Cassidy stood near the pass-through, ready to hand out the food. Rhett caught her wiping a tear away.
“My father left behind a legacy of love and I mean to continue it.”
The dining hall erupted with cheers and applause. A man seated nearby got to his feet and threw his arms around Rhett in an awkward hug. Clearly Macy hadn’t been the only person worried about how Rhett would run Red Dog Ranch.
“How about we say a prayer and then dig in to this food?” Rhett smiled at the crowd. “It smells amazing.”
But before Rhett could bow his head Jack Donnelley slammed open the side door so loudly it caused people at nearby tables to jump out of their seats. Jack rushed toward Rhett with the intensity of a bomb-sniffing dog on patrol.
Jack reached Rhett, phone in hand. “My dispatch center just called. Tornado warning. It’s touched down less than a mile away. It could be on us in minutes, maybe less.” Jack’s police training showed as he calmly delivered the information. “We need to get people to safety.”
Hands shaking, Rhett got back on the microphone. “Change of plans. We’re under a tornado warning. I need everyone to proceed in a single-file line down to the basement.”
A few people yelled and more started to cry, but everyone got to their feet quickly and headed toward one of the sets of stairs. Thankfully, there were plenty of adults to help guide the children. Jack, Uncle Travis and Rhett each manned the top of one of the three entrances to the basement, directing people to go down and as far back as they could.
Rhett sent Macy a text:
Tornado. Get inside.
He almost typed I love you but wasn’t that something that should be said first instead of texted? He loved Macy. The last few weeks had cemented that truth and thinking of her outside in the storm... All the roadblocks he had imagined between them suddenly felt insignificant. He had made peace with his father and let go of his pain and had done all he could to care for his mother. Besides, if he waited to act on his feelings until everything in his life was perfect the time would never come.
Fear had made excuses easy to believe, but he refused to chart his steps by fear any longer. Next time he saw her he would tell her how he felt. She might reject him, but he would deal with it if she did.
But a text stole some of the power away from declaring love. Then again, what if he never got the chance to tell her? What if...
He refused to think like that.
Cassidy had immediately whisked Piper to the basement and Rhett could hear her instructing people to get on their knees and cover their necks.
Keep people safe, Lord. Please protect all these people.
Maybe the tornado would miss the ranch. Maybe it would change course.
The building started to rattle under an onslaught of wind. Rhett instructed people to head down the steps a little quicker. They were almost done. Almost everyone now.
With his phone in his hand, Rhett willed Macy to call him. To tell him she was fine, tucked away somewhere safe. But he couldn’t think only of her either. Other people depended on him. Rhett pulled up the number for the phone his mother’s on-duty nurse carried and hit Call.
He didn’t even let her greet him. “A tornado’s touched down. It’s close. Get to the lower interior bathroom. Put Mom in the tub. Grab pillows, blankets—anything to protect yourselves. Stay in there until one of us comes to get you guys.”
“Understood.” The nurse hung up.
Rhett’s mind raced. His ears popped, more painfully than on any flight he had ever been on. The deep sink he was standing near gurgled and then the drain made one long, desperate suctioning sound. Rhett hurtled down the steps to join the others in the basement.
While Northern Texas experienced a fair amount of tornados, they were far less common in the hill country. And with Red Dog Ranch so far away from any of the local towns, he had never even heard a siren before and it wasn’t as if they had their own alert system.
Tornados happened, but in thirty years Rhett had never seen one, never been in one.
The deafening howl outside told him that was about to change.
Chapter Ten
Even though she was wearing a heavy coat the rain started to pelt Macy so hard it physically hurt to be outside anymore. And it was cold. Horribly, painfully cold now.
The rain suddenly switched to falling sideways. Dime-sized hail clanged on a nearby roof, coming closer, peppering the ground.
Macy’s teeth rattled and her legs trembled as she made her way through a patch of mud. She would catch a cold from this adventure; there was zero doubt in her mind about that. She should have headed inside ten minutes ago—should have gone in with everyone else instead of trying to be useful.
Macy turned to head toward the barn. It was a smelly place to ride out the weather, but it was near and would provide adequate shelter from the wind and wetness. A pole barn full of machinery and the Jarretts’ ranch house were also within proximity, but both were farther than the solid oak barn where Romeo, Sheep and the other horses were kept.
When hail was part of the equation, Macy would choose close over comfort.
However, she couldn’t make out the barn any longer. Darkness disoriented her. It was as if her eyes were closed. Macy pivoted a full 360 degrees, scanning the area, squinting, but it was no use. She couldn’t even tell if she was facing in the correct direction any longer.
Dread pooled like a cooling ball of lead in the pit of her stomach. Weighty. Impossible to escape.
Kodiak rubbed against her leg and Macy steadied herself with a hand on the dog’s shoulder. Kodiak’s body shuddered under her fingers. Macy winced as her ears suddenly popped with an excruciating and sudden change in pressure.
Then she heard it.
A roar.
The sound of a train engine but louder. It vibrated through her whole body, her bones.
