Aiden Colton's Homestead Inferno

Chapter 1

Outside Red Grove, North Dakota

Lucy Harris stood at the edge of the crowd and looked around the Five Steers Ranch.

The dusty pasture, usually silent, was filled with colors and sounds and smells.

Lights were strung from one booth to another.

In a yellow-and-white-striped tent, they were serving lemonade, hotdogs, and fried pickles.

There was a food truck with corn dogs, hamburgers, and sundaes.

There were games as well: ring toss, basketball, balloon darts, and Whac-A-Mole.

A Ferris wheel lit up the sky and the teacup ride spun so fast that the riders passed in a blur.

Her grandfather, Rusty, stood at her side. Patting her back, he leaned in close. “You done good,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of hundreds of people who’d come to the ranch for the Labor Day Fair. “Everyone is having fun, and we’re about to make a boatload of money.”

The cash is what Lucy wanted. By letting Bryant Bros.

Carnivals set up on their property for the long weekend, the Five Steers Ranch would make a whopping fifty thousand dollars.

It was enough to pay all the bills—gas, electric, an outstanding bill due to the veterinarian, the credit cards that had been used to pay for necessities, plus replace the roof and upgrade the heating system in the main house.

But still, her grandfather was right. More even than the money, the fair had brought out everyone in the community.

A group of children ran by, waving glow sticks.

“Everyone is having fun,” she said, leaning her head on her grandfather’s shoulder. His arm was thin, and his collarbone was sharp. When had he become a frail old man?

“How ’bout you?” he asked. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

To be honest, Lucy didn’t like crowds. She preferred quiet ranch days, when it was just her and Grandpa Rusty with the horses and the cattle.

With the fair, the lights were a little too bright.

The music being played, a country-western song, was a little too loud.

It was mixed in with voices until she couldn’t hear her own thoughts.

The scent of everything fried mingled into a miasma that wasn’t appealing.

But once they got the money, it would all be worthwhile.

“I’m having a great time,” she lied.

“You sure?” he asked.

It was sweet of Grandpa Rusty to worry. Lucy smiled. “I’m positive.”

“You should go and meet some of the young people,” he said, nodding toward a group standing in front of wavy mirrors. They pointed at their distorted figures and laughed.

Her heart started to race, and her chest got tight. Lucy tried to draw a breath, but it wouldn’t come. It’d been that way since her brother’s death whenever she thought of meeting someone new. Her hands started to tremble, and she folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t know, Grandpa.”

“What about him?” Her grandfather pointed to the town’s mayor, Ted Barrett.

Ted was as good-looking as they came. Dark blond hair.

Green eyes. He had a trim yet muscular build.

But the guy was born a politician and always shaking someone’s hand or kissing a baby’s cheek.

His constant social schedule left her dizzy.

“No way,” she said. “Could you imagine me as the mayor’s wife? I’d be horrible at the job.”

“I didn’t say you have to marry him,” her grandfather began.

It didn’t matter what Rusty said, she couldn’t imagine leaving the ranch. Five Steers had been in her family for generations. Her bones were made up of the soil. Everyone else in the family might have left, but she was going to stay forever. “I don’t plan to marry anyone, especially the mayor.”

“What about one date?”

Ted waved at Lucy and Rusty. Then, he started walking in their direction.

“Do not say a word,” she whispered to her grandfather.

“What’s that?” Grandpa Rusty cupped a hand over his ear. “I can’t hear a thing. It’s too loud.”

He was joking. Well…she hoped he was.

“There you two are,” said Ted, holding out his palm to Rusty. “Heck of a turnout.”

Her grandfather shook hands with the mayor. “I can’t take any credit for the carnival coming to town. It was all Lucy.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “She’s a gem of a woman. Bringing in the fair was all her idea. If all goes well, we’ll make plenty of money.”

“Having a carnival was just what Red Grove needed.” Ted scanned the crowd. “I’d say that most everyone in town is here tonight.”

“And we still have tomorrow, tomorrow night, Sunday, and Monday left,” Rusty added.

“I’ve eaten more tonight than I did all week.” Ted patted his stomach. “If I keep coming back, I’m going to look like a funnel cake.”

Her grandfather laughed. Lucy smiled politely. Why did her mind go blank whenever she had to make small talk?

“Speaking of food,” said Ted. “Can you judge the pie baking contest, Rusty?” He pointed to the far side of the fairgrounds. “I’d do it myself, but I already judged the barbecue cook-off and I’m stuffed.”

