Texas Tall

by Janet Dailey

  “We need to get the hell out of here!” Will shouted, pointing to the blazing rafters. But he knew he was wasting his breath. Sky would not go until every animal was safe. The only thing Will could do was to help him.

  He didn’t have Sky’s natural touch with horses, but he opened the nearest stall. Dodging frantic hooves, he grabbed the young gelding’s halter at the throatlatch and flung a dripping sack over the animal’s face. Yelling, swearing, and yanking on the halter, he dragged the horse out of its stall, turning it toward the far entrance. After more prodding and cursing, he finally got the animal to where one of the cowhands was waiting to seize its halter and hurry it outside.

  Will’s lungs were already burning from the smoke. How much worse off must Sky be? With his unfailing gentleness, Sky urged the chestnut mare out of her stall and led her partway toward the far door, where one of the men waited to take her. Now only one horse remained, a big paint gelding, wild with terror. It was screaming and kicking, refusing to be led. Will glanced up at the blazing beams overhead. Tugging at Sky’s arm, he pointed upward. Sky shook his head. “You can go!”

  Will’s gaze met Sky’s. “No way. I’m not leaving without you! Let’s get this horse out.”

  With Sky calming the horse, they managed to work their way on either side of its head, fling the last of the wet sacks over its face, and lead it out of the stall. When Will peered down the long row of stalls, through the blur of smoke, no one was there to take the horse.

  Suddenly he saw why. The roof panels were buckling in the heat. Any second now, they would come crashing down. With a shout he yanked the cover off the big paint’s eyes and gave its rump a resounding smack. The horse bolted toward the light at the far end of the barn and disappeared outside.

  Will and Sky were now racing for their lives, pounding through choking smoke and searing heat. But they’d already delayed too long. With fragments of breaking, burning timbers raining on them, they heard the awful groan of warping, sliding metal. They were no more than twenty yards from safety, but it was too late to get out. They could only dive for any cover they could find.

  As the roof panels sagged and came crashing down, the last sound to reach their ears was the faint wail of sirens.

  * * *

  Tori and Lauren waited next to the emergency vehicles, supporting each other in silence as the firemen hosed down the barn’s wreckage and began clearing it away. The barn was a total loss, but the horses, now rounded up and herded into the paddock, had survived the fire with minor burns and a gash to Tesoro’s shoulder, which would heal. The ranch hands who’d come running to help were safely accounted for, as well as Beau. Only two men were known to be missing—Sky and Will.

  With rakes, shovels, crowbars and gloved hands, Beau and the hired men were helping the fire crew lift away the bent roof panels and other debris. The ruined barn looked as if it had been bombed. In some places the charred walls of the barn and the heavy-timbered framework of the stalls were still standing. In other places the rubble was as flat as if crushed by a giant hammer. The work was painstakingly slow. One wrong move could crush or stab a survivor who might be trapped alive beneath the rubble.

  Natalie, who’d been re-packing supplies in her SUV, broke away and hurried forward, cell phone in her hand. “I just got a call from the nine-one-one dispatcher,” she said. “That poor little girl who’s married to Ralph Jackson is about to have her baby. Her husband’s gone off somewhere, she’s all alone, and the nearest doctor’s in Lubbock. I’m going over there to see what I can do. If I need more help, I’ll let you know.”

  Her eyes met Tori’s in silent understanding. The ambulance and paramedics had arrived with the fire department; but if Will or Sky—or both—were found alive, here was where the more urgent need would be. If Natalie ended up having to deliver a baby, it wouldn’t be the first time.

  With a final comment—“Keep me posted”—she sprang into her vehicle, gunned the engine, and roared off toward the distant row of bungalows. Tori turned her gaze back to the grim search of the wreckage. She could feel Lauren, close beside her, trembling. Neither of them spoke. There was nothing to say. They were two strong women preparing themselves for the worst.

  One of the firemen gave a shout. “There’s a body under here!”

  Tori’s heart dropped. She felt Lauren’s hand creep into hers as more men hurried to pull away the debris. Beau was the first one to recognize the dead man. He spoke in a flat voice.

  “He’s got blond hair, and I remember that shirt from this morning. That’s Ralph Jackson.”

