Garrett sighed and put his hand out as if offering peace. "Please join me on the porch." He gently took her elbow and led her to the porch. She reluctantly joined him, but sat away from him. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and tapped her foot on the porch.
"Before I say anything, will you please tell me what Scott has told you?"
Caitlin readjusted herself in the seat, took a deep breath, and exhaled while rolling her shoulders. The tension was so tight she felt as if she had been rolled into a coiled spring and was waiting for someone to release her. "Not much." A breeze passed over which began to calm her shattered nerves. Slowly some of her anger began to blow away, but her body remained tense. None of this situation made sense. "Garrett, for the first time in my life I am scared beyond comprehension. Scott knows my life story. He's making secret phone calls yet making sure I hear him." She told him about the messages left on the answering machine. "All I can figure is someone's interested in my ranch, but why the games?"
Garrett rested against the porch railing, now sitting in front of Caitlin, yet giving her space. "Years ago someone approached Marshall about buying the Double C. Marshall refused and asked the man to leave. I guess things got nasty and it wound up in court. Marshall won, but now that he's passed away, this person may try to get it from you."
"I'm not selling and I don't care if you are the executor. It's my place and I'll do with it what I want. Why can't the person come and ask me? Let's be adults and handle this like a business proposition."
"I agree and let me state for the record that I want you to keep this ranch and turn it into a place for kids. Marshall would have loved it. Imagine the stories he would have told…" He waited a moment before saying anything else. "Why this is happening is beyond me. Please promise me you won't do anything foolish where Mackay is concerned. I don't trust him and neither should you." He stepped forward, knelt, and took her hand in his. "Caitlin, honey, nothing can happen to you?"
"Why?" she pleaded, staring into his eyes. " Say the reason. Stop playing these games with me and stop hiding behind your past."
Caitlin winced under the pressure of his hand squeezing hers. "Don't ever go there," he said, between gritted teeth. "The past is my business, not yours. This has nothing to do with that."