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“It’s all right. Everything’s all right now that you’re safe,” she choked out, clutching her boy in a death grip and turning tear-filled eyes up to Chase. “God, I was worried sick about you.” Still clinging to her son, she noticed the tired lines of worry on Chase’s face. She’d never been so glad to see anyone in her life! “Where did you find him?”
“At the homestead house.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, straightening and throwing her arms around his neck to kiss him full on the lips. “I was afraid I’d lost you both.”
“Never, lady. You can’t get rid of me that easy.”
She sniffed back her tears.
“I think we’d better go inside,” Chase said. “This boy here is starving and dead tired and there’s a lot you need to know about what happened.?
??
Marcella was standing in the doorway and tears filled her eyes. She dabbed at the corners of her eyes with the hem of Dani’s apron. “Don’t you worry about anytthing,” she said. “I’ll get Cody a good, hot meal while he goes upstairs and cleans up.” With that she bustled into the house.
It was nearly two hours later when Marcella had gone home and Cody, exhausted from a long, harrowing day, fell asleep in Dani’s arms. Finally, weary but content, Dani came down the stairs just as Chase hung up the phone.
“Okay, out with it,” she said, leaning against the wall while Chase dropped onto the couch. “I know something’s up, so you may as well level with me. Did Cody set the fire in the shed?”
“No,” Chase said, rubbing his neck with his hands.
“Let me do that,” she insisted, standing behind the couch and rubbing his tight shoulder muscles. “So who did?”
“Blake.”
“Blake!” Dani was thunderstruck and angry. Her fingers worked furiously on his muscles. “But why? And how do you know?”
“Whoa, slow down, take it easy will ya?” he said, jerking away from her strong fingers.
“Oh, sorry.”
“Cody saw his dad light the fire.”
Dani didn’t move. “Wait a minute. Back up. Cody was here when the fire started?”
“Right. Apparently, Cody walked home early in the night and intended to make up with you. But we were up at Caleb’s place. Cody went upstairs and looked out the window and saw Blake in the shed, so he walked outside just as the shed caught fire and blew sky high.”
“Oh my God,” Dani whispered.
“Cody was scared out of his wits. He didn’t know where you were and he was afraid that his father was hurt or killed. After doing a quick search for Blake, he ran to the old house to sort things out. When I got there, he was ready to come home.”
“But why didn’t he just stay here—on the property, or go to a neighbor’s?”
“Because he was confused! You have to understand that he’d just suffered a major disappointment. The father he wanted so badly had shown his true colors and turned out to be a criminal. That’s not easy for Cody, or any of us to understand.”
“So where is Blake?”
“Who knows?”
“But why would he want to blow up my farm?”
“I don’t think he wanted to—I think he was paid to,” Chase said grimly.
“Oh, no. You’re not back to that again, are you? You really think Caleb was behind it?”
“Positive.”
“But how?”
