“Ky?” I lifted my brows with expectation, and she caved.
Her caramel-colored irises peered up at me through thick, black lashes. There was another girl I’d known with those same wide-set eyes who’d owned my world with just one glance, but I’d hardened my heart to that look six years ago. And due to that, Kylie wasn’t able to manipulate me the way she did other people.
With a huff, she pulled on her dark braid. “Fine.” Her exasperation was worthy of an Oscar. Kylie turned her attention to Rand long enough to undo the knot. She didn’t unwind the rope from the trunk, but he was able to wiggle free.
The girls took off toward the house, and Rand knocked me over when I squatted, thinking he’d want a hug. His tackle of affection caught me off guard, and he instantly forgot about his sisters.
“Tin Tin, come play with me.” Rand’s words burst through the air like thunder. He scrambled to his feet and dashed toward the swing set.
I followed him across the yard. Except, instead of joining him, I plucked his body off the swing and hoisted him onto my shoulders. “I can’t stay long today. How about we go see what Nana and Poppy are doing first?”
Rand pressed his palms to my cheeks and wrapped his fingers around my jaw. Slowly, he leaned over the bill of my baseball hat until his nose was inches from my own, only he was upside down. “Are you gonna tell on me?”
“For what?”
“Callin’ Ky a poopy head.”
I struggled to keep a straight face. “Poopy head” never lost its appeal to any male. It was funny. “Nah.”
“Thanks.” He sat back up. However, his hands didn’t move. Suddenly, he was back in my face. Excitement shimmered in his eyes, and a wicked expression of glee lifted his cheeks. “Are you gonna tell on Ky and Kara for tyin’ me up?” Hope danced in his voice as he practically bounced in place.
I swayed my head from side to side to let him believe I had considered it. “Well…if I do, they’ll tell your mama what you did. Probably best if we let it go.”
His lips contorted in contemplation, then relaxed, and he disappeared again.
I tossed my keys on the table in the foyer and headed toward the kitchen. “Ma?” I called out.
Rand attempted to put my neck in a vise grip between his thighs when I tried to set him on the floor. All it took was a pinch to the side to send him into fits of giggles and loosen his hold. I swatted his butt playfully, and he raced off to torture someone else. I noted his sisters were nowhere to be found.
“We’re in here, baby.” My mom stepped into the living room with a dishtowel in hand. The smudge of flour on her nose was cute. It also meant fried chicken and biscuits were on today’s menu. My mouth watered at the thought.
It had been roughly forty-five minutes since I’d last seen her. Even still, I leaned in to kiss her cheek as though it had been weeks. Unlike my brother and his wife, I went home after church and changed my clothes before coming here, since I had to go back to work. “Food smells good.”
She patted me on the arm with a motherly grin. “Your favorite.”
“Where is everybody?” I followed behind her as she returned to her conversation in the kitchen with my sister-in-law. The two of them were especially close. They gossiped, traded secrets and makeup tips, and whatever else women did together. “Hey, Sarah.” I leaned down and squeezed her neck in a friendly hug from behind.
I reached into the bowl of snap peas she had cleaned and helped myself to one. I popped it into my mouth and smiled as I chewed. Sarah swatted at my hand and shook her head like she didn’t know what to do with me.
“The food’s almost ready; why don’t you go rustle everyone up? Your daddy, Charlie, and Jack are out back watching the kids.” My mom winked, and I half expected her to pinch my cheek.
“No, they’re not.”
My mom waved me off. “Certainly, they are.”
Without taking my attention from my mother, I snagged another bean from Sarah’s bowl. “Ma, I was just out there. The kids came in with me. Dad, Charlie, and Jack weren’t around.”
“Don’t be silly. That would mean those babies had been outside unsupervised.”
I cocked my head and a corresponding brow. My mom didn’t engage, and Sarah didn’t seem concerned. “So, you don’t know where any of them are?”
There was an art to snacking before Sunday supper. It was all about kitchen position. Today, the ideal spot was leaned against the counter behind Sarah, who sat at the table. Here, I’d be able to pluck things away before she could stop me.
