She shifted weight onto her right foot. “What do you want?”
He opened his hands as if to show he was innocent, but he was far from it. “Can’t a guy want to get to know his sister?”
“How did you know I was here? I don’t even live here anymore. I live at father’s Bonner home.”
“I got my ways.”
“You’ve been following me?”
“Nah.” He gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I just happened to be passing by and saw you pull up is all. I wanted to come and have a friendly chat with you. Brother to sister.” He leaned against the doorjamb.
“Don’t call us that. I still don’t believe it’s true. Just because you claim a birthright, doesn’t mean it happened.”
“I got the certificate that says it did.” He stood up from the doorjamb.
“And I suppose you happen to have it on your person so you can prove it on a spur of the moment occasion such as this.”
“Nah. Don’t need to. Get me next to a picture of dearest mother and you’ll see the resemblance.”
“Oh, I saw plenty of resemblance to the man who paid off people to sabotage Great Mountain Lumber Mill last year.”
Luther sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, my pa, he doesn’t like losing. Always trying to find ways to get back at people for things done wrong to him.”
“Like what?” She crossed her arms over her chest and began to tap her toe. She didn’t miss the insinuation he gave that her father had done Sanchez wrong in some way.
“Let me in and I’ll tell you.”
Victoria took a second to consider the ramifications of letting a man like Luther into her father’s home, but when it came down to it, he was her brother. And there were a million questions rolling around in her mind regarding the fact. Like why did he take a job at the mill instead of letting them know he was family? Why hide the relation at first?
She opened up the door wide enough to let him through, and directed him to her father’s study. She shut the door, and followed him. He walked through to the room she’d indicated as if he owned the place, and sat in her father’s chair before the fireplace without even being invited to sit.
“Let’s start with why didn’t you tell us who you were when you first came to Great Mountain?”
Luther adjusted in his seat. “That’s easy. I wanted a job. Wanted to get close to the family who abandoned me.”
“We didn’t abandon you. We didn’t even know you existed.” She glared. He could accuse her all he wanted of protecting what was hers, but she wouldn’t stand for false accusations. “At least I didn’t.”
“Not important.” He waved off her comment.
“So you came for revenge, is that it?” She sat in the chair before him, mimicking his pose the way she’d seen her father do to other men when in meetings.
“Sort of.”
“What do you mean sort of?”
“I’ve lived here my whole life. I only found out about who my birth mother was recently.” Before or after your father tried to destroy Great Mountain?
“Before, but I didn’t know he was doing that until your father banned me for life with him,” Luther scoffed. “As if a businessman could banish someone like a king from a storybook.”
“What do you want?”
“I want what was denied me.”
“A family?”
To her surprise, Luther shook his head. “Nope. I had a family. I was raised by my grandmother. We were a family.” Luther scooted to the edge of his seat. “I want my half of the company.”
“Yes, you’re already trying to steal that from me in court. The problem I’m having is that Great Mountain doesn’t belong to my mother. It belongs to my father, and you aren’t my father’s child.”
“No. I want my father’s half of the company. See, your father took it away from him when he found out about your mother’s affair. Beat him half to death, and tossed me out with him. I’ve come to get my father’s half of the company, and when I do that you’re going to sell me your half and I will own all of it.”
Victoria glared, but inside her head reeled. None of this could be true. Not her father. The teddy bear of a man who sat before her daily and read the paper like and old man needing his slippers. He was a shrewd businessman to be certain, but not the type to beat a man to a bloody pulp, and toss a newborn baby out in the cold.
“You lie.”
Before she could even react, the chair beneath Luther scraped against the wood floor and he grabbed her by the neck and hauled her to her feet. She struggled under his hands to pull away. “I don’t lie. I will have all of Great Mountain and you will sell it to me or I will take it. By force if I have to. But it will be mine eventually.”
Victoria slammed her fists against his arm, but it did nothing to loosen his grip on her neck. She kicked out, but missed his legs. She tried to suck in air, and as she tried a second time, he finally let go.
She gasped and clutched her neck where he’d held her as he left. The damn man wasn’t a brother, he was the devil’s servant. Sent to Victoria to punish her for all her wickedness. Even the wickedness she didn’t regret.
* * * *
Wall stood with hands on hips and studied the black plume in the sky, so different from the gray of the clouds above letting off occasional flashes of lightning. The kind of lightning that stays in the sky long enough to ignite a forest.
“It’s true?” Garrett asked, coming to stand next to him, striking a similar pose as Wall.
Wall glanced in his direction and nodded, and then faced the far-off plume of smoke once more. “The mountain is on fire.”
“How is it looking?”
“Like it’s either going to come straight here, or turn and head up the mountain. There’s no telling at this point.”
“Let’s hope the wind decides to blow against the flames.”
“It’s been a few weeks since Victoria left with the men. At least we’ve been able to get some loads down.”