  Tori’s knees went weak. She braced, willing herself to stand. Beside her, Lauren gasped. “It’s his wife who’s having a baby! We need to let Natalie know.”

  Not trusting her voice, Tori found the number on her cell and handed it to Lauren to make the call. This time it hadn’t been Will or Sky the men had found. But the search was far from over.

  She averted her eyes as the paramedics lifted away the body and zipped it into a black bag, though a glimpse told her that the man hadn’t been badly burned. She’d barely known him, but the tragedy, and the fear that this was only the beginning, hit hard and deep.

  Looking across the yard, Tori could see Erin standing on the porch with Jasper and Bernice. She was staying where she’d been told to stay, but she was straining against the rail, trying to see what was happening. Tori ached to go to her daughter, take her in her arms, and assure her that everything would be all right. But she couldn’t do that yet—not when Erin’s loving, secure world might have already come crashing down in the inferno of the burning barn.

  “Quiet!” It was Beau who’d shouted. “Listen—I think I heard something!”

  In the silence of straining ears that followed, Tori could hear nothing but Lauren’s breathing and the pounding of her own heart. Maybe Beau had only heard the shift of cooling metal, or the sound of a trapped, injured animal that would need to be put down.

  Or a man, terribly burned . . . She forced the thought away.

  “Over here!” One of the men pointed toward a spot near the barn’s entrance where the debris was piled high against a standing wall. “Listen, there it is again! Something’s moving!”

  Tori, who was farther away, held her breath, but she could hear nothing. She could only wait with Lauren, in an agony of undeniable hope, as each piece of wreckage was carefully lifted away.

  Then there was a shout. “They’re here! They’re alive, both of them!”

  Tori’s knees buckled. She heard a sob from Lauren as two ghostly-looking men, singed, ragged, and coated with soot and ash, emerged from the rubble. Will was on his feet, stumbling through the debris. Sky, barely conscious, had to be supported between Beau and one of the paramedics.

  Will’s smoke-reddened eyes narrowed as he took in the scene around him. “Damn it, don’t just stand there gawking!” he barked, gesturing toward Sky. “Get this man some oxygen!”

  He needn’t have spoken. The paramedics were already easing Sky onto a stretcher and clapping an oxygen mask over his face. But Will’s take-charge manner was enough to show Tori that the man she knew so well was back.

  Lauren had rushed to be near Sky, staying close as he was carried toward the waiting ambulance. As they loaded him, Tori heard her arguing with the paramedic. The young man was insisting that she couldn’t ride along because they had to take Will, too. But so far, Will showed no sign of wanting to go.

  Tori gazed at Will through the clouds of settling ash. Her eyes misted as she thought of how close she’d come to losing him. She checked the impulse to stumble through the debris and fling her arms around his neck. Will had never been big on emotional drama, especially not in front of others. But he had to know how much it meant for her to see him safe.

  For a slow beat of time, their gazes held. He cleared his throat. “Tell Erin I’m all right,” he said.

  “I’ll tell her.” The calm words masked a storm of emotions Tori had never expected to feel again. Heaven hel
p her, she’d never stopped loving this gruff, stubborn, impossible man. But would love ever be enough to heal the hurt between them?

  One paramedic stepped close. “Mr. Tyler, we’re waiting. You need to come with us in the ambulance.”

  “The hell I do,” Will growled. “My damned barn just burned down. I can’t leave now.”

  “Don’t be stubborn, Will,” Beau said. “You’ve got some nasty burns, and you’ve inhaled a lot of smoke. You need to get checked by a doctor. I’ll keep an eye on things till you get back.”

  “For once, do as you’re told,” Tori said. “If you ride with Sky in the ambulance, you can keep an eye on him. I’ll follow in my car with Lauren. After you’ve been checked out, I’ll drive you home.”

  Will’s grime-coated features creased in a scowl. “Looks like I’m outgunned,” he muttered. “All right, but this better not take long.” He strode to the ambulance and climbed inside the back without help.

  A press van had just pulled up to the barn. Will gave the reporters a contemptuous look before the doors closed behind him and the emergency vehicle, siren wailing, sped off toward the highway.

