16. Travis

"Dad! Dad, come in. Are you there?"

I unclip the walkie-talkie from my belt. "I'm here, Mia. What's up?"

"Dad–there's someone out here."

"What? Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, but someone is out here in the woods. I think they were following us. We turned around and are coming back now."

"Ok, I'm coming." I jump onto the four-wheeler and speed off, realizing I never asked which trail they were on. I'm assuming it"s the easy one that Mia loves. I hope I'm right.

I race over and get there just as she and Ava come off the trail. They both looked scared. I see the relief on their faces when they see me.

"Dad! We're here! We're fine."

"Mia, what did you see? Tell me exactly what happened."

"We were at the part where the trail narrows again. I had just gone ahead of Ava. When I looked back to make sure she was keeping up, I saw something moving in the woods. I looked again, and it was a guy dressed in all black! I couldn"t see anything else; he ran away. I swear I saw it."

"I believe you. I'm glad you called me and turned around. You did the right thing. Ava, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little freaked out. I had this feeling that someone was watching us. What is going on?"

"I'm going to check things out." Kenny pulls up next to me.

"I'll follow. You ladies get back to the house," I say to Mia and Ava. "Don't say anything to the ladies."

Kenny and I drive slowly into the woods, trying to be as quiet as possible, which isn't easy on a four-wheeler. We get to the part where the path narrows. There's no sign of anyone.

"I never should have let them go out alone!" I slam my hand into the handlebar. "I bet it's the same guy from last night," I tell Kenny.

"But who is it, and what do they want?"

"I have no idea. I just hope this whole mess doesn't change what Ava writes. If she writes about secret prowlers, we'll be out of business before the year ends."

"The neighbors haven't seen anything suspicious, but they all said they'd keep an eye out. I can get a group together to search these woods."

"Naw, I think he's gone, whoever he is. But I'm tempted to sit on the porch all night with my shotgun."

"You know I"ll be happy to take a shift," Kenny says.

"Alright, let's get back to the house. We've got to do something with these ladies."

I pulled up to the house, and Mia and Ava were sitting on the porch chatting with some of the ladies. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. From the looks of it, the ladies have no idea about the secret prowler.

"Well, look who it is. I've missed you!" Ava gets up and practically jumps into my arms. It catches me off guard. With all this going on, I forgot she was my pretend girlfriend.

"Barb might be onto us," she whispers in my ear as she reaches up and kisses me on the cheek. Well, it"s more like my jawbone because she can't quite reach my cheek.

I wrap my arms around her and spin her around once. "That's a greeting a man could get used to." I wink as I set her back down. "Good afternoon, ladies. How's everyone doing?"

"Great!"

"Would be better if you greeted me like that," Barb said smugly.

"Sorry, Barb, I'm a one-woman kind of man, and I try not to make a habit out of dating the guests."

"It would make this place a whole lot more interesting."

"OK, then. I'm going to get back to work. Looks like tonight or tomorrow might be a good night for the bonfire." I walk away before she can cause a scene.

I don't know how I got myself into this mess. I've allowed Ava in too deep. I should never have agreed to be her fake boyfriend, even if it did help me out with Barb. I should have made Barb leave if she continued to be inappropriate. I would have done that if any guest had acted like that with my employees.

How will Ava write a good story about the ranch? She's too busy running away from prowlers and pretending to be my girlfriend to save me from creepy old ladies. And what is Ryder going to think? Will he even want to run a story about the ranch when he hears about all this?

"Travis? You there?"

"Yeah, Ken, what's up?"

"The fence. It's broken again. But this time, it looks intentional. Past the meadow, head straight out from where the trail narrows."

"What? Are you kidding me? I'm on the way."

I speed out there as fast as I can. Sure enough, the fence is broken, and this time, it"s not from wear and tear or an animal. It's intentional.

Now I'm angry. Who is sneaking around my property? What if Ava had gotten hurt? Ryder would kill me himself. What if Mia had gotten hurt? It"s definitely time to amp up security.

"I don't like the looks of this, Kenny."

"I don't either. Who would be breaking in and sneaking around? What are they after?"

"I have no idea. Let's get this fence fixed up so the cattle can't escape. Then we're going to amp up security measures. I have a bunch of cameras that I never got around to installing. Let's install those around the house. Tomorrow, I'll get in touch with someone who can help us secure the whole perimeter of the ranch."

"Sure thing, boss. I've got my tools right here." Kenny grabs his tools out of the storage box on the four-wheeler. "This won't take me long, and I can do it myself if you want to head back and get started on the cameras."

"Thanks, Kenny. We've got to keep this hidden from everyone. I don't want the ladies to get freaked out and demand a refund. Everyone is still safe here."

"Got it. I won't say a word."

I head back to the house. I was thankful to see Mia sitting on the porch reading a book. She's safe, and I'll never let her out of my sight again.

"Hi, Dad."

"Hey, sweet pea! How's it going?"

"Fine. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Why?"

"You're using that tone. Like I'm a delicate little flower or something."

"Well, you are. You are my delicate little flower." I say, trying not to sound cheesy.

"Ok, for real, Dad. What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"No! Everything is fine. Can't a dad just love his daughter?"

"OK, sure. Love you too." She rolls her eyes and goes back to her book.

"Have you seen Ava?"

"She was here on the porch with us for a while but left when all the ladies went to get ready for dinner."

"Left? Where did she go?"

"I don't know. Maybe for a walk? Maybe to help Roberta? Or maybe to check out Pony Cottage. Did you fix it yet? I don't remember what she said."

"Oh, ok. No, the cottage isn't fixed yet." And I have no plans to fix it for now. I can't allow Ava to sleep so far away, but no one needs to know that. "I'm going to see if I can find her. I'll see you at dinner."

I decided to start with Roberta first. I dash into the kitchen. "Roberta? How's dinner coming?"

"Great. You hungry?"

"Starving! Smells great. Have you seen Ava?"

"Yeah, she was just in here helping me. I think she went to freshen up."

"Thanks. I'll be back in a few to help!"

"I've got it covered, but thanks, Travis."

I raced to the private quarters of the house. There she was, standing in the living room, looking out the window.

"Ava, there you are." She turns toward me, the glow from the window illuminating her.

"Yep, here I am," she says.

I walk over to her and take her face in my hands. "I'm glad you're ok." Then, I kiss her.