by A. C. Wilson
“Hello?” Colt greeted as he juggled the slim phone between his ear and shoulder while maintaining his momentum.
“Dad!” Drew’s excited voice met Colt’s ear and a fatherly smile broke over his face. “I can’t wait to see you.”
“Me either, buddy.” Colt put the fork down and turned to find the small pan for his eggs. “Is your mom still bringing you up?” Colt listened to someone talking in the background but he couldn’t make out what was being said. He chuckled when he heard Drew huff loudly.
“Mom says I can’t come early. She says I can’t miss school.” Drew was like any nearly seven year old boy. He disliked school in all the ways that counted. “She is bringing me though.”
“What do you want to do while you’re here?” Colt asked, dumping the eggs into the hot pan. He could almost hear Drew’s brains sparking in earnest.
“Let’s go riding! Oh and you promised to let me ride a sheep.”
Colt lifted his eyes to the ceiling. He had totally forgotten about the sheep. It had all started with a story about Colt riding a sheep at the county fair and that’s all Drew wanted to do. He made a mental note to ask Toby about acquiring a sheep. “Sounds like a plan, buddy. Hey, let me talk to your mom, huh?”
“Mom! Phone!” Drew yelled into the receiver and Colt nearly dropped his cell into the omelet on the stove. He backed away and leaned against the counter across from the stovetop.
“Colt.” Nora’s voice sounded tired and he couldn’t help but wonder if she was alright.
“Hey Nora, is everything okay?” He had to ask. He knew it really wasn’t his job to wonder about her, but then again, she was the mother of his son. It was quiet for a second too long. “I’m sorry if that was overstepping.”
“I’m just tired. Two kids is wearing me out.” Nora sighed. Colt nodded his head although she couldn’t see him. “I will bring Drew up to you. I think Randy is going to drive up with us too.”
“That’ll be nice.” Colt swallowed hard. He wasn’t Randy’s favorite person and it wasn’t like Colt could blame him. He did make a play for Nora and then the bottom fell out of their world when Drew’s paternity came out of the bag.
“I know he isn’t your favorite, but he is my husband. Besides we will be there to drop Drew off and then we’ll get out of your hair.” Nora had been the rebel and now she was the peacemaker. It was a role he wasn’t accustomed to seeing her in.
“You’re always welcome, Nora. I am looking forward to spending time with Drew though. I just have to figure out where to get a sheep.” Colt chuckled and Nora joined in.
“You started it with that darn story, Colt. Drew can’t wait to emulate you in every way.” Nora’s motherly voice caused the pain in his stomach to return. Being a father as well as someone a good number of people depended on was daunting.
“I hope that I can steer him into better waters.” Colt answered, pushing off the counter to put cheese and ham in his omelet. “Well I’d better get to my breakfast. I have a sheep to find.” Colt tried to joke, but even he could tell it wasn’t in his voice.
“Colt, wait, you’re a great dad. You’re doing fine.” Nora was quick to ease the burn of the open wound. He appreciated it. It wasn’t something she could see and yet she knew it was there nonetheless. “I’ll get in touch before we leave.”
“Thank you. Bye, Nora.” Colt took a deep breath and hung up the phone.
Flipping his omelet out onto the plate, he realized he wasn’t as hungry as he was earlier. It was ironic how quickly tides could change and his mood followed along with it. Deciding to go for a quick run instead of eating, Colt went back upstairs to throw on a pair of shorts and dig out his tennis shoes. The morning was bright and sunny. There was a crispness here that he had missed in Tennessee and he drew in a deep breath. The sweetness of springtime coming on was worth the tingle he got in his lungs. Plugging in his earbuds and turning on the long list of songs he was thinking about cutting, Colt began his run down the long driveway towards the county road.
