A Very Cowboy Christmas

by Kim Redford

  “It’s not the snack shed!” she gasped in relief.

  He hit the steering wheel with the flat of his palm to emphasize her point. “So what’s on fire?”

  “Down there!” She pointed at several pickups that were parked haphazardly at the end of the horizontal parking rows on the far left.

  “It’s the trailer.” He upped his speed as he headed down the outside lane toward the fire.

  She reached behind the seat where Hedy had stashed firefighter gear and grabbed a pair of rubber boots that would protect her feet. As she slipped them on over her socks, she watched Dune turn onto the outer lane in back and drive across to a group fighting the fire.

  She recognized them. Billye Jo and her daughter, Serena—blond-haired, blue-eyed cowgirls—held fire extinguishers. Moore sprayed water from a long hose, appearing tall and lanky in sweatshirt, jeans, and boots. Bert and Bert Two looked dressed for boot-scootin’ instead of firefightin’ in their rancher suits with fancy cowboy boots, but they both gripped the handles of shovels. At the sound of the booster, they looked around, and their faces split into big grins of welcome.

  Dune stopped the rig on a dime and then backed into an optimal position to fight the fire. He switched off the engine, and then he folded Sydney’s slip and set it on the dashboard.

  She started to say something or try to take back her slip, but she decided they had bigger fish to fry right now. She opened her door, stepped down, and hurried over to the trailer. “How are y’all doing?”

  “We’re doing our best to control the fire,” Billye Jo said, raising an arm and rubbing sweat from her forehead with her long shirt sleeve. “If Moore hadn’t decided to check on the place, this building would be gone, and the fire might’ve spread to engulf the entire drive-in.”

  “Lucky break,” Moore agreed, continuing to spray water from the hose.

  “Moore, you’ve been our lucky charm since we decided to revamp the drive-in,” Bert said.

  “That’s the truth of it,” Bert Two agreed.

  Dune walked over. “It looks as if the fire started in these old tires.”

  “We thought first to move them,” Serena explained, “but we decided to wait for the experts in case we made matters worse.”

  “So we opted for containment,” Billye Jo added.

  “If I’m not mistaken, I smell accelerant. And those tires look like they’ve been piled against the front of the trailer.” Sydney leaned over to get a closer view but stayed well back from the gagging smoke.

  “I hate to say it, but you’re right on both counts,” Bert quickly agreed.

  “And the smell was stronger when I got here,” Moore said. “This fire was no accident.”

  “Here we go again,” Bert groaned, banging the edge of his shovel against the asphalt with a clang. “I’m telling you, somebody’s got it in for us.”

  “Too true,” Bert Two agreed. “We called Sheriff Calhoun, but I bet it’ll be just the way it always is when there’s a fire on our property.”

  “Yeah,” Bert said. “No evidence. No nothing. Except—”

  “A ruined reputation,” Bert Two finished for him. “Until we catch the culprit, folks are going to think we’re setting fires to our own buildings for the insurance money or some other reason.”

  “I’m right sorry about your troubles,” Billye Jo said. “But not everybody thinks that way.”

  “Thanks.” Bert gave her a quick smile.

  “I sure don’t think that way.” Moore nodded his head in emphasis.

  “Most folks don’t,” Sydney reassured them, although she couldn’t help but be aware that Moore, Bert, and Bert Two would all be under suspicion until concrete evidence pointed in a different direction.

  “Let’s let the sheriff deal with it,” Dune said. “Right now we need to get these tires away from the trailer. Best thing to do is let them burn out on their own. We can clean up the mess that’s left before Christmas.”

  “Maybe you’ll end up with nothing more than smoke and water damage,” Sydney added.

  “That’d be good,” Bert said, “but it wouldn’t be much loss one way or the other.”

  “Trailer’s mostly empty,” Bert Two explained. “We used it to store building supplies, so there’s probably not much left in there except a few two-by-fours.”

