Once Upon a Family

by Margaret Daley

  Thinking back to that night chilled her. She pushed to her feet and crossed to the coffeepot. After pouring herself a mug, she held the ceramic between her two hands, desperately seeking the heat emanating from the beverage. “When we got there forty minutes later, he was dead from mixing the alcohol with sleeping pills. There was a gun on the table nearby.” So cold. She sipped at the hot liquid, but it did nothing to warm her. She took another drink. “I don’t know if he intended to really kill himself, but if I had gotten there earlier, just left without saying anything to Sean, gone directly to the house instead of getting my minister, he might still be alive. I—I—” The tears spilled from her eyes and ran down her face.

  Leaning back against the counter, with a shaky hand, she set the mug down before she dropped it. “Sean thinks he’s responsible for his father dying. He isn’t. I am.” She remembered her words to her son about blame, but she’d been carrying it around for over a year, never sharing it with another until Peter. Old habits were hard to break.

  Let it go.

  I’m trying, Lord.

  Peter shoved back his chair and was in front of her in two seconds. “No, you aren’t!”

  The force behind his declaration wiped the tears from her eyes. For a brief moment she thought about Stephen yelling at her that day on the stairs. Then she saw the compassion in the depth of Peter’s gaze, always present, and knew there was no comparison between the two men.

  “Don’t you see? He’s still doing a number on you. He was responsible for his own death. Not you. Not Sean. You did what you needed to do to protect your children, yourself. Have you ever thought about why he had the gun there?”

  “To kill himself.”

  “Or you.”

  She’d been so wrapped up in feeling guilty for not making it in time to stop Stephen that she hadn’t considered the gun being there to kill her. The thought rocked her foundation. Her legs weak, she clutched the counter to keep herself upright. “He wasn’t a murderer.”

  “Anyone in the right circumstances might be driven to kill another.”

  She gnawed on her lower lip, trying to assimilate all that had happened in the past few days. All she had believed was ripped into shreds while her emotions lay floundering like a fish on a beach, not quite able to get back to the water.

  Pain reflected in his eyes, Peter pivoted and started pacing. “Would you have ever told me the whole story if Sean hadn’t said anything?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Which says you don’t truly trust me. I love you, Laura.”

  Stunned by his declaration of love, she couldn’t think of anything to say for a few seconds. On the tip of her tongue were her own words of love, which surprised her as much as his.

  He shook his head, though, and continued, “As much as it kills me to say it, I don’t see how we can continue seeing each other if there isn’t trust between us. My relationship with Diana lacked it, and I won’t do that to myself again. I can’t.”

  He was right. Would she have said something? Did she trust him completely? If she didn’t, how could she really love him as he should be loved? She wasn’t sure she had an answer for him—might never. When she had come inside a half hour ago, she had intended to tell him everything, then walk away from him. “Peter, I—”

  The door slammed open, and Sean rushed into the kitchen. “There’s a fire in the east pasture that runs along the highway. Chad and I tried to stop it from spreading, but it’s out of control.”

  “Call 911,” Peter said to Laura as he ran out of the house with her son jogging next to him.

  She grabbed his phone on the desk and punched in the numbers. When the 911 operator came on, she said, “There’s a wildfire in the field along Highway 101, a mile out of town at Stone’s Refuge.”

  “How big?”

  “I don’t know. I think it just started.” Laura walked to the window over the sink to get a glimpse. Off in the distance black smoke rose into the air, sending dread skating down her spine. Not that far away, she thought. “I see a cloud of smoke maybe twenty feet across.”

  “I’ve alerted the fire department. There have been several wildfires in the area. You should get everyone to safety.”

  After hanging up, Laura hurried outside, the scent of smoke heavy in the air. The barn was in between the pasture and the house. She glanced over her shoulder at the two newly built cottages and released a sigh of relief. At least for now they were out of harm’s way. But what if the fire couldn’t be contained?

  That question quickened her pace to a trot as she headed toward Peter and the boys. In the distance sirens blared their imminent arrival. A hundred yards away a line of flames ate across the meadow, slowly devouring its way toward the barn.

  Peter assessed the rate and direction the fire was taking. “Let’s move the animals to safety. Chad and Sean, empty the pens and stalls in the barn. What animals you can, put in my truck bed or in Laura’s car. The bigger ones we’ll have to hope can escape the blaze if they are freed.”

  Worry and fear sharpened Peter’s voice. Letting the animals go wasn’t easy for him. But they would have a better chance on their own than trapped in an enclosed area. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Come with me. We need to drive the horses out of the pasture between the barn and the fire. I have a trailer we can put two of them in and hitch to the truck.”

  Which two would be his choice, and it would tear him apart to have to make that decision. She saw the distress in his expression as he realized what he would have to do if the fire spread. Worse, what would happen to his dream if the blaze consumed not only the barn and his house but the two cottages?

  She hurried after him as the fire trucks raced down the gravel road toward them. Lord, help us. We need Your help to fight the fire.

  Every muscle protested. Exhausted to the point of collapse, Peter paused and wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, sweat pouring off him. He peered toward the blaze still burning off to the east, but its spread had slowed down and the wind had calmed down some.

