Page 21 of Colton’s Inferno

“But the important thing is that you made it out, safe and sound.” He paused. “And speaking of people who keep you safe, why don’t you ask Aiden Colton out to coffee? It wouldn’t have to be a date,” said her grandfather. The dashboard lit his face and the small smile on his lips. He was scheming, she could tell. “Just tell him it’s to say thank you for all he did. Then, if things go well, maybe you can set up another coffee date.”

She groaned. “Grandpa, please. I’m not going to ask out Aiden Colton. Besides, I’m just not ready to date anyone. Not after what happened with Derek.”

“I miss your brother, too.” Grandpa Rusty’s words were just above a whisper. “But just because he’s gone, doesn’t mean that you need to stop living.”

“I know. It’s just that…” Lucy wasn’t even sure she knew.

Her phone started to ring. The trilling filled the truck. Pulling the cell from her pants pocket, she glanced at the screen. The caller ID read Bryant Bros. Carnival.

She swiped the call open. “Hello?”

“I’m looking for Lucy Harris,” said a woman. Her tone was official.

“Speaking.”

“Ms. Harris. My name is Evelyn Davenport. I’m the legal counsel for Bryant Bros. Carnivals. I heard there was an incident on your property this evening.”

“There was,” said Lucy. “A fire in the barn where the helium tanks had been stored.”

“That’s what I heard. I also heard that you were trapped inside but made it out safely.”

She had been trapped, and thanks to Aiden, she’d made it out alive. “Yes.”

“Well, we’re glad that you’re okay. But I’m sure you can agree that a large fire like that changes everything.”

As much as she’d hated having the fair on her property, she’d rented the land for a reason. Or rather, there were fifty thousand reasons she’d allowed the carnival to use her ranch. “What are you getting at?”

“Because of the fire, Bryant Bros. Carnivals will be terminating the contract. Of course, you get the standard fee of ten thousand dollars for hosting us for a single evening.”

Her heart started to pound, sending spikes of pain through her skull. “You can’t do that.”

“I can,” said the lawyer. “If you’d look at your contract. Page seven. Section twenty-three.”

“Look at the contract? I’m in the car, coming home from the hospital.” Lucy’s voice had risen until she was practically yelling.

“Well, if you can look at the section when you get home, you’ll see what I mean.”

“I’ll sue,” said Lucy.

Then again, she didn’t have the money to hire a lawyer. Besides, she remembered the contract. There was an act of God clause, which was mostly used if there were severe storms. Floods. Damaging winds or excessive hail. She figured a fire fell into the same category.

She also wondered what the company would do if they knew that the fire wasn’t caused by the Almighty, but a bunch of kids.

“You are welcome to hire your own counsel,” said Evelyn, nonplussed. “But if there’s possible litigation, we won’t be paying until after the end of the trial. That’s in the contract, too.”

“I’ll look at the papers and get back to you,” she said. “I’ll call in the morning.”

“Make that Tuesday morning. This is the long weekend, after all.”

Lucy stabbed the phone with her finger, ending the call.

“What was that all about?”

“The carnival is leaving. They’re giving us ten thousand bucks for one night.”

“That’ll help to make ends meet,” said Rusty.

She loved his optimism, but Lucy was ready to do more than simply get by. In fact, without the fifty thousand dollars she’d expected from the Bryant Bros. Carnivals, she wasn’t sure how the Five Steers Ranch would make it through the winter.