  “Glad to hear it.” Sydney walked back to the rig and pulled out two shovels. She handed one to Dune.

  “Thanks.” He motioned toward Bert and Bert Two. “Let’s use our shovels to move the tires back.” He glanced around the group. “Everybody else, will you please step away from the trailer and give us some room?”

  “Safety precaution,” Sydney explained as she hefted her shovel. “Sparks might fly, or worse.” As she took a step toward a burning tire, she felt a sudden sharp pain in her right foot. She grimaced and took a deep breath, but she wasn’t about to let a little discomfort stop her.

  “Sydney,” Moore said in a gentle voice, “if you’ll trade me the shovel for my hose, you’d be doing me a favor.”

  She glanced at him in surprise, cocking her head in question.

  “I’ve put my life’s blood into returning this drive-in to its glory days. I’m mad as a wet hen thinking somebody tried to destroy all my hard work. I want—I need to fight back with that shovel.”

  Sydney’s estimation of Moore went up another notch. He was helping her save face while helping himself save the drive-in. She quickly traded the hose for the shovel, then walked over and turned the water off at the spigot. With the booster here, they didn’t need a small hose anymore. She moved to the back of the rig, hit the automatic switch on the coiled hose line, and let it reel out enough to be effective but not get in the way.

  As the guys cautiously shoved the tires away from the trailer, she held the rig’s water nozzle. She’d spray if anything got out of hand. She felt blazing heat, took shallow breaths to hold back the horrible stench, and blinked hard to clear her eyes from the toxic smoke. She didn’t like to see Dune or the others so close to such a nasty fire, particularly without much protection, but she knew without Dune telling her that he wouldn’t put on protective gear while Bert and Bert Two worked in nothing more than tough cowboy boots and their regular clothes. But that should be okay, because the fire was already contained in the tires.

  When they finally had the tires safely away from the trailer, Sydney assessed the damage. Black streaks rose up the side of the structure where the metal had buckled from the heat, but she didn’t see evidence of a smoldering fire just waiting to ignite the entire building. Still, she wouldn’t take a chance, so she glanced over at Dune, who was doing his own assessment.

  “I’ll spray the undercarriage and wet it down good, so there’s no potential problem later,” she said.

  “Good. I’ll pump and roll.” Dune walked over to the booster, slid his shovel inside, and hit the switches to roll out more hose and pump water.

  She pulled the fire hose around the burning tires, got down on her knees, and aimed the nozzle under the trailer. She sprayed water until it dripped down from the underside of the trailer and drenched the asphalt beneath it.

  “Looks fine to me,” Dune called.

  She nodded in agreement, then stood up and sprayed across the trailer’s front, flat roof, and both ends. When she was satisfied with the containment, she glanced back at Dune and held up a thumb.

  “I’ll unlock, so you can check inside.” Bert quickly stepped around a burning tire and up to the trailer. He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket, unlocked the double doors, and slid them open.

  “You got electricity in there?” Dune asked.

  “No,” Bert Two said. “It’s strictly storage.”

  “Let me grab a flashlight.” Dune pulled a long metal light out of the rig and hurried over to the trailer.

  Sydney stepped back, making roo
m for him, and then looked around his shoulder as he lit the interior. “Bert, you’re right. There’s not much here.”

  “But we ought to douse it with water to be on the safe side,” Dune said as he cast light all around the inside of the building.

  “Do it. We’ve got nothing to lose.” Bert glanced at Moore. “Do we?”

  “Nope. Equipment’s up in the snack shed storeroom.”

  “Okay,” Bert Two agreed. “Shoot the water.”

  “Dune, if you’ll keep holding the light steady, I’ll spray.” Sydney leaned inside the open door and positioned the nozzle.

  “You got it,” he agreed.

  Sydney quickly sprayed from ceiling to floor, from wall to wall, and back again to make sure she left no spot untouched by water. Finally, she turned off the flow, then stepped back.

