Page 12 of Against My Fire

“I will help you. This is a two-man job.” Luke pats my back as he gets the hose put away. I laugh lightly as I check the other hose. Luke looks over his shoulder and I follow his gaze to see Jaxon look down as he runs his hand through his hair as Blake explains something to him. I watch them as the power radiates off both of them. Blake is a little taller than Jaxon but their build is almost the same. You can clearly see that both men are in a high-ranking position. Blake puts his hand on Jaxon’s shoulder as he nods, making it obvious that he understands what Blake has explained to him.

“I am pretty sure that it was that Everton fucker.” I jump as Logan speaks next to me.

“What Everton fucker?” I ask, not taking my eyes off Jaxon.

“There was a guy here this morning. He threatened Jaxon after Jaxon told him to fuck off.” Logan explains that the guy wanted to buy the ranch and Jaxon told him to get lost. I can understand why. There is no way that Jaxon will sell the ranch. He loves this ranch and I can see it every time I see him. The way he speaks of the ranch has made me fall in love with the ranch. And this is Taylor’s legacy. No way in hell, Jaxon will let it go.

Before Logan can tell us more, Jaxon and Blake make their way over to us. “Let’s go.” Blake lifts his hand in the air to show us that we need to move.

Jaxon pulls me into a hug before kissing the top of my head. “I will see you after your shift.” I nod as I lean on my tip-toes to kiss his lips, before pulling away and following Luke.

Whatever happened here today is eating at Jaxon. I can see the worry in his eyes. If this was arson, then they have to find the person that caused this and if it was this Everton guy then he needs to leave this town and never come back. I know the type of people they are. They don’t care who they destroy as long as they get what they want. I have seen it happen too many times.

The rest of my shift went by with me and Luke cleaning the truck. I make my way to the ranch ready to see my guys. If I can even call them that. I have grown attached to both of them, even though I didn’t want to but they make it hard for you not to.

I pull up to the ranch house and see Jaxon sitting on the porch with Caleb and Logan. Each of them with a cup of coffee in their hands. I get out of my truck and make my way out to the three of them. Jaxon’s eyes light up when he sees me. He holds his arms out for me to join him. He pulls me onto his lap as I go to hug him.

“Morning Beautiful.” He kisses my shoulder and I wrap my arms around his neck. “As much as I wanted to see you, I have to go to the paddock that burned down.” He places two more kisses on my shoulder and I run my fingers through his messy hair. I love his hairstyle. I don’t think he even brushes them unless he goes out. “Can I ask you to please stay with Taylor today? He was looking forward to spending time with you.” He looks at me a little unsure.

“I would love to. It can be a Bentley and Taylor day.” The guys aww in unison as I kiss the tip of Jaxon’s nose. “How far is the butterfly field from here?” He chuckles as he tickles my sides making me squirm on his lap.

Logan clears his throat as he starts to talk. “It’s not far. If you go down this road it’s about two miles. You will see the field filled with butterflies. They are everywhere.”

“Just watch out because there are also bees there. We have never been stung by a bee, but they are there.” Caleb adds and I nod.

“Is Taylor allergic to bees?” I know I am not, but want to make sure to watch him, in case a bee does sting him.

“Not that I know of. There were no notes on it in his file. He has either not been stung by a bee or he isn’t allergic.” Jaxon explains.

“I will keep an eye on him and take some Benadryl with me, just in case.” I get up off Jaxon’s lap and he gets up after me to follow me to my truck. He pins me against my truck as he leans down and captures my lips with his as he pushes his body up against mine. His lips ravish mine as he licks the seams and I open up with a moan. I feel him harden against me as he grinds against me. Someone behind us clears their throats, making us pull apart.

“Sorry to interrupt. I am looking for Mr. Jaxon Walker.” Jaxon turns around half blocking me from the guy standing in front of his view. The guy isn’t dressed for the country. He is definitely some lawyer or businessman.

“You are speaking to him. Who are you?” I link my hand with his and squeeze it a little bit. He looks down at me with a smile.

“I am Dayton Micheals, I was Miss Miller's lawyer.” He holds his hand out and I feel Jaxon stiffen next to me. I reach out and shake his hand. “I am not here to upset you in any way. I am just here to deliver a few documents as per Miss. Miller’s request.” He takes out an envelope and hands it to Jaxon. “It was instructed that if anything happens to her and Taylor’s custody is awarded to you that I deliver this in person. She also wanted me to tell you that she’s sorry.” Jaxon stares at the envelope with raised eyebrows but doesn’t move to take it. I reach out and take it and Mr. Micheals smiles at me. “I know it’s a shock, but everything will be explained. Please follow her instructions. I have another letter that will be delivered when Taylor is eighteen.” Jaxon still hasn’t moved or said anything. “Miss, is he alright?”

“Yes, I am sure this is just a shock to him.” I rub my hand on his arm and he wraps his arm around me before pulling me to his side.

“I will go through the envelope. Thank you. And I will make sure that my son knows who his mother was. I will not take that away from him.” Jaxon spits out and I know this is hard on him. She kept him away from Taylor for three years and I hope she explains why she did it. No one deserves to be kept away from their child. No matter the reason. She should have given him a chance.

Anyone that doesn’t know Jaxon and Taylor wouldn’t be able to tell that they haven’t known each other their whole lives. They are the perfect pair. The perfect son and father bond.

Chapter Twelve

? Jaxon ?

After receiving the envelope we all decided that I will deal with it before going to the burned-out paddock. It will be on my mind the whole time until I have dealt with it. Bentley has been my support through all of this. She hasn’t left my side except when she got Taylor ready to go with Logan. She promised him that as soon as we were done she would take him to see all the butterflies and he was happy with that.

So here we are, sitting on the couch with the envelope on the coffee table in front of us. I haven’t made a move to open it and Bentley hasn’t pushed me to open it either. She has been rubbing my back supportively the whole time.

“What if I don’t like what’s in it? What if someone can take my son away from me? I don’t care about anything except that they can take him away from me.”

“Babe, no one is taking that little boy away from you. I will help you fight for him if it ever gets to that. You need closure and something tells me it’s in that envelope.” She comforts me and I pull her towards me for a quick kiss. As we break apart I lean forward and take the envelope. I open it and pull out the contents. There’s a file with Taylor’s name on it. As I go through it I find a few hospital documents, but nothing that I haven’t seen before. This is the same file Sasha handed over to me when I took custody of Taylor. The next item is a photo album. I place it aside as I want to go through it when I am in a better mood than I am right now. The last item is a letter. I glance at Bentley and she nods for me to continue.

I open the letter and hold it between us so she can read it with me. I want her a part of this. She is my future even though we haven’t been seeing each other for that long, I know I want everything with her and my son. Hopefully some more kids later as well.

Dearest Jaxon.

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