  * * *

  Natalie wrapped the baby boy in a clean blanket and placed him in the arms of his sixteen-year-old mother. The birth, thank heaven, had been an easy one. The baby was healthy, and the mother was doing fine. But knowing what she knew, Natalie could hardly go off and leave them alone.

  Vonda gazed down at her son as if she couldn’t believe he was real. Her fingertip brushed the small, perfect features, the little nub of a nose, the baby hands with their long fingers and tiny nails.

  “He’s a beautiful boy,” Natalie said. “What are you going to name him?”

  “Ralph, after his father. We talked about that.” Her eyes welled with emotional tears. “Where’s Ralphie? He’s supposed to be here! Why hasn’t he come home?”

  Natalie had to look away. She’d received both messages Lauren had left on her phone—one saying that Will and Sky were alive, the other letting her know that Ralph Jackson had died in the fire. But how could she break the news to this poor girl? Vonda needed to hear it from someone she trusted. She needed her family to support her and soften the blow.

  “Since he isn’t here, why don’t I call your parents?” Natalie offered. “They’ll want to know you’re all right, and they’ll want to see their grandchild.”

  “No!” Vonda turned against the pillow, clutching her baby. “My folks kicked me out when I got pregnant. Mom said she wouldn’t stand for having a sinner in the family! Ralphie’s all I’ve got! Please, just find him for me!”

  Heartsick, Natalie murmured an excuse and walked out onto the stoop with her cell phone. She knew the girl’s parents, of course, not that she had much liking for either of them. Vonda’s father, Sheriff Abner Sweeney, had been involved in last spring’s case against Beau. He’d also been the one to question and arrest Will. Her mother, Bethel, was a staunch, Bible-thumping churchgoer who’d birthed eight children, most of them girls. Vonda, her firstborn, had been the first to rebel and go astray. Natalie suspected she might not be the last.

  But that was neither here nor there. As Natalie scrolled down the names on her cell phone, she could only hope that Abner and Bethel had enough Christian charity in their hearts to forgive the child who had nowhere else to turn.

  The only phone number she had was the sheriff ’s. By now, he probably knew about the fire, and might even know that Ralph was dead. But unless she could reach him, Abner Sweeney wouldn’t know that he’d just become a grandfather.

  He answered on the first ring. “What is it, Natalie? I’m on my way to a fire at the Tyler place. Goin’ by what I heard on dispatch, it might’ve been dee-liberately set. D’you think Will Tyler would be desperate enough to burn his own barn for the insurance?”

  With effort Natalie held her temper in check. “The fire is out. And I was with Will, in the house, when it started. We were about to eat Thanksgiving dinner.”

  “Oh.” The sheriff sounded disappointed. “So what was it you wanted? Can it wait, or is it an emergency?”

  “It’s an emergency—yours. Your son-in-law is dead, and your daughter just had her baby, a little boy.”

  She heard the squeal of brakes as he pulled off the road. “Say again?”

  “Ralph died in the fire. I’m here with Vonda at their bungalow. She and the baby are fine, but she doesn’t know about her husband yet. You and your wife need to get here. You need to be the ones to give her the news and take care of her.”

  There was a beat of silence. “I’ll come as soon as I can. But I don’t know about Bethel. She can be a hard woman once she makes up her mind.”

  “Bring her! I don’t care if you have to hog-tie her to do it! This poor little girl needs her mother!”

  Natalie ended the call.

  * * *

  Lights flashing and siren blaring, the ambulance barreled up the highway toward Lubbock. Will, riding in the back with Sky, had insisted on sitting up. Aside from minor burns, a raw throat, and smarting eyes, he felt fine. As he’d told the husky young paramedic, anybody who thought they could make him lie down was welcome to try. Since no one had challenged him, he’d taken a seat on the bench, where he could be close enough to look after Sky, and to talk to him.

  Sky was awake. The oxygen was helping to revive him, but he was looking pretty rough. His scalp and face were pocked with burns where sparks had showered down from the blazing timbers. His hands had been burned as well, and his denim shirt was little more than scorched tatters. The burns would heal, but Will was more worried about Sky’s lungs. There’d been enough oxygen in the burning barn to keep him alive, but he’d inhaled a dangerous amount of smoke. There’d be enough damage to keep him on humidified oxygen for a few days, at least. Maybe longer if there were complications.

