She was making this awfully complicated. “Can’t you just reach into the truck and pick him up?”
Jade turned and handed him the crate, then held up her forearms, covered in red scratches. “He doesn’t like me much.”
“Ah. I see.” He couldn’t totally blame Elliott for lashing out, though. Jade was a little intense. Aidan opened the driver’s side door and shoved the crate onto the seat. Elliott was sitting on the passenger-side floor on what looked like a bathrobe, his mouth slightly open. The poor cat was really stressed. “Hey, big guy, why don’t you get in this crate and we’ll get you some water.”
Elliott answered with a plaintive meow and shifted farther back in his corner under the glove compartment.
“Come on, kitty. You’re okay.” Aidan tried what he hoped was a cat-friendly voice, but the black-and-white beast was immune to his charms, hunkering down as if he could make himself smaller.
“We don’t have time for this.” Jade opened the passenger door and reached for Elliott. With a yowl, Elliott flew out of her grasp, scrambled across the seats, launched from the crate and landed on Aidan’s chest.
“What the—Ow!” Aidan wrapped his hands around Elliott’s shoulders and tried to pull the cat out to arm’s length, but its claws were embedded in his skin. The cat clenched its paws and dug in deeper. Aidan felt his eyes bulge out. “Help me get him off of me!”
“Hang on.” Jade came around the truck and carefully picked Elliott’s claws out of Aidan’s chest. Her fingers were small and delicate, reminding him that, for all of her tough attitude, she was tiny compared to him. She was on his land, so she was his responsibility now. A responsibility he didn’t want. He stepped back, out of her reach, and the last of Elliott’s claws loosened their hold.
If she noticed his abrupt retreat, she didn’t let on. Just said, “That’s bound to sting,” and took Elliott from him. Aidan put the crate on the ground so she could shove the squirming, terrified cat inside.
Aidan rubbed his scratched chest with his T-shirt, pretty sure he was mopping up blood. “I always figured rescuing cats was the easy part of a firefighter’s job.”
“It is.” She picked up the crate and started for the barn. “Can I put him in here for now?”
“Yep. I’ll get him some water.” It was an excuse to get some space, to rub the smarting scratches on his chest, to wrap his mind around this impossible situation. Fire approaching. No way out. He wished Jade had gotten off the ridge in time. He was sure he had a better chance of survival with her at his side, but he didn’t want her here.
She’d come back to warn him again, and that choice meant she might die here. He didn’t want another death on his hands.
Tension aching across his shoulders, he found the water bowl he’d left outside for his barn cats and brought it into the barn. Jade was kneeling, talking to Elliott, and the tenderness in her voice surprised him. “We’re going to do everything we can to save you, big guy,” she was saying as Aidan walked up. “We’ll get you back to your family and they’ll spoil you rotten for the rest of your lives.”
“Lives?” Aidan asked. He knelt down, opened the crate and set the water inside. “All nine of them?”
“Well, I figure after this, he’ll have eight left. That’s still pretty good.”
“I don’t know. If this fire gets here, it may count for a few. It’s getting pretty smoky.” He closed the crate, not wanting to think about Elliott and how many of his lives were at stake. Not wanting Jade to be nice and kind to cats. He’d been trying for so long not to care about anything. He didn’t want to care about her.
He went to a far stall, where he’d left Chip resting on some clean straw. The dog sprang up eagerly at the sight of him, and Aidan let him out. He ran for Jade, but stopped and sat at a quiet command from Aidan.
“He’s well trained.” She held out her hand and Chip looked at Aidan, waiting for permission. Aidan nodded, and the dog ran to Jade and sniffed her hand. Then he ran to the crate to snuffle at Elliott, who let out an outraged hiss.
“Leave it,” Aidan said, and Chip returned to his side, following along as Aidan led the way quickly out of the barn.
“The fire is definitely coming this way,” Jade told him. “I could see it from the ridge. We need to make a plan if we want to survive this.”
Aidan went to his truck. “I have a plan. I’m going to bring in the rest of my sheep.” He opened the passenger door. “Get in. We can talk on the way.”
