Page 73 of Second Chance with the Rancher

Nate did the same and nearly came in his jeans from how good the coffee tasted. They’d run out of coffee yesterday morning, so today they were running purely on fumes and adrenaline from leftover orgasms.

“I’m excited to see the finished products,” Triss said. “You took pictures, right?”

“Loads,” Mieka agreed. “So we can update the website and really draw people in. Rugged luxury is what I think we should advertise it as.”

“I like that,” Asher agreed, sipping his coffee. “Fits the brand and what we’re striving for perfectly.”

“You guys hungry?” Triss asked. “I made chicken parmesan last night and I made us both chicken parm sandwiches just now. Plenty left.”

“I’d love one,” Mieka and Nate both said at the same time, grinning like idiots who’d spent the last four days having copious amounts of wild sex. Because that’s exactly what they did and he wouldn’t regret a second of it, even if she did leave him broken hearted and took off to only God knew where when her arm was finally healed.

Triss made them both sandwiches and the four of them sat there and chatted about what went on at the ranch while Nate and Mieka were away, and how the set up of the cabins went. Nate was just licking the marinara sauce off his thumb when Hank came bursting through the front door. “FIRE!”

Nate and Asher both stood up so abruptly that their chairs toppled over. They ran after Hank out of the house and down the steps. Mieka and Triss were hot on their tail.

“Oh my God!” Triss exclaimed as they all came up on the same lean-to that they’d passed not too long ago and big orange flames licked up the sides of it and out the window.

Nate would bet his left nut that it was the same fucking smoker from before that lit up as soon as Nate was in the house, then he tossed his butt and it caught fire on the grass next to the shed. White-hot tendrils of fear—and anger—began to worm their way through his body as smoke billowed out of the gaps in the shake roof.

People were being ushered out to the muster point in the far field by Ronny and Ray, while other ranch hands were getting the animals out of the barn since the lean-to was right next to the barn and the wind was blowing in the perfect direction. If a spark leaped from the shed it’d land right on the barn.

Asher had run to get the big hose from the side of the barn and was dragging it over. Another ranch hand turned the knob and Asher started to spray, but it wasn’t doing enough.

Ruff. Ruff.

Nate froze, then spun around. “Bruno!” he hollered. “Bruno!”

Ruff. Ruff.

Fuck, no. Please no.

The dog hadn’t come to greet them when they arrived. He should have known something was up. How the fuck did he get in the shed and why was the door closed?

Ruff. Ruff. Ruff. Ruff.

Asher was still spraying the lean-to at the base of the flames while Nate swallowed his fear as best he could and ran toward the engulfed shack.

Ruff. Ruff. Ruff.

Bruno began to whimper and scratch at the interior walls. Nate's fear quadrupled inside his chest as his heart hammered against his ribcage, threatening to shatter all the bones. “It’s okay, buddy!” he called through the door. He reached for the brass handle, but immediately pulled his hand away again when it was scalding to the touch. They used this shed as extra storage for various things like rakes, buckets and bags of goat and horse food they sold to those visiting the petting farm. The wind had probably blown the door shut, that happened pretty often if it was left open. And Bruno was always getting into places he shouldn’t.

Asher continued spraying the lean-to, but the flames were still flying and Nate watched as sparks jumped from the roof into the sky and landed precariously close to the barn.

He tore off his flannel, wrapped it around his hand and reached for the door handle again, but before he could grab it, he was shoved out of the way.

“I got it, it’s okay,” Mieka said, opening the door with her gardening glove-covered hand. “Step back, Nate.” Smoke flowed out of the open door like a dam in hell had just exploded. She had a rag tied over her face and construction goggles on. Where the hell did she find goggles? Then before Nate could tell her not to, she ran into the lean-to.

“Mieka, NO!”

But she was already inside. A second later, she came out, carrying a passed-out Bruno in her arms. She took him far away from the shed and rested him on the ground on his right side. She pulled the rag away from her mouth and the goggles from her eyes, then placed her mouth over the dog’s nose, blowing into it. “Come on, Bruno. Come on, buddy.”

Hank had dragged a second hose from around the far side of the barn and now they had two water sources working to put out the fire. Finally, they were making some headway and the flames and smoke were beginning to dissipate.

But Nate wasn’t really paying attention to that, he was focused on Bruno and Mieka.

The dog’s body remained still. His chest wasn’t moving.

Terror dug villainous talons into Nate’s heart as he watched Mieka perform CPR on the dog, then cover his nose again with her mouth and breathed.

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