  Dune switched off the flashlight. “I can stay and keep an eye on the place till these tires burn out, but I’d like to get Sydney back to town.”

  “That’s okay.” She shook her head to let him know that he didn’t need to baby her because of her feet.

  “I’ll stay,” Moore said as he set his shovel inside the rig.

  “And you’ll get paid for doing it.” Bert turned to Dune and Sydney. “No point keeping the booster here. Somebody else might need help.”

  “Thank you,” Bert Two said. “I know I’ve said it before, but Wildcat Bluff Fire-Rescue has been our savior over and over.”

  “Somebody’ll be out later to take samples,” Dune added. “Maybe we’ll get lucky for a change and get enough evidence to lead to a conviction.”

  “I’ve got my fingers crossed, but I’m not counting on it,” Bert said.

  “Tell Hedy there’ll be a donation check in the mail for fire-rescue,” Bert Two added. “We sure do appreciate your fine work.”

  “Thank you,” Sydney said. “The station can always use the help.”

  Bert looked down at his dusty boots, then back up at her. “You’re friends with Hedy, aren’t you?”

  “Longtime friends.”

  “It being Christmas and all,” he said in a low voice, “maybe you could persuade her to come and see my bluebird collection. I’ve got them all duded up for the season.”

  “It’s quite a sight,” Bert Two agreed, shaking his head as if in amazement. “Not to be missed.”

  Bert glanced around the group. “For that matter, you’re all welcome. Billye Jo, Serena, Moore.”

  Moore stepped up close to Serena, looked down at his scuffed cowboy boots, then up at her with a shy smile. “Anytime you want, I’ll be happy to take you. I’ve got the new—well, new to me—pickup.”

  Serena gave Moore a considering look and then smiled at him. “I just might take you up on that offer.”

  He grinned from ear to ear. “I’ll stop by the beauty station.”

  “There’s an electrical switch that needs looking at anyway.”

  “I’ll bring my toolkit.”

  “Thanks.” Serena tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear as she gave him a sidelong look.

  “Any of you, just give me a heads-up,” Bert said, smiling at the young couple with a knowing gleam in his eyes.

  “Guess we’d all better get back to work,” Billye Jo said. “All’s well that ends well.”

  “Y’all go ahead,” Bert said. “We’ll stay here and wait for the sheriff.”

  “We’ll head back to Wildcat Bluff and write up a report.” Dune glanced around the area. “But so far there’s not much to report.”

  “That’s the way of these fires,” Bert Two agreed. “Just do what you can do.”

  “One thing before we go.” Dune gestured around the drive-in. “I noticed you installed a sprinkler system in the snack shed. Do you have other security features?”

  “That’s on our to-do list,” Bert replied with a sigh. “We thought we’d put up surveillance cameras after Christmas at the Sure-Shot Drive-In. But now—”

  “We’d better do it sooner rather than later,” Bert Two finished for him. “We don’t like the intrusiveness of it, but we’d be better off now if we had an image of the culprit who started this fire.”

  “We’ll talk with Sheriff Calhoun about it when he gets here,” Bert said. “And we’ll follow his advice.”

  “Glad to hear it,” Dune agreed.

  “If you get any more trouble, don’t hesitate to call the station.” Sydney gave everybody a smile, then walked over to the booster, stepped up, and sat down inside.

  Dune climbed up and sat beside her. “Are you doing okay?”

  She took off her rubber boots and rubbed the soles of her feet through the thick socks. “I won’t lie to you, I’m really glad to be sitting down again.”

  “Let’s get you home where you can put your feet up.”

  “But there’s so much to do.”

  “Remember, you’ve got help now.” He squeezed her hand, then started the rig and put it into gear.

  “Thanks.” She gave a quick wave to the group, then reached down and pulled her cell phone out of her purse. “I’d better send a quick text to Hedy so she’ll know everything is okay here.”

  “Good idea.”

