Love Under Two Prospectors [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting)

by Cara Covington

  “We did,” Ricoh confirmed. “Hoping to hell we’d win enough cash to stay in a better hotel at the next town—so we could shower in comfort instead of stopping at one of those travel plazas on the interstate, with their dubious coin-operated showers.” Then he looked over at Julián. “Of course, in those days, I didn’t know in the beginning that you could have just whipped out your platinum credit card and gotten us a damn suite at the Ritz.”

  The men sitting around his table thought that was funny as hell.

  “It was all about the journey in those days,” Julián said. “The money didn’t matter.”

  “Beyond enough to get by,” Ricoh said, “no, it never really did. Not for any of us that I can recall.”

  “So, you weren’t all on the road, chasing eight, as the saying goes, for the money?” Greg Benedict asked.

  “It was never the money,” Alan Wilson said. “It was the competition.”

  “It was the dream,” Trace Benedict said. “The dream of being the best.”

  “And the next rodeo,” Duncan Moore agreed. “Always the next rodeo, the next season, and what was down the road around the next corner. The life itself became the reason—the passion and the pain.”

  “You sound fucking poetic, Moore,” Cord Benedict said. “Are we all going to be sharing our feelings next? Maybe there should be curlers and makeup and chocolate.”

  “Fuck you, Benedict.”

  “Which one?” Rick Benedict asked. “There are so many of us here to choose from.”

  “Any. All. Read ’em and weep, suckers!” Duncan tossed down his hand, a natural royal flush. Everyone groaned, Duncan and Alan high-fived, and Ricoh laughed.

  Then first one cell phone and then another began to ping. Ricoh pulled his out of his pocket as he saw others doing…and his heart dropped. He’d forgotten about the weather, but his weather alert app hadn’t forgotten about him. “Uh…guys…”

  And then the very loud and sudden sound, like the roar of a freight train barreling toward them, erupted into the night, and they had just a handful of precious seconds before the earth trembled and the lights went out.

  Chapter Nineteen

  It looked like a scene from a disaster movie. While some of the people were working on setting up the large, portable emergency lights, others were at the edge of the rubble pile, screaming names. Terror was a blanket that covered them all. Brittany’s training had kicked in about three seconds after Carrie stumbled into the great room, terror in her wake.

  She hadn’t let herself think the worst. She refused to think the worst. She was a marine, and she was on a mission. A mission that had begun in that shocking instant.

  “I think it was a tornado. Just Ricoh’s house. The other one is still standing. Our house is still standing and so is the barn. Our generator’s working. But…”

  Abigail had grabbed one of the throw blankets and wrapped Carrie in it. The young woman was pale, shaking, and pregnant. Then Abby looked to Brittany, as had Samantha and finally, Kate.

  Brittany’s marine training had kicked in, and she’d begun to give orders. A stopwatch had started in her head at that moment, and as she stood waiting to see more of what they were facing, she knew it was less than twenty minutes since they’d learned of the catastrophe.

  Strong flashlight beams were trained on the mass of material that had so recently been a house, and the light moved along a distinctive, directed path. The lights were held by whoever had been available, and Jordan Kendall directed the beams, so he could make an initial visual assessment of the debris.

  Everyone’s instinct, her own included, had been to start digging. But her training told her to wait, to let Jordan, a man with years of construction experience, the man who’d actually built the house, have a look at what they were dealing with. So she organized people and let their building expert survey the damage.

  Thankfully, Jordan Kendall was a meticulous contractor and still had the blueprints for this house on file. They were currently displayed on his laptop that had been opened and left on somebody’s tailgate.

  As if Mother Nature was sleeping off her recent little bender, the air had turned calm, the humidity had broken, and some of the cloud cover was even clearing. At any other time, this would be considered a beautiful, balmy June night.

