Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Owen
The ringing of my phone startles me awake. When I see Smith’s name on the screen, my blood runs cold. He’s posted on the outside of the house, if he’s calling, something’s wrong.
“Smith.”
“Owen, there’s a fire at the ranch.”
I put the phone on speaker and search for my pants in the dark. “Is anyone hurt?”
“From what we can tell, no people or animals have been harmed.”
“Where on the property?”
Please don’t say the house.
“The bunkhouse and the hay barn.”
“Shit!”
“We’re pretty sure it was Armstrong. The two team members on duty were checking the house and horse barn when the fires were set, so they didn’t see who did it, but someone saw a truck leaving the property that matched Armstrong's vehicle description. Reeve’s is checking the surveillance cameras now. We should have confirmation soon.”
Across the hall, Maui barks. Seconds later she skids into the room looking for whatever has me up.
“I’m on my way.”
“Sorry, sir. Can’t let you do that. We’re asking Cal to stay put too.
We think they might be trying to lure the rest of you out, leaving your own homes and loved ones exposed.
Angus is on scene and one of our men is at the house watching Mia and the boy, but we’d like the rest of you to remain where you are. ”
He’s right. This could very well be a trap. Angus lives on the property, so it makes sense he’s there, but it is safer for Charlotte, the baby, Daisy, and our pets and homes if Cal and I hold our positions to protect them.
Staying out of the action goes against everything that I am. I don’t hide away from assholes. I catch them.
“Fuck, you’re right.”
Maui sits at my feet like the good girl she is. Her tail sweeping the floor as she waits to see where we’re going.
“We’ll get more men on the property. Fire and police just arrived on scene. I’ll keep you posted as Reeves provides more information from the ranch.”
“Thanks.”
I drop the phone on the bed and look for something to punch but come up short. Instead, I yell.
“Fuckin’ piece of fucking shit!”
“Owen, what is it? What’s happened?” Daisy yells from across the room.
I pull my T-shirt over my head and find her waiting in the doorway.
“Baby, get back in bed. I’ll be right in.”
“Tell me what’s going on,” she demands.
As I approach her, the worry on her beautiful face assures me that staying here with her is the right thing. Her safety is my number one concern.
“I will, but I need to make a couple of phone calls.” I press my lips to her forehead. “I promise. Give me five minutes. I’ll meet you in the bedroom.”
With Maui at my heels, I head out back. The crisp temperature surprises me. It’s a shock to the system that will hopefully regulate the hot fucking lava running through my veins. White puffs of my breath dance on the night air as I call work and then Cal.
Cal and I commiserate about feeling stuck and useless. We both want to be at the ranch but know we need to stay where we are. I assure him the department will keep me updated.
Unease dances through my nervous system when I see Daisy waiting for me at the top of the steps. I’m not surprised in the least that she didn’t wait in the bedroom like I asked her to. I’m genuinely shocked she didn’t follow me all the way outside.
Now that I’ve laid my eyes on her, I take two steps at a time to close the distance between us, needing her in my arms. As I sweep her off her feet, I forget my anger from our night at the bar. Her arms wrap around my neck, and some of the tension leaves my body.
“What happened?”
I flick on the light as I walk us into the bedroom, lowering her to the bed and sitting next to her.
“The bunkhouse and the hay barn at the ranch were on fire.”
“What? No!” She scrambles off the bed and digs in the dresser for clothes, ready to spring into action. “Is anyone hurt?”
“No, the fire started in the barn. There were two guys staying in the bunkhouse, but they had run out to stop the barn fire before the second building went up. Everyone’s safe.”
“And the animals?”
“As far as they can tell, they’re all fine.”
“Thank God.”
Her rummaging halts, her shoulders lifting and falling as she takes two deep breaths.
Coming up behind her, I wrap her in an embrace, resting my chin on her shoulder. “I got you, Clover.”
She nods as she pulls a sweatshirt out of the dresser.
I place my hand on hers. “Sweetheart, we aren’t going anywhere.”
“What do you mean? We have to go help.”
“We’re concerned they’ve started the fires to lure us all to the ranch. Trust me, my first instinct was to rush over there, too, but there’s no way I’m leaving you, and you sure as hell aren’t going anywhere.”
She rips herself out of my hold, turning on me. “Excuse me?”
“Daisy, I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but it isn’t safe for us all to run to the ranch and leave our homes unprotected.
The fire department and police are already there.
So is Angus. I’ve been in touch with Cal, and he’s staying home with Charlie and the baby.
I also talked to the officers at the scene, and both fires are already out. It’s under control.”
She’s quiet for a moment, her mind working through everything I’ve told her in the last two minutes. “What if Mom had been home?”
“I know, baby, but thank God she wasn’t.” I open my arms to her. “Come here.”
She doesn’t hesitate to walk into my embrace. “You think it’s all connected, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“You think it was Dusty and the assholes from the bar?”
As if on cue, my phone pings, and when I open the text there’s a black-and-white picture of Dusty Armstrong with a canister in his hand, picked up by one of the many surveillance cameras set up around the ranch. I hold it out for her to see the confirmation of my suspicions.
“What a fucker!”
I tuck the phone into my back pocket and pull her back into my arms. We stand in the middle of the room wrapped up in each other for several minutes.
“You hungry? Neither of us will be able to sleep anytime soon. I can make us something.”
“Not really, but I’ll sit with you while you eat.”
The three of us head downstairs. Daisy sits at the kitchen island while I pull out the ingredients for grilled cheese sandwiches. I’m making two because I know Daisy. She’ll take a bite of mine and then want her own.
I’ve just turned on the stove when she speaks. “I’m sorry about tonight at the bar.”
“We don’t have to talk about it.”
What I should say is, I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want a reminder of how it felt to be her embarrassing secret again. I want to stay in the little bubble of here and now with the two of us and our dog, safe and sound.
“Then how about I say I’m sorry for hurting you after our week in Hawaii. Or that I’m sorry for letting my fears get in the way of what the two of us could be. I’m sorry for all the wasted years. I’m sorry for everything.”
The spatula in my hand shakes as I attempt to flip the grilled cheese sizzling in the pan in front of me, waiting to see if this is the conversation I hope it is.
I’m frightened to get my hopes up. It was only 24 hours ago that she told me pretty words only to let me down once we were out in the world.
Clearing her throat, she continues. “I would say New York changed everything, but what it really did was bring everything I’d always felt to the surface.
Yet, I still tried to convince myself we could never work.
I’ve let my experiences with other men — well, boys, really — get in our way. I’ve been a coward.”
Finally daring to look her in the eye, I see hers are glassy with unshed tears. My heart thunders, because I know this conversation is about to change the course of my life. As much as I want to go to her, I don’t dare. Not until she’s said all she needs to say.
“You’ve put yourself out there for years now, only for me to push you away. I don’t deserve you, but if you’ll still have me, I’d like to be yours. And I’d like you to be mine, and for the world to know it.”
I turn the stove off and round the counter, gently taking her still tender face in my hands and kiss her senseless. “I’m all yours, baby.”