Down Home Country

I closed my eyes and then opened them again and looked a second time. Yep, Cotton was standing in the door. Out of all the people I wanted to see, Cotton was not one. He was about six foot seven and looked like a line backer for the Giants. Bald head gleaming in the lamp light and the blackest eyes that would have looked more at home on a shark than a human. About as much feeling in them as well. Cotton was also one of the blackest men I had ever come across.

"What the hell are you doing here, Cotton?" I groaned as I put my face in my hands.

"Finding you." That low rumbling voice answered. His voice was always low and rumbling.

"Didn't have to find me. I knew where I was, sort of." I griped.

"He wants to see you."

"Of course he does. If he didn't you wouldn't be here." I said sarcastically. "I am not going. If he wants to see me so badly then he can come and actually have to see part of my life."

"I have spent several weeks trying to find where you were hiding for him. He wants to see you. Now." He looked at me tightly. "Willing or not."

Bristling I said hotly, "I wasn't fucking hiding. From him or anyone else. And what the hell are you going to do? You know more than anyone else not to try forcing me. You fucking taught me to fight."

"You either go see him on your own or those two country boys will go see him. Wonder how he will feel about them? Or how he will feel about them fucking his daughter at the same time? Bet they don't fight so well. Course he just might kill them and save you from yourself."

Cotton could always make very effective threats. More so since he would be the one to kill them if my father asked him to.

Lips tight. "I fucking hate both of you. Leave them be. As usual you win."

Cotton walked over to me and un-cuffed me from the bed. I got up and glared at him. It didn't work on him but made me feel better. I held my hand out.

"Give me your phone. I am not just leaving without a word. And I know you won't take me back to get some clothes or my car."

He just handed over his phone and walked out of the room. Cotton was very careful and wouldn't let me leave till I was delivered to my father. Never did I figure out how my father had gotten Cotton's loyalty but he sure as hell had it. Cotton would always do exactly what my father asked of him. No matter what it was.

I dialed Ryan's house number and Kelly answered it.

"Hello. Ryan's house."

"Hi sweetheart."

"Kit, where have you been and where are you? Everyone else is out looking for you." Kelly said.

"I figured that would be the case honey. Is Max there?"

"No, he is out with the duo looking for you."

"Ok," I said. "Listen to me hon. Tell the duo that I will have to be gone a couple of days but I will be back. They are not to start drinking. And tell Max that Cotton found me. He will understand. Got that?"

Confusion was in Kelly's voice, "Will be back and Cotton found you. Got it but don't understand it, Kit."

"I know and Max will explain it but I can't right now. Just don't forget to tell them I will be back. Oh and tell Max not to do anything stupid. He can leave that up to me."

"Gotcha Kit." Kelly said laughing.

"Bye honey. See you soon." I said and then pressed end on the phone.

Several hours later I was dressed in some clothes that Cotton had given me and on a plane to Santa Fe. I wasn't happy about it but Cotton hadn't relented, though I knew he wouldn't. He didn't say anything but that wasn't unusual for him. Cotton's actions spoke volumes and he rarely spoke any words when a grunt would do. As I glanced over at the big man as I remembered various times in my life and he was always there. The only time that Cotton had ever done anything that my father hadn't liked was when he taught me to fight. I have never known if Cotton knows about the physical me but I am sure that he, unlike my father, has been proud of my fighting skills. I again wondered about the strange loyalty that Cotton has towards my father but figured that would always be a mystery to me. Why my father wanted to see me wasn't though. Periodically my father will send Cotton to find me and bring me back for the "when are you going to grow up and accept your normal life" speech. Having a father and mother who are unable or unwilling to accept you for who and what you are is very tiring. I was they're child, they should have accepted me as that. No more, no less.

I thought about the two men that I was with now. If Cotton told my dad he would be pissed about it but it was my life. I had no desire to go back to the life of the daughter of a wealthy man. I was rich in my own right and I needed to convince him that the life he wanted for me wasn't going to happen. I wasn't going to go back and marry some man who could sort of accept me and make him the heir to my father and I wasn't going to be the heir he wanted me to be. I had lived many years without his money and I could continue to do it, even if I don't stay with Nick and Ryan. I loved my parents but they couldn't love me as I was. It was finally time to tell them to either accept me as I was or to lose me.