He took his place next to her, stretched his legs and drew them in to work the swing. Kyrie leaned forward and backward, pumping for more lift. “Did you have fun today?”
“Uh huh, and I got five kitties, only don’t tell Mommy,” she whispered, her index finger to her lips. “’Kay?”
“Mommy doesn’t like cats?”
Kyrie’s demeanor dropped. “Mommy says they stinky, but I yike ’em. I yike ’em a yot. They so cute.”
He filed Leezel’s comment in his mental Bitch folder, with What’s-Her-Name. Oh, yeah. Kimberly. Kimmie. Whatever. His ex. The liar and the cheat. “Which kitten is your favorite?”
“Da tiger ones!” Kyrie beamed.
“Whatcha going to name it?”
“Yousee.” She pumped harder.
“You see?” he asked to be sure he had heard right.
“No. You-see. Yike you se-e-e-e.” Kyrie enunciated carefully while she bounced on the bench. “You-see. You-see. You-see.”
Hmm. He took a long second to puzzle that one out. Did she mean UC like it sounded? Goosey? Juicy? Or—
“Oh. Lucy?”
Her face brightened into a big smile. “Yeah. Yike Yousee and Charwie Brown.”
He grinned. Lucy and Charlie Brown. Perfect names for a couple of cats.
“You could’ve gone inside and waited for me. The door isn’t locked,” China said from the porch step, that sappy look back on her face.
Maverick lifted off the swing to his feet, determined to set this thing between them straight before it got any more out of control. “No, ma’am. I’ve still got plowing to do.”
“It can wait. You have a dinner date with me and Kyrie.” China hadn’t moved from the step. She wanted an answer, one he didn’t want to have to say. “Six o’clock. Be here or be square.”
A date? He didn’t like the sound of that. He had better things to do. Ranch-hand things. Minding-his-own-business things. Not-getting-involved-with-the-boss kinds of things. Damn. He hesitated a second too long. His big mouth spoke right up. “See you at six.”
Damn it. I’m staying.
Maverick didn’t mean to overhear the catfight, but it was hard to miss with the screen door the only thing between him and the Wolf sisters.
“Why don’t you mind your business for once in your life, Sis?” Leezel’s nasty tone was hard to miss. “Hell. You act like you own the whole world. Well, I got news for you. You don’t! And you got no right talking to Troy like you did today neither. Mind your damned business!”
“But Leezel, Kyrie needs a decent home for once in her life.” China didn’t scream like her sister, but her sensible argument stood a snowball’s chance in hell of being heard over Leezel’s on-going rant.
“Bitch, bitch, bitch. That’s all you do. I come home to pay you a visit and all I get is chewed out and bitched at.”
He paused at the front door, unwilling to knock and intrude. He had washed for dinner, but this was family trouble, and he didn’t want to get involved.
“And what did he mean about getting joint custody? That’s the first I heard of that lie.”
“It ain’t a lie. He’s her father. He’s got rights.”
Her denial ignited China. “Why do you defend him? He’s cruel to you, and he couldn’t care less about Kyrie.”
“Why do you hate every guy I hang with?”
“That’s the problem. You hang with a lot of guys. How do you know he’s her father? Has he taken a paternity test? How can you be sure?”
“Cuz I’m not stupid. That’s how!”
“But you’ve been with so many guys and—”
“Shut up! Damn it! You’re just scared I’m gonna take your cowboy friend away from you, too. That’s what your problem is. You been screwing horses for so long, you don’t have a clue what a real man feels like between your legs.”
Maverick took another step away from the screen door, but the argument only got louder. One of the sisters threw something, judging by the glass shattering. Probably Leezel.
“Stop talking nonsense. I just want what’s best for—”
“Bullshit! You want him. It’s all over your face. Well, I got news for you, big-shot boss lady. I can have any man I want, and that goes for your cowboy friend, too. If I want him, he’s mine.”
“I don’t want him.” That was China, painfully loud and adamantly sure of herself. “I want what’s best for Kyrie. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Ouch. Damn. He cringed, not quite what he had expected after their encounter in the barn. No man could blame her, though. Leezel had backed China into a corner and she’d come out fighting for that little girl she loved. Maverick turned to leave. At least he knew where he stood now. His problem was solved. The sooner he got the hell off the Wild Wolf, the better.
