Page 51 of Love on the Run

Callie went back inside only after she couldn’t see the truck any more, and felt the house was suddenly too empty. She busied herself in the kitchen for a few moments, cleaning up what little could be cleaned, and then took Bruiser outside for a good run. That was, Bruiser ran, while she walked slowly into the wilder area beyond the house. She kept the building in sight though, knowing that getting lost was probably very easy in this world.

* * * *

It took a good forty minutes for Jake to get over to the property where the fire had been called in, long enough to get lost in thought. He had so many conflicting problems stuffed in his brain, he didn’t know where to start. Callie. He was in way over his head. Last night had been…he hit the steering wheel in frustration. Why couldn’t he just tell her what he was thinking? He wanted her to be with him, here in the mountains. He couldn’t because it was so selfish. Why should she leave her life, her career, and come to the middle of nowhere on account of him? Jake doubted he was that much of a draw. Granted, Callie’s life was messed up in California, but the trial of Foster would free her. Hell, she’d probably become famous for it. After everyone saw her on TV, she’d be able to do whatever she wanted. It was a story made for Hollywood.

And besides, she hadn’t said a word about wanting to stick around. Sure, she said he made her happy. He knew enough about her to know he pleased her. But it wasn’t love; it couldn’t be. Sappy as it was, Jake knew he couldn’t accept less than that. Maybe that was the real reason he was tongue-tied that morning. That, and the fear of being rejected, hurt by a beautiful woman. Again.

The fire was an almost welcome distraction. Even from the highway, he could see the thick plumes of black smoke, pushing out in ever growing clouds as the trail drifted east. It was a bad fire.

He drove as fast as he dared down the private road to the ranch. Only one fire truck was there so far, along with another squad car and several neighbors who had come out on their own. Hazelton’s community worked quickly when it needed to.

“Sheriff!” Kyle saw Jake pull up and ran toward him. “It’s real bad, Jake. The fire started in the barn where Roberts keeps his thoroughbreds. He managed to get them all out, but that meant he couldn’t fight the fire. It spread fast. Now the sheds and the garage are burning.”

“Did they hook the hose to Roberts’ pump?” Jake had gotten out of the truck and was heading toward the fire by then.

“Yeah, but it’s not a lot of pressure. Doesn’t seem to be doing much.”

“They soaked the other buildings?”

“Yes,” Kyle turned to look behind him, toward the house itself. “Could stand another pass, I’m thinking.”

Jake nodded as they reached a man dressing in full firefighting gear. “Jimmy! What’s going on?”

The fireman made a disgusted face as he turned to Jake. “We’ll never save the barn or the sheds. It’s just too far gone. I want to soak the house again. I think we can stop the spread at least.”

He nodded. Jimmy knew his business. “Do it. Where’s Roberts?”

“The horses spooked. He’s rounding them up,” Jimmy called back, as he gestured to his partners to abandon the fire itself and focus on saving the Roberts’ house.

Jake watched as the barn burned. It was an old building, already dry from age, and stuffed with hay for the coming cold weather. No, the barn was finished. He decided to help Roberts run down his thoroughbreds. If they could save his horses, at least he wouldn’t be ruined financially.

It took some time to track down one of Roberts’ hands, but Jake eventually found one, a quiet Mexican-born man named Diego, riding one of Roberts’ working horses.“Can I help?” Jake asked.

“Hell, yes,” Diego nodded. His face was darkened with ash, and his breath was ragged. He dismounted and patted the horse’s neck. “This one’s worn out, but follow me. We’ll get two fresh ones and corral the rest of the thoroughbreds. There’s four palominos who always run together. We haven’t found ‘em yet.”

The two men got fresh mounts and headed out to the hills of Roberts’ vast ranch. Jake kept an eye out for the bright gold coats of the palominos. He might not have chosen to follow family tradition, but he’d worked on his grandfather’s ranch growing up, so searching for stray horses was no novelty. Diego, perhaps attuned to where the palominos were likely to run, pointed to a particular rise and headed toward it. “There’s a stream runs through those hills. Ten to one, they’ve gone to find water.”

“It was a good thing the horses weren’t trapped in the barn.”

“Something woke me up this morning. I smelled the fire and got up real quick. I was able to get the barn door open, and the horses ran right out. Wasn’t expecting that, but I figured it was better to run them down outside than hauling them out dead.”

“They ran right out?”

“Yeah. They were spooked bad.”

“How’d they get out of their stalls?”

Diego shook his head. It was obvious he’d thought of that too, and he didn’t have an answer. “I didn’t see. The stalls must have been open, though. It was so smoky by then, I couldn’t see inside.”

Jake was about to ask him another question when he caught a flash of yellow up ahead. “Hey! Is that one?”

Diego squinted. “That’s Dolly! Come on. She’s the leader. If we find her, the rest will be around.”

They spurred the horses to a gallop and rode toward the golden palomino ahead. She saw them coming and reared up, then turned tail and started running. At a call from Diego, they split up, aiming to circle around her. It was tricky work. The palomino was a smart creature, and she knew the hills well. Not as well as Diego, though, and he managed to herd her and another horse into a closed gully. Dolly rolled her eyes in fear, strutting nervously and pawing until Diego’s calm voice finally got through to her. He repeated the same phrase over and over, reverting to his native Spanish to soothe the horse. Dolly eventually stopped pawing at the ground and allowed Diego to lasso her. The other horse, seeing Dolly’s submission, quickly followed suit. With two of the four roped, the men decided to head back to the ranch house. “I’d rather have two back in the corral for sure than lose them again while we search for the others,” Diego said firmly.

Jake nodded, and each man led one of the palominos back. As they reached the corral, where several other recovered thoroughbreds already stood, Roberts caught sight of them. “Diego! Sheriff! You found the palominos! Thank God.”

“There’s two more missing, sir,” Diego said seriously. “I’m going to head back out to the stream.”

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