Holding On (Wildcreek Ranch Series Book 3)

Chapter One

Rihanna saw the last child out of her room before collecting her stuff to go to the staff room but the moment she stepped out of the classroom, she saw a Robbie standing and waiting for her. She had checked his details. His name was Robson Bradshaw and he was a new admission to the school.

"You didn't go home, Robbie?" She asked, gently.

"No, Miss Anna. You said we could go to the chapel, " Asked Robbie, looking up at her with hope. Rihanna had completely forgotten about that but it seemed as if Robbie hadn't. Now if she took him to the chapel, she would be late for the important meeting lined up.

"I'll take you to the chapel tomorrow morning, okay? Today, big ma'am called me and I have to rush to meet her, " said Rihanna. Robbie nodded in understanding.

"Did big ma'am call you to punish you?" He asked, looking guiltily at his feet. Rihanna was puzzled by the little boy's question.

"No, why should she punish me?" She asked kneeling down to be at his level.

"For talking to me. Finn and Tim get a punishment if they talk to me," said Robbie, still looking guilty.

"No Robbie. I'm not getting any punishment for talking to you. I love talking to you. We will talk everyday, like friends do, okay?" She said and Robbie looked up and nodded, his eyes brightened up a bit. "Who are Finn and Tim? Your friends?" She asked him gently.

"No, they don't want to be my friend. They just live near us," said Robbie.

"Why don't they want to be your friend?" Asked Rihanna.
"Because I'm not normal and because I have no one but my uncle," said Robbie. Rihanna felt a tug at her heart strings at Robbie's words. Such a small boy had no family left! Maybe he had faced some traumatic experiences which he couldn't overcome.

She touched his cheek and made him look at her. "Of course you are normal Robbie. You are a special friend of mine. Don't mind the others. We don't need anyone, right?" She said with a warm smile.

"Right, Miss Anna," said Robbie, holding onto her hand. "Will you take me to the gate please? I forgot the way," he said, looking around with lost eyes.

"Of course, come along. Your uncle should be worried about you," she said. Robbie smiled a little. It was obvious from his expression that he was very attached to his uncle. They reached the door that led to the parking lot. She looked up to see his uncle impatiently waiting for Robbie.

"See you tomorrow, Robbie. Bye, bye," she said.

"Bye bye, Miss Anna," said Robbie, yet he didn't leave her hand. Rihanna froze with horror seeing his uncle striding towards them with a smirk on his face.

"Robbie, go. I have to go to the meeting, " she said but Robbie smiled and kept gripping tightly onto her hand.
"I want you to come home with me, Miss Anna, " he said suddenly, out of the blue. His uncle reached them and his smirk grew wider.

"Very impressive, miss. I can see that you've already cast your spell on my nephew," he drawled in a lazy, bored tone.  Rihanna glared at him. What the f*ck did that mean?

"What exactly are you hinting at?" She gritted out.

"Very bright indeed! But this won't get you near me, if that's what you'd been dreaming of," he told her, his eyes going from her head to her toe, checking her out as if she was a cheap piece of trash. Rihanna felt the blood rush to her face with excessive anger. She was furious. She extracted her hand from Robbie's grip and fisted them to control herself.

"You're not God that I would play with a child's feelings to get near you," She said, whirling around and walking away towards the staff room without a backward glance, her whole body seething at the insinuation. How dare he insult her in this manner?

Hunter Bradshaw stared after the gorgeous woman who looked so delicious even when angry, ready to be devoured that he couldn't look away. Her chest fell up and down when she tried to control her anger. He had been too spellbound the moment he had seen her in the morning. Her ripe breasts, outlined by the top she wore, had him hard already and this had happened twice in a day by the same woman. He was amazed at his body's reaction to her. Her hot butt encased in that tight pencil skirt had him hot already. If he hadn't said those things, she would surely have noticed how he was behaving like a horny teenager around her.

Robbie's sobs brought him out of his dreamland, back to reality. "What happened now, little guy?" He asked him, picking him up on his shoulders.

"You made Miss Anna mad. She won't take my class now, she won't be my friend any more," he sulked. Hunter looked at his nephew with guilt. He had never seen Robbie get attached to anyone in the last three years.

Three years back, after a dreadful fire at his family ranch in Arkansas, he and his nephew were the only ones who had survived it. He still had violent nightmares of the fire every night there after, the screams of his family whom he couldn't save. The guilt, the shame and the pain all played havoc with his senses every single day of his wretched life. The fire had started in the middle of the night when everyone were fast asleep. He knew that their rival Jason Morgan had torched it after his dad had threatened to take revenge for stealing their horses. He had no proof whatsoever. His family were famous horse ranchers in Arkansas. The fire had spread so much that by the time they woke up, they were all engulfed in the flames. Robbie had slept with him at his room at the back and he had jumped over the flames and escaped with Robbie in his arms. He yelled for help but at 3 o'clock in the night no one heard him. He had called the fire extinguishers but it was too late. His mom had died when he was ten years old, from  a lung disorder. Hunter's dad, Gary Bradshaw, his older brother, Derek and his wife Dana, Robbie's older brother, five year old, Carson were burnt alive in that horrible fire. He couldn't live in Arkansas anymore. The place haunted him. So he came to Montana and started afresh here with his nephew. It took him three years to rebuild what he had lost and had everything money could buy except mental peace.

"Is Miss Anna your class teacher?" He asked him, opening the door of his truck and placing Robson into it.

Robbie smacked his own forehead. "Yes, silly. What have you done?" He scolded his uncle. Hunter felt really guilty now. What had he done? Now she would take it out on Robson.

"I'm sure she'll forget it by tomorrow," said Hunter wishing that she really would.

"No, she won't. Now she'll never be my friend," humphed Robson, looking a little mad.

"Oh," said Hunter, imagining the hot Miss Anna as his friend too. No, she was too hot to be just a friend. He would want her under him. Never a friend!

Robson stared at his uncle. "What are you smiling at, uncle Hunt? Shouldn't you apologize to Miss Anna tomorrow?" Asked an annoyed Robson.

Hunter's whole body was alive with excitement at the prospect of being able to see Robson's hot teacher again tomorrow. "Sure," he grinned, driving all the way home. Robson rolled his eyes at his uncle. What was wrong with him? He had never looked this happy before.

"Did you too make a friend today, uncle Hunt?" Asked Robbie with curiosity.

"No, why should I? I don't have time to make friends. You know it, don't you?" Asked Hunter. He didn't have a single friend in Montana. He wasn't in the mental state to be with anyone. He had left everything behind in Arkansas. The whole day he spent at his own ranch working hard. The rest of the time he spent with Robson and that was it. He didn't need anyone.

"No, you're smiling so much. I thought you're happy just like I am," said Robson. It had Hunter thinking. Was he really smiling today? Why? He knew at the back of his mind that it had something to do with a hot and gorgeous teacher but he refused to acknowledge it.

"No, I'm happy that you've made a friend, Robbie, " said Hunter.

He drove into his huge sprawling ranch on the outskirts of Fordsville, at a straight driving distance from the marketplace. The beautiful mountains and the wilderness around the place made it all the more special. The next ranch was quite far away. He chose this place since it was tucked away in a corner from all the hustle and bustle and as such, Hunter loved the privacy that the place gave him. With no one to inquire after them, he was happy to live a life, non-existent to the outside world.