Country Pride (Belle Ridge Book 1)

by Charlene Bright

  As the non-dream world came into fuller focus, he heard it again, a chorus of squawking chickens and bellowing cows and horses. Something was definitely wrong.

  He sat up suddenly, pulling Kinsley completely out of her sleep. She sat up too, holding the sheet to her bare chest. “What’s—”

  He stood quickly and grabbed his jeans, pulling them on while looking out the window. Then he turned back and, with an eerily calm tone, said, “Call 911.”

  He was grateful that she didn’t waste time asking questions but immediately grabbed her phone and ran to the window, trusting his reaction. He stepped into a pair of boots and ran, bare-chested, down the stairs and out the back door.

  The flames were still confined to one area of the barn, but he knew that it would be engulfed soon given how long it would take the fire department to arrive. While he ran toward the burning barn, his eyes glanced around and his mind raced into triage. He was relieved for a second when he remembered the horses had not been put back into the barn after the party. They were the closest to the fire so he shifted on the ball of his foot and ran around the side. Kinsley was right behind him when he reached the fence.

  “Go let the chickens out,” he yelled over the noise. He knew that it was likely by freeing them he would lose some of the birds tonight in the melee, but at least they wouldn’t burn. He jumped the fence and skimmed around to the gate that led to the fields, unlatched it, and jumped back as the four horses pushed at each other trying to get through. Once they were free, they ran in the opposite direction of the fire, and Jared saw Marshall stop and look back when he got out about a hundred feet.

  “Go on, boy!” he yelled, waving his hand, and the horse turned and galloped away. Jared continued around to the other side of the barn and opened that gate with fifteen calves, herding them into the other field. Then he leapt the fence on that side to come back around to the front of the barn. The chickens were scattering, and Kinsley was running toward him.

  “Fire extinguisher under sink,” he managed to say as they raced toward the house. He stopped at the outside spigot and hose and she continued in. Turning the water on, he knew they would make very little difference but hoped they could at least hold it back until the firefighters were there.

  He was spraying the water toward what he thought looked like the source and handed the hose to Kinsley, taking the extinguisher from her and saying, “Keep the water on that area.” Then he ran closer to the barn and turned on the extinguisher.

  The extinguisher was empty when he heard the sirens. A minute later, a truck pulled into his driveway, and the sirens grew louder until they stopped. Suddenly, one of the men was behind him. “We got it from here, Jared.”

  Jared went back toward Kinsley and turned off the water. They walked to the front of the house where they were a safe distance away but could watch them work. He put his arm around her and pulled her to his side. They remained silent for several minutes while forever seemed to stretch as he watched his beloved home engulfed in flames.

  Finally, the fire seemed under control and began shrinking, while dark smoke billowed all around. The sound of automobiles on the gravel and then doors slamming got their attention and they turned around. Several of Jared’s neighbors had arrived. The women ran up to them and took Kinsley aside to make sure she wasn’t harmed, while the men surrounded Jared and watched the firefighters work.

  “Do you know what happened?” one of them asked watching the smoke begin to travel away with the wind.

  Jared shook his head. “We were asleep. I heard the horses and cows making a ruckus. We got all the animals out.” His sentences were short and clipped, his mind now able to pull away from emergency mode into contemplation. This was no accident.

  He thought back to the broken windshield, the unlocked door. Somebody was trying to scare them. He had been considering the possibility off and on since the incident in Chattanooga, but had come up empty when he tried to consider who or why. Kinsley had tried to get him to consider she had brought this on, but that still did not make any sense. The only way everything was connected with her was if someone had been following her since her book signing, which seemed too incredible. And he’d have noticed them … right?

  ***

  The sun was rising, and smoke was still in the air, but without the form of an immediate fire. The barn was not entirely destroyed but would take quite a bit of work to repair. Kinsley was surprised to see that as far as she could tell, all the chickens had stayed near.

  The last neighbor had left a good hour after the firefighters were gone. She and Jared were now standing on the porch, watching the sun come up and the barn’s smoldering continue to die. They had barely spoken during the event, but Kinsley had felt his presence near her, checking on her. When everyone had left, he had put his arm around her and led her to the porch. She felt it important that she let him speak when he was ready. And finally …

  “Kinsley, I am so sorry.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Sorry? For what?”

  He looked down at her, his arm still around her shoulder, worry etched in his eyes. “Because something is going on here and you’ve gotten caught up in it. I’ve endangered you.”

  She put her hand on his cheek and held his gaze. “You haven’t done any endangering, Jared. I’ve been telling you something was going on and it didn’t start until I got here. If anything, I’ve endangered you … and Nikki. I—”

  He silenced her with a kiss. “Even if I believed you could be the cause of this,” he said when he pulled back, “I wouldn’t give up this past week for anything in the world.” He pulled her closer and she lay her head on his shoulder. “Maybe something’s going on. Maybe it’s not, but I hope you know I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  She smiled in spite of her fear.