“Bullshit! I want what’s best for Kyrie. I want what’s best for Kyrie.” Leezel’s singsong voice sounded all the way out to the yard. “That’s all you think about, Kyrie this and Kyrie that. Damn. I wish I’d never had that brat. I should’ve had an abortion like I wanted! I never should’ve listened to you and kept her!!”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Maverick glanced over his shoulder. Kyrie was making her way carefully down the inside staircase in China’s too-large cowboy boots, a yellow blanket dragging behind her. She grabbed to the banister with both hands when the footwear nearly got away from her.
He couldn’t just walk away and leave her. Not like this. Kyrie was concentrating on her feet. She didn’t need to hear her mother and aunt going after each other like they were, and she sure didn’t need to hear the ugly things coming out of her mother’s foul mouth.
Maverick retraced his steps and knocked politely at the door.
The argument ceased.
Kyrie shot him a big smile. “Hi, Mavwick. Whatcha doin’?”
He winked at her.
China came to the screen door. She waved him in. “Umm, hi. Dinner’s ready.”
He shook his head and stayed on the porch. “I’m guessing now isn’t a good time?”
“No, it’s fine. We’re just...” China glanced over her shoulder to the kitchen where her sister stood with a bottle of beer to her lips.
“Well, howdy, Mav.” Leezel had recovered quickly from her screaming fit, her voice as syrupy as molasses. “It’s nice there’s at least one friendly face around here.”
“We’re just—talking,” China explained awkwardly.
Kyrie clomped over to her and grabbed hold of her aunt’s index finger, her eyes wide with worry.
“Yeah, Mav,” Leezel said. “We was just having us a little sisterly disagreement. You know how it is. Hell, you probably fight with your brother all the time, don’t you? You’ve got one, don’t you? Come on in and I’ll fix you a plate. It’s dinnertime. Join us. You’re always welcome in my half of my daddy’s house.” Leezel could’ve purred she sounded so nice all of a sudden. And dead, damned wrong. It would be a cold day in hell that he told her one word about his brother.
“No thanks.” Maverick nodded down to Kyrie. “I came for her.”
“Me?” Kyrie’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah. You. Thought I’d take my new girlfriend for a walk while you ladies are having your discussion.” He looked at China to gauge her reaction. He would’ve understood if she had said no, but all he read in her eyes was sadness and regret.
“Oh, goodie!” Kyrie clapped her hands and looked up at her aunt. “Kin I go, Andy China? Pwease? Kin I?” Her little body turned into one big wiggle of excitement. “Kin I, huh?”
Leezel clicked her six-inch heels over to the screen door, one long manicured fingernail pointed directly at Maverick’s chest. “In case you didn’t know, Mav honey, Kyrie is my daughter, not China’s. You oughta be asking me for permission, not my older sister.”
Kyrie’s face fell. China stiffened. Her sister seemed to know how to hurt everyone who loved her.
Maverick met Leezel in the eye. “May Kyrie come for a short walk with me? W
e won’t be long.” He fully expected she would assume that invitation meant her, too, but hell. If it got her out of the house maybe China could settle down.
“Why, sure! You take extra good care of my baby, you hear?” She elbowed China out of her way and pushed the door open. The second it opened, Kyrie scrambled toward Maverick’s hands. He lifted her against him and sat her on his forearm. The little girl clung to him as China’s boots fell off of her feet to the porch boards.
“Thanks,” China said softly as she took a step back.
Maverick caught the look in her eye. She wanted to say more. So did he, damn it. Smart or not, she needed him and he didn’t want to leave. Not yet.
“Yeah, thanks Mav,” Leezel gushed. “That’s real gentlemanly of you. Dinner’s almost ready, so don’t be gone too long, ya hear? My little girl needs her proper nutrition, you know.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He hoisted said little girl high onto his shoulder. “Come on, Missy Kyrie. We’ve got wild tiger kittens to tame.”
Chapter Fourteen
Wake up. Kyrie is crying.
