"If you'll take care of Hannah, I'll let you know about the fire." Lauren rounded the side of the house with Kent right behind her.

"I read to Hannah and she's sound asleep now," Ruby said softly. "I'm sure she's tuckered out from her long day."

Lauren reached Kent's truck and he opened the door for her. "And she's met so many new people today."

"She wished sweet dreams to you, me, Hedy, and Cowboy Daddy before she fell fast asleep."

"Kent, too?"

"She's taken a shine to him." Ruby said. "Don't worry. I'll just read this new mystery while I sit in the rocking chair beside her till you get back. Take care now and let me know as soon as you know something."

"Will do. And thanks." Lauren quickly tucked her phone back in her pocket, thinking about Ruby's words. She didn't want her daughter to become attached to someone like Kent who might not always be there for her. On the other hand, she couldn't stand in the way of Hannah's happiness either.

"Just to warn you"-Kent cleared his throat-"I didn't have time to clean out my truck."

"I thought you washed it."

"Yeah. But that's all."

She stepped up and dislodged empty soda cans, water bottles, and fast food sacks. She had to push a horse bridle, a cowboy hat, and a pair of leather gloves aside before she could sit down. He sure wasn't kidding about the junk in his truck, but she never let a little mess bother her.

"Okay?" Kent asked, hovering with one hand on the door.

"Sure. It's fine."

He slammed the door shut, quickly walked around the front of the truck, sat down beside her, and revved the engine.

As he backed out of the driveway, she turned to look at him. "Two fires in one day. Isn't that unusual? What's going on around here?"

"Good question."

She noticed he hesitated before he answered her concern, and that made her wonder even more. As she waited for his reply, he drove quickly down the road, moving in and out of illumination from mercury-sodium lights attached to tall creosote-painted telephone-type poles. She remembered when all this land had been deep in darkness at night, but folks had built houses on the land and installed security lights.

When she saw red-orange flames against the darkness of the night, she forgot all about her concern in the face of the immediate problem. She remembered the old wooden barn that was set back on acreage. She hated the sight of the structure enveloped in flames.

Kent eased off onto the shoulder of the road before he got to the fire and stopped on the side across from it. He cut the engine. "Doubt there's anything we can do to save the barn. What we don't want is for this fire to spread across the pasture and to other structures."

"Like Twin Oaks."

"Right." He pulled his phone out of a pocket as he stepped down from the pickup, leaving the door open behind him. "I'm calling in fire-rescue."

Lauren scrambled out her side and ran over to the ditch. She looked across the barbwire fence that separated the pasture from Cougar Lane. A chill ran up her spine at the sight of the growing blaze as the fire gathered strength. She glanced back toward Twin Oaks, thinking about the vulnerability of Hannah and Ruby.

She hurried over to Kent. "Maybe I'd better call Ruby and ask her to get Hannah to safety."

"Not yet. This looks containable. Rigs are on their way."

"I'll at least let her know what's happening here." She pulled out her phone and hit speed dial for Ruby again.

"What's the situation?" Ruby whispered.

"The barn is ablaze and Kent's called in fire-rescue. Rigs should be here soon."

"Do I need to take a drive?"

Lauren could tell Ruby was choosing her words carefully so as not to alarm Hannah if she woke up to the sound of Ruby's voice. Lauren appreciated the caution. "No need to get out yet. Kent thinks the fire is containable."

"Okay. If there's the slightest chance of a change, you let me know right away. Hear?"

"You bet I will."

"Take care now."

"Bye." Lauren slipped her phone back in her pocket, wishing Hannah was far away from the fire. Maybe she should get Kent to take her back to Twin Oaks so she could drive her daughter into town where it was safe. But she didn't want to alarm Hannah when there was no need for it. She particularly didn't want her daughter to start fearing the countryside on her first day in Wildcat Bluff.

"Do you smell that accelerant?" Kent asked. "I've got little doubt that somebody set this fire with gasoline." He wrapped an arm around Lauren's waist and tugged her close to his side.