  The portable emergency lights the Town Trust owned and kept stored at the firehouse had been loaded into the two large trucks that were also part of the insanely well-equipped Fire and Emergency Department. Jonathan Benedict and Preston Kendall had been trained to drive the large vehicles and had just arrived with the equipment. Some of the other older men, Benedicts, Kendalls, and Jessops, came on the trucks and, with some of the women pitching in, immediately began to set up those lights.

  Jonathan was a rancher, and when Brittany signaled to him, he came over.

  “Lieutenant?”

  “Any idea what sort of farm machinery they have here? We need to know what we have and what we can use when Jordan gives us the all clear to start excavating.”

  “I’m not sure, but I’ll go look. You should have light here before long.”

  “Thank you.”

  She watched as Jonathan signaled to Jackson Jessop, and the two men jogged toward to the barn.

  “Lieutenant.”

  Brittany turned and nodded at the man who approached. “I’m glad you’re here, Gunny.” She was very glad he’d been at the Parkview Inn and not in Dallas visiting family.

  “What do you need, ma’am?”

  “Jordan is assessing the state of the rubble before we begin to dig, lights are being set up, and we’ll soon know what resources we have besides. The docs and the EMTs are setting up a triage area. We have been in contact with emergency services.” Brittany had to clamp down on her emotions. She’d been heartbroken and pissed when she’d spoken to the area OEM director, but she did understand his position. “Since this bitch tornado didn’t just hit here, all of the first responders are very busy at the moment. For the time being, we’re on their list and on our own.”

  Gunny nodded. Brittany didn’t have to spell it out for him, a mercy because she couldn’t say those words out loud. Until they knew for certain ambulances were needed, none would be sent.

  “The facts on our side are that we know how many people are in there,” she said. “And we know who they all are—and we got here pretty damn fast.”

  “Those are all good pluses, ma’am.”

  “Okay, fire them up!”

  Brilliant light spotlighted the area where the manager’s house of the Benedict North ranch had stood. Brittany’s heart fell as she got her first good look at the horror facing them. Oh, God, the men I love with all my heart are in there, somewhere! She fought back her tears, and her fears, and focused in the moment. Fucking forget about losing part of my damn leg. This, right here, is my worst moment, ever. Brittany closed off her personal thoughts as best she could and turned her attention back to the situation.

  It appeared as if some great behemoth had picked up the building and then smashed it down again. The debris hadn’t made your standard scattered-over-two-counties kind of debris field. In fact, there were no stray boards or bits of glass around her feet or anywhere else that she could see. Most of the vehicles that had been parked in the yard, not very far from the house, were undamaged. Most of them, thank God, had their keys in them and were currently being moved. If the funnel had come from the west and traveled east, there might be some debris on the other side of the site, marking the storm’s trail as it sped off in search of other innocent victims to prey upon.

  “Holy shit.” Gunny shook his head. “Good call, L.T., stopping everyone from climbing on and ripping stuff away.”

  “I knew Jordan was on his way here and he’d be able to assess what we were dealing with. As desperately as I wanted to get digging, I was terrified of making a wrong move and making things worse—or burying the rescuers in the process.”

  The crowd had gone silent at the sight of
the disaster. Jordan Kendall came over to her, as did the Doctors Jessop and the EMTs.

  “It looks like a fucking oversized game of Pickup Sticks,” Robert Jessop said.

  Dr. Robert’s assessment summed it up perfectly. If they weren’t careful, if they didn’t do this just right, they’d be in even more trouble than they already were.

  “There’re two tractors here and a Genie Boom.” Jonathan Benedict’s quiet voice came from her left. “We have people on site qualified to operate both. And here...” He handed her a square plastic-wrapped package. “There are lots of work gloves to go around.”

  “Perfect. Thanks, Jonathan.” Brittany turned to Jordan, who’d just come over to her. “You tell us what to move, where to start. You have the blueprints, and you know the house intimately. You’re our expert.” Brittany became aware that everyone had moved in close. She looked at faces familiar and dear and a few she didn’t know, as well. She ran the numbers through her mind in a matter of moments.

