17. Sorrel
SORREL
Beep..beep..beep.
I try to pry my eyes open but they won’t stay put. Every time they open, I see flashes of white. They flutter closed again. I try opening them again. I see a blurry face. I hear beeping noises. Where am I?
“Honey, are you awake?”
I think I am.
This time I open my eyes and they stay open. My throat burns and my head hurts.
“My head hurts,” I say to whoever is standing above me.
“Okay, I’ll call the nurse, darlin’. Don’t move.”
Darlin’. Must be Dad.
“Where are we?”
“We’re in the hospital. Do you remember what happened? Actually, don’t answer that. It might make your head hurt worse. Where the hell is the fucking nurse?”
“Is she awake?”
I hear a high-pitched frantic voice.
“Why didn't you tell me she’s awake? Sorrel, Mama’s here, baby.”
I turn to see Mom. She’s holding clothes, a hairbrush, and a makeup bag.
“I brought your stuff so we could fix ya up a little. Oh, thank you Jesus for waking up my baby girl.”
“Thanks?” I rasp.
The nurse comes in now.
“Fucking finally,” Dad says.
The nurse checks my vitals. “Hi, hun, we’re going to get you taken care of. I already let the doctor know you’re awake.”
“My head hurts,” is all I say back.
“I’ll get you something for your head and the doctor will be in soon.”
The nurse leaves the room. Mom and Dad are both staring at me with pained looks on their faces.
“So, is anyone gonna tell me what happened?”
Mom comes over and takes my hand in hers. “Honey, there was a fire. You got knocked unconscious trying to get Duke out.”
It all comes rushing back to me. The fire. Huck in the barn with a can of fuel spreading it around. Me trying to get the horses out. Denton trying to help me.
Wait, Denton was there.
“What happened to Denton? Is he okay?” I ask frantically.
“I’m okay Sorrel.”
I hear his voice from the corner of the room. It’s raspy and quiet but it’s him. I crane my neck up to see him sitting in a chair in the corner of the room.
“He’s been here the whole time, Sorrel,” Mom says.
“Yeah, refused to leave to even take a shower.” Dad rolls his eyes.
“Everyone else is in the waiting room. They only let three of us in here at a time, but we’ve all been with you, waiting for you to wake up, sweetheart.”
Mom brushes my face gently and tears start welling in her eyes.
“I’m okay Mama.” I give her hand a squeeze.
She turns around to hide her tears from me.
She takes a deep breath before saying, “You’re okay.” Mostly to reassure herself, I think.
Dad gives me a gentle kiss on my head before putting his arm around Mom, leading her to the door.
“Let’s give them a minute,” he whispers to her.
Denton comes over to the side of my bed and takes my hand into his. He holds on so tight like any moment I might slip out of his grasp.
“God, Sorrel, I was so scared you weren't gonna wake up.” He clears his throat, holding back tears. “They said you had a concussion and they were going to keep you asleep to make sure you didn't have a brain bleed. The last three days felt like a lifetime.”
“It’s been THREE DAYS? Fuck, we missed the rodeo.”
He lets out a hoarse laugh that turns into a fit of coughing. “You don’t need to worry about that right now, Sorrel. Just focus on getting better.”
I give him a sad smile. “Well, I ain’t getting my entry fees back. And your voice—is it gonna be okay?” I ask concerningly.
“Doctors say they don’t know, only time will tell…”
“God, Denton, I’m so sorry. I feel awful. This is all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault, Sorrel. They said it was a freak accident. Natural combustion or something like that.”
“No–it was Huck! I saw him! He had a can of fuel. He started the fire!” I say too loudly, reaching for my throat as it feels like hot coals are being poured down.
Rage spreads across Denton’s face. “The ranch hands pulled us out and the fire truck got there before it could spread, but the barn is gone, Sorrel.”
My heart cracks. The barn used to be my favorite place. Huck ruined it for me and now he burned it to the ground. But in a strange way, hearing that, I feel relieved. Set free. I’ll never have to look at it again and think of that night.
“We’ll build another one,” I tell him and pull my blankets up over my neck, a chill coming over my body.
“Why would they think it was natural combustion? There was a fire in the field so obviously someone had to have started both.”
“I guess there had been a lightning storm that night before we got to the ranch. I remember seeing it in the distance as we were driving but didn't think anything of it.”
In the summer, fires are caused by lightning from time to time, so it’s not uncommon. It’s also the perfect alibi.
“It wasn't lightning. It was Huck. I saw him do it.”
“I believe you,” he says, giving my hand a tight squeeze.
Knock knock knock.
“Charli!” I yell too loudly, my throat burning again.
She comes running over and jumps on top of me. I give her a big hug and breathe her in. She smells like honey and her tan skin is glowing.
“Well, you sure look a lot better than me,” I quip.
“Oh, stop it right now, Sorrel! You’re beautiful and you’re alive! What the fuck, Sorrel, I was so scared. Don’t you ever do that to me again!”
I let out a raspy laugh. “I’ll try not to get caught in any more fires I promise.”
“Good. Now where’s that makeup bag your mama brought? Let's get you cleaned up. Denton, she's awake now and we need some girl time. Out.” She points to the door with a hand on her hip.
I raise my shoulders and mouth, “Sorry.”
“I’ll be back in an hour,” he promises me.
Charli helps me get up to wash my face and brush my hair. My skin looks so dull and dry. It’s like the fire has shriveled me up into a raisin. I truly am grateful to be alive though.