  ***

  Ethel was chasing Jared and Nikki across his field, the burning barn in her rearview mirror and snakes crawling all over her seats. Kinsley was screaming but couldn’t move. She seemed to be inside the car and watching from the side at the same time. She was surrounded by people shoving books in her face to be signed as she fell to the ground and a wave of people trampled over her.

  Kinsley sat up, muffling a scream. When she’d caught her breath, she looked around. She was alone in Jared’s bed, and the sun was glowing through the curtains. She picked up her phone and saw that it was noon. She had been napping for about three hours. She swiped at the phone and input her code to read the text from Carley.

  Just thinking about you and hoping you’re having too much fun with that cowboy.

  She set down the phone and turned her mind back to the dream, tracing through all the incidents that had caused her to feel concern over the last week: the flyer on her bed, the door being unlocked, the windshield, and … Ethel. It had all started with the car. And if someone had tampered with it, they would have done it while she was in Chattanooga.

  She went to the guest room, pulled the crumpled flyer from the waste can, and took it to the dining room table. Then, she glanced around and saw Jared asleep on the couch.

  Jared.… She had brought this to his home. She was certain of it, but could not figure out how or why. Or who. She grabbed her phone from the bedroom and headed outside, stopping in front of the barn. She dialed a number and while she listened to it ring, her eyes followed the burn marks. J.J. picked up as she carefully stepped inside the barn.

  “Hi. It’s Kinsley.”

  “Oh hey. I heard about the fire last night.”

  Already? This town is so small.

  “I’m so sorry. Is there anything we can do to help?”

  “I don’t know. Jared’s napping. We were up most of the night. I’m sure he’ll need some extra hands and I’ll tell him you asked. But that’s not why I’m calling. I hate to call you on Sunday, but would it be possible to meet me at the diner today?”

  “Umm, sure. What time were you thinking?”

  “Can you get there in fifteen minutes?”
/>
  “Okay. Something wrong with Ethel again?”

  “Sort of. Not anything going on right now. I just have a few questions and I’d rather talk about it somewhere else.”

  “Well, now, that doesn’t sound mysterious at all.”

  She chuckled. “I just have some concerns and I don’t want Jared worrying about me.”

  She had been looking around the barn while she and J.J. talked. After she put the phone in her back pocket, she walked to the corner where they had made love after the party. Where he’d said …

  She crouched down. The black marks on the walls seemed to all have come from this point. She could barely make out the burned blanket. The lights that had been put up for the party in this section had come down and were melted. But somehow, she did not think this had been caused by the lights.

  She quietly walked back in the house, and a quick glance told her Jared was still asleep. She grabbed a pen and jotted a note on the flyer to tell him she would be back soon and grabbed Ethel’s keys, resisting the urge to kiss him as she quietly walked out the door.

  20

  Neighbors stopped by the booth at the Dixie Table where Kinsley was sitting to ask if they needed any help. She told everyone what she had told J.J. and suggested they wait a day and call Jared. She recognized the server as Leslie, who’d been at the party the night before. She had also been the one who had waited on Nikki and herself earlier.

  Kinsley suddenly remembered the ice cream sundae and stopped Leslie as she was headed back to get her a couple of glasses of water. “Hey, Leslie, I hope you had fun at the party.”

  Leslie smiled. “I sure did. What a great shindig. And you and Mr. Adamson seem to be getting along really well.”

  Kinsley smiled back. “Do you remember when Nikki and I were here last weekend?”

  “Yep. Chicken Caesar salad and a ham sandwich.”

  “Wow, that’s some memory.”

  Leslie tapped her temple. “It’s a good asset to have in this line of work.”

  “I can see that. Well, do you remember the man who bought us the ice cream sundaes?”

  She thought back for a second. “Yeah, but like I said then, I didn’t get a good look at him. I had never seen him before.”

  “Do you know if he’s been back in?”

  Leslie paused. “You know what, yeah, now that I think about it. I think he’s been here a couple of times. I didn’t pay close attention ‘cause I didn’t really wait on him, but I think he’s been here.”

  “Any idea who he is?”

  “Nope. He doesn’t seem to be making any friends, though. He’s always alone. He must just be passing through. Kind of like you … or do you think you might be sticking around longer?”

  Kinsley laughed. “Well, I can say that I don’t think this is the last you’ll be seeing of me.”

  “Good. I hope not.”

  Kinsley looked up as J.J. came in the door. She waved to him and he made his way to the booth. “Hey there, Leslie,” he greeted.

  “Hey, J.J. Whatcha gonna have?”

  “Just a cup of coffee and a glass of water, please.”

  “Sure thing.”

  He slid into the seat across from Kinsley.

  “Thank you so much for meeting me at the last minute, J.J.”

  “I must say, you got me intrigued,” he said as Leslie set their glasses of water in front of them.

  “I’ll be back with the coffee,” she said.

  “So, what’s this about?” He took a sip of water and watched her expectantly.

  “I have a couple of questions about what made Ethel break down.”

  He nodded and took another sip of the water. “Like I told Jared, someone put water in the gas tank.”

  She frowned. “Someone did it?”