  Bernice, Samantha, Abigail, Anna, and Carrie were at the Big House, with most of Lusty’s small children—the children the senior men had been entertaining at the New House during the parties. Kate had driven over to the Alvarez-Kendalls to get Jordan and to stay with Tracy and her son, Cameron, who were both sick. Here on site, she had the senior Benedicts—Caleb, Jonathan, Carson, and Michael. She had the senior Kendalls—Preston, Taylor, and Charles, as well as the senior Jessops—Craig and Jackson. She had Jordan Kendall, Doctors Robert and David Jessop, and the paramedics, Warren and Edward Jessop. She had, thank God, Gunnery Sergeant Williams, USMC.

  And then she had the women. By far the greatest number of bodies here to help, the greatest source of strength for this operation were these women of Lusty, Texas. Brittany’s fear morphed to anger.

  Mother Nature doesn’t stand a fucking chance.

  She turned and looked at the younger Jessop men. “We need a triage area, and since we won’t be receiving any backup from the county anytime soon, some vehicles set off and cleared so they’ll be ready and available for hospital runs.” She nodded toward all the trucks that had been parked by the party guests. “I’m told the keys will be in most of those.”

  Robert Jessop nodded. “They should be. All right, Lieutenant, we’re on it.”

  “Lieutenant?” Warren Jessop spoke up. “We’ve radioed to the members and volunteers of the Fire Department who’re fighting that grassfire near the edge of the county, north of here. As soon as they can safely do so, they’ll be on their way back to help.”

  “Good. Keep us in the loop. Let us know when they’re on their way, please.” She turned her attention to the group. “Jordan will tell us where to dig and how and when. So, grab some gloves and be ready to get started.”

  “I just need a few minutes to finish my assessment,” Jordan said.

  “We understand.” Angela had her arms wrapped around herself and used her hands to rub her arms. “We know if we try to dig where it’s not safe, we could end up doing more harm than good.”

  Jordan ran his hand down Angela’s back, and the gaze he turned to Brittany communicated his compassion. “It won’t take me long. I just need to be sure. Then we’ll get to work and get our people out of there.”

  He walked over to his laptop, and some of the older men followed him.

  “We’ll let Jordan divide us into teams. His experienced eye will see the fastest and safest way through that trap and to our people.” Brittany believed that with all her heart.

  Everyone got ready. Most of the women who’d come to the shower in feminine shoes and flowing skirts had grabbed other clothes—their own or whomever’s was a quick stop on the way from the Big House to the Benedict North ranch. Sizes were close, not exact, but no one cared how they looked as long as they were good to get working.

  Nearly forty minutes had passed from the moment they’d been alerted by Carrie when Jordan got the teams formed and showed everyone what the game plan was. They would work from the top down. Using the Genie Boom on one side of the front of the house and a tractor with its bucket extended on the other, four people, two pairs of two, on each piece of equipment would pick the debris and pass it down to the hands waiting below. Fanning out from the two main points of attack were lines of bodies, so boards and roof pieces and whatever could be passed, hand to hand, and would then be set well back, out of the way.

  It was slow, methodical work, and no one stopped for a break. Every few minutes or so, Jordan or Charles Kendall would call out to those trapped—hoping for a response.

  Any kind of a response would do.

  Brittany was situated at the head of the line extending out from the Genie Boom. She was facing the other side and could clearly see Gunny, who was facing her, working with the team using the tractor bucket.

  She ached all over and had to change her position when her left hip began to ache because she’d been standing wrong. Keep working. You can hurt later. She just prayed, as she’d never prayed before, that the aching she would do later would be only physical.

  She hadn’t come all this way, endured all this shit, to lose the men she loved now. She was so getting into Noah’s and Sean Kendall’s faces—as soon as she kissed them and hugged them and told them how much she loved them. She was through tiptoeing around. Sean Kendall would damn well make love to her the way she demanded—the way she deserved.

  “Lieutenant, how are you holding up? It’s been nearly an hour and a half, and you haven’t stopped.”

