Page 11 of Against My Fire

“I don’t know, he might be. You should call him.” I say a little harsher, but I don’t give a damn. There is nothing he can offer me that I want. He looks at the board and takes out his phone. Logan shakes his head as he goes to pick up his shovel again.

I lean against mine again as my phone starts ringing. I pull it out as the guy keeps his phone to his ear not noticing that it’s mine ringing. “Jaxon Walker!” The guy pulls his phone away from his ear as he hears me answer. He looks me up and down before shaking his head. I don’t want to know what he is thinking, I will end up seeing my girl and kid through the bars of jail.

“Mr. Walker…” He gets out of his truck and holds his hand out to me. “I’m Wyatt Baker from Everton Corporate. I have a proposal for you. We have recently purchased the ranch that borders on yours. We would like to make an offer to purchase your ranch as well.” I look down at his hand before looking back up at him.

“Mr. Baker, get in your truck and fuck right off.” I slap his hand away, but the guy probably has a death wish as he moves closer to me.

“You might want to rethink that. I have nothing to lose, but you have a lot to lose. Take the deal.” He spits out as he pushes a business card against my chest. I grab a hold of his wrist and squeeze it a little harder.

“Don’t threaten me. I will come at you with all I got.” I push him away and make him stumble a little bit. He huffs with a grin and walks away from me. He gets back in his truck speeding away leaving us in the dust.

Logan puts his hand on my shoulder and I feel the anger rise inside me. Who the hell does this Wyatt guy think he is to threaten me? If anything happens he will be the first one I go to, to rip apart.

“You think he would actually do something?” Logan asks as we still stare at the dust.

“Not sure. Gather all the guys. I need the fence checked and we need to move the cattle away from the border fence. I don’t trust that guy.” I turn to grab the tools that we were using and throw them on the back of my truck. “I am going to talk to my dad. Get the guys together at the stables.” Logan nods as he walks over to his truck. I drive off towards the guest house where my parents have been staying. As I pull up I see my dad standing there with Taylor. I can’t see what they are doing but Taylor’s laugh calms me down instantly.

I get out of my truck and Taylor sees me first. His whole face lights up as he runs towards me and I lean down to catch him. “Daddy, you home?” I kiss his cheek before I put him down. Dad walks over to me when he sees my face.

“Buddy, go ask grandma if dinner is ready,” Dad says and Taylor runs off without another word. “Is everything okay? Is it Bentley?”

“Bentley is fine. She’s amazing actually.” I lean against my truck and Dad stands in front of me. “I had someone offer to buy the ranch today. When I told him to fuck off, he threatened me.” I blurted out without keeping anything back as I explained to my dad what went down at the entrance. Dad shakes his head as he starts to pace.

“I have heard of them. They will do anything to get the land or property they want. We have to be careful.”

“No Dad. You and Mom are still going on your cruise. Me and the guys got this. Walker estate has been in the family for a hundred years. There is no way some guy that plays dress up is taking it away from us.” I was telling him the truth. I will not let them bully me into handing over my ranch. This is my land and will always be my land.

I talk to Dad for a little bit as I explain to him what I am about to do and he agrees with me that it is for the best. I get in my truck to head to the stables. Dad and Mom will keep Taylor until I am ready to get him. First, we need to make sure these corporate assholes can’t get to my cattle or horses. Then I am phoning my girl just to hear her sweet voice.

Chapter Eleven

? Bentley ?

“Bentley, let’s go!” Luke yells as we all run down to the firetruck. The alarms are going off as we all jump into the truck.

“Do we know what it is?” I ask as the guys all look at me as if I have grown two heads. Luke looks out the window without saying a word. They don’t get a chance to say anything as we drive down the road that leads to Jaxon’s place. My heart rate picks up as we pull into his property. I watch as a few guys try to contain the fire that is rapidly spreading. It seems as if the hay bales caught fire and are now spreading to the rest of the field.

We all jump out and listen as Captain Falcon shouts orders. I run with Luke to the side as we get the hoses ready as the other guys go to help with trying to control the flames.

“This is like any other fire,” Luke states as we run toward the flames with the hose. Our truck doesn’t have enough water to put this out, but we can try to slow it down until we can get more water here. I try not to think of anyone getting hurt. I try my best not to think of Jaxon being hurt. I have to go into this with no emotion or I will break. We open the water and spray the flames the best we can.

As we spray the water I notice Ashe, James, and Logan digging a trench to try and stop the fire from spreading. We spray the hay bales in the hope to get the fire out. On the other side, we see three people throwing water on the fire with buckets while a few more try to put it out with sacks.

We all work tirelessly for hours to get the fire put out and it feels like it wants to overpower us. The heat is intense even though it is contained now, it is still hot as hell. I wipe the sweat from my eyebrow as I take a sip of water. Luke sits on the step of the firetruck as he downs his water. Both of us take a breather before we head back to fight the last part of the fire.

“Have you seen Jaxon?” I ask as I glance around the area. The sky is dark and gloomy like the feelings of everyone here, but I can’t see Jaxon. Luke shakes his head before he hangs his head and takes a few deep breaths.

“He is here somewhere.” Luke gets up and we head back to the fire. Another hour and a half later and we have the fire killed. We go around to make sure that it can’t start up again with the slightest breeze. If it starts again we might not be able to stop it.

I bump into a hard chest almost falling down when arms wrap around me to keep me from falling. With all my gear on I am not able to feel the person pulling me against their body. I glance up and am met with the green orbs I have become so fond of. “Jax.”

“Hey, Sweetheart.” He leans in and hugs me even closer to him. “I was so scared something would happen to you.” I lift my shield and Jaxon pulls his mask from his mouth as he brings his lips down to mine. His lips brush over mine before he captures them in a soft sweet kiss that takes my breath away. I open up for him and his tongue finds mine letting me taste the mint he probably has been sucking on during the fire. It helps with the smoke inhalation, or at least it works for me and I told him about it. He pulls away resting his forehead against mine.

“Are you alright? Where is Taylor?” I lift my gloved hand to wipe a bit of soot from his cheek. He smiles down at me before he kisses my forehead.

“I’m fine. Taylor is with his Nanny Mrs. Richards. I was supposed to spend tonight with him, but the fire started and you know the rest.” He waves at the lost hay bales with sadness in his eyes. This was one of the paddocks that he uses for the cattle. That’s the reason for all the hay bales in here.

“I will help you get this sorted out.” I try to comfort him as he puts his arm around my shoulder. We make our way back to the firetruck but Blake stops us as he pulls Jaxon away to talk to him about the fire. I am not needed there. I help the guys get everything put away. I glance at the truck and notice the conditions. I am going to be scrubbing the truck for a while to get it cleaned up.

---