Sweat was beading up on his forehead and his hair was already soaked. He stretched out his hamstrings as he stood on top of a hill that overlooked the twists and shadows of distant gullies. It was beautiful country here in Montana. Young, green shoots were just starting to grace the land. A well-tended fence line ran the parameter of the property line, but that was the extent of borders. If he squinted, Colt could make out the tines of a windmill. Looking up at the blue sky and the puffy clouds floating over, he tried to absorb the peaceful silence. He wanted the anxiety and indecision to go away. For once he wanted to forget the weight of responsibility that pressed in on him.
Finding a patch of soft grass, Colt sat down and stretched his legs out in front of him. Caving into the wonder of a child, he leaned back until he was looking up into the sky. Each puffy, cotton-like cloud that drifted overhead carried one more care away. He spent time trying to create animals out of the clouds. It was an idle past-time he wasn’t sure he had ever indulged in before. Closing his eyes, he let the gentle breeze and the sweetness of the grass lull him to sleep.
A couple of hours had passed by before Colt became aware of the hard ground. He blinked at the bright sun and instantly noted the point in the sky. It was well after noon and it only took a glance at his cell phone to confirm it. Propping himself up and getting to his feet, Colt turned back towards the ranch house. He hadn’t left a note. He was surprised his cell phone hadn’t rang, but the signal was weak out here. It was part of the appeal of living out so far into God’s country. He had only made it to the road when a green Chevy truck stopped and rolled down its passenger side window.
“Come on! Get in.” Megan’s terse voice was tinged with worry. Colt instantly obliged without knowing why he was getting into her truck. A slight voice told him that he would follow her anywhere she asked, but it was squashed quickly. “Where have you been?”
Colt looked at her with some irritation. He wasn’t ready to be treated like a child that had disappeared without letting anyone know where he had gone. He was an adult and more than capable of fending for himself. “I was running and it’s not like I need your permission.”
Megan took a corner rather tightly and it sucked him against the door. Only then did he note that they weren’t headed back to the ranch house.
“Where are we going?” He asked, taking in her hands fisted tightly on the wheel and her flushed cheeks.
“There’s a fire at Knob Hill. Toby is already headed over there.” Megan was focused on driving, but her voice trembled as she spoke. Colt felt his full awareness come to the surface as he looked out at the countryside and only then saw the curl of white and black smoke.
“Didn’t someone call the fire department?” Colt asked, taking his ear buds out of his shirt and depositing the phone and cords in the seat.
“They won’t get there in time. Besides that, it takes everyone to help. A fire could devastate everyone, not just one property. A family needs our help and we are going to do just that.” Megan nearly brake checked them at the stop sign before getting onto the black top. More color had appeared in her cheeks and that feisty red-headed temper was back. Colt much preferred it to the worried, panicked look he saw earlier.
“I get it. Just don’t kill us.” Colt offered a half grin when Megan scowled at him. She shook her head and continued driving. A big worked iron sign crossed over the driveway’s entrance. Knob Hill Ranch was scrawled between the sign’s bars. Ahead of them, the smoke was thick and every so often orange flames could be seen as they flickered from a large structure.
“It looks like it is the barn.” Megan uttered as they made their way up the long drive. He nodded in agreement. Other vehicles were showing up behind them and Megan pulled into the grass near the house. The barn was nearly lost. Wind was starting to kick the embers from the structure to the dry grass beyond that looked to go for miles. The pasture could be up in flames and smoke soon. “Toby is over there.” She pointed to the large trucks with ta
nks of water in the back. Several men were working hoses and doing their best to just keep the fire contained to the barn.
“This will be my first fire fight.” Colt grimaced as he took off his sweatshirt and left it in the truck’s seat. It was a flurry of activity once he jogged over to where Toby was wetting down burlap sacks. Five gallon buckets were situated so that the sacks could be wetted and used to swipe at the flames popping up in the dry grass.