Her hands were on her hips and her tone was sharper now. “The fire is almost to the valley. Once it crosses, it will race up this ridge. We don’t have time to chase any more sheep. You need to listen to me.”
“Trust me. You’re coming in loud and clear.” He gave up waiting for her and went to the driver’s side. Chip jumped into the cab, and Aidan followed.
Jade had no choice but to come with them if she wanted to keep arguing. Jerking open the door of his truck, she muttered something about men and idiots while she fastened her seat belt. She put a hand to the dashboard to stabilize herself as he accelerated a little too quickly.
“Why’d you come back and leave that note, anyway?” He couldn’t get it out of his head. That choice had gotten her into this mess. “You’d already told me to leave. You didn’t owe me anything more.”
“I made an oath, a while back, that I’d try to save lives.”
He hated the obligation settling on his shoulders. “I don’t need you to save mine.”
“That’s too bad. You’re stuck with me now.”
He gunned the engine up the rutted track and all three of them bounced a few inches above the bench seat.
She glared at him as she grabbed Chip and steadied him. “Be careful.”
“Just trying to hurry. Last I heard, there’s a fire heading this way.”
“If you’d taken my first evacuation order seriously, neither of us would be here right now.”
Guilt turned to anger and rose hot in his veins. He sure hadn’t asked for her to stay. “You stayed for a cat. And then you decided to stop by my ranch a second time. Those were your bad choices.”
She was still hanging on to Chip, though which of them needed steadying, Aidan wasn’t sure. “I thought you’d be willing to leave with me.”
He slowed and shifted to a lower gear. He’d need it to make it to the top of the steep hill where he’d left the sheep. “I wouldn’t have come. Not without seeing my animals safe first.”
She loosened her grip on Chip and turned to face him. “Don’t you get it? There’s no safe in a fire like this. We don’t have a great chance of surviving.”
So be it. It was a voice from the darkest corner of his soul. There were plenty of days, after Colby had died, when Aidan had wished for death, too. Maybe that wish had never quite left him. Maybe it was about to come true, and maybe that was okay.
Except now he had her to worry about. This strong young woman who, misguidedly, thought he was worth saving. Which changed everything. He couldn’t die if it meant taking her with him. He didn’t try to hide his frustration, just glared. “You always give up this easy?”
“No!” His words must have stung her pride, like he’d meant them to. “I’ve fought fires for years. I’m not giving up, I’m just telling you the statistics.”
“Statistics aren’t predictions.”
“I hope you’re right,” she muttered, slumping back in her seat and looking out the window.
Aidan took a deep breath and focused on a bend in the dirt road. For all his tough talk, fear was smoldering in the spaces between each breath. Give it a second of oxygen, and it could flare up and destroy his ability to reason. What if he couldn’t save her?
No. No getting dramatic. She’d been losing her nerve just now. All the more reason he couldn’t lose his. He’d prepared for fire season, sort of. He’d plowed a firebreak around the
edge of his property. He had water—extra spigots he’d run to various parts of his ranch to make sure there were water sources within easy reach. His preparations weren’t perfect, but he could do this. Especially now that he had help. Ornery and opinionated help, but help nonetheless.
“Why don’t we start over,” she said. “Like we’ve never met. I’m Jade.”
They really had gotten off on the wrong foot. “I’m Aidan.”
“From just south of Cody, Wyoming, right? You told me that so I could notify your next of kin, I assume?”
When he’d said it, he’d figured it was just a precaution. “Guess you won’t be able to do that now, will you?”
“Not if we don’t survive. Aidan, I’m serious. I’ll need you to listen to me, so we can make it through this.”
“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.” They’d reached the top of the ridge and Aidan could see his Anatolian shepherds, Thor and Odin, circling the flock, restless and worried. They could smell the smoke and maybe even hear the sound of the approaching fire. He cut the engine and set the brake. “Stay here, okay?” He got out of the truck and went around to the back to open the tailgate and pull down the ramp.
