Chapter 3 - Beautiful Day

Rhiannon

The sound of my phone's alarm going off pulled me out of the darkness of sleep. As I reached over to turn it off, a burning stiffness in my body reminded me what happened the night before .... not really how I wanted to start the day.

Eventually, I forced myself out of bed to get dressed and quickly peeked out my bedroom window. Catherine wasn't back home yet, and I didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

As soon as I made my way down the stairs all of the dogs woke up and started whining and jumping about in their eagerness to get outside. I walked towards the back door and placed my hand on the doorknob, stopping to look at the dogs.

"You all need to sit or I'm not letting any of you out," I informed them as I stood calmly by the door. They all sat down and watched me, waiting as I released them one by one. Just like the horses, the dogs respected me more than they did Catherine. I guess it's not surprising since I was the main one who took care of them.

I finished getting ready for my ride, making sure to grab a thermos of black coffee as well as a bottle of pain pills before I made my way to the barn to do chores.

After I finished taking care of the animals and double-checking that everything was set for a week, I put Dub in crossties to groom him before tacking him up. As I was about to tighten up his cinch, the sound of a man clearing his throat got my attention. I turned around to see Mr. Kurtz standing in the doorway of the barn, "Good morning Mr. Kurtz. What are you doing up so early?"

The tall, slender, older man smiled as his dark brown eyes stared at me from behind his glasses, "Rhiannon, how many times have I asked you to call me Ron? Mr. Kurtz was Bet's father and hasn't been around for many years."

I smiled back at him before I turned around to tighten Dub's cinch. I respected the fact that he cared so much for his father-in-law that he took Betty's last name instead of Bet taking his. But he was also being a little hypercritical, "You've asked me about as many times as I've asked you to call me Rhi."

"Touche. I woke early because I wanted to catch you before you left for your ride. There's something that Bet and I have been meaning to give you."

I raised a questioning brow as I took off Dub's halter and put his bridle on, wondering what on Earth they'd possibly want to give me.

"First, don't worry about being gone this week. Ed and Pauline are bringing up the girls so there will be plenty of hands around to do chores," Mr. Kurtz held eye contact with me, waiting for me to acknowledge him.

I smiled as I quickly rolled my eyes behind my closed eyelids so that he wouldn't see it, "I'll try not to stress about it. I really do highly appreciate you all taking care of things for me again."

"Everyone deserves a break now and then. Especially you. Now, this is from both Bet and I," Mr. Kurtz reached behind a small pile of stacked square bales and pulled out a saddle holster that he had hidden.

I tightly furrowed my brows in confusion as I shifted my gaze between the saddle holster and the man who reminded me of the happier version of the man painted in American Gothic.

Mr. Kurtz started chuckling softly, "It's not empty, there's a semiautomatic 12 gauge inside ....."

"I .... I can't accept that," I whispered, immediately regretting interrupting him.

"You can, and you will. Listen, Rhiannon, you're meant for greater things than what this town can offer you, don't let your mother drag you down with her. Once you're out in the world you're going to need to protect yourself somehow. This is our way of making sure that happens," Mr. Kurtz smiled as he walked over and started attaching the saddle holster to my saddle.

"But ..... I .... I can't pay you back," I normally didn't stutter, but I honestly have never found myself in a situation like this before.

"Oh, stop. You go above and beyond what's needed around here without payment. There's also a box of rubber slugs and shotshells. The gun IS technically loaded in case you need it. You just have to drop a shell in the chamber and ...... "

I quickly cut Mr. Kurtz off again, "But you've given me meat, and eggs, and ....."

This time, Mr. Kurtz interrupted me, "Do you think that your hard work is worth the little bit of extra food that we've given you? You need to know your value. You're worth much more than you think. Now, I won't hear another word about it. It's the same gun that you've shot the few times we've managed to talk you into shooting skeet with us during our family gatherings. You were such a natural that Bet and I knew it belonged to you."

Without thinking I wrapped my arms around Mr. Kurtz as he was talking, fighting back the emotional tears that threatened to fall as I hugged him tightly. I had always felt like I was nothing more than a burden to his family, but I was wrong. This ... this is what being appreciated felt like, and it was strange to me, "Thank you Ron, and please thank Betty for me, too?"

Ron slowly moved his arms around me, shocked by the hug that I gave him, and lightly patted my upper back, "You are very welcome, Rhi ....." he then held me by my shoulders, moving away from me just enough to look me in my eyes " .... now, you better get going before I hold you up any longer. You be safe out there, and take care of yourself, understood?"

I nodded my head as I blinked away my tears, "I do this ride every year, I'll be fine. I'll see you in a week."

Ron hesitated and smiled at me before he left the barn and made his way back towards the house. After he left, I turned off all of the lights, and Dub and I walked outside.

"Ready big guy?" I asked the beautiful red roan horse that stood patiently, waiting for me to mount up.

Dub gently pushed my hip with his nose, as if he was hurrying me along. I quickly mounted up and watched the colors of the sunrise slowly make their appearance as we made our way to Grams. It really was turning out to be a beautiful day.