“Glad you’re here.” Toby shouted over the roar and Colt nodded. His foreman handed him one of the wet sacks and Colt did as the other men were doing. It wasn’t easy. The wet burlap was heavy. Slapping it at the ground was difficult as the repetition made his back and shoulders hurt. A young boy would run in between the six guys on his side of the barn and trade out the drying burlap for wetter ones. Colt was impressed by the quick response and selfless willingness to help. More and more people came. Neighbors, cousins, friends and all of them community members threw everything they had into fighting the fire. Eventually the fire trucks came on the scene, but it was definitely much later than Colt would have thought. Megan had been right. In this country, it was all or nothing. Everyone had to pitch in, because what affected one family affected others as well.
The barn was already charred and the timber was starting to crash to the ground. The movement sent ashes flying into the air and those with wet burlap watched for flare ups. Fire crews poured water onto the far side of the structure. The heavy cross beams started to shake and Colt lined out the trajectory of their fall. The boy that had been scurrying back and forth was suddenly in the way of falling debris. Shouting did no good. The activity and loud machines were too much to get the boy’s attention over.
Without thought, Colt sprinted forward grasping the boy by his shirt and pushing him away from the building. Smoking two by fours and other heavy timber fell in a rush. Both Colt and the boy hit the ground. Four men hurried forward to help them up and Toby was busy beating the flames out of the grass. As soon as Colt got up off the ground he was pushed down again. Toby was on him, beating at the back of his shirt and soon Colt was stripped of his t-shirt leaving him naked from the waist up.
“Thanks.” Colt offered Toby his hand and the man took it. Moving everyone back from the structure, the firemen took over. The imminent danger of a prairie fire was under control and families were starting to leave.
The sun was sinking as the last fingers of pink and orange touched the horizon. Colt sat on the tailgate of Megan’s truck and pondered the damage before him. Apparently the Knob Hill Ranch had lost six horses and the barn in the fire. Their neighbors had been quick in their response to keep the rest of the buildings and grass safe.
“You did a good job today.” Megan’s voice came from the shadows by the truck. Colt turned his head sideways to watch her stop next to him.
“I only did what everyone else was doing.” Colt answered, just now realizing that he hadn’t put his sweatshirt on. The night air was starting to cool his skin.
“Everyone’s talking about how you saved Mitch. You’re a hero, Colt.” Megan’s eyes fairly glowed with pride. Colt didn’t want to be a hero. Surely he had done what any other man would have done to keep the boy safe. He had just reacted faster.
“There are more important things than being a hero, Meg. A family lost so much tonight.” He looked at the remnants of the barn. Megan moved up to stand beside the tailgate. She nodded, looking at what he was taking in.
“It is sad, but it could have been so much worse. Aside from the horses, it was only a building. It can be replaced.”
“Can they replace it?” He found himself asking, wheels already spinning in his head. Megan half shrugged and looked at him.
“They have insurance, but it won’t cover everything. Laura’s horse was killed in the fire. She rode him for barrel racing and word has it that he was worth thirty thousand. It will be tough to replace a skilled horse like that.”
“It would be difficult.” Colt answered, lost in his thoughts. He got off the tailgate and winced at his sore muscles. Megan saw and looked more closely at him. She moved to open the door of truck and hooked him by the arm.
“Come here.” She ordered, dragging him with her. He paused before her, wondering what she was doing. “Turn around.” She couldn’t wait for him to move. She twisted him so that his back was facing her. “You’d be the only one to not know he was burned. Is that what happened to your shirt?”
Colt wanted to laugh at her face. “You’re only now realizing I don’t have a shirt on?” A chuckle escaped him though he tried not to. Her hands dropped from his shoulders as if he had shocked her. “Toby put it out. I didn’t know it had gone through the shirt.” Colt watched her eyes in the dim light of the truck’s dome. He regretted teasing her, because he felt the loss of her touch. She pressed her lips together, but she didn’t look angry. Megan looked just as bewildered as he.
“I have burn cream at the ranch.” She indicated the truck as she turned to get inside. Colt was left to walk around the other side and climb in.
