Chapter 47
Chapter Forty-Seven
Emma
I stood over the donation box, anxiety building in my chest as I picked it up off the table and carried it toward the office of the barn. “I don’t want to get Lucas until we know how much we’ve gotten.”
“I agree,” Mason agreed, taking a nervous breath. “Do you think that we’ve made the goal? There was big turn out.”
I nodded. “I know, I just hope that it was enough.” I sat the box down on the desk, and pulled the key from my pocket, unlocking the box. Much to my surprise, it was full of checks and cash. “Grab the calculator.”
“Okay, okay,” Mason moved with agility. “Let’s do this.”
I started with the cash, and once we were done, I wasn’t feeling hopeful. It was a solid five thousand, but that would hardly put the bank off of Lucas’s back. “I hope the checks amount to more.”
“Me, too,” Mason grimaced, removing his hat, and running his fingers through his hair. “Let’s see what these add up to.”
My jaw dropped at the first check, seeing that it was three times the amount of what the cash had totaled to. “I can’t believe this…”
And they just kept coming.
Mason and I exchanged a knowing glance as we stared at the total of nearly one-hundred-thousand dollars as the reality set in…
“We did it,” Mason said in a near whisper. “I can’t believe it, but we did it.”
“I know,” I squealed, turning to him. I grabbed him and wrapped my arms around his neck. His lips found mine, and we fell into an intense kiss. His tongue slipped through my parted lips, and I let out a light moan.
Maybe we should just relive the first night…
However, a knock on the office door interrupted us, and we both laughed as we pulled away from each other.
“Who is it?” Mason headed for the door, swinging it open.
“Well?” Lucas asked, his entire demeanor antsy. “I saw y’all take off with the damn box, and I just need to know. Do we got enough to save the ranch?”
Mason broke out into a smile. “Will a hundred grand save it?”
Lucas’s mouth dropped open. “Did you… Did you just say a hundred thousand dollars?”
“Yes,” I said from behind Mason, holding out the calculator we had used with the total. “We definitely said that.”
“Holy…” Lucas’s voice trailed off as his eyes began to fill with moisture. “We’re not gonna lose it… We’re not gonna lose the ranch!” He burst into tears and Mason pulled him into a tight embrace .
I smiled at the sweet moment between old friends, and then turned back to the large amount of money, knowing that I needed to get it locked up tight. I placed all of the cash and checks back in the box and placed the lock back.
“What do you think we should do with this?” I asked as Mason and Lucas pulled away, both of them wiping their eyes. “I don’t know that we should leave it accessible.”
Lucas nodded. “Yeah, it probably should go in the safe up at the house. I’ll put it up there, right now. Everyone is pretty much gone now, anyway. It’s all wrapped up except for a few stragglers. I’ll have to put an article in the paper this week thanking everyone who donated.”
“We can make sure that happens,” Mason nodded, taking the box from me and handing it to Lucas. “Let’s get this put away. I think I’ll escort you though. Just to make sure that no one tries anything.”
“Good idea,” Lucas breathed out. “Damn, I didn’t even think about that.”
“Yeah, that’s okay. That’s my job to think about that kind of thing.”
“Right,” Lucas chuckled.
“Y’all go ahead,” I followed them out of the barn. “I’m gonna go help clean everything up.”
Lucas and Mason both nodded, and then headed to the house while I noticed Jess, cleaning the tables by herself.
“Where’s all the help?” I asked, furrowing my brow at her as I joined in, grabbing up trash and tossing it into the trash.
Jess shrugged. “I don’t know. They all went off to go and see everyone off. Did you guys get enough to save the ranch?”
I nodded, beaming. “Yeah, we did. We got more than enough to save the ranch. ”
“Yes!” Jess pumped her fist into the air. “I can’t wait to tell Cody. He’s been super nervous all night. I think he wanted to find out…” her voice trailed off at the same time that the scent hit me…
Smoke.
