by Jill Sanders
The following evening, Trent let himself into his mother’s house. Once again, he stripped off his muddy clothes, but this time, he was prepared. He’d stacked a pair of old jeans and a shirt by the door, and he slipped them on before stepping into the main part of the house.
His mother and Trisha sat in the living room, drinking coffee.
His mother looked over. “There you are. We were just thinking of heading into town for dinner since neither of us feels like cooking after yesterday. Would you care to join us?”
He thought about it. “Sure, can I take a quick shower and change first?”
Both women nodded. “We’ll wait,” his mother said, turning back to her coffee.
Once in the shower, his mind spun with the long day of work and the few hours he’d spent on Bessy clearing his land. He’d handled the entire section that the house would sit on in under a week. Now he had the long driveway to clear—almost a quarter of a mile’s worth. He’d talked to the local contractor about laying gravel before the house was set to be delivered in three months. His permits had finally come in, which meant that the electric, gas lines, and well drilling could all move forward.
Things were moving along smoothly. At least as far as his house and land were concerned.
He was thankful he’d planned ahead and would be moving into his house long before Tyler and Kristen.
That was assuming everything went as planned.
After drying off and dressing, he drove his mother and Trisha into town and parked outside of the Dancing Moose Diner.
When they walked into the diner, the typical crowd of townspeople looked over. Some waved, others nodded a greeting as Trent, Gail, and Trisha took their seats in a booth in the back.
They had just ordered when a group of loud men entered, led by Brian.
Trent immediately wondered if he should text Tony Whayne, one of the local cops and a family friend.
“Let’s wait and see,” his mother said in a low tone, reading his mind and putting a hand over his as he reached for his phone.
“It never hurts to be proactive,” he murmured as the men made their way to the booth next to theirs. It wasn’t the only empty spot in the diner, but he knew Brian had picked it for a reason. Which had him punching a text out to both Tony and Mike Taters, the chief of police.
“Trent.” His mother shook her head and sighed.
“What?” He set his phone down. Less than ten minutes later, Tony, Mike, and Tom walked into the diner and took an empty booth across from Brian and his gang.
Tony was the tallest of the three—he had a full head of gray hair, while Mike had shaved his head bald years ago, which had the effect of making everyone in town respect him even more. Of course, being chief of police hadn’t hurt either. Tom, for his part, was the only officer who had never looked threatening. The man looked like someone’s goofy brother.
So far, Brian’s group hadn’t done anything but flirt with the waitress, who flirted back with obvious pleasure.
When Trent’s table’s food was delivered, another group of people came in, this time led by Addy. He’d seen the types before, most of them dressed like hikers and campers. However, there were a few in the group that went all out. He’d seen a bunch of them with painted faces and costumes as they had picketed outside his business, holding signs about how his family was single-handedly killing the earth.
She took in the room, and he watched her eyes flit to him, then away. Her group made their way to a larger table at the other end of the diner. They sat, laughing and joking as the once-quiet diner grew louder.
Trent couldn’t seem to tear his gaze from Addy as she enjoyed the company of her group. His mother and Trisha continued their conversation as if he wasn’t even there, and he was thankful for it.
Then, a few minutes after he was done eating, the radios and cell phones from the booth across the aisle all squawked at the same time.
Mike glanced over at Trent as he and the rest of the cops jumped up and hurried past the waitress as she brought them their food. “Keep it warm for us,” Mike said as they rushed from the building.
“Wonder what that was all about?” Trisha asked.
Trent exchanged a look with his mother. “I’ll go see.”
She nodded at him as he made his way out of the diner.
“Tom.” He caught up with the man just before he got into his patrol car. “What’s up?”
“There’s a fire at the NewField offices,” he said, then slammed his door. Trent watched him drive off. The McGowans had been working with NewField since their father had started his company. The McGowans depended on them to stay in business. The McGowans might drill for the oil, but NewField pumped it and maintained the pipelines for DW Petroleum Industries—the real owner of most of the oil in Montana.
“What’s up?” his mother said from directly behind him. “We closed out.”
“Fire at NewField. Let’s swing by and see if we can help,” Trent said, reaching for her keys.
He noticed Brian’s group heading out the front door of the diner as he pulled out of the parking lot.
They made it to the building just as the fire hoses began to blast. One thing Trent could say about Haven: the town knew how to come together in a time of crisis.
More than a dozen people out in the street helped where they could as the brick building, similar in design to the McGowans’ own office a few blocks away, was totally engulfed in flames. Glass shattered and everyone was pushed back an entire block by the police. Trent and a few others helped make sure everyone was well beyond the safety zones.
They all stood back as the fire department fought the flames shooting from the broken windows.
Two hours later, when there were only wisps of smoke coming from the pile of rubble, everyone began speculating about what started the blaze.
“We won’t know anything—” Matt, the battalion chief of the local fire department, was drowned out for a moment by the questions coming from the growing crowd.
