Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chance
T he air is so hot and thick, I can barely breathe.
The only thing saving me right now is the bandana I found in the barn while herding out the rest of the cattle. I managed to dunk it in the trough before mounting Duke. It smells like the worst fucking thing I’ve ever put near my nose, but it’s better than inhaling all the smoke and ash.
“That’s the last of the group,” Wyatt yells over the roar of the nearby fire.
I brace myself for the heat and smoke as the fire gets closer to the ranch. What I never thought of is how loud it would be.
Lowering the bandana from my mouth, I immediately start coughing as the thick air invades my lungs. “Take this up to Beau Campbell’s land and head to the shelter!”
“What about you and the rest of the cattle?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it covered.”
“The fuck you do! I’m not leaving you here alone, Declan.”
“I’m not alone.” I tilt my head to Duke and the cows.
“Now you tell jokes? Your timing fucking sucks.”
“I mean it, Wyatt. I only trust you to make sure those loaded make it to Campbell. Then you need to get to the shelter to make sure Dakota and Addie are all right.”
“I’m not their fucking babysitter.”
“And you’re not mine, either!”
We stand there for a few moments seething in a prideful pissing match while our world burns around us. I don’t want to, but my mind immediately goes to Dakota. Even though I knew she was putting on a brave front—most likely for Addie—she was scared. She may be able to fake it for her friend, but she can’t with me.
I also know she wanted me to follow her to the shelter, but I can’t. I can’t keep her and the farm safe and at least with her the next town over away from the fires, I know she’s protected. Scared, but safe.
“What about Dakota?” he asks, visibly calmer, but knowing him, he’s anything but.
“What about her? She’s got to be safe at the evacuation site by now.”
“You know that’s not what I mean.” He crosses his arms over his chest, glaring at me.
“She’ll be fine.”
He doesn’t say anything. Instead, he just stands there, saying wordlessly that he doesn’t believe me.
“She’s better off this way, Wyatt.”
“And what the fuck does that mean?” And there’s his temper again.
“It means that she’s better off without me!” I yell, throwing my arms open wide.
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.”
“You know what? I can’t do this right now. I need you to do what I say. You’re the only one I trust.” And I don’t just mean with the cattle. Of anyone I know, he’s the one that I trust to keep Dakota safe if I can’t be the one to do it.
“And what about you?”
“I can’t leave the rest of the cattle and the land here alone to burn. I need to do what I can to save it. Either we leave now, or we don’t have a hope to save anything.” I look behind me, seeing the orange of the fire getting closer. I won’t have his life hanging in the balance with mine. He has parents and siblings that rely on him. Care for him. He needs to make it out more than I do. “Go. Make sure your family is safe and at the shelter.”
“Dammit!” Wyatt takes off his hat and turns his back to me for a moment before rushing and engulfing me in a hug. It’s so unlike him; I just stand there with my arms to the side until he slaps my back and pulls away. We haven’t hugged since we were kids. We’ve punched each other when one of us went too far, or slapped each other on the back as a way to say well done, but hug? Never.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” he says before stepping back, putting his hat back on his head. Without another glance, he runs to the truck and starts it up, pulling away with the trailer of the most valuable cattle I own.
I don’t waste time thinking about what the fuck just happened. I can’t, especially with how he was acting, like he wouldn’t see me again.
Which very well may be the case if I don’t get my ass out of here.
Loading a cart with as much feed and water as I can, I hook it up to Duke’s harness and give him a pat as I survey the barn to see if there’s anything else I’ll need. Grabbing a buck knife, I place it in its leather sheath and shove it in my jacket pocket before mounting Duke.
Moving on borrowed time, Duke and I heard the cattle slower than normal. Our zig-zag direction bogged down by the cart and the thickening air. The smoke gets heavier and heavier the longer we move. The bandana around my mouth has lost its dampness, and now just smothers me with every breath I take. I push through, guiding Duke as we make our way to the farthest corner of my land, praying that this will be enough to save us all.
After what seems like hours, I manage to drive the remaining cattle into the open land in the corner of the property. It’s not enough to save us completely, but it’s the closest thing to a firebreak that I have, and there’s a fence that will at least keep the cattle contained on one side.
Jumping down from Duke, I look over the land and am mostly happy that all animals seem oblivious to the danger that surrounds them.
