by S A Monk
Jenny smiled at him with a lift of one eyebrow. “Really? And that better— might it be you?”
“Damn straight!”
She laughed with him. “So how was your weekend? Safe I hope.”
“Safe and boring,” he reassured her. “I hung around the stock show and watched television in a lonely hotel room Saturday night.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” she teased. “I wouldn’t want you to be anything but lonely while I was gone.”
“Believe me, I was,” he assured her. “The rancher I flew to Billings, with his wife, put me in touch with a better buyer for our cattle. He’s offering a really good price. He’s flying out next week to weigh the saleable part of the herd. He’s even going to arrange the shipping to the stock yard, probably pay for it as well, if he likes what he sees.” He took his eyes off the jagged peaks below him and turned to look at her. “Even if all goes as planned, I think we’re only going to break even this year.”
“Well, I guess that’s better than being in the hole. You can still let me....”
Hawk held up his hand and interrupted her. “We’ll be fine.” End of discussion. She didn’t want to argue, so she let it go. Time would tell. “You and Hank will have to handle the weigh in and get the cows loaded onto the cattle trucks. I’ve already begun separating out the stock we’ll be selling. The buyer would like to get the shipping started by next weekend. I’ll leave you all the information you need so you can call the buyer tomorrow and set up a day and time for him to come out. We have scales at the ranch. Tom and I installed them four years ago. I checked. They’re working fine. Hank and I will finish culling the herd tomorrow.”
Was he leaving again soon? She’d been hoping to spend some time with him. They had barely seen each other these past two weeks. “Oh, Hawk, it sounds like you’ve been running yourself ragged. Where are you off to next?”
“On my next hunting trip. I leave day after tomorrow at five in the morning. I’m taking up a party of four wealthy businessmen from Denver. They’re paying me really well to help them bag a deer a piece. We’ll be staying at the line cabin this time. Won’t be back until they get their bucks.”
“Another hunting trip? How many more did you book?”
“A couple.”
“Well, you look worn out already,” she noted unhappily.
“I’ll live through it. Don’t worry. I’ll be okay,” he reassured her with a crooked grin.
“When are we meeting with the attorney to sign the paperwork on the partnership? He must have everything ready.”
“He does. But he’s going to have to wait until I can get a day off, and right now that doesn’t look too likely until maybe sometime next week.”
“He’s not going to be too happy about that. He’s worried about us making that ninety day deadline. He doesn’t want the court having to step in.”
“We’ll make it in plenty of time. Jack just likes to worry. He’s our financial advisor, too.”
“Well, then, I guess he’s got a lot to worry about lately, doesn’t he?” She couldn’t restrain the sarcasm and irritation out of her voice.
He shot her a frown, but they dropped the subject for the rest of the flight home.
CHAPTER 19
It was dark by the time Hawk drove under the the lodge pole cross beams that heralded the entrance to the Bar F/Bar L Ranch. They’d had dinner in Winthrop after parking the plane in his hangar at the local airport. Not long after, Jenny had snuggled up against his side in the cab of his pickup, laid her head on his shoulder, and promptly fallen asleep.
The road to the house was lined with gravel, but it was still a bumpy ride. It didn’t take long to jar Jenny awake once they hit it. She sat up drowsily and stared at the tall dark shadows of the pine and aspen trees that rose on either side of the lane.
“Almost home,” Hawk announced with a kiss to the top of her head.
“Good, I’m exhausted.”
As soon as the truck crested the hill, they saw the ominous orange glow that lit up the sky over the ranch house.
“Oh dear God!” Jenny exclaimed. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Shit!”
Hawk stepped on the accelerator, sending rocks spewing out behind his rear tires. The descent to the yard had both of them staring out the windshield toward the fire burning behind the house.
“Oh, Hawk, it’s the new barn!” Jenny cried in alarm.
Hawk swore vehemently again and drove to the front of the house, where he skidded to a stop.