Tornado.
The wall of rain clouds had hidden a tornado.
An angry churning funnel headed directly toward the barn Macy had wanted to seek shelter in only moments ago. If the tornado stayed its course the horse barn would take a direct hit. The rest of the horses were in the pasture so they had the ability to get out of the way, but Sheep and Romeo were inside the building. And there was no time to set them loose; she wouldn’t be able to make it. Macy’s heart slammed into the back of her throat and sickness washed over her. If something happened to them, she had put them in there. She would be at fault.
But she couldn’t think about that right now. Macy had to get to safety.
Go. Move. Get out of here.
A tiny piece of debris slammed into Macy’s arm and she cried out as if she had been shot. Warmth seeped over the area. Hot and burning. Blood.
Macy grabbed for Kodiak’s collar and yanked her toward the ranch house. “Run! We have to run.”
She took off toward the house, knowing Rhett’s faithful dog would stick close. She could do this. She could protect them. She could beat this storm.
Faster. Go. Faster.
Her legs burned. She slipped in deep mud and fell onto all fours. Her hands suctioned into the mire. Kodiak shoved her head under Macy’s chest as if the dog was trying to lift her up. Macy scrambled forward on all fours, trying to get purchase.
Winds ripped a long swatch of fencing up out of the ground with a sickening crunch and tossed it in a tangled heap only yards away. A huge old tree snapped and took flight.
Wood from the horse barn began to splinter. The barn walls buckled and heaved behind her. Macy looked back to see the roof fly off and go up into the sky as if it weighed nothing. Gone.
Gathering additional debris, the funnel grew darker, larger. Its furious howl filled her ears until it was all she could hear, all she could think about.
She found her feet again and started for the ranch house. If she ran fast enough, she could stil
l make it. She could skid inside and go under the huge, heavy table in their formal dining room. The room had no windows and sat almost in the center of the home, next to their interior bathroom where hopefully Rhett’s mom was by now.
Macy was close enough. She would make it. Everything would be okay. It had to be. God hadn’t brought them this far just to—
Kodiak’s high-pitched yelp brought Macy up short. She whirled around to see Rhett’s dog on the ground ten feet behind her with a large sheet of metal pinning her back half to the ground. Kodiak’s front paws dug forward in an effort to pull herself out, but it was no use. Kodiak collapsed, her yellow eyes seeking out Macy.
If Macy kept moving she could make it to shelter in time, but she would have to leave Rhett’s dog behind.
Not going to happen.
Macy plunged back toward the storm. Stiff winds sent rocks and other debris hurtling around her. Something scraped the side of her face. She pressed on. She dropped to her knees beside Kodiak. “It’s okay, girl.” Macy wrapped her fingers around the edge of the sheet of roofing. “I won’t leave you.”
She heaved the piece of metal with all her might. It was heavy and awkward. Her back spasmed, her biceps felt as if they were being shredded and her legs shook. Under normal circumstances Macy couldn’t have budged the thing with only her strength. Macy grunted, putting all her weight into it, and was able to lift the debris enough for Kodiak to army crawl out of the opening.
Another loud, nauseating groan and the pole barn shattered like a child’s art project constructed out of toothpicks. Large sections crashed onto the ground around them. That building was full of machinery—heavy metal and steel machinery that the tornado would toss around like confetti. Macy threw her body over Kodiak and braced her arms over her own neck and head.
They would never make it to the house now.
Get to the lowest point.
It was the only thing she could remember about tornados. Since all the structures that could protect them were too far away, they had to get over the hill to the lower area near Canoe Landing. Doing so might take them out of the path entirely. Macy hoisted Kodiak to her paws.
“Please be able to stand.”
Kodiak had to be sixty to seventy pounds so there was little chance that Macy could carry her too far. The dog limped but kept up with her. They rushed down the hill, skidding and sliding their way down. Macy’s arm and cheek stung like fire.
The lake was full of junk the tornado had tossed around and the shores were littered, as well. Macy grabbed a large piece of wood that must have been torn from the horse barn and wedged it up so they could get into the ditch under it. At least the board would deflect smaller debris. She reached back and hauled Kodiak to the lowest point, this ditch that fed into the lake, just as the winds increased and the funnel twitched toward them. Macy wiggled into the small space so she was lying across Rhett’s dog, then she pulled the wood up over them and prayed.
Kodiak burrowed her muzzle into Macy’s neck so her nose was beside Macy’s ear. The noise of the dog’s steady breathing mixed with the sounds of destruction above them. Macy braced her arms tighter over their heads and slammed her eyes shut as if that would help.
“I’m here, sweet girl,” Macy whispered.
Was this it? After everything, was this how her life ended?
Facing the possibility of death, Macy’s mind raced back through twenty-eight years of life. Her father leaving, her mother’s death, being all alone at only eighteen. The last ten years living with the Jarretts and her friendship with Rhett. The work she had done at the ranch and the lives she had come into contact with because of Brock’s mission. Late nights spent giggling with Shannon and Cassidy. Quiet moments with Mrs. Jarrett.
