Chapter Fifteen
L edger planted his hands on the side of the Davidsons’ steer and gave it a hard shove toward the other end of the pasture. “Yaw! Get!”
It lowed in protest before lumbering a few feet and stopping.
“Goddammit!” He ran up to it and slapped it again, sending the beast into a slow jog. He watched it go for a moment, expecting it to stop again, but to his relief, it continued toward safety.
Colton pushed several more past Ledger. The heat of the fire had sweat pouring down him as much as the urgency of the situation. Davidson had a hundred head of cattle all around the field. Who knew how many they’d gotten to safety—or how many had panicked and run into the wall of flames.
Ledger’s phone buzzed three times before he realized he was getting a call. With an eye fixed on the wildfire, he brought the phone up to his ear.
“Bell.”
“It’s Webb. How are things? Do you need me?”
“Of course we do. There are a lot of fucking cows in this field. But we needed you to protect the ranger and her daughter more. Someone took out their loved one in the most brutal of ways, and they could be next.”
For a long heartbeat, Zach was silent. Then in a low voice filled with gravity, he said, “I won’t let you down.”
His phone beeped twice with an incoming call. “Look, I gotta go. It’s Meadow.”
Without saying goodbye, he answered Meadow. “What’s going on? Is Demi okay?”
“Ledger! Thank god you answered your phone. I called Colton four times!”
Fear froze in his veins. “What’s the matter?”
“We just heard over the police scanner that the wind shifted. The Peterson ranch is on fire. Demi is there!”
His stomach bottomed out. “What?” He barely choked out the word. “When? What for?”
He told her to stay put. For her safety and that of their child. She’d agreed. Yet she’d gone to help the rancher with his cattle?
Meadow answered his question in her next breath. “There’s a breech calf. But you need to get to her. I know she’s having your baby!”
That galvanized him. Those two lives were far more important than any cattle left in the pasture. He took off at a dead run.
As he sprinted, his feet pounded the earth. He no longer heard the crackle of fire razing everything in its path. He couldn’t hear his own heart slamming against his ribs.
He only felt the love for Demi and their child throbbing in his core. When he lost his best friend and most of his SEAL team, he forced away all those emotions. He hoped he’d never feel again for fear of being hurt.
Then Demi stormed into his life like a mini tornado made of steel and passion. She breathed life back into him, and made him feel.
Reaching the truck, he threw himself behind the wheel. Colton had left the key in the ignition, and he cranked the engine. Before it fully rolled over, he slammed it into gear and raced off the ranch.
Part of him regretted leaving his brother-in-arms behind, but Colton was smart. Resourceful. He wouldn’t let the fire circle him—he’d get the hell out of there and save himself first. And he’d understand why Ledger had to go.
He couldn’t drive fast enough. And all his calls to Demi went straight to her voicemail.
Again, he’d fucked up by allowing duty to his brothers and to the ranch cloud his decisions. Every damn time he and Demi were apart, the world went up in flames. In this case, literally.
He took the Petersons’ driveway at top speed. The truck fishtailed on loose gravel and dirt. From here, he could see the orange blaze lighting up the sky. The whole place looked to be burning.
He had to get as close as possible. He skidded sideways around a bend in the lane that led to the back field. His headlights washed over a black shape.
A figure.
No, a man.
As Ledger rolled past him, he saw the man was just standing there, his phone up, shooting a video of the fire.
No way was this an innocent bystander. The guy was responsible for setting that fire and was enjoying the destruction he wrought.
In a split second, Ledger had to make a choice—get the man or save the woman he loved.
He stomped on the gas, gunning for the man. But at the last minute, he swerved, leaving the man to choke on his dust. He hoped that he did too.
Edging the vehicle closer and closer to the flames, he saw the impossibility of anybody being left standing in that field.
Cold fear froze his veins. It was too much like the battlefield. The noise, the confusion…got to him.
He couldn’t let them.
He steeled himself. He knew with every cell in his body that Demi was in there, and she was more important than his feelings.
He moved a few more feet before the flames blocked his path. He jumped out, bellowing Demi’s name at the top of his lungs. His throat seared with the strain. His heart throbbed.
His body shook with a cough as smoke filled his lungs. He threw his forearm over his nose and mouth, saw a break in the flames…and shot through the gap to save the mother of his unborn child.
* * * * *
The low growl of an engine sounded from across the field. It was too loud to be a truck—it had to be an ATV or a…
She strained to see through the wall of smoke.
A…tractor?
Her heart soared, and she whipped around to face the rancher. “We’re saved! Your wife’s coming with the tractor!”
Jeff had a terrific partner to walk the path of life with him. So did Demi. Whether tackling diapers or pulling a calf at the crack of dawn, Ledger had her six too.
With the newborn calf on his shoulders, Jeff peered harder into the gray void. He shook his head. “That’s not Robin! It’s not our tractor!”