I, on the other hand, am not.
The bright orange of the flames tear through the trees quickly, lighting up the darkened sky. Looking up, the normally star-filled sky is hazed over with the smoke, blocking out all of the sight that normally brought me so much peace. No matter what happened during the day, sitting on the back porch with a whiskey in the rocking chair always seemed to calm my nerves. It was the only way that I could truly wind down at the end of the day.
It’s something like that, that I should have told Dakota when she asked me to tell her something no one knows about me. Not that I hate fucking ice cream. Which I do, but it was such a trivial answer compared to everything I could have told her.
Like how I love the way her eyes shine in the sunlight, or the way her body feels against mine. I even love the way her hand just fits perfectly in mine, too.
There are more practical things, like I do actually like food other than steak. No one knows that I can make a pretty mean lasagna. I’ve never even let Wyatt know about that.
Now that I’m left here with nothing but my thoughts, I realize how stupid I was to not let her in. I thought the part of me I had given her was enough, and maybe it is for her now, but it’s not enough for me. I see that now. Faced with the reality that I might not actually make it out of here tonight, I know that what we have is a fraction of what we could have had. Now that I’ve had a taste of it, I want more. I want it all with Dakota.
Opening my eyes, I turn and unhook the cart from Duke but leave his harness on, in case there’s any chance the two of us need to make a run for it. I get to work on setting up the water in rations for the cows, making sure they drink it all before the night is through. I do the best I can to set up camp while keeping an eye on the herd, making sure none of them stray off or get spooked by the flames and run.
Duke keeps a watchful eye on them as well, but I can tell he’s getting nervous with the fire. The heat has intensified the closer it gets, and I start to sweat through the layers of clothes. It’s now that I’m standing in between my animals and the fire that I realize I might not have made the best decision. In the moment, all I could think about was saving the cattle. If there was any chance that I could ensure all the animals get through this, I had to take it. While I don’t regret saving them, I am very aware this means that I also might not make it out alive.
Pulling out my phone, I see the unopened text from Dakota. The preview shows me that she made it to the shelter, which makes me sigh in relief.
She’s safe.
I swipe past the list of unanswered calls, mostly from Dakota. Two from my mom, no doubt hearing about the fire and checking in on me. A few from the neighbouring ranches. I was so consumed in my plan that I ignored the buzzing of my phone all night. I needed to push aside anyone or anything that might have been a distraction, or offering an alternate plan if I was honest.
But I need to hear her voice one more time. I hope it’s not the last time.
Tapping the call button, I’m surprised I have enough service in the back acres for the call to go through. It immediately goes to voicemail, and I smile at the professional tone of her recording. After the beep, I pull down the bandana from my face and forget all the bullshit that let me push her away. I push aside my pride and whatever else made me an asshole to everyone else and finally say everything that I should have said to her before.
“Dakota, I’m sorry that I’ve been such an asshole to you. You deserve better. Hell, you deserve better than me, but for whatever fucked up reason, you choose me anyway.” I suck in a breath, immediately feeling the burn of the smoke as it pours into my lungs. I let out a cough. “When I told you I loved you before, I meant it. I love you, Dakota Myers. I don’t know what’s going to happen after tonight, but I need to let you know that. We may have started because some asshole wanted to be a prick to you in a bar, but I’m glad it happened. I’m glad that Laughlin was a douchebag that never figured out how to get his head out of his ass because it meant that it brought you to me. I know that sounds fucked up, but everything about this situation right now is fucked up.”
I go silent for a moment, staring at the flames in front of me. I lose track of time and the recording cuts off. I redial quickly, hoping I keep cell service while I have it. I listen one more time to her sweet voice before I’m prompted by another beep.
“Listen, I hope to God that I get to tell you all of these things in person, but if I don’t…I just want you to know that I love you. Wyatt will look after you, so just do what he says. I know that’s going to piss you off to no end, but just do it for me. Please?” I chuckle, knowing how hard she worked to get me to learn to say that word, which only makes me cough again. My words are now broken up with coughs as the smoke gets hotter and thicker, ash falling down all around me. “I have to go, but know that I love you, and I’m sorry.”
I have just enough time to grab Duke’s reins before all hell breaks loose.