China grunted in her sleep. One minute the little girl was snuggled in her arms, but the next she stood at the window, her thumb stuck in her mouth and her blanket against her cheek. “My kitties,” she whined.
“They’re in the barn,” China mumbled. “Come back to bed. It’s still night.”
“But my kitties is in the barn.” Kyrie kept whining, but China was nearly too exhausted to care. Cats lived in the barn, not the house. She peeled one eyelid open. The crazy princess nightlight cast eerie shadows across the wall instead of the dim pink light it was supposed to provide. Someone yelled outside from the yard, and—
China bolted upright in her bed. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes. She’d had less than two hours of sleep. The fight with Leezel had spoiled the whole evening. Then her sister, the skank, took off with Reardon, and—
What the hell’s going on?
How could a seven-watt bulb fill the room with so much ugly, orange light? My hell, it looks like—Fire! Oh, my God! The barn’s on fire!
China jumped out of bed. She grabbed Kyrie away from the window and sat her in the middle of her bed. “Stay here! Be a good girl for Auntie China and stay right here. Don’t move. Don’t leave this bedroom. Okay?”
She didn’t wait for an answer. She grabbed the phone off her nightstand and dialed 911, screaming her name and address at the dispatcher on the way out the door. By the time China blasted onto the scene below, her nightshirt was stuffed in her pants and her zipper was up, but her heart was stuck in her throat. My barn’s on fire!
Zeke and Xavier already had the irrigation hoses hooked to the tank, spraying thick streams of water high to the rafters of the barn roof. Fires were a normal threat during hot summer months, so all ranches maintained fire suppression deterrents. Industrial-sized pumps. Sturdy fire hoses in case the nightmare happened. Like now.
“Get ’em out! Get my horses out of there!” she screamed, racing toward the barn.
Z hollered something back at her, but the noise from the fire was too loud. Flames licked through the open hayloft doors and God, this was the worst possible disaster for a rancher. All that grass hay left over from winter made for instant fuel. It had been a dry winter. Too many bales were left inside—with the horses.
But worse—the lack of any noises coming from inside the barn. No frightened neighs. No frantic squeals. No enraged screams.
“My horses! Gorgeous! Star! God damn it, guys! Get them out of there! Save ’em!” She couldn’t breathe in enough air to scream any louder. Ash fell from the sky in thick, sooty chunks. Smoke suffocated her, but fear clutched her throat. Ebony! Joker! They’re all in there. My babies!
Tremendous heat forced the two hired hands backward into the yard and away from the barn. As much water as they sprayed, the more useless their efforts. The flames devoured the streams of water like ravenous burning beasts that gulped everything in their path and wanting more. An eerie whirlwind of flame swirled lazily upward, its message clear. The god of fire and flame ruled the night and all the sky. Stay away!
“Z!” she screamed, pointing at the fire devil. “More water! There!”
A tiny hand at her knee jolted her back to sanity. China looked down into Kyrie’s frightened, teary face. She pulled the little girl off the ground and smothered her into her chest. “What are you doing out here?” China didn’t mean to bark at the child.
“I sorry,” Kyrie whimpered. “I scared.”
“Oh, baby. It’s not your fault. I’m sorry.” China choked, her emotions so raw she could barely comfort the child. She wanted to be strong, but all she could do was hold Kyrie and cry while her barn burned. My horses. God! My horses!
Kyrie pointed at the barn sobbing. “My kitties is on fire, Andy China!”
China clasped the child to her chest as the fire-beast snatched a piece of Kyrie’s heart, too. God! How much more could she take? And then it dawned on her. Had Maverick gone to sleep in the foaling stall again? God. Not Maverick, too.
China ran Kyrie back to the front porch. “You’ve got to stay here baby, okay? Please stay here for me. Don’t move.”
Kyrie clutched the porch railing and nodded, her eyes wide with fright at the tremendous blaze and her aunt’s severity. Without a thought, China raced straight for the front door, but X caught her around the waist when she barreled past him.
“What in tarnation are you thinkin’? You ain’t going in there!” Her feet flew out from beneath her. He dropped her butt to the ground.