“Check to see if anyone’s called the fire department!” he yelled as he slammed the truck into park and and hopped out.
Jenny scrambled out with her cell phone in hand. Deciding she wouldn’t waste time looking for someone, she dialed 911 and headed toward the barn, just as Hawk had done. The flames coming from the wooden structure were leaping high into the night sky, fueled by the light wind. Eli and Hank were hosing down the rear entrance that opened onto one of the paddocks surrounding the barn. For the moment, no other structures seemed to be threatened, but that could change if the wind picked up or shifted.
The front of the barn was completely engulfed, and Jenny could hear the horses screaming inside. It was a sound that sent terror up her spine. Cursing the high heeled boots she was wearing, she rushed over to Eli.
“I called the fire department,” the old cowboy shouted to her. “They’re on their way, but we haven’t been able to get inside yet to get the horses out. The damn thing’s goin’ up like a tinder box.”
She had lost sight of Hawk, and she was deeply afraid that she knew where he was.
Eli confirmed her fears. “He just ran inside, through that door. We got six horses still in there.”
The rear doors weren’t on fire yet, but the walls around it were. Hank and Eli had managed to create a safe zone, free of flames, about five feet wide. Hawk couldn’t get all those horses out by himself before the two cowhands lost the battle with fire-free zone.
Where was Steve? Jenny wondered. He wasn’t fighting the fire with Hank and Eli. She made Eli hose her down, and in spite of his protest, followed Hawk into the barn. He was at the back, struggling with his horse and Aspen. Someone was going out a side door with a horse. She guessed it was Steve.
Jenny grabbed Aspen’s reins from Hawk’s hand. “Let me get her!”
Hawk whirled around at the sound of her shout, his face already dark with soot, none too pleased to see her. “Take her and get out. Don’t come back in. I’ll get the others.” He was having trouble controlling Red Phantom, who was terrified of the heat and smoke. The horse reared and screamed. It was a bloodcurdling sound. Metal shod hooves slashed the air, narrowly missing Jenny’s head and shoulders. Hawk hauled on the reins to bring his horse under control. “Go! Get the hell out of here!” he shouted at her over the din of roaring flames.
Jenny led Aspen out, choking on the thick smoke that was quickly filling the barn. She looked back over her shoulder. Hawk had his horse at the door. He slapped him on the butt, then turned back inside. The big gelding bolted for the freedom of the paddock. She gave Aspen a slap and the mare followed Red Phantom to safety.
Jenny knew Hawk couldn’t get the other three horses out without help. She pulled the scarf from around her neck, tied it over her nose, and ran back inside to help him. Hay bales and bags of feed were igniting all around her. Overhead, the fire was rolling along the ceiling beams like in an inferno of rage, hissing and crackling so loudly, it sounded like a roaring monster. It was deafening and utterly terrifying.
Running to the nearest stall, she opened the gate and immediately the horse inside came charging out. She quickly jumped aside, and it headed straight for the rear doors. Hawk released one more, and it, too, raced for the outdoors. She was nearing the last stall, when Hawk met up with her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and pushed her toward the exit.
“Get the hell out of here! Now! I’ve got this one.” He looked up and saw one of the ceiling beams split a
nd fall. “Run, damn it! Run!”
The center walkway was a river of flames. Luckily, the last horse cooperated with its rescue. Because its stall was at the back of the barn, there was just enough time to get it out. Jenny was running ahead of it, staying out of its terrified path, and Hawk was right behind it, herding it in the right direction. All three of them made it to the safety of the corral just seconds ahead of the roof collapsing.
It caved in with a mighty roar, a spray of sparks, and a firestorm of flames. Hawk tackled Jenny from behind and took her to the ground at the far side of the pen, his body protectively covering her head and backside as they fell. With the wind knocked from her, Jenny lifted her head from the dirt, turned in Hawk’s arms, and saw Hank, Eli, and Steve herding the six horses into another corral, farther from the barn. Pushing up onto his arms, Hawk thrust to his feet, then pulled her up to stand next to him.
