Judy Christenberry - Beauty and The Beastly Rancher

Joe was a big man, the biggest of the Crawford men. His father had always told him not to take advantage of smaller men. But he knew his father hadn’t meant times like this. He swung his mighty fist into the man at her head and he fell back, turning loose of her hands. Then Joe turned to find the other man charging him.

He didn’t mind their resistance. It kept them from trying to hurt the woman. He planted his fist in the man’s stomach with fierce pleasure. He turned to check on the other man, who had pulled himself together and was coming toward Joe. He never got there.

The woman, Anna Pointer he now realized, had grabbed a board lying on the ground and slung it across the back of the man’s head. He silently fell to the ground.

“Nice job,” Joe said with a grin, amused by the woman’s action. He reached in his pocket for the cell phone he carried and dialed the sheriff’s office.

“We’ve got an attempted rape where Highway 50 turns south, at the old produce stand. Two men attacking a woman. We’ll hold them until you can get here.”

He turned back to the woman and discovered her sinking to the ground as if her legs had become too weak to hold her. He reached for her. “Mrs. Pointer, are you all right?”

He kept some distance between them, letting his arms do all the work. “Did they hurt you?”

“Just—just bruises. Oh! My little girl—”

“She’s okay. What’s her name?”

“Julie.”

He found an empty box for her to sit on. He started toward the side of the stand, but a movement and Mrs. Pointer’s cry alerted him to the man he’d hit in the stomach. He tried to attack Joe, but the man was six inches shorter and didn’t have a lot of muscle.

“No, you don’t.” He hit his jaw hard. Then he picked up a piece of rope lying on the ground. He twisted the man’s hands behind his back and tied him up. Then he did the same for the other one.

“Maybe that will hold them for a few minutes,” he said to the woman and resumed his attempt to bring the little girl to her mother. He expected the child to be where he’d left her, but she’d followed him and stood a few feet from the stand.

“Julie, your mom is fine. She wants to make sure you are, too. Come here.”

Julie came closer, but she skirted around Joe, leaving plenty of distance between them. He wasn’t surprised. Children didn’t take to him much because of his size and his irregular features. He had dark brown hair with bushy eyebrows and a crooked nose, giving him a gruff look. His four brothers were handsome as sin. Women chased them constantly. Nobody chased Joe. He’d accepted his lot in life, but scaring little children still bothered him.

“Mommy!” Julie cried out as she flew into her mother’s arms.

“Oh, baby, I was so worried about you. Are you all right?”

“Yes. Did those bad men hurt you?”

Tears were running down both their faces, and Joe looked away. He felt like he was invading their privacy.

The females were hugging each other when Joe heard a baby cry. He looked around, startled, and found another box serving as a bed for a baby wrapped in a light blanket. The woman went to the box and lifted the baby, bigger than Joe had first thought. He’d forgotten Derek’s wife had been pregnant when he’d died in that car crash. It had caused a lot of gossip because he’d had a woman with him, who was not his wife.

“You came here with Julie and your baby? Don’t you know how dangerous that can be?”

She lifted her head and glared at him. “I do now.”

“You should’ve figured it out before you put the kids at risk.”

“I just wanted to sell my excess produce. Pardon me for not realizing some men would think it a fine opportunity to rape me!”

A siren in the distance stopped Joe from responding. He started to say she should know the nature of men. After all, she’d been married to a man who thought of no one but himself. But he was handsome.

The Sheriff’s deputies jumped from the car as soon as it slammed to a stop, sending dirt spraying into the air.

“Crawford, is everything okay?”

“Now it is. These two stopped and, realizing Mrs. Pointer was on her own, had her down on the ground, trying to undress her when I arrived.” He looked over at the two men. The one the widow had whacked on the back of the head was just coming to. The other one was sitting up, struggling with the rope.

“I bet they’re regretting that decision since you came along,” one of the deputies said, grinning at Joe.

“Mrs. Pointer took out the one on the left. He might need some medical attention, though he doesn’t deserve it. Neither of them is too bright. And if they show their faces around here again, they won’t be leaving.”

“You can’t prove anything,” the one sitting up sneered.

“If you’re dead, I won’t have to prove anything.” Joe’s words were softly spoken, hoping Mrs. Pointer wouldn’t hear them.

The man turned to the deputies. “Did you hear him threaten me? I’m going to press charges!”

Joe didn’t show any fear. Anna Pointer rushed over to his side. “I don’t think that will matter once I tell them what you tried to do. Besides, as he said, you come back and you might be dead.”

The two deputies nodded. “We protect our womenfolk around here. And we don’t press charges for doing that. You’d better keep your mouth shut. All that would do is confirm that you tried to hurt this lady.”

They pulled both men up and dragged them to the car, putting them into the back seat.

“That rope isn’t very strong. You might want to put on handcuffs,” Joe called.

The deputies did so. One of them called, “Thanks for reminding us. Sheriff wouldn’t be pleased if they got away. Ma’am, we’ll call you about pressing charges. Mrs. Pointer, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

The men drove off in another cloud of dust, leaving Joe and Mrs. Pointer standing there. She had the baby in her arms with Julie holding on to her shirttail.

“You’re not going to do this again, are you?” he asked, wanting to be sure she understood the danger.

“I won’t bring the children back. I’ll put them in Mother’s Day Out at the church.” She didn’t look at him.

“What? Didn’t you understand what was about to happen? What’s wrong with you?”

She was a beautiful woman. But her jaw firmed and she looked up at him. “I won’t risk the children, though I need to sell the produce. I’ve got a bank payment due on the land and I don’t have the money for it. I have to sell what I have.”

He stared at her. A wisp of wind would blow her away. Julie, too, looked like she hadn’t had a good meal in a while. Only the baby had any fat on him. They weren’t starving to death, were they? He looked around at all the produce and fruit she had and told himself he was being ridiculous.

“You can sell at the Farmer’s Market in Lawton. You’ll make more money there.”

“But I would have to pay a fee for the space. Thanks anyway.” She began loading boxes into the back of the old rattletrap truck parked beside the stand.

“You quitting for the day?”

“That was the first car to come along in two hours. And I—I don’t feel well.” She carried more boxes to the truck.

He picked up twice as many as she was carrying and followed her. “Are you sure this thing runs?”

“It did this morning.”

He frowned as he loaded his haul. Derek hadn’t been a good husband. Joe knew that. He’d heard too much about his social life, leaving his wife at home. But he’d always seemed to have money to spend. Had he left his widow penniless?

“Julie, bring the aprons, please, sweetie,” she ordered in a gentle voice.