by Becca Turner
He grabbed her hand and tugged at her arm.
“All right, all right, I’m coming.”
She followed him through the screen door into the kitchen. Faith sat at the table with a sheet cake in front of her, writing happy birthday in blue icing.
“Hi, Jody.” She smiled. “Welcome to the madhouse.”
“Nice to see you, Faith. How’s…things?” She’d rather die than listen to chatter about babies. She’d held Joy for maybe five minutes and her daughter was the last baby she’d held. Until she’d gotten to know Bear, she’d convinced herself that never having another child wasn’t a bad thing. She didn’t need a family. Being thrust into this one made her question her beliefs.
“Good. Thanks for asking.” Faith nodded deeper into the kitchen where Jessi iced cupcakes. Next to her, another pregnant woman helped.
Natalie Locke.
Jody’s heart skipped a beat.
“Have you met Natalie?” Jessi paused to lick frosting off her pinkie. “She’s an amazing breakaway roper. Well, when she’s not carrying Austin’s baby.”
“Hi.” Natalie smiled. “Eh, it’s nice to take a break. Between growing a baby and Casey’s schooling, there’s a lot going on. Austin and Nolan are caught up with roping and running the ranch right now. It’s been a busy summer.”
“Mama, can I have another popsicle?” Bear looked wistfully at his cake. “It’s hot out.”
“You know where they are.” Jessi turned back to the chocolate cupcake in front of her. “We’re almost done with these. Tell your dad he’d better fire up the grill.”
Bear dug around in the side freezer and pulled out a red popsicle with a triumphant look on his face. “Sweet. ‘Kay, I’ll tell him.” He skipped away, letting the screen door bang shut behind him.
Jody set the gift bag near the door and stood awkwardly as she tried to think of an excuse to go outside again.
“There’s lemonade or iced tea in the fridge if you’re thirsty.” Jessi nodded at it. “Cupcake?”
“Um, no. I’m good. Thanks. Maybe I’ll just—”
“Okay, if you want to help, you can pull the hotdogs out of the fridge and the tinfoil from beneath that counter.” Jessi pointed with her foot. She lifted a cupcake toward another cabinet. “There are buns up there.”
How could she say no? She fetched everything Jessi mentioned and carried it all outside.
Luke had appeared, standing by the grill with Will. “Jody. Glad you’re here.”
“Why? Because I saved you a trip inside to get this stuff?” She smiled at him. “It worked out well for me. I was looking for an excuse to get out of there.”
Will took the packets of hot dogs from her. “Decorating cakes ain’t your thing?”
“I’ve never decorated a cake in my life. No need to start now.” She laid the hot dog buns on the picnic table.
Will tore open the hot dog plastic with his teeth. “Pull off a sheet of the foil.”
“Jess would kill you if she saw that.” Luke shook his head. “I have a pocket knife.”
“What Jess doesn’t know…”
“Will probably get back to her somehow.” Luke laughed.
“Jody.” Jessi leaned through the screen door. “Will you take the chips outside?”
“Duty calls.” She didn’t mind toting things out. It kept her busy and it meant she didn’t have to stand around with the other women. They couldn’t very well ask her to talk about herself if she wasn’t available.
She brought three bags of chips to the picnic table, then sat on the bench. “I never had a bouncy castle. Your kid is lucky.”
“Us either. I wasn’t even sure they were real things outside of TV for a long time.” Will eyed it. “I’m a little jealous of Bear right now.”
Bear, along with three other kids, were bouncing off the walls and floor of the giant inflatable.
“Birthdays were no big deal when we were kids. We might get fried chicken for dinner if we were lucky.” Luke picked up a glass of tea and took a drink. “Birthday presents? Pfft. You were happy with the new jeans and boots you got at Christmas.”
“It wasn’t that Granny and Grandad were mean. They were trying to make ends meet and had two mouths they never planned on feeding, much less clothing.” Will’s mouth tightened. “They did their best.”