Matt held up his hands, waiting for everyone to quiet down. “Like I was saying, we won’t know anything until the fire inspector goes through the rubble and discovers the cause. People!” He raised his voice when everyone started talking again. “It could take days to determine the cause. For now, no one was harmed. Everyone has been accounted for. So there is nothing further to see here tonight. You might as well all go home, warm up, and get some sleep.”
Matt turned away and made his way back toward his firefighters.
“You heard the man.” The mayor’s voice rose over the crowd. “I’ll be holding a special town hall meeting this Friday to discuss what we’ve found.” She waved everyone away and when Trent turned to go, he almost bumped right into Addy. His hands gripped her shoulders to steady her before he tipped her over.
“Sorry,” he murmured.
“You seem to be saying that to me a lot lately.” She smiled up at him. “Either you’re bumping into me on purpose or you’re the klutz instead of me.”
He smiled. “I have never been described as such before.” He tucked his hands into his pockets, avoiding his near-constant desire to reach out and touch her. He knew when he did, it made her uncomfortable. He could see it deep in those blue eyes of hers.
Her head tilted as she looked up at him. “Was anyone hurt?” she said, then glanced around him at the smoking rubble.
“No.” He shook his head. “Just lost a building, some furniture, and a bunch of paperwork . . .” He trailed off as his mind snapped into gear. Suddenly he looked around urgently to find Mike. “Sorry, I have to . . .”
He left Addy standing by his mother and Trisha as he made his way through the crowd to find the chief of police. He had a theory about why NewField’s local office was now a pile of rubble.
CHAPTER FIVE
The fire was all anyone could talk about over the next few days. Addy had called to set a meeting with the mayor and the McGowans, but since Martha had been busy meeting with the fire c
hief and inspector, their conversation had been pushed off until later next week.
Addy attended the special town hall meeting on Friday night with her old friends from school. Two of them, Becki and Missy, were already married with kids in Haven, whereas Harmony was still single and working at the local elementary school as a teacher.
Addy felt relieved that she wasn’t the only one from her class who was currently unwed.
She wasn’t surprised to see Tyler sitting at the front next to the mayor. She’d heard that over the last few weeks, he’d filled Dennis Rodgers’s place on the city board as city controller. That man had influenced the city with nothing but corruption and deceit.
Addy had heard that Martha had placed Tyler in that position until an election could be had, but everyone in town was pleased with the move.
Now, as the meeting was called to order and the crowded room grew quiet, Addy shifted in her seat and felt the back of her neck tingle. Without looking, she knew Trent must be directly behind her.
Why did that man have so much control over her body? She shifted in her seat again as the mayor started talking.
For the next hour, she tried to listen to the findings on the fire. Really, she did. But it was just like sitting in classes. She’d heard what she wanted to hear—that the cause of the fire was still under investigation and that the authorities weren’t releasing any further information yet. After that, her mind drifted off and suddenly she found herself daydreaming about a pair of lips roaming over every inch of her body. Her body heated as her mind sank further into the vision.
She’d felt his hands on her now a few times, but she’d always been covered in layers. What would they feel like skin to skin?
She’d dreamed about him for years. So, as her mind dove deeper into the visions, she was surprised at the new images her mind conjured up. Images, flashbacks really, of how he’d looked standing in his mother’s kitchen in his tight boxer briefs. The play of muscles up his arms, over his broad shoulders, down his impressive chest and further down his stomach toward a very sexy, hard six-pack. Not even those half-dressed men on billboards in California or Vegas had come close to his perfection.
Her mind snapped from her dream as she realized every eye in the room was on her. The entire crowd was silently looking at her.
She wondered if she’d made any noises out loud. Her face turned a bright shade of red, and she coughed a few times to cover the fact that her throat had closed up.
“Um.” She glanced around. Suddenly a low voice from behind her whispered.
“Fill them in on how long you’ll be staying,” Trent said in her ear.
“Oh.” She took a deep breath, then stood up. “I’m sorry.” She coughed again. “I think I’m coming down with something.” She searched her mind for an answer as her coughs continued. Her eyes moved over everyone, then landed on the mayor, who waved an encouraging hand at her.
When the woman mouthed You have the floor, Addy’s shoulders straightened and her chin went up slightly.
“As many of you have heard, my group, FREE—Friends Respecting Everything Environmental—has set up camp on the north side of town at the state park. We’re here on a number of environmental concerns. The foremost being the rumor that fracking might be allowed just outside of Haven. Since we first arrived, we’ve been reassured that this rumor is false. However . . .” She paused as several people whispered amongst themselves. She began again and regained everyone’s attention. “However, we have yet to see the local city council take any further measures to ban this destructive process of pulling crude oil from our precious lands.” Her eyes met Martha’s. “The mayor has assured me of a meeting later next week with several of the local oil drilling companies and the city council themselves. My organization eagerly awaits this meeting and hopes that we can come to some agreements that will protect the land and people living in and near Haven. I would further like to address the purchase of land next to the Flathead Reservation, where I’m sure local businesses will be eager to work with the reservation officials on filling them in on exactly what this land will be used for.” She thought over her statement, then added, “Until these items are dealt with, my team will remain in Haven to save not only this beautiful land but to ensure the health and well-being of the people in it.”