Together they turned to look at the rapidly burning fire thirty feet in front of them. The heat it generated was horrendous. No amount of water was going to save the barn. It and everything in it, all the tack and feed and equipment, would be lost. The only consolation was that the horses had been saved. It was a crippling tragedy.
As they exited the side corral, the fire trucks came into view, speeding over the crest of the hill, red lights flashing, sirens screaming.
“You okay?” Hawk looked down at her, his soot-ringed eyes making a thorough sweep over her body, from head to toe. He even turned her to look at her back.
Jenny nodded and coughed. “I’m okay. You?”
“I’ll live.” His face was black with soot and his shirt singed. Smoke clung thickly to him as she was sure it did to her. He hadn’t been burned by some miracle, but his voice was hoarse and filled with barely suppressed fury. His eyes glittered hotly with it, and his body was clenched and tight.
“Let the medic look you over, then go inside. I’ll wind things up here.”
Jenny didn’t know what to say to him at the moment. She knew as well as he did what this disaster would mean to them. Even with insurance, this was a major setback so close to winter. Thoroughly disheartened, she walked over to the paramedic vehicle that followed the big fire truck into the yard.
The efforts of the fire department and their heavy-duty hoses saved the enormous haystack in the yard, as well as the other outbuildings. Sparks shot up from the burning barn, but failed to threaten the house because of the way the breeze was blowing. Still the firefighters sprayed down the roof. Hawk, Eli, Hank, and Steve worked alongside the half dozen men in uniforms to ensure the blaze was completely put out.
After a shower, Jenny watched from her second story window. Tears filled her burning eyes and streamed down her cheeks. This was such a huge loss. On top of everything else, it was staggering. How would Hawk deal with this? Dear God, he didn’t deserve this! It just wasn’t fair! She’d bet every dime she had this was deliberately set. And because it was probably arson, their insurance company wouldn’t cover the loss until they found out who caused the fire. That could take months, if they were ever able to discover who had set the fire. Knowing the way Brad covered himself, there may never be any evidence found.
She spent a long time thinking about what she could do to help Hawk out of this latest disaster, and what he’d even let her do. When she heard him come upstairs and turn on the shower, she went downstairs to prepare two cups of herbal tea. She added a little brandy and honey to the tea, thinking it would soothe the their throats as well as their nerves. On the way back up the stairs with her tray, she recalled how happy they’d been to see each other again after their recent separation. They’d taken their time coming back from Denver and had a really nice dinner together. They’d kissed and hugged and touched and looked forward to falling into bed together for the first time in nearly a week. They should be wrapped in each other’s arms right now. The fact that such a happy moment had turned into such a terrible disaster brought fresh tears to her eyes all over again.
In her bedroom, she found Hawk seated on the edge of her bed. He was clad only in his pajama bottoms. Bare-chested, with his elbows braced on his knees, he had his head bent, cradled in his hands, his fingers splayed through his long damp hair. He looked so disheartened, so beat, it broke Jenny’s heart.
She set her tray of tea on the night stand, and went over to kneel in front of him. She took his hands in hers. He looked down at her. The smell of smoke had vanished, but he looked really tired. She ran her hands and eyes over all his bare skin, then his face, making sure he wasn’t burned anywhere.
“We lost the whole barn. There was nothing the firemen could do to save any of it by the time they arrived. Eli and Hank said it went up like a matchstick.” His voice was raspy and thick. Jenny hated the discouragement she heard in it.
“We’ll rebuild it— just as good as before.” He and her father had been so proud of the job they’d done on that barn. It had cemented their partnership, and been a symbol of their joint efforts to improve the ranch. She understood what its loss meant to Hawk, emotional as well as financial. She could help him with the latter, but she wouldn’t press the issue tonight.
She pointed to the tray she’d left on the table. “I brought you some brandy laced tea.”
He moved to sit back against the headboard and took the cup of tea she handed him. Then she joined him on the bed with her own. Silence settled between them while they finished their tea.
