His Ranch

Chapter 33 Closure

"Frank do you want a beer?" asked Flannery as she placed a plate full of pasta in front of him. The whole gang had just come home from the court house and she decided to make a nice comfortable dinner for everyone.

"Love one darlin'" replied Frank as he stretched out his hurt leg under the table. The cast the hospital had put on him was so thick that he was given a pair of crutches to which he scoffed and ordered a cane. He even took to hitting the ranch hands with it when they weren't listening.

Flannery set a cold beer in of Frank and then stepped back from the table. At one end of the table, Danny was fussing over Emma. She was doing so well and everyone was being so supportive. The past week and a half had been challenging but she had spent everyday with Danny and a special therapist from a few towns over. To add to the joy of being a live and well, Emma had announced before dinner that she was pregnant. Flannery couldn't help but cry and clasp the woman to her.

Robbie was sitting next to Frank laughing about the outcome of the trial. Scarlett had been arrested on multiple charges but nothing that would stick her with a life sentence, mainly because there wasn't a third party that witnessed her acts of horror against Emma. Nolan attempted to testify against her as a witness but because of his mental instability, hi testimony was overlooked. Then Robbie had come forward. Flannery remembered that he had told her when they first met that he was seventeen, but when she saw him smoking around the ranch she just assumed she had misheard. Apparently she hadn't.

When Robbie's lawyer announced that he had sexual relations with Scarlett the reaction was truly laughable.

"You little shit!" she had screamed across the court room when the case of statuary rape had bee announced. Flannery had to hide a smile when she saw the innocent face Robbie had dawned for the jury. 

"You slept with a psycho," Connor said from across the table. Robbie looked a him with a smile.

"My innocence was taken from me in a brutal and dirty way," he said with a mischievous look in his eye. "How will I ever recover from such an experience."

"Hey," came Danny's voice from the far end of the table. "I don't want hat name mentioned in front of Emma."

Immediately Robbie bowed his head and a blush crossed his cheeks. With how Emma was acting, it was hard to remember the horror she went through. Especially since she was covered with clothing from then neck down to cover all the healing wounds.

Flannery glanced around the kitchen and frowned when she realized that Coult hadn't come in for dinner. She smiled and encouraged everyone to help themselves to seconds before she went to search for him. She checked the parlor, the porch and then made her way to the study. As soon as she stepped into the study, she was whisked up into a pair of strong cowboy arms.

"Well, hello there, kitten," Coult murmured as he nuzzled her neck. Flannery felt heat fill her veins and couldn't help but moan as she relaxed into him.

The past two weeks had been paradise. They had talked and talked...and made love...and talked some more. She knew him and he knew her. Every night Coult would slowly peel off her clothes and slide down her body leaving a trail of wet kisses. When he would get to her belly, he would whisper words of love to their child before making sweet and passionate love to her. 

She finally felt safe and felt as if she could say anything to him. She wasn't worried about whether he would leave her or not want her because he had stuck with her through the most traumatizing experiences of her life. He was here to stay.

Coult pulled his head back and watched the happy smile that over took his woman's face. This was how she was supposed to look. Happy and glowing. He loved when she smiled and he knew that he would do anything to keep that smile on her face.