“We grew up in screwed up families.” She rested her chin on her palm. “It’s nice to see you two doing better.”
“It’s all because of Jessi.” Will’s gaze went toward the house. “If it wasn’t for her, who knows what kind of mess we’d be in.”
“We’d probably be dead.” Luke swirled the ice in his glass. “One way or another. We might’ve killed each other without her.”
“Things were not as you see them now,” Will agreed.
“For the record, I’m glad you didn’t have to kill each other.”
Luke settled onto the bench beside her. “So, what’s this about taking Splash?”
She avoided his gaze. With both of her brothers staring, she wanted to slink under the table. “You know. In case anything happens to me. Dusty would love him.”
“Dusty loves anything with four legs and a tail. What’s with the ‘if anything happens’?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes things happen.”
“You planning on dying suddenly?” Luke’s voice carried an edge.
“No.” Her voice came out smaller than she meant it to. Jody cleared her throat. “It’s nothing. Just a thought.”
“Shut up about it and I’ll think about taking the horse. But there’s no reason to think I should have to put a lot of serious thought into it, is there?”
She shook her head.
“Then why does it feel like there’s something going on that I still don’t like about this?”
She forced herself to meet Luke’s gaze. “It’s a pretty day. We’re celebrating Bear’s birthday. There’s no need to talk about this right now. Let’s enjoy a hot dog and some cake. Splash is happy at Peach’s. Where I’m sure he’ll be happy for as long as I stick around.”
Will raised an eyebrow. “Which is how long?”
“I don’t know.” She lifted her shoulders. “My job is paying the bills so far. A while longer couldn’t hurt.”
“Would it kill you to set down roots in Swells?” Luke looked over at the bouncy castle where the kids were whooping like heathens. “It hasn’t been so bad here, has it?”
“Not really,” she muttered. “But I’m a little restless. Maybe I’d like to see something besides Oklahoma for a change.”
Natalie emerged from the house with a basket full of condiments. “How’s the food coming?”
Will brandished his tongs. “Shouldn’t be a few more minutes.”
“You ladies need help bringing out the drinks?” Luke rose from the bench. “I’ll lend a hand.”
“Go help your poor wife.” Natalie patted his arm as he passed by. “Good man.”
Jody twisted her pendant while Bear and Shep abandoned the castle for the water sprinkler again.
Natalie sat beside her. “So.”
Jody swallowed and let the pendant rest against her skin again. “Yeah?”
“Nolan.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “How is he?”
Natalie studied her nails. “He’s a good guy.”
Will paused in lifting hot dogs from the grill. He met Jody’s gaze.
She turned her head. “He seems nice.”
“A lot of women think so. The trouble with Nolan is that he doesn’t settle for one easily. Tiffany was his longest relationship. He wouldn’t admit it, but the magic between him and Tiffany died off a long time ago. Honestly, I think he needs another relationship. Don’t think I haven’t tried setting him up with my single friends. He said nothing clicked.”
“Too bad.” Jody picked a hangnail on her finger. “I hope he gets a woman who deserves him.”
“Funny thing. He seems kind of down in the dumps.”
�
�That’s…too bad.” She looked over her shoulder. “I should go help Luke.”
Natalie put her hand on Jody’s arm before she could get up. “I don’t like to see him hurt.”
“Is that some kind of warning?” She drew away from Natalie’s touch. “To stay away from him? Because I told him from the beginning I didn’t want anything serious.”
“He probably agreed to that, but Austin heard him call another woman your name. I think maybe he got in a little over his head.”
“So what do you want from me? To stay away? Because that’s not a problem.”
Natalie hesitated. “I kind of want the opposite. For him to be happy and if it’s you who does that for him, I’m all for it.”
Stunned, Jody sat back against the picnic table. “What?”
“You heard me.” Natalie smiled. “Will you think about calling him?”
When she met Will’s gaze, he shrugged.
“Okay, thanks, I guess, for the blessing, but I told Nolan I can’t commit.” Now or ever. She fiddled with her necklace again. “Sorry.”
