by Kim Redford
“But still—”
“Please stay here and let me check the place.” He slipped inside, shutting the door quietly behind him.
She stepped back, not wanting to feel like she couldn’t cope with whatever life threw at her, but she’d begun to shiver as if the past had crept up on her and was ready to pounce again. She quickly sat down on the swing and clasped her hands together in her lap. Only now she was worried about Shane. What if he interrupted an intruder or a dangerous animal or who knew what?
He opened the door and stuck his head out. “It’s okay.”
She got up on unsteady legs, walked over, and stepped across the threshold of what had once felt like the safest place in the world. Now she glanced around, searching for anything that was out of place and that didn’t feel right. Everything looked normal, although she didn’t feel as safe anymore, so something had changed and she didn’t know what, because most likely the latch had simply not caught when she’d closed the door.
“Okay?” Shane shut the front door, then put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest.
She leaned into the strength and heat of him. “Maybe we’d better get some locks.”
“I’ll run into town in the morning and get solid ones. You’ll get locks first, then I’ll install them on my place, too.”
She felt the tension ease out of her at his words, and she looked around her uncle’s little nest of a home. Comfy and compact, he’d updated and upgraded a few years before he’d passed away, and she admired what he’d done with it.
He’d kept the Quonset hut an open floor plan that at one end had a bathroom with a closet, stacked washer-dryer, and refrigerator across from it. On the opposite end of the house was a queen bed with a matching dresser separated from the living, dining, and kitchen areas by low bookshelves. The kitchen was all-white cabinets with white quartz countertops in a U shape with a sink on one side and a wide bar on the other. Across from it, he’d nestled a natural wood dining table that seated four near a tall bookcase full of a wide variety of books. He’d set two dark-green recliners with a small table between them across from a matching love seat in the living room section.
All in all, Uncle Clem’s home had been perfect for him, and it was just right for her as well. She’d simply moved in with a single suitcase and set up house, feeling all the love and support that he’d always given her.
“Everything look okay?” Shane asked.
“Yes. As far as I can tell, nothing’s been messed with, so I must have left the door ajar accidently.”
“It can happen.” He kissed the top of her head. “Let’s eat. Life always looks better on a full stomach.”
“You’re right.” She gave him a quick hug, then walked over to set her purse on top of the bedroom bookcase divider.
“Do you want food on the bar or the table?” he called from the kitchen.
“Bar suits me.”
“You got it.”
When she looked up, she felt her breath catch in her throat. Shane looked so natural standing in the kitchen, rummaging around in the cabinets for paper plates and napkins. He carried them over to the bar and set them beside the Chuckwagon sack. From there, he walked straight to the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of water, looking as if he’d done the same thing many times before this moment. And she’d have bet he’d shared companionable moments like this one with her uncle while she was in LA. Now, she wished very much that she’d been with them. She felt a little misty, even sad, as she contemplated the loss in her life that she’d never get back.
Shane set the bottles on the bar, glanced over at her, and cocked his head to one side. “What is it?”
“It’s just that you look so much at home in Uncle Clem’s kitchen.”
“I am. We had a regular poker game once a week with Jack and any unsuspecting cowboys or firefighters that got lured into Clem’s web. He was sharp as a tack and cagey as a cougar.”
“That was definitely Uncle Clem. I really wish I’d been here to sit at the table with all of you.”
“I understand, I really do, but there’s no point in fretting about the past. It’s done and gone. We’re moving forward. You and me.”
She nodded, knowing he was right and still reluctant to leave this moment, when she felt so close to her uncle again.
Shane pulled out the barstools and motioned for her to join him. She took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, let go of the past, and joined him at the bar. He set a hamburger and fries on one plate, then placed the same things on another. “Looks good.”
“Yes, it does.” She eased onto the barstool, but she didn’t feel all that hungry anymore. She glanced around, feeling something amiss but not able to put her finger on it. Maybe all the changes in her life were putting her on edge.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the Chuckwagon make the best hamburgers in Texas?” He sat down, grabbed his burger, and took a big bite.
“Oh yes. And that doesn’t even mention Slade’s fabulous pies.” She felt her hunger pick up again as she caught the delicious scent. As she bit into her burger, she realized that, in LA, she wouldn’t have dreamed of eating anything so fattening, but at the moment, she just didn’t care. She enjoyed the taste and let the calories go hang.
Shane looked in the sack, then back at her. “No pie?”
“Greedy?” she joked, feeling better and stronger with food.
“You bet.”
“Another time.”
“Okay. I’ll hold you to it.”
“About those goldfish...”
He groaned as he finished off his hamburger and fries. “I’ll tell you, but first I want to hear your news.”
She set down her unfinished burger and drank water to moisten her throat. “I had tea with Morning Glory and Hedy.”
“That’s great. You’re really getting back into the community.”
“Not so great.”
He glanced over at her in concern. “What do you mean?”
“They want me to broadcast live at the arena for the May Day Rodeo benefit.”
“And that’s a problem for you?”
“Yes!” She shredded her napkin into long strips, trying to contain her agitation. “I’m not sure I can do it.”