  Lord, protect the animals. Protect the cottages.

  Chad approached, carrying the lamb he took care of. “We’ve gotten most of the pets out. A couple I can’t find. Bosco. The Great Dane. Molly.”

  “They’re missing?” Laura swung the hose in an arc over the barn’s side and roof, wetting down everything that she could, even the ground around the structure.

  “We can’t stay any longer. If the wind stays calm, hopefully the firefighters will be able to stop the fire before it reaches here. Either way we need to get to safety. Where’s Sean?” Peter scanned the yard. The veil of smoke that hung over the ranch stung his eyes.

  “I thought he was out here. He was gonna bring that puppy he loves to the car.” Chad headed for the truck. “I’m riding in the back so I can take care of the animals until we get far enough away from the threat.”

  Dropping the hose, Laura shifted her attention to Peter. “What if Sean went looking for the missing pets? That’s something my son would do.”

  “Keep spraying the water. I’ll go look for him. Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to him.”

  Peter whirled around and went into the barn to make sure the teen wasn’t anywhere inside. When he couldn’t find any trace of Sean there, he hurried out the back entrance where his view of the blaze was unobstructed by trees. He estimated its distance was two or three hundred yards away. The firefighter’s captain hadn’t been too pleased he wasn’t leaving the ranch right away. But there was no way he would abandon the animals he had come to love. He wasn’t a fool. If it got too dangerous, he would, but he had to try to get them to safety while there was time.

  He squinted when he thought he saw a person not dressed in a yellow firefighter’s coat at the far end of the pasture nearest the barn. Sean? It was hard to tell with the haze that clung to the air. He took several steps forward, then a few more. It was Sean! The teen began to scale a tree.

  Sudde
nly a burst of flames sprang up between Peter and Sean in the elm. “Laura,” he shouted, backpedaling toward the barn. “Laura!”

  “What’s wrong?” She came around the side.

  “Sean’s in that tree. Probably Molly is, too.” He pointed toward the elm, the branches swaying more in the breeze. “Let the captain know about this new fire. I’ll take care of Sean.”

  He rushed into the barn, grabbed a shovel then jogged toward the boy. His lungs burned as though the fire raged inside them. His head pounded with each step. Skirting the small blaze, Peter kept an eye on his surroundings in case another one popped up. A few feet from the fire a mound of dirt beckoned. He filled the shovel with it and headed back to the flames picking up momentum. After pouring the earth on the blaze, he repeated his actions until it was smothered out. Then he continued on his path toward Laura’s son.

  At the bottom of the elm, Peter searched the branches and found Sean reaching for Molly. “Get down. The wind’s getting stronger. A fire was started in this field. I think I put it out, but we need to leave now.” Peter glanced over his shoulder. Another fire sprang up near the old one, its yellow-orange flames striking alarm deep into his heart.

  Sean looked through the foliage, his face paling when he saw the flames shooting up into the air so close. He snatched Molly from a limb and began his descent. “I heard her. I couldn’t leave her up here by herself. She wouldn’t come down.”

  “You heard her way out here?”

  Sean leaped to the ground from the bottom branch, cradling the white cat against him. Averting his gaze, he mumbled, “Well, I went looking for her and that’s when I saw her.”

  “Peter!”

  He twisted around to see Laura coming toward him with a shovel in her hand. Halfway across the field another fire ignited right behind her, then another to her side. Fear as he’d never felt consumed him. Hot embers rained down on Laura.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I can’t lose Laura. Peter raced toward her. Reaching her, he pounded the shovel into the ground, determined to stamp out the fire before the flames built to a raging inferno with the circle around her getting smaller and smaller until she had nowhere to go. Frantically looking around, he spotted some loose dirt and shoved his tool into the pile. He swung around and tossed it on one blaze while another sprung up next to it.

  “Sean! Get some help,” Peter shouted over the crackling of the fire.

  His eyes watered, his throat was scratchy. The shovel felt as if it weighed a hundred pounds instead of ten. But he wouldn’t stop until Laura was safe.

  Through the dancing flames, Laura saw her son run toward the barn with Molly in his arms. Heat blasted Laura from all sides. She coughed from the smoke that had thickened into a black wall around her.

  She wasn’t going to let her children grow up without at least one parent. She attacked the ground with her shovel. Peter moved to do the same on the other side of the blaze. All she needed was a narrow path.

  Lord, I need Your help.

  As she watched the flames dancing around her, a calmness took hold of her. She would be all right. Thank you, Lord.

  Suddenly Sean returned with the hose connected to the outside spigot on this side of the barn. He aimed the water at the fire closest to him, and it managed to shoot up in the air and fall only a few feet away. He yanked on the hose, trying to make it longer, but it was stretched as far as it would go.

  “The captain is pulling some firefighters from the other field, but it may take a few minutes.”

  Over the hissing of the fire Laura heard her son’s frantic voice as he explained. His jaw locked in determination while he continued to jerk on the hose.

  Peter tossed his shovel down and ran toward the barn. Half a minute later, he disconnected the hose Sean held from the tap and screwed the one in his hands to the spigot. Soon the hose was long enough to reach the fire. Sean hastened forward, spraying the blaze around her.