“Oh.” Natalie’s face fell. “If you’re sure.”
“He didn’t ask you to talk to me about this, did he?” She might have to murder him.
“No, I swear.”
Jody nodded, but it was hard to believe Nolan didn’t have a hand in this. “I’m going to help Luke.”
Running away. As usual. She hated herself for it.
Chapter Thirteen
The scent of smoke drifted through Nolan’s truck window. He rolled it up, then turned on the air vents. As he sped along the highway near Peach McFallon’s Broken Noose Ranch, smoke began to fill the air and darken the horizon.
“Holy shi—”
Out his passenger window, a field was ablaze, racing toward the highway and the direction of Peach’s main buildings.
A blur whipped in front of his truck and Nolan slammed on the brakes. The truck skidded sideways as a paint horse galloped across the road, just feet from the pickup’s front end.
Splash.
Nolan’s blood ran cold. On the other side of the road, a cluster of half a dozen horses watched the fire anxiously.
He straightened the truck and headed for the driveway to Peach’s. His phone lay on the dash, so he instructed it to call the old woman. Over the Bluetooth, the line rang, but no one answered. He tore up the drive and ended the call.
This time, he called Austin, who picked up on the second ring.
“Got trouble. Broken Noose is on fire. It’s headed our direction.”
Austin sucked in a breath. “Want me to call the fire department? Should I go to Peach’s or stay here?”
“Yes to the fire department. Stay put. Nat and Casey might need you.”
“If it gets past Peach’s boundaries?” Austin’s voice was full of dread.
They wouldn’t have many options. “Send them to town. Load the horses. And…if you can, move the cattle as far as possible.”
“What about the soybeans?”
“I’d rather lose the crop than the cattle.” Insurance would cover any losses, but he prayed they wouldn’t even need to move the herd.
“Where are you?”
“Driving up to Peach’s. Got to go. It’s headed for her house.” He braked in the driveway, then jumped out.
Jody and Peach where in the yard, spraying the ranch-style house with garden hoses. A couple of goats and chickens milled near them. The animals scattered when Nolan approached.
“What happened? Where’s Coy and the others?”
Peach looked over her shoulder at him. “Trying to put out the fire before it gets here. Digging a line and trying to beat it back. Coy was brush hogging out by the old homestead. We never use that for grazing. He thinks he hit a rock and…”
She had tears in her eyes. Her thin hands shook.
He knew the spot she was talking about. She took care of the old family cemetery and kept a cabin built in the Depression era from falling down. “Austin’s calling the fire department. What can I do to help here?”
Smoke drifted into the yard. In the distance, sirens wailed above the wind.
“I don’t know.” Peach’s voice was as shaky as her hands.
“If there are things you need to get out of the house, now might be the time.” He pried the hose from her hand. Water dripped from the roof and rolled down the sides. The grass around the house sparkled under the sunlight.
Peach sniffed, then straightened her back. Despite her posture, her face was carved with devastation. “Maybe…maybe you’re right.”
Nolan waited until she’d gone inside before he aimed the hose nozzle at the roof. The black smoke rolled closer. Sweat gathered around his hat band, his shirt collar, beneath his arms.
He met Jody’s frightened gaze. “You need to hitch up one of the horse trailers and get out to the road. The horses are out there. I almost hit Splash.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. Thin tendrils of dark hair stuck to her damp skin. “Was he all right?”
“As far as I could tell. They were standing on the other side of the road against the fence. You should call Luke and see if he’ll trailer them somewhere else for now.”
Red flame ripped into the pasture where Peach normally let the horses graze. Hot wind blew over them.
“The rest of the herd ran toward your fence line.” Jody nodded toward his ranch. “Would it be okay if Austin cut the fences to let them in…if the worst happens? Some of those are boarders’ horses. If something happened to them—”
“I know.” Nolan swallowed the sickness that boiled up his throat. “Yeah, I’ll let Austin know what to do.”
