Chapter Thirty-Four

30 weeks

The ranch was enormous and Sarah loved every inch of it. It had been since her teen years that she had to her uncle's ranch. Only now it was her cousin's ranch, she had inherited it when her father had died.

The wide open space and the quiet, gave Sarah a sense of freedom and belonging. Although she had never lived in Canada as her mom had but she had spent many summers at the ranch.

It was exactly as she remembered it, the house was a large wooden structure, with a beautiful stone fireplace in the living room. Outside there was so many space she couldn't even see where the neighbours lived or if there even were any. There were a few larger stables but only one of them had horses living in it.

She enjoyed simply sitting outside with Richie and her cousin, talking about summers of years ago and talking about everything that was going on right now.

While Sarah and Richie talked, the boys were exploring the stables with their cousins. They had only met when they were very small but they got along just fine right now. Sarah let them be and knew what was all to explore around a ranch, even if you were 16 years old, it was still pretty cool to find some things you didn't expect.

"So, if I find something really cool in the barn, can I keep it?" Noah asked, walking up to them with a carboard box in his arms, Caleb following further behind him.
"Depens on how big it is and if it fits in the car." Richie thought out loud.
"Oh, it's small, it'll fit."
Sarah looked at him wearily. "What did you find?"
"Kittens." He said with a huge smile, opening the box.

A little orange cat face peeked of the box and mewed. Soon enough a black head popped out too.

"They're tiny." Sarah said as her cousin got up to take the box from Noah.
"We just found them in some straw." He pointed over his shoulder to the barn they had just left and handed over the box. "We didn't want to just leave them there."
"They're only a few weeks old it seems." Sarah put in. "I don't know if they can even miss their mom."
"What if we get one at the shelter at home?" Noah asked, the kittens were cute and he really wanted one.
Caleb finally caught up with him. "Hey, if Noah gets one, I want one too."
"We already have a dog." Richie decided to point out the fact.
"Ava has a dog." Caleb responded.
Richie sighed, that was true. "We'll see."

The rest of the day Noah and Caleb hardly let the baby cats out of their sight. Sarah had to agree that the kittens were adorable but it was impossible to take cats over the border, they'd never be allowed that.

She also showed Richie around the ranch, to where the stables were with a few horses. Each stall had a sign with the horses their names. When she finally found the name of the horse she used to ride over the summer, the empty stall sent a painful shot through her heart. It was to be expected but it still hurt her to know that her horse had died.

"You never told me you could ride." Richie said as they continued their walk.
"Oh I can't." Sarah laughed. "Not really. Did you know horses are really clever animals? I liked talking to them, taking care of them, that sort of thing. The rides were always very short."
"Oh well." Richie sighed, but Sarah knew by the tone of his voice that something was coming up. "I know something else you can ride perfectly."
Sarah laughed and mock slapped him. "You're bad."
"That's not what you say." He chuckled and avoided more slaps.

They continued their walk and were both amazed at how large the ranch really was, Sarah knew the fields stretches for miles and miles but walking around made her realize that again. As they walked she told Richie about everything that remembered her of her summers here as a teenager. She had always looked forward to spend the summer in the middle of nowhere, the quiet and space were undescribable.

"You haven't even seen the best yet."
"What's the best then? We usually don't even leave the city when we're here or anywhere for that matter." Richie answered.
"The mountains are the best, all that nature, the lakes, the animals, it's simply amazing but you'd have to see it to know how amazing." Sarah explained.
"Maybe we can go there another time." He suggested but knew they'd be very busy for the next few months, maybe even longer.

Their walk ended back at the house where lunch was waiting for them.

Later in the afternoon, they had to start on the way back, knowing Richie had driven the entire way the day before, Sarah suggested she could drive for a little bit until they could switch.

After an hour of unenventful driving, they decided to stop for dinner in the town they were passing.

After dinner, Richie drove the rest of the way back to the hotel they were staying at.


It was dark by the time they arrived and they quietly made it up to their hotel room.

"How are you feeling about tomorrow?" Richie asked when they got in bed together.
"I'm not sure." Sarah confessed.
Richie gave her a confused look and gathered her in his arms. "Why not? Do you think he's gonna walk a free man?"
Sarah shrugged.
"He's not. No one would let him go free after everything he did."
"What if the judge doesn't believe us?"
"Why wouldn't he? There's proof Jonathan has been violent in the past. Sure he's only charged with attempted murder but with everything else they now know he's done, can't they just charge him for all that too? All those added up years gotta result in him being in jail for the rest of his life."
Sarah shrugged again. She wasn't sure. Jonathan had always gotten away with everything, he would have gotten away with this too if Nicole hadn't been pressured to finally report him.
"He'll be going to jail." Richie said, completely sure of it, there just wasn't any other way. For everything Jonathan had done, he had to be punished. "You'll see."

Finally Sarah nodded and snuggled into his arms. She didn't want to think about it anymore, they'll find out tomorrow, now she just wanted to sleep and hope.