CHAPTER SEVEN
It was a longer drive home than it had taken them to get to Knob Hill. Megan was careful with the bumps in the road and Colt didn’t know quite the extent of his burns until she jostled him. After that, Colt leaned forward in the seat so that his back would not brush the fabric. They were quiet in the truck cab. He was too busy inside his head again and he suspected Megan was doing much the same. When she parked them in front of the ranch house, she left the truck running. Colt experienced this cold chill that streaked up his spine at the thought of her abandoning him to the empty house. He couldn’t explain just how she had come to mean something to him in such a short amount of time. The fact of the matter was that she was there just the same.
“You are coming inside, aren’t you?” Colt asked, his eyes resting on her hands that lay flat against the steering wheel. Megan didn’t look at him right away. Her only acknowledgement was the deep breath she took and then let out. “Please.”
She turned her head to him then and met his eyes. He didn’t dare look away. He didn’t tell her exactly what he was thinking either.
“You’ll need help with the cream.” She said it precisely and Colt didn’t like how she was closing the door between them. It had been open since the moment they met. He hadn’t realized it until it was narrowing. Megan turned off the engine and got out of the truck. He followed her inside the house and into the kitchen. “Sit down.”
Colt did as she commanded and took a seat on one of the bar stools. He took a deep breath and wondered just how he was going to bridge this gap that was suddenly before them. She wasn’t joking with him or tearing into him for something that he had said. There was definitely something bothering her.
“I brought the Motrin too.” Megan’s voice broke into his thoughts. She set the bottle down in front of him and went to the fridge to pull out some water. “Take a couple of those. The skin will stretch tightly tonight and you’ll be glad for them.” She didn’t look at him. Moving behind him with the tube of cream in her hand, Colt waited for the touch of her hand on his skin. It was a hesitant brush, soft like a butterfly perching on a person’s finger. Colt closed his eyes and felt the surge of warmth along with the desire he couldn’t hold back. The muscles in his stomach clenched as he felt her smooth on more cream. Seconds seemed all too soon and Megan was pulling back as she twisted the cap back onto the tube. Colt didn’t think, he simply did. Quickly he turned on the stool and grabbed her wrist. Megan’s eyes widened, the thick lashes framing her surprise.
“What?” Her voice was breathless and it only added fuel to the flame he was trying to decide if he should keep.
“Don’t go, tonight.” His brain was a myriad of thoughts and none of them were going to come out coherently.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Megan nearly whispered, her gaze softening and the tension in her body shifting to something infinitely sweeter. He knew it. She didn’t need to say
it. She was having the same feelings and she didn’t know what to do with them either.
Colt stood up from the stool, brushing the front of her as he crowded her space. He looked down at his hand still encircling her wrist and then he leveled his gaze with hers. For a second, no one breathed. His nerves pulsed with a chant to do exactly what his body was telling me to do. Having this moment with her might just be the most spontaneous thing he had done in several years.
“Meg.” He breathed her name as he slowly brought his mouth to hers and pressed his lips to the velvet softness. He wanted to moan. Maybe he did. Maybe it was her, but he wasn’t certain. All he knew was the world stopping and solely focusing on their connection.
***
The richness and warmth of his lips on her own made Megan crave the kiss that much more. Her name whispered from his mouth had stirred the embers she was trying so hard to douse. Was it appropriate to want so much from a guy she had just met? From a guy who is her brother’s boss and a Country music idol? At the moment, she wanted to indulge her senses and then she would get the heck out of Dodge.
Sliding her hand up his bare chest, over the firm muscles to his shoulder, Megan stepped gently into him. Colt held his ground, but his head tipped sideways to drag her further still into the warmth of his mouth. She followed his lead, her arm wrapping around his neck and her fingers buried into the soft dark hair at his nape. Colt’s hand was heavy on her hip and she smiled when he groaned into her mouth. In reaction to her distracted smile, he pulled her tighter against him. His attention was unmistakable and it sent a surge of heat through Megan. It forced her to take stock of what was possible and what was not. A relationship with Colt Cavanaugh was not possible. She would be damned if she were a one night stand and that’s where the cooling effect came to the forefront. Megan pulled back.