Chapter 26
WARREN
When one Shay hurts, all of us do. And I’ve never been more proud and grateful to have my family than when I see them draw a circle of protection around Mara and Emmaline.
Like they did today. Momma and Dove showed up on our doorstep this afternoon with husbands behind them, bearing wool, ribbons, and lace, and announced to a bewildered Mara that the ladies were going to knit blankets for both Emmaline and Dove’s unborn baby while the menfolk took all their “dry, boring talk” to the porch.
I didn’t mind being kicked out of my own house because it’d do Mara good to have some time with just the women.
I even took Patches and Emmaline with me so she wouldn’t have any distractions.
I know everyone’s been worried about her.
So was I. A full week of nothing breaking through her misery?
That was honestly unsettling as hell because I didn’t know how to fix it aside from hunting Blackwood down right then and there.
That’s all about to change, though, because now there’s less than a week until the poker tournament.
I even put two new shiny brass shells just for him in the double barreled shotgun hanging over the fireplace.
Right alongside our family portrait and the six of spades I carved for her.
“Hey there, little miss.” Pop plays peekaboo from the rocking chair at my left, pulling a high pitched squeal from his granddaughter every time his face is revealed.
I catch Mara’s gaze through the window and help Emmaline wave a chubby fist to her.
She waves back with a soft smile and then holds up a yellow square of wool for my mother’s inspection.
“Am I doing it right?” Her voice is a little muffled through the glass, but I can still make out every word. “It looks crooked to me.”
“Exactly like that,” Momma answers warmly. “A little crookedness doesn’t hurt a thing when it’s made with love.”
Guess the love’ll make up for how loose it is, too. I’m proud of my wife, though. For someone who never learned how to knit, she sure is taking to it. And she looks fetching as hell doing it, especially in an apron that highlights her waist and hips.
“Jed, lookahere,” I call when Emmaline stands on my thighs and bounces up and down just like a pent-up spring.
So damn cute. But when my brother doesn’t answer me, it only takes me one second to realize he likely won’t hear a word I say.
It’s a wonder he doesn’t fall off the porch railing as he stares through the window at Dove with a lovestruck smile plastered on his face.
Part of me’s jealous, because what would it be like if my wife was in the family way? Emmaline’s mine, through and through, but I can’t help but wish I could have been there with Mara for all of it instead of just the birthing.
Maybe one day.
Emmaline’s still jumping like a jack rabbit, so I nudge my brother’s foot. Nothing. This time I try a kick, and he loses his balance and pitches forward. Guess I got his attention now.
“The hell was that for?”
His scowl is pretty impressive, but at this point, Emmaline’s traded her grasshopper legs for limp worms and given up her antics, so I just shrug. “You hoping for a boy or a girl?”
The mention of his baby wipes all traces of irritation from his face, and he takes the rocker next to me when Pop leaves it to play fetch with Patches.
“Was hoping for a boy, but now that I see how dang cute Emmaline is, I’m not as sure.
Hey there, Little Bit.” He smiles real big as she grabs his finger and gnaws on it.
“Sure is a good thing you look like your momma and not your papa here.”
“Hey!” This time I target his stomach with an elbow, and Emmaline’s instant giggles make me do it again, much to Jed’s dismay.
“What in hell you doing that for?” he gasps.
“Makes my baby laugh. Now quit dodging me and let me do it again.”
“The hell? How about I do it to you and we see if she thinks it’s just as funny?”
“Boys.” Pop calls a dry warning that makes us feel like we’re young’uns again, but his slight grin at our horseplay dampens any real hint of seriousness.
My brother leans back, and a soft look settles his brow as he watches Emmaline lay on my chest before popping her head back up. “Boy or girl…don’t matter none to me. I’ll be happy with either one because nothing that woman does is anything less than perfect. Know what I mean?”
“I do. I—” Patches barks, but it’s different from his playful ones. A heartbeat later, hoofbeats and yelling ring out from behind the house. “The hell is going on? Is that smoke?”
When the rider comes around, I can see it’s Dalton, arm waving wildly as he points behind him. “Fire! Fire in the back field!”
The back field…where the haystacks for the cattle are.
Dry, very flammable haystacks.
“Holy hell.” Pop, Jedidiah, and I exchange grim looks as I suck in a harsh breath, and in the next, I rush back inside the house, Emmaline held securely to my chest. “There’s a fire out by the haystacks,” I tell the shocked women with more calm than I feel as I pass our daughter to Mara.
