "But Jackson wouldn't have done that, neither would Stevie or DJ but YOU-" He stopped, pointing at Sam. "You stand here, on my land, tall and proud of hurting someone after them being here for ONE FUCKING DAY and you think you can tell me what you're not going to do? You ain't too old or too big for me to put you over my knee."
Sam knew when his father was pissed and he knew when his father was angry but he'd never seen him like this before. He knew what he did was wrong but he also knew it was only a matter of time before she was introduced to Besse or wandered over alone, now she knew not to go near her.
"Dad, I'm-"
His father slapped his hands together. "You're gonna see what eating crow is like, starting tomorrow you will tend to Mercedes and do everything you're supposed to as well as DJ's chores. Then you will make sure the west pasture fences are all up to code by the end of the week." Dwight said calmly, before walking out the door leaving Sam there huffing in anger.
I promise y'all will like Sam... eventually. Oh and next chapter will be a tiny time jump by a few days! It's about to get fun!