“I’d be happy to,” said Rusty.

“They need you now,” Ted added.

“Then, I better get to it.” Her grandfather took a step away from Ted. She followed.

“Lucy,” said Ted. “Can you hold back a minute? There’s something I’d like to ask you?”

“Have fun, you two.” Her grandfather waggled his eyebrows up and down. Whistling to himself, he walked away.

Way to be subtle, Grandpa Rusty.

“Sure,” she said, shoving her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. “What can I do for you?”

“This fair has been a huge success.”

She traced an arc in the dirt with the toe of her boot. “I’m pleased with the turnout. Especially since this is the first year.”

“I hope you don’t mind me saying, but I worry about you.”

Despite the crisp night air, her face flamed hot. “Worry about me? Why would you do that?”

“It’s just that you and Rusty are out here on your own. Your parents moved. All your uncles left, too. Your brother, God rest his soul, isn’t with us at all.”

“Your point?” she asked, her words ringing out like a warning shot.

Ted held up his hands in surrender. “I just worry that two people can’t run a ranch this size. It’s a lot of time, plus it’s expensive.”

“We’ve been getting along good so far,” she said, although that wasn’t exactly true.

In recent years, the price of beef had dropped sharply.

Profits had dwindled as costs had risen.

It was why she brought in the carnival. Without the influx of cash, the Five Steers would be out of business by the end of the year.

Beyond the finances, Ted was right. Grandpa Rusty had a hard time getting out of bed some mornings. In the winter, his knees and shoulders ached. Lucy worked from sunup to sundown, and still it wasn’t enough.

He’d gone quiet, and she wondered if he somehow knew what she’d been thinking.

“I know what this land means to you,” he said, starting again. “Which is why I’d like to buy the ranch.”

“It’s not for sale,” she said, her throat tight.

“My grandmother—the woman who raised me—loved animals. I’d like to honor her memory by turning this place into an animal rehabilitation facility.”

Truth was that several people had asked to buy the Five Steers over the years.

The ranch covered thousands of acres, touching the Canadian border in some places.

She worried that the land wouldn’t be used for good.

In fact, one of the people who’d made an offer was associated with the local fentanyl trade.

Hell, he was the one who supplied her brother.

But Ted Barrett had a plan—one that would make the world a better place.

Lucy would be interested. Except… “We aren’t selling.

The money we’ll make from hosting this fair will keep us open for another year. ”

Ted kept talking, telling her all about his grandmother and an old horse she had when she was child.

It might have been a sweet story. But honestly, Lucy wasn’t listening anymore.

Her gaze had been drawn to the ring toss.

A handsome man, with short brown hair and a Red Grove Fire Department shirt, was getting ready to toss a ring.

Just looking at him made Lucy wonder if Grandpa Rusty was right. Maybe she should consider dating after all.

Aiden Colton held on to the wooden ring. A grid, filled with empty two-liter bottles, was laid out four feet away. An awning covered the whole thing, and stuffed animals hung from the crossbeams. A sign read:

Five Tries, $10

One ring: Candy

Two rings: Pinwheel

Three rings: Small stuffed animal

Four rings: Medium stuffed animal

Five Rings: Large stuffed animal

So far, he’d thrown four rings and landed each one. His sister Matti’s newly adopted son, Sammy, stood at his side. Hoping for good luck, the kid had crossed his fingers, his arms, and his legs. “Please make the next ring. Please make the next ring,” Sammy whispered to himself.

“Have you picked out which stuffed animal you want?” Aiden asked, stepping up to a blue line.

“Uh-huh,” said Sammy.

“What do you decide?”

“I can’t tell you. Or else you won’t make the next toss.”

Oh, to be six years old again. When everything that happened in life was controlled by magic.

Then again, he knew that Sammy had seen and been through a lot already.

His birth parents died of an overdose from meth laced with fentanyl.

After, Sammy was placed in the foster care system.

Luckily, Matti, a social worker, was able to petition to be Sammy’s foster mother.

It looked like an official adoption would be happening soon.

He ruffled the kid’s hair. “How’d you get to be so smart?”

He lifted his skinny shoulders, then let them drop. “I dunno.”

“Alright.” Aiden let his arm swing back. “Here goes.”

He tossed the ring. It sailed through the air. The rim hit the lip of a bottle, bounced once, and swirled around the neck of a bottle.