  Brittany looked over her right shoulder at Robert Jessop. “I’m sore, but good, thanks, Doc. Seriously. I have more in me yet.”

  He met and held her gaze for a long moment, and then he nodded. “All right. We’re all ready to go.”

  “Good, now if only—”

  “Quiet!” Jordan’s command immediately silenced everyone. Brittany looked to where he was dangling by his fall and arrest harness from the Genie Boom. The debris pile wasn’t as tall as it had been. She judged they’d moved a good five feet of the rubble. Most of the roof pieces were gone, leaving only wood and insulation and other material, material that, she realized now, had been getting lighter and easier to move.

  “We’re coming! Do you have any seriously injured?”

  She had to listen closely. And then she heard them, those three beautiful words that nearly had her sobbing.

  “We’re all alive!”

  A cheer went up, and Brittany blinked quickly, shoving her tears away, focusing on the rescue. She’d fall apart later. For now, there was work to do. Hands went up on the Genie Boom, and everyone quieted down again.

  “That’s damn good news! Are you all together or scattered?”

  This time she couldn’t make out the words. Jordan could, apparently. “All right, hang tight. We’re coming. We just have to be careful.”

  Whoever Jordan was speaking to said something else. It wasn’t hard to guess the question, nor was it surprising—considering everyone buried in the rubble was, in one form or another, family.

  “Everyone else is fine, brother. Y’all won the lottery. This was the only place in town hit.”

  The response to that was also difficult for her to hear. The few men working right above the pile laughed, and then Craig Jessop capped the conversation.

  “Language, Sheriff. There are ladies present!”

  Brittany looked across the line at Ginny Kendall. Her ear-to-ear grin said it all. She took a moment to wipe her eyes with her shirtsleeve then nodded and gave Brittany a thumbs-up.

  Brittany returned the gesture. They all got back to work. Dr. Robert patted her shoulder. “I’ll let Kate and the others know the good news. And as I said, we’re ready. There’re likely some injuries. But the most important thing is, they’re alive.”

  Brittany nodded. That sure as hell was a familiar sentiment. Funny how it meant so much more to her when she was standing on this side of that particular equation.

  “Yes, that is the most important thing. They’re all alive.�
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  It took another hour to remove enough of the rubble and to shore up the area they were not excavating. Since Jordan and the rest of the rescuers at the top of the lines knew exactly where the men were located—all together and in a relatively small area—that was where they focused their efforts. As they began to bring them out, the firemen and volunteers who’d been fighting the grass fires at the other end of the county arrived to help.

  As the first man was extricated, Robert Jessop made the announcement that there would be triage and that every single man who’d been in that house would be carried out on a litter and checked out.

  “The man sounds like a damn Marine general,” Gunny said.

  “Or a Dom,” Brittany replied. She could see Gunny fighting his grin. She stood back, waiting, as each man was freed. She didn’t know where Robert had gotten so many wooden and canvas litters from, but he’d had some time, and he’d known how many he’d need.

  “Damn it, I don’t need to be carried. I can walk.”

  “Boy howdy, Adam Kendall, you just lie on that litter. You’ll walk when Dr. Robert says you can walk.”

  Brittany was willing to bet it was the way Ginny’s words hitched that settled Adam down. When they passed her, Adam was holding Ginny’s hand snugly. As she continued to watch, she saw Shar go first to Barry and then to Jesse, and then she followed them to the triage area. There was the sound of light sobs—likely the women letting go once they knew their man—or men—was safe. One by one, and then faster as there were fewer remaining, the men of Lusty emerged from the rubble.

  “Hey, hombre, you do know that having a party and ‘bringing down the house’ is just an expression, right?” Julián Alvarez asked. “It’s not a real thing you’re supposed to aim for when you have a party.”

  Judging by the way the man’s left arm was laying across his chest, she thought he might have at least sprained it.

  “You always were a smartass, Julián. I’m going to tell Gwen you were under the table most of the night.”