Chapter 41 Lina
lina
We reached the double-wide before we could reach the stables.
I followed Reed into the yard where the hitching post and paddock were.
I immediately thought of Romy and baby Charli, my eyes searching for where we left her fighting the flames.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her sitting on the ATV with Charli in her arms. She looked spent, but they were safe, even if the land wasn’t.
As soon as we pulled up to the hitching post, Reed swung down from Warrior, tying the horses to the post before he drew Penn into his arms. I nearly slid off Mushu needing to get to him. Needing to feel both of them. Needing to know they were okay.
“Reed,” I croaked, rushing into his arms.
His hand went to my face, his eyes full of concern. “Are you all right?”
“I’m okay. Are you hurt?” I asked.
“No.” He shook his head.
I looked at Penn, wiping the soot off her brow. She covered her mouth as she coughed.
“Fuck, Reed, I’m so sorry.”
“For what, sweetheart?” His brow cinched in confusion.
“For wasting time. I wasted so much of our time.”
“Oh, baby, no. You didn’t.”
“Yes, and I almost lost you—both of you.”
“Lina.” He pulled me against him, and I buried my face into his shoulder, letting my tears fall.
“It was my heart, Reed.” I cried, tipping my face up to look at him. “My heart has been yours since the very first moment I saw you. You’ve been mine all this time, and I wasted that time being hurt and angry, instead of just letting you love me.”
“Oh, Lina.”
Tears were now escaping the corners of his eyes. He cupped my cheek. I leaned into it, wanting to feel the roughness and strength of him. To live a life never to feel those hands again … I didn’t even want to imagine it.
“I’ve never felt love like you’ve shown me,” he confided, “wild and free, formidable and powerful. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were it for me, sweetheart.”
I choked a sob. “Reed. I don’t know how you were able to wait so patiently for me. You knew, didn’t you?”
“That you were mine?”
I nodded into his palm, barely trusting my voice to ask, “When? When did you know?”
“When you walked in with those Daisy Dukes in the Saddle Room. It was like my whole world went still. And then I knew.” The fire flickered in his midnight eyes, and I felt as though I was getting lost in them all over again, just like I had all those months ago.
“I didn’t know how broken I was until you stood in front of me, offering yourself to me.
I didn’t know love could hurt and heal all at the same time. ”
“Reed.” I cried. “I know. I was so hurt because I was in love with you from the very start.” Penn nuzzled against my neck, a little yawn escaping her mouth. “I fell in love with you both. I love you so much, Reed. Even if it meant I had to fall and break all over again, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
“I’m not perfect.”
“Neither am I.”
“I’m going to mess up sometimes.”
“And you know I’ll call you on it.”
He huffed a laugh that turned into a hacking cough. “I’ve never had someone believe in me so much. Someone willing to stick by my side and love me, even when it hurts.”
I wiped a tear from his eye, smearing the soot. “Loving you is worth it to me. All the hurts and pains.”
“I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d decided it was too much.”
I sucked in a breath. It felt like a dozen tiny splinters in my throat. “You and Penn are worth it to me. A love like this is worth it.”
I pushed up on my tiptoes, pressing a kiss to his mouth.
“I love you, Lina Larsen,” he whispered against my lips.
“I love you, cowboy.”
I laid my head on his shoulder, staring up at him and Penn. They filled my vision, glowing in the firelight. I reached up to her, brushing the soot away from her eyes. “My cowboy and my princess.”
Sirens sounded in the distance, getting closer. Lights flickered against the orange smoke.
“Look, Daddy and Lina! Fire trucks!” Penn perked up, pointing at the fire engines that were pulling up.
Dad and Jude came leading the trucks up the drive on horseback. They both looked windswept and exhausted, their eyes full of terror.
Jude swung off his horse the fastest. “Where’s Romy?” His eyes were wide with panic.
“We saw the fire and went to the house first, but they weren’t there,” Dad explained.
“Romy.” I sniffed. “She was trying to help me put out the fire …”
“Romy!” Jude cried, turning on his heels and rushing toward the fire before I could tell him she was okay.
Dad tied the horses to the post, and we all took off after Jude. The wail of the sirens screamed, piercing our ears. All of us covered our mouths, coughing as the smoke burned our lungs. We could see the fire spreading, consuming the forest and eating up every dry inch of ranch land it could touch.
“Dad, the ranch.” My heart was breaking.
“I know, darlin’,” he rasped as we jogged toward the flames. Every instinct in our bodies told us to run the other way.
“Romy!” Jude cried again, seeing her now holding Charli beside the fire truck while they were examined for injury.
“Jude!” She sobbed, running toward him.
They crushed each other in an embrace, Jude peppering kisses on their faces while she wept.
My lungs were about ready to give out. I stopped, bending over to wheeze.
“Lina?” Reed asked in concern, resting his hand on my back.
“I’m okay,” I said, catching my breath. I leaned against Reed. “The ranch …”
“I know, sweetheart.”
More emergency vehicles started pulling up, firefighters unloading, rolling out hoses. The whop-whop of a helicopter overhead, hidden by the night and the thick smoke, flew in. My ears roared as I watched everyone desperately trying to save the forest … trying to save the ranch.
I intertwined my fingers with Reed’s, holding on to him, drawing strength from him while I watched my land burn.
His hand flexed in mine, tightening his grip. “He’s not going to get away with this.” He whispered it so quietly, I barely heard him.
I pumped my hand in his grasp. “No, no he’s not.”