  Water pelted her, cooling her and the fire. An opening appeared, and Laura shot forward, escaping the blaze as firefighters came toward them. She raced toward the barn, flanked on either side by Peter and her son. When they reached the cooler interior, she fell into Peter’s arms, her whole body quaking from exhaustion and relief. Sean neared her and Peter. She opened her arms to include him, relishing both of them pressed against her.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Peter murmured against the top of her head.

  “But what about the barn, your house?” She leaned away to look up into his handsome face. In that instant she knew she loved him with all her heart and she would fight for him.

  “They are in God’s hands. They can be replaced. You all—” Peter’s gaze shifted between her and Sean “—can’t be. I’ve got what I want right here.”

  “I’m sorry, Peter, Mom. I couldn’t leave Molly up in the tree.”

  Peter clasped his hand on her son’s shoulder. “I know. If I’d seen her, I would have done exactly what you did.”

  “You would?”

  “Yep.” Peter strode toward the front entrance, cradling them to him. “Let’s get these animals to safety.”

  Tuesday, the first day of school, dawn broke across the eastern sky in bright pinks and oranges fingering their way through the blue, all traces of the black smoke gone. But its scent hovered in the air, along with the odor of charred wood and burned vegetation, as Laura climbed from her car parked behind Peter’s truck. He’d returned home late the night before when the firefighters had decided it was safe for him. All the animals had been kept away, farmed out to friends until he could assess the damage and make sure they would be safe to come home.

  At her house they had taken in Molly, Digger, the litter of puppies and momma, Sean’s lamb and two cages of rabbits. Her kids were busy caring for the pets until they could return to Stone’s Refuge. She sneaked away to see Peter before they had to be at school, but not until she had talked with Sean to let him know where she was going.

  Peter came out onto his patio with two mugs of coffee, obviously having seen her car approaching. He’d left her house only five hours ago, but during the hectic day before, they hadn’t had any time alone and there was so much she needed to say to him.

  She smiled and waved as she strode toward him. “You look ready to take on the world. Did you get any sleep last night?”

  He shrugged, passing her a mug. “Maybe a couple of hours. If you find me asleep on my feet at work, wake me. I don’t want the students to get the better of me the first day of school.”

  “You got a couple of hours more than me.” She sat in a lounge chair and faced the yard.

  In the distance the blackened field proclaimed the battle that had been waged the day before. She swung her gaze to the barn and sighed. The structure was intact, the blaze having come within twenty yards of it before the firefighters had managed to stop it.

  “I made my rounds already, checking to make sure there aren’t any hot spots left. So far, nothing. I’d feel a lot better if we’d have a good downpour.”

  “There’s a fifty percent chance we will later today.” She sipped her coffee, realizing both of them were skirting around the real reason she had come out here.

  Lifting his drink to his lips, he caught her gaze over the rim. “So why didn’t you get at least a few hours of sleep?”

  “Every time I closed my eyes I relived being in the middle of the fire. I finally got out of bed, knelt by it and prayed. Yesterday could have turned out so bad, but it didn’t. No animals died. No one was hurt. God is good.”

  “Amen.”

  “After I thanked Him, I opened my Bible and began reading the Word. By the time I put it down, I felt renewed, alive as I’d never been before.” She scooted to the edge of her chair, leaning toward him. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you how I feel about you. It’s really very simple. I love you, Peter Stone.”

  He sucked in his breath.

  “Yesterday you asked me if I would have told you the whole story. I know t
he answer today. Yes, I would have. It might not have been right away, but I’ve opened up to you more than I ever thought I would to any man after Stephen. When I was in the field with the fire surrounding me, I put my trust in the Lord, but I realized I put it in you, too.” Her overflowing emotions crammed her throat from the awe and revelations the past twenty-four hours had brought her.

  Peter clasped her hands in his. “I thought I was going to lose you yesterday. I wasn’t going to let that happen.”

  “I came to Cimarron City to make a fresh start, to put the past behind me. What I forgot was that my past came with me. I wouldn’t let it go. I couldn’t forgive or forget. But over the months I’ve known you, you have been there for me every step of the way.” She smiled. “I had never had that before so I resisted it, not sure if I could trust it. I know better now. Stephen made his choice. I wasn’t at fault for his death.”

  Rising, he squeezed her hands and yanked her into his embrace. “Yesterday when the wildfire started, I didn’t think any good could come from it. I was wrong. I love you, Laura Williams.”

  He buried his fingers in her hair, holding her head still while he slanted his mouth over hers. As the seconds evolved into a full minute his kiss deepened, making it clear just exactly how he felt about her. She had never been cherished and the feeling elated her, making her tingle with awareness of the man in her arms.

  “Before we talk about the future, I want to emphasize that I would have been attracted to you with or without your children. Yes, I want a family, but I would never marry a woman just for that.” His mouth hiked up into a grin. “Besides, soon I’ll have plenty of kids running around the ranch.”

  Laura barely heard what Peter said after the word marry. So eager to get on with the rest of her life, she raised one eyebrow and asked, “You want to marry me?”