“I don’t give a damn who it is! We aren’t going to die today!” The smoke filled her lungs, and she exploded into a coughing fit, bending forward with the force of it.
Oh no. This couldn’t be good for the baby. But human bodies were resilient—their child would be fine.
“Doc! Take this. Cover your nose and mouth.” He thrust a handkerchief into her hand. Clean or dirty, she didn’t care. She cupped it to her face and they ran toward the tractor.
The big equipment bore down on them at a fast clip. The headlights sliced through the darkness and smoke, glaring into Demi’s eyes.
She lifted a hand to shield her vision, squinting at the person in the seat.
Shock tore through her, followed by relief so strong that she stumbled. She caught herself and managed to run up to the side of the tractor.
Sean Gracey, Meadow and Ivy’s father, was at the controls. He waved frantically at her to climb into the cab with him. Shocked beyond words at how uncharacteristic it was for the pushover of a man to come to her rescue, she stood there for a moment, frozen.
She’d analyze it all later—right now, she had to save more than her own life.
She gestured wildly to the cow.
“Put her in the bucket!”
He quickly lowered the lift. Jeff ran over and settled the calf on the ground, then rushed back to shoo the cow toward the tractor. With Demi’s help, they managed to get her scooped in, lying on her side. Jeff lay the calf on top of her.
Demi jumped into the cab with Mr. Gracey and reached a hand down for Jeff. Gripping the side of the cab and balancing on the metal step up, he hollered, “Go!”
They rolled a few feet. Wind blasted from the side, blinding them with smoke and flames.
She saw something dart past. More cattle?
She caught a snatch of a voice, low and barely audible over the grind of the tractor engine and the roar of the fire.
“Eeee! Eeee!”
She scanned the landscape but could see nothing.
“Meee! Meee!”
Her name.
Someone was screaming her name.
She threw out a hand, grabbing Mr. Gracey’s shoulder. “Stop! It’s Ledger!”
He brought the tractor to a halt. Out of the smoke emerged a figure. Arm thrown across his face, he ran straight for the tractor.
Relief blasted through Demi at the sight of her lover. He craned his neck to see her high in the seat. For a split second, their gazes locked. Then he threw himself into the bucket with the cattle.
Mr. Gracey took off, running the gears as fast as he could manage. Cough after cough exploded from her, each searing her lungs with shards of pain.
She struggled to draw enough air to fill her lungs, but she still gave it her all.
She swayed forward, gasping. Jeff grabbed her and held her steady.
When they broke free of the thick smoke, Sean amped up the speed. They bumped across the pasture. She steeled her core muscles to keep from bouncing out of the seat.
As soon as she saw the red lights of firetrucks slicing across the barn and house, she let out a sharp cry. Her mind was fogged, grappling with the confusion of the past hour and the rush of adrenaline still pumping through her veins.
Mr. Gracey stopped the tractor. Jeff leaped to the ground and all of a sudden, Ledger stood in his place, soot etched in the creases of his face, and concern dark in his eyes. He reached for her, and she allowed him to pull her out of the cab and assist her to the ground.
Coughing hard, she leaned on him for support.
“Medic!” His bellow shook her. In that moment, she could all too well imagine Ledger in the thick of a battle, cradling his best friend as he struggled for his last breath.
She settled a hand on his cheek and stared into his eyes. For a split second when she wasn’t coughing, she tried to convey her strength to him.
His eyes slipped shut. Then he whipped her into his arms and ran with her to the rescue unit that rolled up to the house.
Everything became a blur of activity. She caught sight of Jeff and some firemen unloading the cow and her calf from the tractor bucket before Demi was settled in the back of the ambulance with Ledger gripping her hand and barking orders at the medics to help her.
Someone placed an oxygen mask on her, and she dragged the precious air into her lungs, taking slow breaths for her baby’s sake.
“She’s pregnant. We need to make sure the baby’s all right too.” Ledger’s tone came out with a harsh knife’s edge.
She shifted her hand from the bed she lay on to locate his. When she clamped her fingers on his callused ones, he swung his attention to her. His eyes filled with tears.
“I can’t lose you.”
She shook her head to indicate that she wasn’t about to leave the man she loved. She had a baby to raise with him.
In the hospital, Ledger refused to leave her side. They continued to give her oxygen to aid her breathing. When they first placed the doppler on her belly and located the baby’s heartbeat, relief swallowed her.
Tears leaked from her eyes, and she was helpless to stop them. That sound was such sweet music. The sound of life. Of their future.
The nurse gave her a smile. “Your baby sounds strong. We’ll get you back to imaging for an ultrasound just to be sure everything looks okay.”
Ledger met Demi’s stare. His eyes were bloodshot, his expression grim. But love and hope gleamed through it all.