Bartholomew smiled back.
“He’s fine.” Tears poured from her eyes. “No thanks to me, he’s fine.”
Chase turned in the saddle. “Don’t you dare blame yourself. You’re the best mother I’ve ever seen.”
“I nearly got him killed.”
“No, the fire nearly did that, not you.”
“But if you hadn’t come to save us....”
He smiled. “The thing is, I did. Now let’s get out of here before Pussywillow acts up again.” He started off, leading the mare behind him.
The thing is, I need you. Bartholomew and I need you, Amanda thought as they rode south and put more distance between them and the fire.
Finally, Chase led them to the top of a rise and pulled Amanda alongside him again. He gazed at her without speaking for a moment. Then he cleared his throat. “Did you...mean what you said back there in the canyon?”
Sudden fear struck at her. Maybe it had only been the drama of the moment that had made him say he loved her, that had made him propose and cast away his role as a drifter. “Did you?”
The corner of his mouth twitched a little at that. “Dammit, woman, I asked you first.”
She lifted her chin. All right. Let her be a fool, then. “Yes, I meant it. I love you. And I can see that you belong here, not in New York posing for ads. I don’t know where that leaves me. Leaves us. But I won’t ask you to change anything for me. And I know you think marriage is the equivalent of being branded, so I won’t hold you to that offer, either. You’re a drifter, but I love you, anyway.”
“Does that mean you’re going to tell your family the truth about me and about Bart?”
She gazed into his eyes and nodded. “I was pretty mixed up, but love has a way of straightening out a person’s priorities. I’ll tell them as soon as I get back.”
“But I don’t want you to go back, Amanda.”
Her heart beat faster.
“People drift because they don’t expect life to give them anything permanent. My expectations have changed.” He reached out and touched her cheek, brushing a fleck of soot away. “When the fire started, I had to fight it because the True Love’s become the first home I’ve ever had. And when I figured out you were up in that canyon, I had to find you because...” His gaze searched hers. “...you’re the first woman I’ve ever loved.”
She caught his hand and held it to her cheek. “Oh, Chase.”
“Does that sound like a drifter to you?”
Her eyes misted with happy tears. “No.” Holding on to the cantle of his saddle, she raised in her stirrups, leaned over and kissed him.
He kissed her back, his fingers combing through her hair and cradling her head. “I love you,” he murmured against her mouth. “But I can’t ask you to leave the career you love, just to be with me.”
She leaned away from him a fraction. “You let me soak your favorite hat.”
“That’s not the same—”
“There they are! Kissing like damn fools!” The shout came from their far left. They turned to see Leigh bearing down on them, the rest of the hands behind her.
She reined up alongside Amanda. “Honest to Pete, couldn’t you have saved that for later? We’ve been frantic!”
“Sorry, Leigh,” Chase said with a grin. “But we had some things to work out.”
“Well, work them out somewhere else. There are helicopters on their way, and each one is carrying about a hundred thousand gallons of water to dump on this fire. Their aim is good, but I can’t guarantee it’s perfect. Unless you want to experience a hundred-thousand-gallon shower from fifty feet above, I suggest you move it!”
Chase handed Pussywillow’s reins to Amanda. “Guess we’d better do what the lady says.”
“Guess so.”
Leigh led them all a half mile away before turning back toward the fire. “We can watch from here. It should be pretty spectacular. Here they come.”
Amanda was transfixed by the sight of one of the helicopters carrying a giant yellow bucket suspended from a long cable. When the helicopter was positioned over the fire, the bucket opened from the bottom and water cascaded over the fire. The blaze hissed and steamed, exactly as if it were a giant campfire. A second helicopter came in and repeated the process on a different section.
“They’ll go back and reload, and do it again. With that and the trenches we dug, I think we’ll be okay,” Leigh said. “The air tankers are standing by in case we need to drop a fire retardant, but we may not need it.” She turned to Chase. “So what did you two have to work out that was so important?”
“How we can maintain a marriage when Amanda’s working in New York and I’m out here.”
Leigh rolled her eyes. “Is that all? Ry and I have that figured out.”
“Oh, have you?” Chase shoved his hat to the back of his head. “And when did you do that?”
“I wandered out to the patio the night we all had food poisoning. Ry said you’d gone to the cottage, so we started brainstorming. We figured you two had your minds on less-practical matters.”
To Leigh’s left Duane gave a snort.
“Go on,” Amanda said.
“Ry needed something to do the morning of the wedding. He was driving us all crazy from five on. We didn’t want to let him be the one to pick up Belinda and Dexter at the hospital for fear he’d run the van into a tree, so I finally told him to call Amanda’s ad agency in New York. He hired them to beef up the True Love’s image—something it really needs after all these so-called accidents.”
Amanda’s jaw dropped. “He’s hired Artemis?”
“With the provision that you’ll do all the work, and we recommended you be on site. I realize it’s not a complete answer to your problem, but it’s a start.”
“I’m astounded. I don’t know what to say.”
“You can thank Ry when you see him. He’s the one with the mind for these things. I never thought I’d say that a New York mentality would be good for something, but apparently it is.”
“You can thank him now,” Duane said. “Here he comes, with Freddy right behind him. He musta driven that mountain like he had a burr under his saddle to get here this fast.”
Ry charged up the hillside and wheeled Red Devil to look out over the charred desert. “Is it under control?”
“I think it will be soon,” Leigh said. “Sorry about the shortened honeymoon.”
“No problem.” Ry stared at the smoke, which grew lighter in color as the fire began to go out. “Duane, why don’t you and the hands ride around to the north and make sure everything’s okay in that direction.”
“Shore, boss.” Duane motioned to the other hands and they trotted away just as Freddy rode up.
“Where are they going?” she asked.
“I sent them off so we could talk in private,” Ry said. “Anybody have any ideas how this started?”
No one said anything.
Ry glanced at Chase and Leigh. “Do you think it was set?”
“Could be,” Leigh said. “I didn’t see any lightning over this way last night.”
Ry absently rubbed Red Devil’s neck. “And nobody’s come across Whitlock this morning?”
Leigh shook her head. “He partied pretty late, too, but you’d think somebody over at his place would have seen the fire and come running.”
“Eb wouldn’t do this,” Freddy said, earning a skeptical look from her husband. “I can’t imagine anyone deliberately setting a fire. Even if you could devalue the True Love, it isn’t worth the risk.”
“It is if you’re desperate,” Ry said. “I’m beginning to think there’s more at stake here than the land.”
Leigh sighed. “My instincts tell me you’re on to something, much as I hate to admit we have a problem. Look, we’ve fooled around long enough. How about getting your buddy Joe Gilardini out here to conduct a quiet little investigation? This sort of thing has to stop or we’ll lose the True Love.”
“That can’t happen,” Amanda sai
d with a conviction that surprised her.
“Is that so?” Chase’s dimple flashed as he glanced at her. Then he turned to Freddy. “Looks like you’ve won more support for your cause, Mrs. McGuinnes.”
Ry coughed. “You all realize that if Joe wants to sell the ranch, we have to sell it.” He glanced apologetically at his wife. “I gave my word.”
“All the more reason to get him out here,” Freddy said. “We’ll give him a horse to ride and a mystery to solve. What more could he want to keep him happy?”
“Oh, I can think of something,” Chase said with a wink at Amanda.
As if on cue everyone turned toward Leigh.
She held up both hands. “Oh, no, you don’t. A New York City Cop? Not in a million years!”
ISBN: 978-1-4592-8635-1
The Drifter
Copyright © 1995 by Vicki Lewis Thompson
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