Wall inclined his head. It had been a few weeks, and with each day he spent away from the woman all he could do was dread the day she’d find out that the driving force behind the fight with the mill just might be his father. He’d half expected her to come chugging back up the mountain roaring mad and ready to fight once her father returned to Montana, and the legal battle raged on. She was bound to discover facts about the truth behind this whole mess once the next court proceeding happened. Wouldn’t she?
What’s happened so far down at the mill? He hadn’t so much as a word from her since she’d left.
“Do you want to keep logging or get the gear loaded up onto the train in case the flames come this way?” he asked Garrett.
“Let’s load what we aren’t going to use, and leave the bare minimum out. I’ll get the boys to get a good pile out tonight, and we’ll get the bucker on the train. Since the loader is already on the car, we’ll be good there. No use stopping operations if the fire goes the other way. The boys brought up the new bateau and a few supplies with the last load. We’ll unload that, and get the machines you built onto the flatcar.”
Wall nodded, and turned toward where the men worked in the trees. Although he was a rivermen, he’d spent many years working as a timber beast. Since his men were still down the river, he was free to work with the beasts again.
He picked up an ax lying on the ground as he neared, and joined a faller as he chopped at the base of a tree. Wall worked, chopping and sawing with the fellow faller, until his muscles strained and sweat began to bead down his face.
Around him, men did the same. Those who normally would be in various jobs around the camp trickled into The Railroad Grove after, Wall assumed, Garrett had instructed them to join in the mass fight for a last load.
They worked this way for the remainder of the day, and a second day. Shortly after breakfast o
n the third day they’d formed a pile large enough to take a decent load down if needed.
Wall stood back, sweat plastering his shirt to his chest as he watched the loader he’d invented pull one log, and then another onto the train. The men assigned to the train worked fast alongside the fallers to stack until the last of the trees was secured on the flatcars with chains, and the load was ready to be taken down.
Wall wanted to sink into the meadow, but more importantly wanted a hot bath and meal, but by the look of the smoke filtering its way toward the camp, he wasn’t going to get that.
In long strides, he headed toward camp, searching for Garrett, but it didn’t take him long to find him.
“We got it done just in time,” Garrett said. “We need to get off the mountain. The fire has turned this way. It’s headed straight at us, and the wind has picked up.”
“Did you tell the Bonner camp?”
“Yep. And the year-round camp. They are getting their gear together now. If all goes well, we should be loaded and headed out within the hour.”
“The women?” Wall knew his friend had everything under control, but he asked the question anyway, just to be certain.
“Beth is with Carrie helping to get her ready. I’ve told them to get in the caboose and stay there. I won’t leave until I know they are onboard.”
“I’ll get my stuff.” Wall took off toward his cabin. His fingers numbed with dread for the future of the camp. A place beloved to many. A home he adored, and one he didn’t want to see charred and barren.
He made short work of getting his gear stowed in his pack, and getting it back to the train. Before long, men began to appear from various camps, all flushed with faces turned down with worry. Most ragged and dusty from a hard day’s work.
Close by, Garrett stood straight and led the march toward the railcars. Wall trotted up to him. “I’m going to run and check by the lake, and Missoula camp.”
“I got the cooks from each camp making certain everyone is out by the end of the hour, but with Aunt June being gone, I’d appreciate it if you’d take a look for Carrie.”
Wall gave a quick salute and took off at a run. First through the cook camp toward the lake. The banks sat empty. To his left the chute sat lifeless. The serenity of the area would have been breathtaking except the smell of smoke and haze starting to choke the air lent an eerie calm.
In the distance, no eagles screeched as they frequently did on a bright summer’s day. No flash of a doe across the water sneaking a drink from the lake, or skitter of a squirrel caught his attention. Instead the animals had long since disappeared. A sign they should have already noticed, except they’d been too busy chopping down trees.
Wall didn’t have time to admire the difference in atmosphere, however. He needed to ensure no one remained in camp by the time the train left.
Turning, he ran toward the cabins. Once certain no one remained there, he took a quick scan of the cook camp, but Carrie had already escaped to the train.
Three horns blasted through the trees when he walked past the women as they boarded the caboose, and then reached the railcar where Garrett stood talking to the men. “All clear in the Missoula camp.”
Garrett nodded and then, with a loud whistle to the conductor, gave him the thumbs up. Wall and the men boarded the train as it began to chug down the line.
Tree’s swished past the open door, one by one, slowly picking up speed as the train began the journey downhill. Relief spread through his chest at the thought that they’d gotten everyone out before the fire reached the camps, and with one final load.
He only hoped it was enough to make Victoria happy with the yearly harvest. Otherwise she was going to be in an even bigger mess than she already believed herself to be in. Especially since she still has the Boilson Mine contract from the year before to meet.
With luck, the harvest, drive, plus whatever she had at the mill would be enough to meet her quota. Or, if luck was on their side, the fire would dwindle out and they could return to work.