  Sky had saved every last animal in the barn and damn near died doing it. He seemed unaware of what a loss his death would have been to the ranch. But Will knew. This stubborn half-Comanche was as much a part of the Rimrock as the earth, the grass, the water, and all the living things that called it home. He was Bull Tyler’s blood son, Will’s own half brother. And yet he asked for no praise, no recognition of any kind except the freedom to care for what he loved.

  Sky stirred and made a low sound. His eyes were open above the edge of the oxygen mask that covered his nose and mouth. He gazed up at Will as if he wanted to speak.

  “Take it easy, brother,” Will said. “You need to keep still and just breathe.”

  Brother? Sky’s singed eyebrows twitched in an unspoken question.

  “You heard me. I’ve been waiting for the best time to tell you I knew. I guess that time’s now.”

  How? Another question expressed by a look.

  “Jasper told me. But I knew before that—maybe even before you did. You’ve got Bull’s eyes and some of his mannerisms, and you’re almost as mule-headed as he was. I suspected the truth for a long time, but when you got shot last spring, and Beau and I had to give you our AB-negative blood, the same type as Bull’s, that cinched it. I knew you were a Tyler.”

  And Beau?

  “I’m guessing Beau hasn’t given it much thought. But I could be wrong. I take it you’ve told Lauren.”

  Sky’s head moved on the pillow, a slight nod.

  “Well, we’ll leave it at that,” Will said as the ambulance swung into the hospital parking lot. “Just rest and get better. Tori’s bringing Lauren with her. They should be along soon.”

  The back of the ambulance opened to glaring afternoon sunlight. Paramedics laid Sky’s stretcher on a gurney and whisked him through the doors of the emergency entrance. An orderly brought out a wheelchair for Will. He waved it away and kept walking, following his brother until someone pulled him aside.

  CHAPTER 14

  Tori had stopped by the house long enough to grab her purse and keys, and to let Erin, Jasper, and Bernice know that Will and Sky were safe. Now, with Lauren buckled i
nto the passenger seat, she was breaking speed limits on the highway to Lubbock.

  “You didn’t have to drive me,” Lauren said. “I could’ve taken my own car.”

  Tori swung her station wagon past a lumbering hay truck. “You’re too upset to drive,” she said. “Besides, I told Will I’d be there to take him home—that is, if the hospital doesn’t keep him overnight. You’re welcome to come with us or stay there with Sky. If you stay, somebody can pick you up in the morning.”

  “You’re pretty upset yourself. I can tell by the way you’re driving.” Lauren gazed ahead at the yellowed plain and the road that sliced across it in a straight black line to the horizon. “Were you as scared as I was?”

  “Scared enough,” Tori said. Days like today were part of ranch life. Lauren would learn that, if she hadn’t learned already.

  “Those damned horses!” Lauren muttered. “I love horses, too, but Sky almost died for them today—and they aren’t even his. How am I supposed to wrap my mind around that?”

  “Horses are like family to Sky,” Tori said. “If he cares for them so passionately, think how he’ll be with his real family—you and your children. He’ll do anything to provide for you and keep you safe.”

  Lauren fell silent for a moment. “I’m pregnant, Tori,” she said.

  “Oh—” Tori released her death grip on the steering wheel long enough to reach over and squeeze her friend’s hand. “Does Sky know?”

  “I just found out, myself.” She shook her head. “Maybe, today, it was just as well Sky didn’t know. I keep asking myself, what if he’d had to make a choice between saving the horses and being there for his child—and he’d still chosen those damned horses?”

  “Thinking like that will only muddy the water,” Tori said. “Believe me, I know. If I hadn’t convinced myself that Will loved the Rimrock more than he loved me, maybe we’d still be married.”

  Lauren was quiet for a few moments, as if pondering what she’d just heard. “What happened with you and Will, Tori?” she asked. “Seeing how you always seem to be there for each other, I can’t help wondering what went wrong.”