Sweet Southern Haven

Running

{Noelle’s POV}

This isn’t exactly what I was expecting, though I don’t really know what I had in mind. When they told me that my Ex had escaped prison, and they were placing me into the Witness Protection Program, I assumed that they’d move me to a bunker in the middle of Alaska. Instead, they’ve placed me in the hometown of my deadbeat dad. When I told them about my father’s ranch, they said it’d be the safest place for me. Far away from New York, rural, and tucked away within the mountains of Texas I never told Parker about my father, or his ranch, mostly because I don’t even know much about him myself. Only that he left my mother and I when I was just a baby.

Now, instead of being able to continue the life that I worked so hard to achieve, I’m being tossed in the middle of nowhere, with people I don’t even know. I sighed as the drive here had been a nightmare. We’ve been on the road for days trying to get here. Switching cars, wearing disguises, everything we can think to make sure that I’m not followed. I was left to wait at the bus station for the woman who runs the ranch next door to my father’s. She is supposed to know some of what’s going on. Only that I’m hiding out from some bad people, but nothing beyond that. They said that it was for the best, seeing as how I’d be staying in my father’s home anyways. We tried to get a hold of my father, but none of our calls were ever returned. I’m honestly worried about just showing up at his door, I wondered what he’d think about me. My mother always said that I looked so much like him, but she stopped telling me stories years ago. I only ever had a picture of him growing up, all I knew for sure about him was that he walked out on us.

Panic began to set in, and I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a terrible idea. I thought about calling back Agent Nickles, and asking to be moved somewhere else, but before I could even pull out my phone, an old dusty pickup truck pulled up.

A young woman sat behind the steering wheel, smiling to me as she stopped. “Are you Noelle Bennett?” She asked, her voice was gentle, and her southern drawl pulled me in, easing my anxieties.

“Yes, that’s me.” I smiled back, lifting up my luggage. “Is it alright if I put this in the back?” I asked.

“Yeah, just go ahead and toss it in!” She turned, pointing to the bed of her truck.

I placed my luggage in the truck bed before walking to the other side and carefully climbing in. This pickup was high off the ground, so climbing in was a little bit of a challenge. “It’s nice to meet you!” I held my hand out to her.

“It’s nice to meet you too Noelle, I’m Daphne, Daphne Moore! You spoke to my mother on the phone, she sent me to come pick you up. She would have been here, but she was managing something on the ranch that my brothers seemed to have fumbled up!” She laughed. Her smile was beautiful, her skin was sun kiss tanned, as though she’d been outside all her life. Her hair was long, and dirty blonde, and she had it braided down her back. Her eyes stood out, being a beautiful icy blue. She was taller than me, by quite a few inches from what I could tell, and she was skinny, but fit. She more than likely worked everyday on the ranch, I’m sure all that labor would keep anyone in shape.

“So, you’re headed out to Bennett Ranch?” She asked, trying to make conversation.

“Yeah, I’ve never been to dad’s ranch, so honestly I’m a little nervous.” I gave a half hearted smile.

She nodded, smiling back softly. “I grew up next door to Roy, he was a good man. I can understand that coming here after your daddy passed must be difficult.”

I gripped at my seatbelt. “W-What?” I took in a deep breath, and tried to let it out slowly. “He.. he passed?” I asked, looking over her.

“Oh, honey I thought you knew. Roy passed earlier this year, liver failure..” she said, looking back towards the road as we drove along.

I didn’t know how to feel, he was gone, though in all honesty, he was always gone. He never even tried to reach out to her, to call, write, not even a text. “I-I didn’t know.. we weren’t very close..” I said, tears beginning to well up in my eyes.

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, if I had known that you didn’t know, I could have thought of a better way to tell you. I’m such a mess, I always say something wrong.” She said, her body language showing that she was very uncomfortable.

“No, no, it’s not your fault. I tried to call, and text.. but I never got a response. I just thought that it was him being his stubborn self.” I said, rubbing my palm nervously. “It’s okay, I’m okay, please don’t worry about it!” I smiled, trying hard not to sound as let down as I was. Even as nervous as I felt, I had hoped that I’d get to meet my father, that I’d have some answers as to why he left. I guess I’ll never know, and I’ll just have to move past it.

We drove for a while in silence, before pulling up to a large sign that read. “Bennett Ranch”, I sighed reading it, and panic began to bubble up. I don’t know anything about running a ranch, and now, here I was on my father’s ranch, and he escaped me yet again.