“Stay here until we get this under control. If it gets closer, y’all take that shotgun, get in the wagon, and head towards town. ”
Mara catches my arm. “Be careful.”
“Always,” I swear. “But I’ve got to keep my girls safe first.” I press a quick kiss to her worried lips and another to Emmaline’s forehead. Mara holds back her thoughts, but I can see the storm in her eyes. “I’ll be back before you know it. Promise.”
I squeeze her fingers and give her one last kiss before catching up to Jed and Pop at the barn. It’s a melee, with more ranch hands dashing for the buckets and blankets as we saddle up the horses.
“I don’t even know how it started.” Dalton’s words trip out of his mouth as he shakes his head. “None of us were even over there, so I don’t know what could have done it.” His voice dies off, but we all hear the confusion. Fires don’t just start out of nowhere.
When we get to the field, we quickly join the men in the fight to suppress the flames. And what a fight it is. Every time one blaze gets extinguished, another forms right behind it.
“It just won’t fucking stop,” I growl in frustration. If the land and crops are damaged, so be it. But I can’t let it reach the house. Land and crops can grow back. Not the same for my family.
Pop wipes sweat from his face and points to the sky. “Rain’s a’coming.”
“What?” I drag my shirt over my own face. When I see the dark clouds, a wild grin spreads. “It’s about to rain, boys!” I whoop.
“C’mon,” someone yells. “Keep going!” We’re all exhausted, shoulders and backs aching, but now we push forward with renewed determination.
First there’s a rumble of thunder. Rain falls in fat droplets, then pours in sheets as if the heavens had opened up. “Yeah!” I throw my hat into the air and do a victory dance.
“Guess the good Lord knew we’d be needing this rain.” Pop’s heavy hand claps my back.
“I reckon he—” A gunshot cracks through the air, and my heart stops for a minute.
Jed jerks his head up. “Did that come from…?”
“The house,” Pop says roughly before we all take off running for the horses, Dalton close on our heels.
Thunder.
So much thunder.
Thunder from the sky.
From the horses’ galloping hooves.
From my own pounding heart as a sickening suspicion about the fire’s origin forms. Very convenient that it got all the men out of the house and left the women there alone. If anything’s happened to Mara or Emmaline…
I spur my horse to go faster when I see Momma on the porch holding my shotgun in one hand and waving urgently at us with the other. She and Dove are shouting something at us, but I can’t make it out. Even Patches paces restlessly.
Why isn’t Mara with them?
“He took them!” Momma yells as I vault off my horse and storm up the steps. “He took Mara and Emmaline!”
A ringing buzzes in my ears as my vision turns spotty. Or maybe it’s the raindrops. Someone shakes me.
“…hear me? They’re gone!”
By the time I suck in a huge breath and come back to myself, Jed’s come up and has a careful hand to Dove’s belly. A sharp, aching agony pierces my chest. Where’s my wife and child?
“Who?” I rasp, grabbing hold of Momma’s shoulders more to anchor myself than to reassure her. “Who took them?”
“That man! That man with the gloves she’s been worried about!” Momma lifts a shaky wrist to show us marks left by rope burn. “If I’d had the gun closer, I’d have shot his damn head off before he could snatch up Emmaline. He even kicked Patches when he tried to protect us.”
“No!” I bellow, whirling around to look at the long, empty drive where he must have taken off with them.
Bile burns the back of my throat when I imagine how terrified she must be.
I’d promised her I’d keep them safe. Told her time and again that she didn’t have to worry about him now that she was with me.
Fucking son of a bitch Blackwood, invading the safe home I made for her.
No…I’m the fucking son of a bitch.
I failed her. Both of them.
Pop squeezes my shoulder. “Keep your head straight, son. Dalton’s gonna stay with your mother and Dove until we get them back.” His jawline sets like flint. “And we will get them back home where they belong.”
He’s right. I close my eyes and push the dread aside, letting cold rage fill me from head to toe. When my eyes open again, Jed’s there holding out my shotgun and another shell. “Pretty sure you’ll only need one, but here’s another just in case. I’ve got the rope.”
With a grim word of thanks, I load it and stare out towards the wet stretch of darkening horizon as another rumble of thunder travels across. “Hold on, Mara. I’m on my way.”