Page 6 of Oops, I Fell For The Town Bad Boy!

“We’re going out to help,” his father barked. “People are getting the animals out of the barn.”

“The animals.” Kane swore under his breath. He had been right next to the barn! Knowing that he was faster than his father, he tore out of the bedroom, threw himself out of the house, and set off at a run toward the farm.

He saw it before he arrived. The barn had already gone up in flames. Cars were driving past him — people from town on the approach, ready to help. He ran up to Jeff Chesterfield, who was standing back, staring up at the ruins of his barn as they burned. “What can I do?”

Jeff looked at him. “Were you on my land today?”

“I—” Kane swallowed. “Let me help. Are the animals secure? Was anyone hurt?”

“No one was hurt. Lucky for you. That’d be a hell of a thing to have to live with. And the animals are fine.”

“How can I help?” Kane asked again, desperate for Jeff to give him something, anything, that he could do to make this right.

“You can get the hell off my land and stay off it,” Jeff said. “I don’t know how many times I’ve told you kids this isn’t a party spot. I should have involved the police a long time ago. I wish I had. I don’t want to see you around here ever again, or I will. You’re trespassing. Get the hell out of here.”

“Please, let me…”

Jeff swore viciously at him. “I will call the cops right now,” he said. “Don’t think I won’t. I’m holding off out of respect for your father, but if you give me a reason to have you arrested for trespassing and arson, boy, I’ll do it. I’d be happy to do it.”

And Kane believed him.

A part of him wanted to let it happen. He’d never felt so ashamed in his life.

Instead, he turned around and began walking home.

He would find some way to set this right, he swore. Starting tomorrow, he would turn his life around. He would get into college. He would help Jeff Chesterfield rebuild his barn. He would become someone his mother would have been proud of.

He had hit rock bottom tonight, and he knew it. But starting tomorrow, he would crawl out of this hole, and everything was going to change.

CHAPTER 4

KANE

School was closed the following day, a fact Kane discovered via a note his father had left on the kitchen table. School’s closed. Gone to Chesterfield place to help out. Try not to burn the house down.

Kane wished he could feel his usual anger at his father’s cutting words, but today it was impossible. This was a valid thing for his father to worry about, and Kane resolved that he was going to quit smoking as a part of his whole turning-his-life-around plan. Even though the note made him feel guilty, he also felt an irrepressible sense of hope welling up inside him. Everything seemed possible today. He was going to become a better person.

The first step seemed obvious. He needed to go to the farm and offer his help again. He fully expected to be sent away, but he wanted to be able to say he had offered.

And maybe Jeff Chesterfield would accept some form of help. Maybe he’d let Kane make a financial contribution. Kane didn’t have a job at the moment — he had never seen the point — but he could get one. Nothing seemed too difficult today. He could get a job and send a part of his paycheck to the Chesterfields to help pay this off, and then…

He stopped short.

There were police cars around the perimeter of the Chesterfield farm. There was a line of police tape. Beyond that, Kane could see the burnt remains of the barn and of two other buildings he hadn’t realized were back there. The crop itself must have caught fire and carried the damage even farther before it was able to be extinguished.

Along the line of police tape were several people from Miller Creek, including a few of Kane’s own classmates who had clearly come to check things out in the light of day since they didn’t have to be at school. And standing among them — off to the side a little bit — he saw a strawberry blond ponytail that he recognized.

Taylor.

None of the rest of their crew were here, but he would have pegged her as the one to show up. Everyone else would have gathered somewhere to gossip about this and speculate as to the cause, but that wasn’t the sort of person Taylor was. She would be thinking about how she could help. And it wouldn’t be because she was trying to turn over a new leaf in her life, either. She was just a helpful person.

It figured that she would be the one person left who hadn’t given up on Kane. His heart warmed at the sight of her, and he jogged over to stand beside her at the police tape.

She glanced up at him. Then she looked back at the ruined farm. “Hey,” she said.

He was surprised. Now that he’d gotten closer, he could see that she looked as if she had been crying, and for a minute he forgot his own troubles. “Is everything okay?” he asked her.

She stared at him. “What kind of a question is that?”

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