Her Rancher, Her Protector

Chapter 2 - Angel

I was now on open road with my son. This wasn’t my idea of living, moving from one town to another. But I had no choice. I had to protect my son from his monster of a father. I looked over at my son as he looked out the window. “Are you okay, baby?”

He looked at me a bit annoyed. This was like the hundredth time I have asked him since we went back on the road. He nodded. “Mama, I promise, I am fine. I feel fine.”

“If you feel short of breath, just tell me, please. Okay?” I almost pleaded.

“I will, mama. I promise. But I can breathe fine.” He reassured me.

I just nodded and looked out the window, we were in Texas now. I don’t know how long we have been but I could make heads or tails of time. I decided out west was a safe bet. I have stayed at the east coast as I wasn’t ready to leave that side of the country, but maybe moving west would throw him for a loop. He wouldn’t look there. I saw a sign for Chester, TX. I sighed. “Mama, I am hungry.”

I nodded. “Okay, baby. I’ll find us somewhere to eat.”

As we drove, I noticed a diner and pulled in. Once we were in, I looked over and looked at my cash. I didn’t have much, a few hundred bucks. See I was paranoid. I kept my import stuff like id, social security cards, birth certificates, and a few hundred bucks in a lockbox in my trunk. Sometimes being paranoid worked for me. The waitress came over to us, her name tag read Gretchen. “What can I get ya’ll?”

Cory asked, “Can I have waffles, mama?”

I smiled at him. “Of course, baby.” Than I looked at Gretchen. “Can I get waffles for him and a water for me?”

She gave a sweet smile. “Of course, sweetie.”

She walked away and I moved my arm around my son. I was running low on cash and I didn’t know how we would get to where we needed to. I had no plan. I never did and always figured it out, but I always felt like a failure as a mother when I ended up here. She served my water and got Cory his waffles. “Thank you.” I told her.

Once we were done, I paid and we went back to the car. I tried to turn it over and it clicked. “No.” I began to panic. “Please.” I tried again, again clicking. I tried a few more times. “f**k!” I screamed as I hit the wheel with my hands, hard.

Corey looked at me. “Mama, what’s wrong?”

I looked forward and the tears threatened to surface. I suppressed them. “Come on.”

We got out and I went back into the diner. Gretchen called for the local mechanic and he came to the diner. He looked over at it and turned to me. “It’s the alternator.” He told me, plainly.

“How much is that?” I asked, worried.

“A few hundred bucks.” He told me.

I closed my eyes and everything weighed on me. Now I felt like my life was crumbling. I didn’t have the money, not enough to fix the car and pay for what we need to get to the west. I leaned against the car as I wanted to cry. I needed to leave as soon as I could. I looked at the diner and noticed a help wanted sign. I looked back at the mechanic. “How long would it take?”

“I could get it done today. I mean, small town, don’t get a whole lot of business.” He told me.

I nodded. I held out my arm to Cory and said, “Come on, baby.”

We went back into the diner and there I decided I could work there just long enough to make the money to fund our trip to the west. Just a few weeks. Kurt couldn’t find us that fast.