Handle with Care

Chapter 12

Luke walked in the back door into the kitchen. His father, future father-in-law and Phillip were all sitting around the kitchen table having coffee. Bobbi was at the stove and quickly crossed the room to hug Luke taking the opportunity to whisper in his ear asking if Ellie was alright. Luke kissed her cheek and nodded.

Bobbi and Ellie had talked about what had happened to her. In the afternoons, when the house was clean and dinner was all prepared Bobbi would wander down to the barn with a pitcher of iced tea and she Ellie would talk about everything under the sun. Ellie may have shared more with Bobbi than she had with Luke; some things were just easier to talk to a woman about.

Bobbi hated Phillip for what he had done to that sweet girl. She felt like spitting in his face when they were introduced. She was worried about Ellie and how this would affect her; as soon as she could she would have a talk with Luke.

Bobbi had confided to Ellie that her ex-husband had beat her every chance he got. Bobbi didn't seem the type to put up with that, but she did for seven years. He was always sorry afterwards and she stayed with him, but after he died she made a vow to herself that no one would ever lay a hand in anger on her again. Bobbi knew exactly the kind of fear Ellie was experiencing.

Luke took a seat at the table and Jim asked where Ellie was. Luke quickly explained that Newt had called with a vet emergency. Ellie's father said he would have like to go with her to see her work, but Luke explained time was of the essence.

Luke calmly stated that they were welcome to stay at the ranch, but after they got a few things straight. Luke spoke in low controlled tones and Jim was impressed how he was handling things. There was a time where Luke would come out swinging and talked later, but not today, today he was protecting the love of his life.

Luke started, "Dr. Crosby, I hope we have your blessing on our marriage because we are madly in love". He was interrupted by Phillip's snide remark, "You're getting a whole lot of crazy there, bro".

Luke raised his voice slightly, "Phillip, if you can't keep your mouth shut you will be asked to leave". Dr. Crosby started to protest when Luke turned back towards him. "Dr. Crosby, I understand that you don't believe Ellie when she said it was Phillip who beat her".

Phillip stood up and leaned towards Luke, "THAT'S BECAUSE I DIDN'T DO IT".

"Sit down, son", Dr. Crosby said.

Luke continued, "Whether you did or not Phillip the truth of the matter is that is what she believes so if having you here is making Ellie upset in any way you'll be escorted off the ranch. Dr. Crosby, can you see it from her perspective? Not only did she suffer this severe beating, but she felt abandoned by you. I know you're an educated man so you know about brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder; she deals with this every day. For the most part, it is all in her past but seeing Phillip really rattled her".

Phillip slammed his hand down on the table, "For Christ sakes, when is this going to end? I'm not going to keep paying for something I didn't do."

"Phillip, that's fine you don't have to deal with this at all, go back to New York and don't come back", Luke said in a very clipped manner.

"We were hoping that Phillip and Ellie could patch things up, that was one reason for coming here, but I see that Ellie doesn't want that", Dr. Crosby said in an accusatory manner. Then he went on to add they would be leaving in the morning. Luke thought this was going downhill fast, but he wasn't sure he wanted them to stay any longer. However, he knew that Ellie would be fine if it was just her father that was staying.

Jim interjected, "No point of leaving so soon Gordon, there may be time to still mend fences and if that's not possible maybe you could just spend some time with Ellie. Phillip, you don't seem like you want to hang around your sister so you could have a tour of the ranch or town or both. If you are willing to do that it would give your father and Ellie some time together".