Kylie and Kara ran through the kitchen. Three seconds later, Rand buzzed by on the same path.
“There went the kids.” It was a good thing Ma was cute and lovable, because she was clueless.
“I’m not sure how Charlie and I made it to adulthood with that kind of supervision.”
Sarah came to her mother-in-law’s defense with a potholder. She swung it aimlessly behind her in a vain attempt to hit me.
“Is Charlie aware of how violent you are?” I teased.
“Austin? Is that you?” My dad’s voice bellowed from the back porch.
My mom spun around with “I told you so” written all over her face. I rolled my eyes. The woman was delusional. The men might have been outside, but they were not watching the kids. If they had been, it was unlikely Ky would have had Rand bound to a tree.
Using my foot, I pushed off the counter. If my dad yelled my name, that meant he wanted to talk to me. “Yes, sir.”
I stepped through the French doors that opened onto the far side of the patio. It was really more of a wraparound porch that circled the entire house, and depending on which exit you took, my family referred to it as something different.
“Hey, Jack. Charlie.”
My brother kicked a chair around and motioned for me to sit. “Jack said you’ve got extra hands coming to help drive the herds farther north.”
I shrugged. My brother was next in line to run Twin Creeks, so he was overly involved in the farming and ranching business that took place in Mason Belle. I, on the other hand, worked for a cattle rancher, and I just did what I was told. “Yeah.”
Before he could continue whatever interrogation was about to follow, his wife called from inside the house. “Charlie, I need your help.” Sarah tried to do everything on her own, even when she shouldn’t, so anytime she called for Charlie, he jumped.
Jack watched his son-in-law respond to his daughter’s needs. “Your brother’s a good man.”
He didn’t have to tell me. Jack was convinced Charlie hung the moon and named all the stars. And while Charlie might not have actually played a part in the celestial placements, I had no problem admitting what a fantastic husband and dad he was. I watched Charlie over my shoulder. When he closed the door, I turned back to Jack. “Yeah. I’m lucky to have him.”
Jack’s heavy hand clapped my shoulder. “You’re a good man, too, Austin.” His eyes seemed to lose focus as he pondered whatever lingered on the tip of his tongue. “Your time is coming. Mark my word.”
There was no need to talk about it. Jack carried as much guilt as Sarah did. Jack believed he’d cost me Randi. He’d apologized once, and that had been the only time the topic of Randi had ever been discussed with me.
“Things going all right out in the fields?”
Grateful for the diversion, I would have talked about breeding cows to change the subject. “Just moving cattle.” I acted as though it wasn’t twice the amount of work, but Jack knew the truth.
He also didn’t have to be told what kind of burden it put on our resources not to have pastures for grazing. These weren’t small animals. Not only did they need space, they needed food. And the farther north we moved them to get away from the wildfire, the more cramped they all became.
The back door flew open, and three blurs zoomed by. All I could make out were smears of color and giggles.
Jack sat up and leaned his elbows on his knees. “Hopefully, the extra hands will ease a bit of the
workload this afternoon.”
“Yes, sir. I talked to their foreman. I know the other guys will be happy to have them on board. We have another day or two before we’ll need to consider moving again.”
“I trust your judgment.”
Typically, Jack made these decisions, and I carried them out. I hadn’t seen him Friday or Saturday before I left, and he’d been gone before I got there both mornings. And today we’d been on opposite ends of the ranch before church. So, I wasn’t surprised that I’d had to wait. I was surprised he’d left the fate of Cross Acres up to me.
* * *
By midnight, I ran on fumes, caffeine, and the grace of God. When I finally called it quits, the fires were still well over a hundred miles from our southernmost pastures. If I didn’t get some sleep, I’d be worthless in the morning. At the very least, we’d moved the herds from imminent danger and bought ourselves a little more time. People were doing all they could, but land and cattle were decimated a couple of counties over. The FAA had halted all firefighting planes for several hours this afternoon because drone cameras were in the way, and it wasn’t safe to fly. Thankfully, the burn rate had slowed to under four miles per hour, but firefighters hadn’t contained the progression.