There was a moment of silence as she sat, then the entire room burst into chaos. Most of the locals shouted at the main table, some of them at her. She heard the words global warming, fake news, oil haters, tree huggers, and worse.
Her shoulders remained solid and her chin rose. Even the friends she’d been sitting with looked at her as if she’d grown an extra head. One of them actually scooted her chair farther away from Addy.
“Now you’ve done it,” Trent said directly behind her.
Suddenly there was a loud whistle. The sound bounced around the large room and caused everyone to quiet down instantly.
Tyler stood next to the mayor, his fingers dropping from his lips as his whistle echoed in everyone’s ears.
Trent chuckled. “Knew that would come in handy someday.” He leaned closer until she felt his warm breath on her neck. “I taught him that.”
“Good for you,” she said, tapping her ears until they stopped ringing from the whistle.
“Thank you, Tyler,” Martha said. “Now I am fully aware of Ms. Collins’s group’s intentions and my office will fully cooperate.” She glanced down at her council. “We are very concerned about what happens in Haven. None of us wants to see our little town turned into a circus show.” She glared around the room and Addy watched as a few men shifted uncomfortably in their seats. “Or a wasteland that is environmentally unsafe and full of pollution and earth tremors. I understand Haven was built on gold and oil. But I think we can all come to an agreement that we would hate for our children or our families to start getting sick because we didn’t look at all our options and protect ourselves. None of us here want the water table to be flooded with chemicals. We all know about Flint, Michigan.” A low rumble filled the room as everyone quietly agreed. “Sure, that wasn’t due to fracking, but still, water quality is a high priority for all of us, wouldn’t you agree?”
It was amazing. Just a few moments ago, Addy believed the room was on the verge of rioting, but now, every head nodded in silent agreement.
“You can close your mouth now,” Trent said.
She realized her mouth was hanging open, so she quickly shut it.
“Impressive, isn’t she?” he added.
Addy just nodded in agreement.
The meeting finished up with several questions about the new school structure, and Addy was surprised to hear that Trent had filled the position of landscape project manager for the job. He stood up and waved to the room when the mayor pointed this out.
When the meeting ended, Addy tried to exit the room but was inundated with people asking her questions. Most were individuals who wanted to help; others just wanted to tell her things designed to make her feel small, like that she couldn’t get a “real” job.
She was thankful to see that Trent remained by her side during it all. When a few men approached her, she knew there was going to be trouble, but when Trent stepped closer to her and glared at the group, they moved off without a single word.
Finally a path to the door cleared, and she made her way out into the cool night air. She hadn’t realized how stuffy the giant room in the city hall had gotten, but after taking a few cleansing breaths, she was relieved to be out of there.
Trent took her arm as they walked toward her Jeep; she felt her body brush against his and tried not to focus on what it did to her own. She looked over at him, her eyebrows raising.
He smiled down at her. “Just making sure you get to your car safely.”
“I think I can manage . . .” Her voice dropped off as she noticed one of her tires was flat. She stopped in her tracks. “Damn it.” She rushed toward her Jeep. “These were brand-new. Less than two thousand miles on them.” Sh
e kicked the flat tire as Trent leaned down to get a better look.
When he stood up, she knew what he’d seen. “Slashed?”
“Yeah.” He glanced around, then waved to his friend. “Tom’s here.”
Addy watched as Tom and Rea walked slowly toward him. She hadn’t seen the two of them together before, and it kind of shocked her to see that Tom’s arm was around Rea’s shoulders. They looked good together. Everyone in town knew that Tom had lost his wife a few years back, and Rea’s husband . . . well, everyone in town knew that story as well.
“What seems to be the problem?” Tom dropped his arm and leaned down. “Slashed. Looks like someone didn’t care too much for what you had to say in there.” He sighed. “I’ll fill out the paperwork. You can have the vehicle towed in. I’m sure Larry and John can have a new tire put on in no time.” He pulled out his phone and started to punch a few numbers.
“I have a spare.” She headed to the rear of her Jeep to start the work herself.
“Let us,” Trent said, and he and Tom stepped in. She knew she could easily change her own tires, since she’d had to before, but because they were working so quickly, she let them continue.
Addy and Rea stood back as the men rotated her spare to the front. Rea looked just as Addy remembered her. Her golden-brown skin glowed in the dim light from the parking lot. She wore a dark-green and gold blouse with bright-red feathers running down the length of the material. Her thick jet-black hair fell softly over her shoulders in a style she’d worn for as long as Addy could remember.
“I wanted to thank you,” Rea said. “I know there are a lot of upset people.” She looked around the empty parking lot as if she worried some were still lingering. “And this may seem strange coming from me, someone who’s made a living off the oil business, but I’m first and foremost a Native American. I’m proud of my Kootenai heritage.” The older woman’s shoulders raised slightly. “I may not live on the reservation anymore, but I know how important land is.” She reached over and patted Addy’s arm. “If you need anything, count me in.”