  “Yep, only way there’d be that much water in there. It’s an easy way to disable someone’s vehicle and throw people off because it’s not something most mechanics look for right away. Usually it happens in a family argument. You know, a husband cheating on his wife. She finds out …”

  She didn’t reply, and he shifted in his seat.

  “Or a vandal. You were driving from Chattanooga and unless you have done something to someone, which, I gotta tell you, would be hard to believe, I’d say it was just a random thing.”

  “Maybe …” she replied thoughtfully.

  “You think you know who’d’ve done this?”

  She shook her head. “No, but it seems to be the first in a line of other weird and bad things that have happened in the last week. I think this all started with me.”

  J.J. looked confused. “I can’t imagine—”

  “I have no idea what someone could have against me, but I don’t think this can all be a coincidence.”

  “Or that’s exactly what it is,” he countered. “Coincidences do happen. This is a small town. Don’t you think someone would notice a stranger lurking around?”

  She looked back at Leslie who was filling up a couple of mugs. “Yeah, you’d think so, huh?”

  Leslie rejoined them with the coffee and set a cream server in the middle of the table.

  “Thanks,” both guests said.

  “Any time.”

  J.J. took a sip of black coffee while Kinsley stirred cream into hers.

  He sat back and watched her for a moment. “You really think someone’s out to get you?”

  She shrugged and took a breath, looking at her hands. “I can’t imagine who. I don’t have any enemies as far as I know, and this started right before I met Jared, so I don’t think it has anything to do with him. I think he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “I don’t think he thinks it was the wrong place or the wrong time.”

  She gave him a half smile and warmed at the thought. “Well, then, let’s just say he happened into something that had nothing to do with him.” She sighed and shrugged, picking up her mug again. “Anyway, what I do know is that bad things keep happening around us and I just have a terrible feeling about all of this.”

  “Well, I don’t think there’s anyone in this world who’d want to harm you, Kinsley.”

  She smiled at the kind mechanic, thinking how welcoming everyone here had gone out of their way to be. “Thanks.”

  They finished their coffees and chatted about the fire. She explained how the chaos on the farm had awakened them and how that had likely been the reason none of the animals had perished. J.J. seemed more concerned now that she had connected it to the car’s stalling, but she reassured him that it seemed to be unrelated. She suddenly felt bad about causing him to worry as well and turned the conversation to Kinsley’s birthday party. J.J. and his wife had had a previous engagement and hadn’t been able to attend the party. He seemed delighted at the details Kinsley gave him. She realized just how much Nikki was loved in her community and once again thanked her stars that she had been taken in by this family. After finishing their coffees, she pulled out her purse and dropped a couple of dollars on the table.

  “Thank you for meeting me, J.J. I really appreciate your help and reassurance. I should get back and check on Jared.”

  ***

  When she walked through the front door of the house, she looked at the couch and saw it was empty. She put her purse on the table, noticed her note was gone, and then slipped upstairs to check the bedroom to see if Jared had gone to bed to finish his nap. The room looked the same as it had when she had left earlier. She looked over at the bathroom door; it was open and the light was off.

  She headed back downstairs into the living room and called, “Jared! Are you here?” She checked the kitchen; the house appeared empty, so she went outside through the back door and walked over to the partially blackened barn, calling for him.

  When she stepped through the open doorway, she saw one of the horse stalls was open. It hadn’t been when she was out there earlier, so she headed that way to check it out. Before she’d made it through the stall’s doorway, she spotted his boots. Her sm
ile faltered as she entered the stall and saw him on the ground, unconscious, blood trickling down his temple.

  She yelled out and fell to her knees beside him. He was breathing, so she reached for her purse to get her phone. And everything went dark.

  21

  The hand on Kinsley’s eyes released her after securing a blindfold in place of the hand, and began tying her hands behind her.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Kinsley,” a meek voice said behind her.

  She turned her head toward the sound. “Then why are you doing this? Who are you?”

  The stranger remained quiet for a moment and then tugged down her blindfold. She stared, confused. Was this the guy from the diner? He seemed slightly familiar but she was sure she didn’t know him. She noted his bushy eyebrows and intense eyes that seemed to bore through her.

  “I’m your biggest fan.” He smiled broadly watching her face. yourbiggestfanever@quickmail, she remembered. Then his smile dropped. “You don’t remember me?”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know who you are. Have we met?” A chill was creeping down her back as she ran through memories of the last week, trying to find something familiar.

  “Only every night in my dreams for the last year,” he scoffed. He stood, towering over her, his shadow falling across her face. Then he looked behind him. “But of course, you were too distracted with him to even notice me, huh?”

  She swallowed and followed his gaze to the horse stall where she could still see Jared’s boots, unmoving. She fought back tears, willing herself to stay focused and alert. “What did you do to him? Did you hurt him?”

  The man snapped his head back around. “He’ll live.” He squatted back down to put his face back in hers. She was afraid he was about to kiss her, but then he said, “Unless you don’t do exactly as I say.”

  “And what do you want me to do?” She forced the fear from her face as best she could and kept her mind sorting through options.

  Her face softened and he put a hand to her cheek. She started at the touch and he gripped the back of her head roughly, pulling her forward. “I want you to get to know me. To be with me.”