Luckily most of the horses had been turned out to pasture so only six horses were in the barn when the fire broke out.
When I couldn't get Duke out of his stall, I thought I was going to have to leave him to die in that fire. I never would have forgiven myself if he had died. He’s my heart horse in every way possible and I want as much time with him as I can get.
I’m still in shock that Huck did this. I shouldn't be thinking about it right now but enough is enough. It’s time for him to pay for all the hurt he’s caused me and my family.
I’m sitting on the hospital bed while Charli does my makeup when I hear a squeal.
I open my eyes to see it’s Sable. We hug and cry and then she helps Charli finish my makeup that I’ve now ruined with my tears.
I tell them everything that happened. Charli suggests we give her dad a call to get some advice on what to do from this point forward. He’s a detective and a damn good one.
I go into details of that night only telling him about the fire and how I saw Huck starting it in the barn. He tells us to make a report with the sheriff's office ASAP and they should have him in cuffs by tonight. Let’s see his parents try to get him out of this one.
A few days later, I’m finally discharged from the hospital.
I can’t wait to get home and see Trotter and Sutton.
Because of Trotter's age he wasn't allowed to see me in the hospital and he’s been asking for Auntie Sor Sor, Sable told me. I tried to FaceTime him but I’ve been in and out of sleep the last few days.
The fire took a toll on my body and every time I called Sutton or she called me, one of us was taking a nap.
Denton stayed with me for the rest of my stay in the hospital other than for his doctors’ appointments.
He has a nasty burn on his hand from trying to open Dad’s office door.
Thank God he got that fire extinguisher or I’m not sure we would have made it out.
If his vocal cords don’t heal, I’ll never be able to forgive myself for getting him into this mess.
What will he do with his life? I try not to let my mind go there.
He seems to be in good spirits about everything so I’ll try and stay positive.
I’m so excited Sable is back at the ranch right now and I guilted her into staying and taking care of her poor sick sister.
She’s going to stay in my cabin with me to help me while I’m recovering.
I laugh to myself when I think about her and Denton bickering over who’s going to take care of what.
They’ve been going at it while I was in the hospital.
She’s a little fireball. Whatever man marries her will never live a boring day in his life.
I let Denton drive me home from the hospital since it will probably be pretty chaotic with everyone home at the ranch now.
We won’t get much time alone, which I’m kind of disappointed about.
While we're driving, he reaches over for my hand.
I don't stop him. I look up at him and give him a small smile.
“I’m really happy we're both still here, Sorrel.”
“Me too.” I rub my thumb back and forth across his hand while we drive the rest of the way home in silence.
His voice is still rough and it hurts him to talk.
I’ll make him Mama’s tea recipe when we get back to the ranch.
It’s kind of like a Starbucks medicine ball with way more honey.
She would always make it for us any time we had a sore throat growing up.
That makes me wonder if he let his family know he was in the hospital.
Did they come visit him while I was asleep?
“Did you tell your family what happened?”
“No, I didn’t want to worry them. My mom would freak out and hop on the first plane here.”
That makes me smile, knowing he has people that care for him.
“Yeah, I don’t blame you. I’m sure my mom was a total mess when she got to the hospital.”
Denton chuckles and side eyes me.
Oh gosh, I bet she went psycho on all of the nurses and doctors. I don’t even want to know.
When we pull into the ranch, there’s a deputy’s truck parked in front of the main house. I assume he’s here to talk to both me and Denton. Sable is sitting with the deputy on the porch. When we walk up, it almost feels like we’re interrupting something. I give her a sly smile.
“Hello, I’m Deputy Ryan. Len sent me out to get your statements about the night of the fire.”
I frown and wonder why Len didn't come out with him.
We both shake his hand and take our seats in the rocking chairs while he pulls one over to face us. Sable slinks away taking one more glance at deputy Ryan.
“So, please explain in detail what you remember from that night.”
We both do our best to explain the sequencing of everything that happened. There are some fuzzy parts but I know without a doubt who set the fire.
Deputy Ryan scribbles in a notebook while we recount the night.
“So, you’re saying for a matter of fact, this was Huck Kenzington who started it?”
“Yes, I saw him with the fuel can. Starting it with a lighter and continuing to spread the fuel all over the barn.”
“And you? Can you say for sure it was him?” he asks Denton.
He rubs the back of his neck. “I saw someone in a cowboy hat—black one—but I didn’t see their face.”
“All right, well, that should be enough to bring him in.”
We look at each other and our faces light up.
“Thank you so much Deputy Ryan. Please keep us posted,” Denton says as they stand and shake hands again.
“Will do. Sorrel, take care of yourself. Try not to worry too much. We have your backs.”
He tips his hat before leaving and his eyes wander over to Sable who’s walking out of the pasture with Dad’s old rope horse, Cowboy. My lips roll inward, holding back a smile, seeing there’s clearly something there between them.
When he’s gone, I sink into the chair and let out a long breath.
Knowing Huck will be behind bars and can’t cause trouble for us anymore makes me want to cry with relief.
I think Denton feels the same way too, because the expression on his face looks a little lighter as we rock back and forth in silence.
My gaze lingers on where the barn used to be.
It’s nothing but ash now. Dad’s office and who knows what documents were in there—all gone.
Tack and saddles, all of it lost to the fire.
But the horses are safe—turned out to pasture now.
My heart twitches when I look back at Denton.
He’s watching me with a hazy smile. I’m so grateful to be alive, and here with him.