By the looks of the smoke, however, he doubted it. A burning started in his gut when he thought of the devastation a fire like that could cause.
And what about his family? He should probably check on them. Their property sat one mountain range away from the flames, but with a hard breeze in the right direction, it could very well affect them as well. At the very least he should send a wire.
Wall forced himself to relax against the side of the railcar and wait out the ride. A few hours later, the familiar sounds of the train pulling into the mill yard filtered through the railcar doors as it inched its way to a stop.
He jumped from the train before it even had a chance to stop, and headed toward where Victoria stood scowling on the steps of the mill office building.
“I saw the smoke from here, but I’d hoped it wasn’t near the camp,” she said when he drew near.
The buzz of the men unloading began to fill the mill yard as he closed the distance to Victoria, and stopped in front of her. “It’s headed straight toward the camp. It will take a miracle if it doesn’t burn down everything.”
Tears filled the corner of her eyes, and she rubbed her forehead. The sounds behind him grew to a deafening degree. Drowning out any possibility of quiet conversation.
Wall motioned toward the door behind her, gently grabbed her elbow, and nodded to urge her to go in. She obeyed.
Following the sounds of her heels on the wood floor after he shut the mill yard noise out with the door behind him, he walked into her office, and to the large window overlooking the yards below.
“It’s all crashing down around me.” Her voice shook with emotion.
“Is your father on his way home?”
“No.” The single word portrayed so much feeling he felt it in his core. “Paul can’t find him. He went over to Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge and now he’s missing.”
“How is that possible?”
She shook her head a little too violently for her curls bounced around her shoulders like they were trying to shake free. “I don’t know. I only found out last night. I haven’t slept. And then Luther…” She choked on whatever words she had left.
He wrapped her in his arms, not caring one bit who saw them from below. She needed him now more than ever. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll go to Seattle together to find your father if we have to. There’s nothing we can do about the fire except wait, and what about Luther?”
“He came to see me yesterday.”
“Is this why you haven’t sent me notes? I haven’t been updated on anything since you left.”
“Yes. Sorry.” She stepped away and dropped into the chair behind her desk. Her hand toying with her neck. “He’s planning to take over the mill completely. He offered to buy me out. Rid me of my half of the burden.” She said the last with a dramatic twinge in her tear-filled voice.
“What did you say to him?”
“I told him that I would take my chances with the court proceeding because none of the company belongs to him.”
Wall reached down and tugged at the curl near her hairline, and then caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. Hoping the motion would help to ease her stress, even a little.
“Let’s start by getting the men situated for the duration of the fire, and then go from there.”
“Yes.” Victoria stood, and swiped the tears from her face. “I’ll tell the Bonner boys to go home and wait for word. The Missoula boys can stay in the bunkhouse or go home if they wish. There’s no telling how long this will last.”
“With luck, not long.”
“Yes, well, I think we’ve established that I am not lucky.” She gave a sad smile that twisted his heart.
“When is the next court proceeding?”
“Next week.” She shook her head. “Father isn’t going to make it home by then. There’s no wa
y. Even if they find him, they wouldn’t have time to get home. I’m hoping mother does. Luckily, she’s safe. I’ve sent word to have her sent back. Maybe she can fix all of this. After all, it is all her fault. She’s the one who had an affair and then abandoned a baby because her husband didn’t want him.”
“I’ll be there.” Not that his presence would do much in way of proving Luther’s illegitimate claims to the mill, but he hoped at least it would boost her spirits.
“Thank you.” She gave him a tired smile. One that didn’t reach her eyes, and made him doubt she felt the same deep connection he did between them. Was he a fool in love with a woman too consumed with work to love him back? Or was she simply tired?
Chapter 11
The sun began to slip over the horizon and bring everything to life. Of course most of what Victoria could usually see was blocked out by the ever-looming fire plume. She raised her small cup of coffee to her lips and watched the mill yard from her office window as she allowed the blessed elixir to give her false hopes of a happy morning.
After Wall left her office a few evenings before, she’d felt better; only to have Aunt June enter with the news that Beth and Carrie were missing and Garrett and Simon had taken horses to go back up the mountain to find them.
So Victoria watched all day yesterday and today.
She studied the roads to the west for her father. The tracks to Seattle for her mother, and the trail leading up the mountain for her men and the two women who’d become friends to her. Perhaps the only friends she’d ever had.
Growing up, she’d maintained a brother and sisterly relationship with Garrett in London. They stuck together out of necessity, being the only Americans around. When she returned, the other women thought her too haughty to befriend, and perhaps she had been.
But last year, at the lumber camp, she’d experienced something she never had before, and then after she’d been a part of bringing Garrett and Beth together. Of course, they didn’t really see one another other than the occasional social event, but that was neither here nor there. They were the only women on earth who would give Victoria even half a care when in the same room. Thus, she considered them her friends. She dreaded the moment a rider would return to tell her the men and women had died in the wretched fire.
Fiery Passion Page 14