Her evening on the pier with Rhett.
Macy had never felt truly loved and accepted in her life. She had always believed there was something defective about her. Some reason why no one wanted to commit. Why no one stayed.
But...it had always been a lie, hadn’t it?
You’re the one who has always been a blessing to this family. Not the other way around, Macy Howell. You are our blessing.
The Jarretts had welcomed and loved her as is. Shannon and Cassidy had become sisters to her. Macy had a place to belong—people who would miss her and mourn for her if this was her end. They hadn’t loved her for all the late nights she’d spent in the office or the weekends she’d pitched in with the animals or the programs she had helped launch. It hadn’t mattered what she had done or accomplished.
They had just loved...her.
Macy had always been enough, just as she was.
Tears stung her eyes; they leaked onto Kodiak’s fur.
She had treated God the same way, hadn’t she? Always trying to do enough and accomplish more so she would feel as if she deserved His love.
What an absurd way to live. She had no more power or ability to earn God’s love than she had to stop this tornado. The might of the terrible tornado paled in comparison to an almighty God—and He loved her. He had sent His son to die for her.
“Forgive me,” she whispered. “I love You. Thank You for loving me. If...if this is when I meet You, I’m ready. Just please take care of all these people. I love them so much. Take care of Rhett.”
She prayed the mess hall would be untouched.
* * *
Something large slammed into the side of the building and the lights flickered. Someone in the basement wailed uncontrollably.
Seconds after Rhett’s boots hit the basement’s concrete floor the whole building plunged into darkness. Kids screamed and the soothing voices of many adults followed. Not wanting to step on anyone, Rhett fumbled around. His hand glanced against the doorknob on the door that led to the walk out where trucks made deliveries. It was a sturdy door, but in the end it was only wood.
Not good.
A tornado could wrench that door open and suck people out. He was suddenly very thankful for his dad’s foresight in insisting on an unconventional basement being built at the ranch, but the first thing Rhett would do was make this entrance more secure.
If he made it out.
Rhett braced his back against the door as if that might help and then he groped for the lock, found it and slipped it into the locked position. The small bolt probably wouldn’t help much, but Rhett was willing to take every measure he had at his disposal to protect all the people gathered at his ranch.
His ranch.
Not his dad’s. Not Brock’s mission or dreams.
Rhett’s.
All the glass windows upstairs shattered. It sounded like a series of rapid bombs going off in a war zone. The building started violently shaking and the door behind him vibrated like a jackhammer.
The tornado was passing over them.
Please, Lord, please. I don’t care what happens to me but protect these people. Protect Macy and Kodiak and the rest of my family.
Metal rattled and crashed in the kitchen above them. If there was a person screaming a foot away from him, Rhett wouldn’t have been able to tell. He could only hear the storm—there was only the tornado and it was all encompassing.
The walls of the building creaked and popped, moaning under the storm’s violent onslaught. Something boomed against the door. It sounded like someone was smacking it with a huge metal chain. The bottom corner peeled back with such sudden force Rhett gasped. Wind lashed in. Just as quickly, tiny debris shoved through the crack in the door frame—nails and wood and a mess of other items—until the small opening was plugged.
Then there was nothing. No wind, no pounding. Rhett could hear his heartbeat reverberating in his ears.
“Is it...” a tentative voice said nearby. “Do we think it’s over?”
“Gabe?” Rhett reached toward the voice.
Gabe grabbed his arm. “It’s me, Mr. Jarrett.”
Jack’s face became illuminated by his phone. “It’s dissipated.” Jack turned toward the expanse that was the long dark basement. “It looks like the tornado is done but everyone needs to stay put. I know it’s uncomfortable in here and not fun to stay with the lights out, but this is the safest place.”
Gabe shuffled his feet. “But I thought you said it was all done?”
Jack inclined his head. He fiddled with something on his phone that kept it illuminated. “It is, but the aftermath can be just as dangerous as the storm itself. Downed power lines and sharp objects everywhere. It’s not safe to send everyone out yet.” He typed into his phone. “EMS is on the way.” He turned toward Rhett. “I’m heading out to assess. You’re welcome to join me.”
Rhett had pulled out his phone but couldn’t get a signal. “My phone’s not working.” There was no message from Macy. No calls from his mom or Shannon.
Jack held up his phone. “Department phone. I’m connected to a different system. Normal cell infrastructures will be bogged down for the next few hours.” Jack stepped toward the door. “Are you coming or staying?”
Rhett looked back into the darkness that held all the people who had come to the ranch expecting a fun day. He had a duty to take care of them, but he also needed to check on his mom and he needed to find Macy, Kodiak and Shannon. In the rush Rhett hadn’t been able to touch base with Uncle Travis to see if he had made contact with Shannon.
“Found it,” broke in a voice and then a flashlight came on. Cassidy held it, with Piper beside her. “Go, Rhett. We’ll take care of everyone here.”
The Rancher's Legacy Page 13