I dragged my aching body to my truck, and I slowed onto the gravel road that exited the Adams’ property. Cross Acres had a fancy, iron gate and a ton of flowers and shrubbery at the entrance—not that I could see it in the middle of the night. And the amber haze of wildfires cast an eerie glow on the horizon and created an unnatural veil of darkness around everything else. Regardless of whether or not I could see the view, every morning and every evening for the last six years, I’d rolled down my window to listen to the crunch of my tires on rocks. It was a sweet torture, a pain I hated to love. For one mile, I’d meditate on the gritty noise.
And as quickly as it began, it ended when my truck made it to the asphalt country road outside Cross Acres. It was a straight shot from here to my house. I’d driven this stretch so many times, I’d swear I could do it blindfolded. As tired as I was, I was tempted to try. Fifteen minutes on a two-lane road with nothing other than pastures as far as I could see didn’t hold my attention, even though the odd color of the sky did. It wasn’t just Jack’s ranch I worried about; my parents’ farm was in jeopardy, too, as was every person’s I knew. Our houses were all in harm’s way. Mason Belle’s entire way of life was currently under threat. Every abled body had a hand in helping somewhere.
Yet, there wasn’t a soul on this street.
The stench of burning wood and brush crept into the cab of the truck when I cranked up the air-conditioning to keep myself awake, and I blasted the only radio station I could find that wasn’t filled with news instead of music. I didn’t remember much after turning down my driveway, including parking, the walk inside, or landing face-first on my mattress without changing.
It wasn’t until the sound of my cell ringing tugged me from sleep that I realized where I was. I rolled over in search of my phone, only to find it buried in my pocket. Even through all that, whoever was on the other end had been relentless in reaching me. By the time I got it to my ear, the screen read three missed calls from Jack, back to back.
I shifted on the mattress and stared at the ceiling. “Hello?” My eyes burned, even behind closed lids.
“Austin, wind’s picked up. The fire’s moving fast. I need you to round up the guys and get as many here as you can. We’ve got to hurry.”
It should have startled me. The words should have sent me into panic, or at least sparked motion. “How fast?” I questioned. If I’d had more sleep, it would have dawned on me that if Jack called, it was an emergency.
“Gusts up to sixty miles an hour. Steady winds of twenty.”
In my weary mind, I tried to do the math. Unable to reach the answer, I got enough to understand that the fires had only been about a hundred and ten miles out when I left. Two hours later with aggressive winds, the flames would quickly lick away the land and everything in its path.
“I’m on my way.”
“You’ll get in touch with the guys?” he asked.
There was no easy way to break this to him, although he had to know. “Jack.” I raked my hand through my hair and located my hat on the floor. My feet were already moving faster than my mouth. “I can call. But if it’s moving that fast, they’re all going to be trying to save their houses or their own herds. Best hope is to get all of your own hands. If you know anyone in neighboring counties, it would be good to call them.”
By the time I found my keys in the kitchen, Jack still hadn’t responded.
“Jack?” I asked again and closed the door behind me.
“Do the best you can, son.”
This was every rancher’s worst nightmare. The devastation ran deeper than the financial implications, the loss of even part of a herd, the damage to the land, the potential danger, it all ate a man’s soul because his heart was in every piece of that farm.
After I had disconnected with Jack, I started a group text with every man’s name that I had a phone number for in Mason Belle. It was a good thing the road from my house to Jack’s was straight, since my attention was everywhere other than on it. My mass SOS didn’t go unheard. There simply wasn’t much available manpower. We would be doing good to have half of Jack’s hired hands show up. When I passed the intersection of Route 14, I stared down the dark street and prayed my parents were safe. The fire chased me from behind, the winds were strong, and I wondered if we’d be better off to save ourselves, but that wasn’t a rancher’s way of life.