“Are you kidding?”
“No!” She tossed down what was left of her napkin and jumped to her feet. She paced toward the living area, then turned back to look at him. “I’m just barely getting back on my feet. My confidence is shot.”
“May Day’s not right away. You’ve got over six weeks to regain your confidence and energy.”
“That’s just it. I don’t have any time at all. I need to start broadcasting immediately, playing up the event to get cowboys and cowgirls to enter the rodeo and everyone else to attend it.”
“But you wouldn’t be broadcasting live, would you? You could record in the studio. Wouldn’t that help?”
“Yes, it makes a big difference.” She slowly walked back, thinking as she went. “But still, I now feel as if the Wildcat Bluff Fire-Rescue benefit rests on my shoulders.”
“Jack will be with you all the way. Ken, too.” Shane held out his hands to her. “And you know I’ll support you any way I can.”
“That helps.” She clasped his hands, feeling his heat warm her coldness.
“Did you agree?”
“Of course. Do you know anybody who ever said no to those powerhouses?”
“No. Nary a one.” He smiled as he gently tugged her against his chest. “I’ve got absolute faith and confidence in you.”
She looked up, searching his face for that belief in her and found it. She smiled, feeling his strength ignite her strength. “I’ll need big-time help from you and the other firefighters.”
“You got it.”
“Thanks.” She leaned i
nto him for a long moment, knowing she’d have to pull up her own energy to make this benefit work. Maybe being cast straight back into the fire again would help rebuild her confidence. If so, it’d be well worth overcoming her reluctance.
“Okay now?”
“Yes. Thanks.” She stepped back, putting her own worries aside, and smiled at him. “Now tell me about goldfish. This must be some whale of a tale.”
He chuckled, clasping her hand and leading her to the love seat. “Kids. With a few strokes on a keyboard, they’ve got the whole world at their fingertips.”
“Guess we all do.” She sat down beside him, snuggling into his warmth. “And Ken wants goldfish?”
“It’s just an idea that came out of researching ways to get water to my herds.”
She suddenly stiffened against him. Here it came at last—all the reasons she should give up the station and the spring.
“I’ve always had a few stock tanks on the ranch, but I’ve mostly relied on dependable ponds, even if they do get low in a drought. Now I’m a pond short, and you’re not anxious to give up Wildcat Spring. I don’t blame you. But that leaves me caught between a rock and a hard place.”
“I understand.” She stroked her throat, trying to relieve the sudden tightness.
“I’m trying to come up with viable intermediate alternatives.” He swiveled to face her. “Your mind’s whirling a mile a minute. Please hear me out.”
“Okay. I’m all ears about alternate water plans.”
“I can get more stock tanks, but I need a way to get water to them.”
“What are your options?”
“We can haul water in portable water bladders in the backs of pickups to fill the water troughs, if I get enough bladders. But that’s a lot of extra time and work for the cowboys, not to mention expense, because of the size of the herds.”
“Maybe too much time and effort?”
“Probably.”
She sighed, nodding in agreement. “How do the goldfish fit in?”
Shane chuckled, shaking his head. “Ken discovered that keeping goldfish in stock tanks will keep the tanks clean.”
“Won’t the fish get eaten or slurped down big gullets?”
He laughed harder. “No idea. I’ll ask around and see if anybody else is using goldfish in their water troughs.”
She joined his laughter. “It’s an interesting idea.”
He grew serious again. “It’s a lot of water to load and unload over and over again.”
She hated to admit it, but she agreed with him. She thought a moment, then leaned toward him in excitement. “You know, we just fought that fire in the pasture.”
“Yeah. It got a whole lot closer than I’d like to our houses.”
“I’m not getting at that. I mean the rigs drove right into the pasture and sprayed water. Didn’t they?”
“Right.” He cocked his head at her as if in question.
“Don’t those rigs hold a lot of water?”
“The boosters hold two hundred gallons each. The pumper holds a thousand gallons.”
“It seems to me that water in those rigs could be driven across your pastures to fill stock tanks, couldn’t it?”
A light went on in his hazel eyes and a big grin spread across his face. “Yeah. Wildcat Bluff Fire-Rescue could save my ranch.”
She returned his grin, feeling a great weight lift off her chest. “Will Hedy think it’s an appropriate use of resources?”
“She’ll be happy to help us. So will the other firefighters. And I’ll pay for the water and gasoline, so the fire station isn’t out those expenses.”
“Do you really think it’ll work?” She leaned into him, feeling a sizzle of heat from the contact and sudden hope in her heart.
“It’s not a permanent fix, but it ought to do the trick for now.” He pressed a quick, hard, hot kiss to her lips. “You’re brilliant, you know.”
“You inspire me.” And she kissed him for more inspiration.
Chapter 18
Shane sat in the saddle on the back of his favorite buckskin with Hedy, Morning Glory, and Eden nearby on their own mounts. He hadn’t let any grass grow under his feet once Hedy had agreed to his using the boosters and pumper to ferry water to his stock tanks. He’d put it all together in three days, even though he’d had to make special runs to farm and ranch stores in Sherman, Denison, and Bonham to get everything.
