Page 53 of Ranch Rules

Before she could finish, he snatched the diploma from her hands while her mouth dropped open in shock.

“Please, sir, I don’t know what’s going on. Can you just explain—”

“We need you off the stage, please.”

“But I’ve worked so hard!” she protested. “I never went to parties, or drank, or had any fun. All I’ve done is study!”

His eyes were stern in his wizened face. “What you are, Natalie Winthrop, is a fraud. You don’t belong here. You’ll never get a diploma from this institution. You’ll never work as a lawyer. You’re a fraud.”

She turned to look for her parents, but the seats they’d occupied moments ago were now vacant. Her heart sank. It was like they were too embarrassed of her to do anything but run.

The happy murmur of the crowd, the cheers and congratulations slowly began to change. Suddenly everyone in the audience, her fellow students around her, and the dean were chanting: “Fraud! Fraud! Fraud!”

“I’m not! This doesn’t make sense! I earned my diploma! I’m not...” But her words were drowned out by the roaring crowd. She covered her ears, but nothing she did could drown out the accusation of fraud... fraud...

Her heart was pounding so loud she was certain everyone in the room could hear it. It was growing louder by the moment. Rap tap tap. Tap tap.

The tapping noise grew louder and louder, finally jarring Natalie awake. She’d been in such a deep, disturbed sleep that she hadn’t realized sounds from real life had seeped into her dream one. Blinking in the sudden light, the first thing she noticed was that the sky had cleared and the sun had emerged from behind the clouds. The second was that Thomas was looking through the windowpane at her.

Suddenly, the fuzzy remembered bits of her nightmare vanished and she threw open the door, launching herself at him.

Immediately, his arms came around her. “Hey, there. What are you doing all the way out here?”

“It was awful,” she said into his denim shirt. “It was raining and I couldn’t see and my car broke down and the reception was so awful, I didn’t think anyone was ever coming,” she said in a rush.

“Whoa, take a deep breath.” He gently pried her away, still holding her arms as he looked into her face, watching to make sure she complied. “Okay, that’s better. Now, say it again. Slowly.”

She did her best, though her words still tumbled over one another in places in her relief.

“Okay. I think I’ve got the sum of it. Except for one thing. What were you doing out here in the first place? You have more time at the ranch, isn’t that right?”

She heard the beginnings of sternness in his voice and dropped her eyes. “Well, yes... I mean, technically...”

“Technically?” he echoed.

Natalie didn’t even have to look to know his arms would be crossed over his chest. “Ah, I mean, yes, I did... do.”

“So where were you going? Did you run out of your favorite shampoo and you just had to drive twenty miles to the closest Target?”

She could tell by his incredulous tone that he was annoyed. If he’d been offering her a lifeline, she surely would have taken it, but instead, it looked like she’d have to face the music. “Um... I decided to leave early.”

“Look at me.”

Reluctantly, she raised her eyes to his face. It was worse than she’d feared. The disapproval was there, yes, but it was the hurt in his eyes that made her heart pang.

“Why would you leave without telling me, Natalie?”

She hesitated, wishing a good lie would present itself. But even if it had, she wasn’t sure she would dare to lie, not with the memory of soap fresh in her mind. He’d find out and there would be hell—or hot, shameful tears—to pay. More than that, even, she didn’t want to lie to him. “No, sir.”

“Well, what then?” He was clearly exasperated with her. “It’s pretty irresponsible to just take off, don’t you think?”

“Ah, yes, I guess so...”

“Didn’t you know I’d worry?”

Her heart constricted again. “Actually, well... I guess I didn’t.”

“You didn’t?” he repeated dubiously.

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