Jade ignored his request, opened her door and stepped out. “Seriously, Aidan, you need to—”
“Wait!” But it was too late. Chip jumped out of the cab, eager to work. Thor and Odin immediately spotted him and their ears went down and back. They were huge beige dogs with black faces and strong bodies. The two of them could easily rip a cattle dog like Chip to pieces. And they might, if they felt he was a threat to their flock.
“Get the dog back in the car!” Aidan yelled at Jade. Startled, she reached for Chip but he was already gone, creeping quickly toward the flock, ready to herd them toward the truck. It was his and Aidan’s usual routine, except they’d missed a key step. Normally Aidan put the guard dogs in their crates in the back of the truck first.
Thor and Odin, already on the alert from the smoke, decided Chip was the threat they’d been worried about. They hurtled toward him, barking and snarling.
“No!” Aidan raced for Chip, trying to come between him and the guard dogs. He scooped the squirming cattle dog into his arms when Thor and Odin were just a few yards away. “Stop!” he yelled at the shepherds.
The big dogs slowed, but they were still agitated, growling as they circled Aidan and Chip.
“Thor, down!” Aidan tried the more obedient dog first, and it worked. The shepherd stopped in his tracks and shook, as if switching himself out of protective mode. Odin kept barking, but his attention was veering toward something else. Out of the corner of his eye, Aidan saw Jade approaching cautiously. Oh no. Weren’t firefighters supposed to have more sense? “Jade, don’t! Go back to the truck. These are guard dogs. They don’t know you.”
She retreated, walking backward, eyeing Odin cautiously. Thor seemed to have refocused on the smoke, and was trotting back to the flock to make sure his charges were still safe.
“Odin. Enough.”
Reluctantly, the big dog stopped growling. Aidan pointed toward the sheep. “Go!”
Odin turned and retreated to the flock, his tail down. He glanced back at Aidan a couple times with an expression so grumpy that, in a different situation, Aidan might have laughed.
But with the smoke getting thicker and the wind still whipping the grass around his legs, he didn’t feel like laughing. Still carrying Chip, he strode toward the truck where Jade was waiting. He set Chip inside the cab and shut the door. “You have to listen to me out here,” he bit out as he turned to face Jade. “I told you to stay in the truck. There was a reason for that.”
She had the grace to nod. “I had no idea they’d attack poor Chip.”
“Their entire life is protecting this flock from coyotes and mountain lions. When Chip starts herding, nipping at the sheep’s heels to get them moving, they see him as a predator.” He shook his head, fear manifesting as disgust. “And coming close to them like that... They could have attacked you, too.”
Her chin set, ready for battle. “I thought they were going to bite you. I figured I could help.”
She was small, maybe five foot five to his six-three. How had she been planning to help him, exactly? “You’re no help if you get bit by one of my dogs. Lose the hero complex.”
“Me? You’re the one who’s risking his life to save all these animals. You’re like Snow White.”
It was so ridiculous it surprised a laugh out of him. “I’m pretty sure Snow White was a girl. Plus, she didn’t save animals. She sang to them.”
She shrugged. “Sang. Saved. Whatever.”
“You’re just trying to distract me from the fact that you’re lousy at following directions.”
Her slight smile allowed a glimpse of her white teeth. “I could say the same for you.”
“You’re probably right.” There was no time to say more, though he was actually enjoying their exchange. Strange that he could enjoy anything at a time like this. Or maybe, with such danger so close, there was never a better time to savor each minute. “I have to get the dogs. Promise to stay in the truck with Chip this time?”
She nodded silently, and Aidan grabbed leashes from the back of the truck and jogged back to the sheep. “Thor, Odin, come,” he commanded. Reluctantly, the shepherds broke away from their sheep buddies and shambled toward him. Grateful that he’d come out here to practice with them on occasion, Aidan slipped the leashes around the dogs’ necks and walked them to the truck. Aidan pulled a dog treat from his pocket and used it to convince Thor up the ramp and into his crate. He did the same for Odin, then picked the ramp up and slid it alongside their crates. Closing the tailgate, he walked to the cab and opened the driver’s side door. “Okay, Chip.” The cattle dog jumped out, ready to get to work.