“What the…” I spun around, my eyes taking in the dark plumes of smoke billowing into the air.
“Oh my gosh!” Jess screamed, before taking off toward the fire. I rushed after her, grabbing her hand and stopping her as I pulled out my phone. I called 9-1-1 and reported the fire, and then let Jess tug me toward the main barn—the same one that we had just been inside of.
Everything then turned into a blur…
Mason and Lucas sprinted past us while I held a crying Jess. The two men were soon joined by Ron and Jackson, who did their best to put out the hay loft fire while waiting for the fire department to get there. However, it was only a handful of moments later, that Jackson came out with Cody… in handcuffs.
“What… Why is he in handcuffs?” Jess demanded, sprinting toward Jackson, who had a blank expression on his face.
“Caught him with a gas can on the other side of the barn.”
Cody shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about?—”
“Yeah, so what was with the gas can then?” Jackson demanded, shoving Cody forward.
“Cody…” Jess’s voice broke, tears streaming down her face. “Why… Why would you do it?”
“I-I don’t know,” Cody finally said, his head dropping.
Jackson shook his head, shooting both of us a sympathetic look as I wrapped Jess up in my arms to console her. She broke into sobs, just as Mason and Lucas appeared from inside the barn, which was now too much for them to take on. Sirens from the firetrucks filled the air around us, and Lucas and Mason joined the two of us.
“I can’t believe he did it…” Mason’s voice trailed off as Jess fell into his arms.
Lucas shook his head. “He didn’t fucking do it.”
“What?” I demanded, my brows furrowed, confused by the conflicting statement. “Jackson just said that he found him with a gas can on the other side of the barn.”
“And no one can account for his whereabouts,” Mason grunted, turning to Lucas while he held Jess. “That makes no sense.”
Lucas continued to shake his head as he wiped his face. “I don’t think you understand how much this damn ranch meant to that kid—he wouldn’t go setting the barn on fire. He’s not that kind of kid.”
“But he is troubled…” Mason reasoned, lowering his voice as the firefighters rushed past us. “He might be doing it for his dad…”
“But his dad isn’t in his life.” Lucas was glowering in the moment, his face bright red. “You just said that he was a good kid.”
“Maybe he’s just got us fooled,” Mason argued, his own voice growing frustrated. “Besides, we were just in that barn, Lucas. We were counting money, and had we not decided to take it up to the house, it all would’ve been burned up.”
“The fire started in the hay loft, not the office!” Lucas exploded. “I know Cody didn’t do it. I know he didn’t! Y’all are so caught up?—”
“Lucas,” Mason leveled with him. “He got caught with a gas can… It is what it is. If he didn’t set the fire, why did he have the gas can?”
“And when Jess asked him why he did it,” I added. “He said that he didn’t know.”
Lucas just shook his head at us and shoved past Mason. “Y’all can go. I’ll clean up the rest of this place on my own.” He stormed away, not even looking back as Mason stared on with his jaw on the ground.
“I don’t even know what to say…” Mason groaned, running his hands over his face. “We’ll have to wait and see if there was any accelerant used. Past that, I don’t know. It’s pretty cut and dry if Cody had a gas can.”
“Jackson said he did,” Jess sniffled, wiping the tears from her face. “I’m just glad none of the horses were in there. That would’ve been even worse.”
“Yeah,” Mason nodded. “But I think this fire was started in hopes of destroying the money that we raised tonight… Thankfully, that’s not what happened. Lucas will take the money to the bank first thing in the morning. He’ll pay them off and that will be that. This is all over. Cody was arrested, and he’ll just… He’ll just have to face the consequences of his actions.”
Jess stifled another sob. “I don’t… I don’t know why he did it. He doesn’t even like his family. He loves this ranch…”
“Sometimes things are just complicated,” I said softly, stroking her head as she hugged me again. However, the more I thought about it, the more all of the answers just… didn’t seem to add up. Had Cody really set the fire?
Or were we just missing something?