Chapter Seventeen Ashley #3
“I need you both out of here and safe. I’ll stay and fight to protect the animals. But I can’t concentrate when I know the two most important women in my life are here, in the thick of danger.” It’s then that she really looks at me properly.
“No, Jake, you don’t understand. I can’t leave them. When no one else loved me, they did.” Tears spring to her eyes.
I get it, but she needs to know the truth of why I’m here.
“Let me help you. You are not alone in this life anymore, Ash. You will never be alone again, because I love you!” It’s not how I imagined telling her, and regardless of whether she’s ready to hear it or not, I need her to know.
Ashley shakes her head, and my panic is getting greater every second we stand here and argue.
“No! I can’t rely on you, Jake. You’re going to leave, just like everyone else. You told me the first time we met that you didn’t come here to stay, and I’m never going to leave.”
“I’m staying for you!” I bellow.
“But that’s the problem. I’m not the person you need to be staying for,” Ashley replies sadly. And I can’t help but reach out to take her face in my hands, forcing her to look me in the eyes so she hears me this time and it sinks into that stubborn head of hers.
“You’re wrong, Ash. I need to be staying for you.
” I rest my forehead on hers. “Because you’re not just enough for me—you’re more, you’re my everything.
” With red glowing embers and ash falling around us and in the craziest of places, it feels like time stands still as I lay myself out for her in my rawest form.
“I’m staying for you, Ash, because without you, I’m not the real me that has been lost for so long. Without you, I’m nothing.”
Gerald lets out a distressed moo as Declan finally gets her into the doorway of the barn, which has all the other animals calling out in a chorus of fear. Both of us look across to where the noise is coming from.
“I can’t lose my dream.” Ashley is now crying. Her hands land on my chest and hold on to my shirt as if for dear life.
“And I can’t lose you.” I grab her and kiss her so hard but for only a mere second. “I know I don’t deserve to ask this, but please, just trust me. Let me prove to you the kind of man I really am. I’m not running. I’m here for you, and I’m here to stay. But right now, you need to go.”
Before she can say a word, I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder, rushing down to where Chase is sitting in Gran’s car.
The motor is still running, and as I get closer, he opens the driver’s door, jumps out, and stands aside.
I put Ash down in the driver’s seat Chase vacated and Gran’s talking at breakneck speed while Rosie is barking, and it’s pure chaos.
Ash is trying to get back out of the car, but I hold her in there as I swing her legs in and struggle to get the seat belt on her.
“I’m trusting you to keep Gran safe. Now drive and don’t stop until you get to town. We will find you once this is over. Go!” Kissing her one more time, I can’t bear to think that it could very well be the last. Then I pull back and slam the door.
Both my cousins are now beside me, and we all start yelling at her to go as we motion for her to drive.
Then I see Gran reach across and place her hand on Ash’s arm and say something.
Whatever she said works, because the car starts moving, and there is no time to watch them as they disappear down the driveway.
Patches of grass are starting to smolder from the pieces of burning debris falling from the sky.
“We need to get these animals out of the danger that is heading for us.” I grab them both by an arm. “But I don’t expect you to stay. This is my battle to fight.”
“Like fuck we’re leaving. One in, all in, that’s the rule. Stronger as a wall of strength, Gramps would always say, remember?” Declan yells back at me.
“But didn’t you just get them in that damn barn? What’s Plan B?” Chase is right beside me as we move to where the commotion is coming from.
“It looks like the fire is about to come over the hill on the west side. Let’s herd the animals over to Heatherbrae and into the dam.
The water is their best chance. Declan, you round up the little animals and get them in Ash’s car.
The keys should be in the ignition. Chase, grab some wire cutters and get that fence down.
I’ll start pushing the bigger animals toward you, which I think they will naturally do because it’s away from the fire. ”
Everyone’s moving as I pull open the main door, and the barn erupts into chaos.
It all happens so fast as I open each of the stalls to release the animals and push them down the pasture toward Chase.
I pause as I see that damn fence that was the beginning of my life changing in such a big way fall to the ground, and I’ve never been so thankful for the barrier between the farms to be gone.
For someone who knows nothing about animal behavior, I’m just glad my lucky guess is working.
“I’m loaded,” Declan yells to me from Ash’s car.
“Get to Heatherbrae,” I shout as I run back into the barn for the last two animals which of course are Gerald and Daisy.
Rummaging on the workbench, I find a rope, because I’m not leaving anything to chance with these two. I make a noose on each end of the rope and struggle to get it over both their heads.
“Just this once can you two please cooperate so we can all live happily ever after?” With the rope firmly in my hand, I open the stall and exit the barn and then start running toward Heatherbrae, praying they won’t have any other option but to follow.
To my surprise there is no weight on the rope, and it’s not because it’s slipped off Gerald or Daisy. It’s because they are keeping up with me.
It looks like I’ve finally gained their trust. And if I can just keep them safe from this fire, then there’s a chance I might win back Ash’s trust too.
I spot Chase waist-deep in the dam as he drags Herb in with him, and I’m pushing on even though it’s getting harder to breathe because of the smoke.
And the moment I get to the edge of the water, Declan comes driving into the pasture like a madman and pulls up next to us, before a strange noise, louder than the sound of rushing wind and fire, has us all looking skyward.
“Water drop!” we all yell in unison as a huge orange helicopter flies straight overhead to where the smoke is the worst.
And for the first time since I drove into town earlier today, I feel hope.