“What do you want me to do?” Jade scrubbed her hands across her eyes. “Ugh. This smoke is already getting to me.”
“Yeah, it’s not good.” That was an understatement. Aidan’s mouth tasted like bad barbecue. His throat felt scratchy when he inhaled. “I want you to drive the truck real slowly down the hill, to that green field behind the barn. I’ll ride in back, and Chip is going to bring up the rear with the sheep.”
She slid across the bench seat toward him. “Okay, let’s do it.” She reached for the key.
“You want to pump the gas once or twice. It pulls to the right. The brake is—”
She held out a hand to stop him. “I’ve driven a few trucks before. I think I’m okay.”
Right. She was a firefighter and probably used to driving vehicles a lot more complicated than his truck. But man, she was prickly.
Jade fastened her seat belt, then glanced up at him. “How were you going to get these sheep moved without me here?”
“Two trips. One to pick up the dogs, one on horseback with Chip.” He might not want her here, but he was grateful he didn’t have to make those two trips. If Jade was right, the fire would be here soon. He shut the door of the cab. “If I need you to stop, I’ll bang on the roof. Try to take it slow so we can stay with the sheep.”
She was a good driver. She kept it in low gear to spare the brakes and found the best route down the rutted track, navigating around potholes and ditches so he didn’t get bounced around too much. Aidan stood in the truck bed, between the cab and the dog crates, shouting commands to Chip. The dog was a streak of gray across the grass, racing back and forth behind the flock, making sure no animal strayed or was left behind. Under the dog’s expert direction, three dozen sheep flowed down the track like dirty white water, bleating their disgust with the move, but cooperating nonetheless. These were his spring-lambing crew, so many of them were pregnant, but they still made good time back to the ranch.
The air, though. Yuck. It was turning to a foul soup. Aidan pulled his bandanna out of his back pocket and tied it over his mouth and nose
. The fire wasn’t visible yet but he could almost feel it, rumbling over the low hills and valleys toward the ridge, destroying everything in its path. Nellie’s ranch would go up first, and he tried not to think about the lifetime’s worth of treasured heirlooms and memories she was likely to lose.
She was safe. That’s what mattered.
And now he had to find a way to keep Jade safe. And keep his animals safe. People had done it. He’d read it in the news. People had stayed during wildfires, fought for their land and survived.
Of course, others had stayed, and hadn’t.
They made it down the hill, and the pasture was in sight. Jade parked a short distance from the gate and got out just as Aidan jumped down from the back.
She pointed toward his bandanna. “Pull it up a little higher so it’s really covering your nose.” She reached forward as if to help him.
“I don’t need you fussing at me.” He backed away, adjusting it himself, not wanting her touch. She was already getting under his skin with her humor, her quick willingness to admit a mistake and, yeah, even her bossy attitude. He didn’t want her anywhere close to him. Hadn’t let anyone close to him, except Nellie, in so long.
She shrugged, but he saw the flash of hurt in her eyes. “Didn’t mean to invade your space.”
He’d been rude. But keeping his distance would help him focus on the tasks at hand, so he didn’t offer an apology. “Will you open that gate, all the way?”
When she had it open, Aidan jogged through and toward the sheep already in the pasture. It was getting crowded in here, with all of Nellie’s sheep and the ones he’d moved here earlier in the day. He waved his arms, shouted and drove the sheep farther from the gate. The last thing he needed was any of them running out while the others were coming in.
And here came the new flock, ears perking up at the fresh grass and the other sheep. Some stopped to eat right away, blocking the path of those behind, but Chip took care of it, rushing at their heels, hustling them forward until all the sheep were in.
“Good boy,” Aidan told him as Chip ran to him, panting through a doggy grin. “Very good boy.” He ruffled the dog’s soft ears, and he and Chip left the pasture.
Rescuing the Rancher Page 4