  She let her fingers fly over the keys, reading as she wrote, “Drive-in fire under control. Not much damage. Headed back.”

  A moment later, Hedy texted back, “Good. See you soon.”

  Dune chuckled as he glanced over at Sydney. “That Bert never gives up, does he?”

  She laughed at the thought. “It’s Christmas, and the best present anybody could give Bert is a visit from Hedy.”

  “Let’s put it on our to-do list.”

  “Okay. Let’s do it.”

  As he drove by the snack shed, he pointed toward it. “There’s something else I want to put on our to-do list.”

  “What?”

  “Another dance with you.”

  She smiled, feeling warmth unfurl deep within her as she imagined slow-dancing in his arms again. “Only one?”

  Chapter 15

  As Dune drove toward Wildcat Bluff, he kept noticing Sydney’s silk-and-lace green slip on the booster’s dashboard. Neither of them had touched it. He kept expecting her to try to take it back, but she hadn’t—at least not yet. She might as well not go there, because he planned to keep that little bit of her. It’d smell like her, remind him of her, and he could relive the way it had caressed all the naked curves of her body just the way he wanted to do with his hands.

  He abruptly stopped those thoughts. He didn’t need to go down that road right now. He hadn’t acted like a professional firefighter about the slip, but that striptease she’d done in the rig had set him on fire. It was a wonder with his distraction that he’d been able to safely drive. A little more and he’d have had to pull over to the side of the road and stop the rig till she was completely covered up.

  Truth of the matter, he’d thought it was her body that had pushed him into overdrive, but now he was beginning to believe it was every little thing about her. She was funny, brave, strong, and flat-out irresistible to him in so many different ways.

  He thought about her earlier actions. Most folks would have gone home, put up their feet, and cradled their daughter to comfort them both after the four-wheeler accident. But not Sydney. And not Storm. Instead, Sydney had gone off to fight a fire, and Storm’s family had rallied around her. They were both chips off the old Steele block, and their family was nothing if not tenacious. No way around it, the more time he spent in Wildcat Bluff County, the more he admired and liked the down-home residents. What had been a pit stop was fast becoming a way of life.

  He glanced over at her, wondering about her quietness. She’d laid her head back against the seat, as if too tired to hold the weight of it upright. He understood. It’d been a long, hard day. He wanted nothing more than to go home with h
er, take a hot shower with her, and get into bed with her. He’d even settle for a comforting snuggle, since it’d be with her. But that wasn’t within the realm of possibility, so he set the thought aside for a later time.

  “Do you want me to take you straight to your house?” he asked as he refocused his thoughts. “Hedy’ll have the station’s bay door open since we let her know we’re on our way, but we could swing by your place first.”

  “I doubt that’ll work for me. I need to pick up Storm at the café before I go home.”

  “Tell you what, I can leave the rig at the station, then I’ll drive you wherever you want to go in my pickup.”

  “Thanks.” She raised her right hand and covered a yawn. “But I don’t want to put you out any more than I already have today.”

  “It’s no trouble.”

  “Sure it is, but I’m tempted to take you up on your offer.”

  “Do it then.”

  “Slade can get away from the café to help me.”

  “No point in taking up his time when I’m ready, willing, and able to transport you.” He glanced over at her again to see her response as well as hear it.

  She rolled her head to one side, looking at him as she smiled slightly. “You’ve been a rock today.”

  “You’d do the same for me.”

  “You name it. I owe you.”

  “You don’t owe me a thing. I’m glad I could help out.”

  “Let me check in with Slade and see how Storm is doing.” She reached down and pulled her phone out of her purse. “Oh, look, Slade sent a text.”

  “What does he say?”

  She swiped her cell screen and then read aloud, “Storm and I are at your place. You okay?”

  “Bet that means Storm is fine.”

  “I won’t know for sure till I see her, but it sounds as if everything is under control.” Sydney hesitated a moment, staring at her phone. “It’d be easier for them if I take you up on your offer.”