Jude swung off his horse the fastest. “Where’s Romy?” His eyes were wide with panic.
“We saw the fire and went to the house first, but they weren’t there,” Dad explained.
“Romy.” I sniffed. “She was trying to help me put out the fire …”
“Romy!” Jude cried, turning on his heels and rushing toward the fire before I could tell him she was okay.
Dad tied the horses to the post, and we all took off after Jude. The wail of the sirens screamed, piercing our ears. All of us covered our mouths, coughing as the smoke burned our lungs. We could see the fire spreading, consuming the forest and eating up every dry inch of ranch land it could touch.
“Dad, the ranch.” My heart was breaking.
“I know, darlin’,” he rasped as we jogged toward the flames. Every instinct in our bodies told us to run the other way.
“Romy!” Jude cried again, seeing her now holding Charli beside the fire truck while they were examined for injury.
“Jude!” She sobbed, running toward him.
They crushed each other in an embrace, Jude peppering kisses on their faces while she wept.
My lungs were about ready to give out. I stopped, bending over to wheeze.
“Lina?” Reed asked in concern, resting his hand on my back.
“I’m okay,” I said, catching my breath. I leaned against Reed. “The ranch …”
“I know, sweetheart.”
More emergency vehicles started pulling up, firefighters unloading, rolling out hoses. Thewhop-whopof a helicopter overhead, hidden by the night and the thick smoke, flew in. My ears roared as I watched everyone desperately trying to save the forest … trying to save the ranch.
I intertwined my fingers with Reed’s, holding on to him, drawing strength from him while I watched my land burn.
His hand flexed in mine, tightening his grip. “He’s not going to get away with this.” He whispered it so quietly, I barely heard him.
I pumped my hand in his grasp. “No, no he’s not.”
42
lina
Everything hurted. My lungs. My legs. My back. Hell, the very marrow of my bones ached, but I would have done it all again in a heartbeat.
I could sleep for a week, I was so tired, but I could feel sunlight warming the side of my face, brightening behind my eyelids.
Groaning, cracking an eye, I reached for Reed or Penn beside me, but the mattress was empty. Penn must have woken up and needed breakfast. We had all piled into bed, exhausted. There was no way in hell either of us were going to let Penn out of our sight. Scared from the ordeal, we’d both curled around her, holding her tight.
I sat up, studying the unfamiliar surroundings of the cabin we evacuated to.
One of the many perks of living in a small town was that everyone was ready to lend a helping hand. The Riggses, Christian’s folks, immediately offered to help. They owned a sprawling estate near Mt. Bachelor where they bred and trained thoroughbred race horses and Norwegian elkhound hunting dogs. They had plenty of acreage to pasture our horses and openfields for the herd to graze, not to mention a vacant cabin ready for all of us to bunk up in.
Wrapping myself in the bed quilt, I padded out of the room. The floorboards creaked beneath my bare feet as I stepped out into the hallway. In another room upstairs, I could hear Charli crying while Romy spoke softly, followed by Jude’s deep rumble.
The cabin was old, rustic, and looked as though it hadn’t been touched since the ’70s, but it was safe while we waited to go home. At least it was as safe as it could be since Junior was still on the run.
My heart just about sputtered and stopped beating, not seeing Reed or Penn where I thought they’d be. Clammy heat washed over me before noticing movement outside the front window. I clutched my chest, releasing an exhale of relief.
Reed was on the porch, leaning against the railing, his black cowboy hat pulled low, his cell phone to his ear. He had a clean white shirt on, but his arms were still streaked with dirt and soot. I knew my body wasn’t much better. We’d collapsed in bed last night as soon as our boots were off, not bothering to shower.
He looked deep in conversation as he stared off toward the mountains. I opened the front door, interrupting, as he turned to look at me. His face was shaded but his lips turned up at the corners when he saw it was me.