My tires screeched when they left the pavement and spun when they hit the gravel. The back end of the truck fishtailed, narrowly missing the iron gate outside Cross Acres. I slammed the truck into park next to Corey’s vehicle and threw open my door. Every light in the house was on, and the barn was lit up like Fourth of July. The fire no longer teased us from beyond the horizon, I could see it dancing its way into the heart of Mason Belle. I fought against the wind and soot to get inside the barn.
Corey, along with a stunning woman and a young girl, waited beyond the doors. I assumed this was Alexandra and Jessica, though there weren’t any introductions made. Corey pointed to a corner out of the way, and the two went without question.
He leaned into me so they couldn’t hear him. “I couldn’t leave them at home.”
“No explanation needed.” They didn’t have any family here. He needed to know they were safe so he could do his job. “Where’s Jack?”
Corey shook his head and shrugged. Fear widened his eyes, and the vein on his neck thumped a visible pulse. “I haven’t seen anybody since I pulled up.”
Tommy and Brock were here, or at least their trucks were. And Jack’s was parked where it always was. “Check the stalls. See how many horses are missing. I’m going to check the house.”
I started moving, while Corey kept talking. Even experienced ranchers shouldn’t go out without a game plan. Anything could happen, and they’d be miles away from help. Cell phone signals weren’t reliable, and if no one was aware of their location or destination, they also didn’t know where to look. I couldn’t imagine why Jack would have gone before I had gotten here.
“I’m sure it’s fine.” My bark wasn’t as settling as I’d hoped. “Saddle up Nugget for me. I’ll be right back.”
Corey didn’t make another peep, except to turn on his feet. His footsteps got faster, as did my own. Before I rode all the way out to the far end of the property with an inexperienced ranch hand, I needed to make certain the old man hadn’t snuck inside without being seen. It wasn’t like him, yet neither was not waiting for me to arrive.
I called out his name like a song stuck on repeat. “Jack?” Pushing open each door in the house, I checked every room. The stairs passed under my feet two at a time. He wasn’t on the first or the second floor. “Jack!” My voice reverberated off the walls, but I didn’t get a reply. The place was empty.
The screen
door bounced wildly against the frame under the unnecessary force I’d pushed it with. It clanged behind me when it finally shut. By then, I was halfway to the barn.
“Corey? You got Nugget ready?” Hell, it’d only been about three minutes since I’d asked him to saddle the horse. If I hadn’t been in a race against time, my jaw might have gaped when Corey appeared from within Nugget’s stall, reins in hand.
“Good to go.” He handed me the strips of leather. “There are six horses gone. You want me to ride with you?”
I didn’t. However, refusing him would make me as foolish as the man I chased. Corey understood my curt nod, and he took off through the stables. Thankfully, he’d had a horse geared up. I hoped it wasn’t one that had worked all day. Wasting time wasn’t in my plan.
If Corey sensed my irritation, he didn’t let on. He kept up as the horse I rode galloped in front of his. My stomach rumbled with a reminder that I hadn’t eaten in hours, and I wished I’d grabbed something inside the house. Once we got out here, I didn’t have a clue what we’d face, and hungry or not, I’d have to wait it out.
Corey and I rode as far south as we could manage. A dense layer of smoke ate up all the breathable air. My eyes stung, soot settled on my arms and legs, and every step we took closer to the fire only amplified the coughs between Corey and me.
We slowed the horses to look around. Any other day, the fields went on forever. Tonight, it was difficult to see a quarter of a mile in the direction of the wildfire and not much better away from it. “Do you see anyone?” I questioned over the wind.
Corey studied our surroundings and finally pointed southwest. “There!”
In the distance, barely even a speck, were five mounted horses pushing a small herd. Corey didn’t wait for an invitation. When I clicked my command for Nugget to move, he followed. I dug my heels into the horse’s haunches, urging him to pick up speed. As his pace increased, I sank down to his neck and held the reins. My body flowed with the rhythm of the animal, and with each stride, my heart banged harder beneath my sternum. The air whipped through Nugget’s mane and whistled past my ears, drowning out the crackle of the fire, the rush of wind, and the stampede of hooves driving forward.
Gravel Road Page 5