“She’s going to lose the place, isn’t she?” Jody passed him the hose, then wiped her hands on her jeans. “I’ll get the truck and trailer.”
A brush truck pulled into the driveway. A guy Nolan had gone to school with, dressed in his turnout gear, jogged up. Ethan Bell, already sweating, gave Nolan a grim nod. “You two need to clear out. They’re trying to cut a line on the south side of the house, near the fence and hopefully it won’t be able to jump the gap. We’ve called in half the trucks in the county for assistance.”
Another firefighter was already hooking up the hose to the big tank on the truck. It made the garden hoses look like straws in comparison.
Peach emerged with a duffle bag, a small rolling suitcase, and a cardboard box beneath one arm. She seemed startled to see the tanker truck.
Ethan explained to her that they were going to widen the water perimeter around the house so hopefully any flying sparks would go out if they touched the saturated ground.
She nodded dumbly. Her age seemed to have doubled since she’d gone inside.
Nolan took the duffle bag, then wrapped his arm around her thin shoulders. “Come on. We’ll let them do their job. Jody’s getting a trailer to put some of the horses in. I think she’s calling Luke too to see if he can get them out of here.”
“I told Jody to turn them loose. It might’ve been a bad idea, but Coy was shouting over the phone about how quickly the fire was spreading and… The herd broke apart. My boarders are going to be furious if the horses get hurt.” Her voice broke. “The pasture’s already—”
He led her to his truck, then opened the glove box to get her a napkin. “I know. You did what you thought was best.”
Peach blew her nose. “I’m going to lose everything.” She gasped. “If it keeps spreading, your ranch is right in the way.”
“Those guys aren’t going to let that happen. Don’t worry about it.” Knowing Austin, he was taking keeping the ranch safe seriously. He’d have Natalie on high alert too.
Jody drove past them in Peach’s truck with the empty four-horse trailer rattling behind her.
“We should help her. The horses are bound to be frightened.” Peach lifted her suitcase into the pickup bed. She might be an older gal, but she was tough.
“You’re right. She could use a hand.” He climbed into the truck a
nd started it while Peach got in. He didn’t waste any time in the driveway.
Rolls of smoke billowed across the grassy pastures, impeding his vision. As he neared the road—or where he thought it should be, he slowed down. No telling where Jody had parked the trailer and Peach wouldn’t thank him for hitting it.
The smoke cleared for a moment, letting them get a glimpse of Jody tugging one of Peach’s quarter horses across the road to the trailer. The trailer rocked, indicating she had at least one more inside.
She had her shirt collar pulled up over her nose, but it kept slipping down as she urged the horse along.
The wail of sirens in the distance grew louder.
Nolan got out of the truck with Peach on his heels. “How many more?”
“Four. They’re pretty spooked. Even Splash wouldn’t let me near him. I’m afraid they’re going to take off.” Sweat cut streaks through the dirt on Jody’s face. She coughed, then put her hand on the frightened horse’s neck to soothe him. “I put some feed in a bucket. It’s in the back of the truck. Maybe they’ll come for it.”
“I’ll grab it. Peach, be careful crossing the road.”
Jody led the horse closer to the trailer. Nolan swooped the bucket from the back of the truck and paused before he went to the road.
The horse backed away from the ramp, half rearing.
Jody had the lead twisted around her arm. When the horse pulled, it knocked her off balance. With a grim look of determination, she straightened, let him take a few steps back, then tried again.
He went willingly the second time, maybe comforted by the call of the horse inside.
Jody appeared a moment later. She joined Nolan as they tried to figure out whether the road was clear of traffic before they jogged across the asphalt.
Peach had a palomino by the halter. “Here, you take him, Nolan. I’ll grab another.”
He slipped his hand around the halter as she took the grain bucket from him.
A fire engine appeared out of the smoke, lights flashing. It zipped past them, but the horses in the ditch startled and moved toward the barbed wire separating them from another field.
Splash jumped out of the ditch into the road, eyes wild. His shoes rang on the pavement as he spun.