“I have to. Maverick’s in there! Have you seen him?”
X looked away. “Not anymore he ain’t. Sorry, Miss China.”
Z shook his head. She saw the somber look in his eye. She lifted her fist to her teeth and bit her knuckles. The heat roiling off the building was so great, she would’ve passed out within a couple more steps anyway. No one could get into the barn
The fire devil had won. Both of her hired hands battled it with a continual torrent from the hose, but there she stayed, frozen in shock as her world turned to glowing embers in front of her eyes. The Devil took everything. Maverick. Her horses. Her heart. Her soul.
Z dropped his useless hose. He lifted her to her feet and forced her back to the porch steps. “You gotta stay clear, Miss China. Please. Keep close to Miss Kyrie. It’s gonna come down any minute now and I don’t want you hurt.”
“No,” she whined. “It can’t. It’s all I have.”
“No, it ain’t. You got that cute little baby girl and she needs you. Take care of Miss Kyrie.”
Kyrie coughed and China came to her senses. She climbed up the steps to where Kyrie stood in tears. The distraught child buried herself into her aunt’s arms and wailed. “I want my kitties!”
“I know, baby. I know. Shush, shush. It’s... it’s...” China couldn’t finish the lie. She smothered her sobbing niece against her and stifled her own anguish. It would never be okay, and worse, it was too late for Maverick.
I want my babies, too, Kyrie. And Maverick. I want Maverick! A wretched hiccup lurched up from her throat. God. Yes. I want Maverick. Why’d you have to take him, too?
The barn’s main timbers groaned mightily. The burning wood hissed and growled under the weight of the water. With a crackling whoosh, the loft collapsed to ground level. A cloud of sparks and cinders filled the night sky, forced upward by the tremendous heat.
The rafters followed suit, dropping one by one. The fire devil sucked everything into the night in a whirling vortex of ash and death. It wanted every last piece of the barn and it took it. Everything.
“I sorry. I sorry,” Kyrie muttered over and over until China had no choice but to take her inside and close the door behind them to block the terror of the fire. There was nothing to be done. Every last bit of her dreams lay burned to death and buried in muddy ash and smoking timbers inside that barn.
She choked. Even Maverick. Her back against the closed door, she coll
apsed to the floor with Kyrie tight in her arms. X and Z would attend to the hoses. They would do what they could, which was nothing more than stand and watch at this point. The volunteer fire department and every available man and woman within miles would arrive soon, but the damage was done.
The Wild Wolf was lost. Her kids. Her dreams. The poor man who had done nothing more than stop to help a foolish woman who thought she could fight the world alone. China sobbed into Kyrie’s sweaty head as they clung to each other in total misery, their hair undone in one comingled shroud to hide their tears.
The bright eyes of her horses blinked back at her from flames.
Gorgeous and her brand new baby.
Aces Wild. Ebony. God! All my stallions.
Poor, poor Maverick.
The thought was too much to bear. His dark eyes. The way he hardly ever spoke. His gentle words when he finally did. I happen to like the old-fashioned method myself. The sweet look on his face the night China Love was born.
A cry crawled up her throat. “God, don’t let Maverick or my horses suffer anymore. If they’re still alive, take ’em.” She smothered Kyrie under her chin, her eyes squeezed tight against the crushing hurt in her chest. “Please, please don’t let them suffer.”
Even Kyrie’s kitties, she thought, unable to voice that prayer for Kyrie’s sake. God, let them all die in peace. Not agony. Please, please help me. Help Kyrie. Help everyone.
A siren sounded outside. Red and blue lights flashed over the front room walls, signaling help had come. By the sounds of it, the county fire engine had rolled into the yard with its troupe of volunteer firemen all ready to run to her aid. They had a hook and ladder truck. They’d have foam. They would have access to the hydrant at the corner of her yard. The fire would finally be forced to relinquish its stranglehold.
Too late.
Too damned late.
China buried her face in the child’s curly hair, ashamed she wasn’t the stronger one. Anguish filled her with nausea. The sickest tendrils of despair strangled her. She clung to Kyrie, so damned thankful the fire hadn’t claimed her niece, too.
Maverick Page 13