Finally, setting his cup aside, Hawk spoke. “I feel like going over to the Caldwell place and beating the crap out of Brad.” His fists clenched in his lap. “I think it might be worth getting arrested for.”
Jenny laid her hand over his, fingers splayed wide in comfort. “No, it wouldn’t.” She wasn’t going to let Brad ruin them. “You better get some sleep.”
He leaned over and turned off the table lamp, then slid down under the quilt with her at his side. “The fire inspector will be out tomorrow to look through the ashes to determine the cause of the fire. I’d appreciate it if you’d follow him around and see what he finds. I have to cull the rest of the herd.”
“No problem.” She wanted to help him anyway she could. She hated to see him like this. “What else can I do?”
He turned to her in the dark. She could see him shake his head negatively. “I don’t know, Jenny. I just don’t goddamned know anymore. I think I’m fresh out of solutions.”
She pulled him into her arms and held onto him tightly. “We’ll get through this, together, just like you and Dad would have done.”
It was the only solace she could offer him without upsetting him, but it must have been enough because within minutes, he fell asleep in her arms.
∞∞∞
All week, Jenny was kept busy. First, it was the fire investigator. She nearly wept in front of him when she saw the devastation in the bright light of day. It was nothing now but charred timbers and muddy ashes. The inspector was sympathetic. He answered all her questions and shared his findings with her. He promised her a copy of his report as soon as it was done, but he left her in no doubt that it had been a deliberate act of arson. Whoever had set the fire had left a gasoline can behind, either out of carelessness or necessity. It was now as black and charred as what it had ignited. The only thing he couldn’t tell her was who had set the fire.
He strung yellow plastic tape around the debris and told her not to let anyone go near the scene, then told her that he’d notify the sheriff since it appeared to be a crime scene.
He suspected the sheriff would send someone out to further investigate. She did know arson was a felony, didn’t she? Of course, she told him as she walked him to his vehicle. And if they could only get some evidence on Brad Caldwell, wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could charge him with a felony, she thought to herself as the inspector drove away.
Once lunch was over, she called the insurance company. After listening to her appraisal of the situation, the first thing the agent said was that he would contact the fire departmen
t for their report. She did know, didn’t she, that if the fire department said it was arson, they could not cover the damage until it was determined who set the fire and why. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that a property owner would set a fire to collect insurance money. She understood the company had to be assured this wasn’t the case here, didn’t she? By then, her patience was nearly gone. She replied curtly that a rancher would have to be a real moron to burn his horses out of their winter shelter, especially with winter only weeks away. Furious and frustrated, she hung up on the unsympathetic claims adjustor.
Eli came into the kitchen just as she finished. “How about a cup of coffee?”
Jenny couldn’t seem to drum up a smile for her old friend.
Eli poured them both a cup and sat down across from her at the table. “I take it there won’t be any insurance money to build a new barn any time soon.”
“I doubt it. They want to be assured we didn’t burn down the barn ourselves.” She was thoroughly disgusted with the idea. “As if! What’s Hawk going to do? He doesn’t have the money for a new barn. The bank won’t lend him more money now, and there’s no way these extra jobs will bring in enough to cover the cost of rebuilding it.”
“He’s plannin’ on puttin’ up lean-tos when he gets back.”
“If he’d let me, I could give him the money to rebuild the barn. I could even make the loan payments and probably pay-off the equipment loan, too. Mother left me some money, and I’ve made more off of investing it. It would be divine justice to use it on Daddy’s ranch.”
Eli grinned. He had been here when her mama had left Tom and taken his precious daughter with her, all at the urging of Tom’s mean and wealthy father-in-law. “It would be justice,” he agreed. “Whether it’d be divine or not, I can’t tell ya. But I do know that grandfather of yours would probably turn over in his grave to see his money end up invested in this place.”
“But Hawk doesn’t want my money,” she responded dejectedly. “He won’t let me help.”