He was well aware this was a stopgap measure, but he was researching a more permanent watering arrangement. In the meantime, he’d bought good steel round end stock tanks with crush-proof rims. They were zinc plated and guaranteed for five years. He’d decided on a good size that held about three hundred gallons and was eight feet in length. The Rocky T cowboys already had the tanks in place and ready for water.
Now, he watched with satisfaction as the Wildcat Bluff Fire-Rescue rigs full of precious water drove through the double gates into the northeast pasture of the ranch.
He rubbed his chin, feeling slight stubble where he’d missed a spot when he was in a hurry that morning. He’d wanted to be with the cowboys early, when they left to herd cows out of the way till the troughs were full. Once cattle smelled all that water, they’d be thirstier than ever, and ornery to boot, till they’d filled their big bellies. If at all possible, he was determined to avoid shenanigans like pushing, shoving, or stampeding.
“You’ll make a cowboy out of Ken yet,” Morning Glory said with a chuckle as she pointed toward her great-nephew.
“He’s already an ATV cowboy.” Shane smiled at the sight of Ken driving a four-wheeler towing a drinking trailer. He hadn’t planned to buy that particular equipment, but Ken had been so excited to get and use it after finding it online that he’d relented and located a rancher in Dodd City selling a used one.
As if he’d heard them, Ken turned back, gave a thumbs-up with a big grin, and headed toward a horse pasture. He’d let horses drink from the low, shallow container connected to the big square tank with a spigot, then return, fill up, and go out again the next day.
“I wish we could get Ken on the back of a horse,” Hedy said. “He doesn’t know what he’s missing.”
Shane gave her a quick nod, knowing she was thinking about all those years after her injury when she didn’t ride. She’d been introduced to equine assisted therapy by her niece Lauren and happily found out she could ride again. Now she sat tall and proud in her special stabilizing saddle.
“One of these days, we’ll get him on horseback,” Shane assured her, knowing it was just a matter of time till the city boy became a country boy. He was already well on his way.
“He’s worked wonders at the Den, ferreting out details I’d forgotten and making suggestions Jack likes to use,” Eden said. “And he’s itching to get into the other Quonset hut, but nobody has found the key to its lock yet.”
“What’s in it?” Shane asked.
“Storage, I guess,” Eden said. “Jack says they stuck stuff in there over the years just to make room in the station.”
“It’d be interesting to find out.” Hedy leaned forward and stroked the mane of her sorrel horse.
“Ken loves figuring out stuff,” Morning Glory said, “so I’m not surprised he’d like to get in there.”
“He’s got plenty on his plate right now.” Eden pointed to where Ken had just disappeared over a hill. “We all do.”
“I can’t thank y’all enough for filling his life with so many new learning experiences,” Morning Glory said. “I was at my wit’s end.”
“You’ve helped everybody in this county often enough.” Shane smiled at her. “You know anybody’d do anything they could for you. Ken’s a fine boy who’ll grow up into a fine man. I’m happy to help him.”
“And Ken’s brought a lot of vim and vigor to KWCB,” Eden added.
“I’m glad,” Morning
Glory said. “And proud.”
“You should be.” Shane lifted his reins. “Now let’s take that ride I promised y’all to see how well our ideas are working in the pasture.”
“Beautiful day for a ride.” Hedy headed for the open gates.
Shane brought up the rear, deciding to enjoy a few hours away from work and worry. He just wished he had a permanent solution for water, a solution that didn’t involve losing the woman he’d loved for so long. Not that he’d mention love to her again, at least not for a good long while, since she seemed to shy away from the subject. Maybe her reaction had more to do with her ex than him, but he didn’t want to do anything that would crowd her and make her want to run away. He could let it rest easy for now, but he knew they were coming to a time when matters had to be settled between them. He’d do his best so they both came out winners.
But more than anything else, he wanted to keep Eden safe. He’d installed locks on all their doors, but he figured that was only the first step in a good security system. He hadn’t suggested more just yet. Jack had already complained enough about having to use a key to get into the Den. Maybe he was being overly cautious by installing locks, but he’d seen the open door at Clem’s place and he’d seen the gray sedan parked out on Wildcat Road a couple more times. All in all, he didn’t like it, but he didn’t want Eden to feel threatened, so he hadn’t mentioned his concern to her. He was simply keeping a closer watch for now.
As they followed in the wake of the rigs, he caught up to Eden. They rode side by side behind Hedy and Morning Glory. It felt like the old days when they were kids together, riding across the pastures, laughing, and playing. When she glanced over at him, grinning, he knew she was thinking the same thing.
“Just like old times, isn’t it?” he said.
“Except I’ll be stiff and sore tomorrow.”
“That out of shape?” he asked, wanting to get a rise out of her.
She just shook her head at him. “Don’t laugh. It’s a different kind of workout and you know it. I bet I could put you through an LA workout that’d leave you—”
“Begging for more?” he said, letting her know what was on his mind as he gave her an appreciative once-over, starting with her cowgirl hat and moving to jean jacket, T-shirt, tight jeans, and boots.