"But that's terrible." She felt his warmth and strength give her renewed courage and confidence in the face of so many doubts.

"I suspect it's the only way this old structure would go up so fast."

"I can smell gasoline, too. But who would do such a thing?"

"Hate to say it, but this isn't the first time empty buildings have gone up in smoke."

"Something like in Sure-Shot?"

"Maybe that firebug's moved over here, but maybe not. We've had our own problem for some time now."

"How so?" She leaned into him, feeling safe and secure despite the fire. She'd been taking care of herself and her daughter for a long time, but sometimes it felt good to find support in another person.

"Do you remember the Holloway family?"

"Sure. Bert Two was a little ahead of us in school, wasn't he?"

"Right."

"If memory serves me, wasn't his dad some kind of mover and shaker in real estate?"

"Yep. Somebody'll need to notify Bertram Holloway. He bought this acreage not too long ago. The barn's not worth much, I wouldn't think, not unless Bert has been making improvements."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm not saying anything except Bert's had an odd string of bad luck. A number of his insured buildings have gone up in flames. And he's never around when it happens. He's off fishing or hunting up in Southeast Oklahoma. Bert insists somebody's got a vendetta against him and is causing him trouble."

"I can't imagine somebody around here doing something like that."

"It's possible. Rumor has it Bert's made enemies because he's a tough businessman. n.o.body has been caught setting fires or leaving incriminating evidence, so there's no way to prove what's going on."

"Either way, these fires put the community at risk." She caught a strong whiff of smoke and grew worried again. How long would it take for the rigs to get here?

"Wind's sprung up." Kent glanced down the road toward Twin Oaks. "Not good."

"I'm getting concerned about Hannah and Ruby." Lauren heard the snap, crackle, and pop of fire as sparks, like lightning bugs, rained down around the barn then winked out.

"Hedy's on the job. Boosters will be here soon. If that wind doesn't start a brush fire, I don't think we'll need more than a couple of rigs. Sydney and Trey will bring one. Dune will get the other, and I'll help him pump and roll."

"Who's Dune?"

"You don't know him." Kent stepped back from the fire and tugged her with him. "Dune Barrett has been here a couple of months. He's my new ranch hand. We toured the rodeo circuit a few times together back in the day. He won enough buckles, saddles, horse trailers, and money to outfit a ranch. I hadn't talked with him in years when he called me out of the blue. Between us, and don't tell anybody else, he asked me to let him work on my ranch so he can keep his head down for a while."

"He's got trouble?" She quickly thought of Hannah and didn't want her daughter around a less than stand-up guy.

"Maybe. Maybe not. For sure, he's got a secret he hasn't shared with me. I figure he's probably got gal trouble. Not that he'd say or I'd ask. A rodeo star, even a former one, always has a trail of cowgirls bird-d.o.g.g.i.ng him."

"And that's unlike cowboys bird-d.o.g.g.i.ng cowgirls, how?" she asked, teasing Kent a little bit.

"You got me there." He chuckled as he glanced down at her.

"Is Dune from Texas?"

"Hill Country. His family's got a big spread down around Fredericksburg. He's a good, experienced hand. I'm glad to help him out and have him help me out. Dune's not wild about being a volunteer firefighter, but I told him that came with the job. Turns out, he's a natural at it."

"I take it you trust him."

"Sure do. We've been through some tough times together, and that gives you a sense of a man's core."

"Dune sounds interesting." She was starting to feel better about Kent's ranch hand.

"He is that." Kent squeezed her waist. "Just don't go finding him too interesting."

She smiled at Kent's words, wondering if he might get a tad jealous if she showed interest in another guy. She realized she liked the idea that Kent might still be protective of her. And she had to admit she felt a little jealous of his former fiancee, even if that gal had already moved along.

"Hear me?" he asked, pushing his earlier words.

"Is he that good-looking?" She couldn't resist teasing Kent.

"I'm not going there," he said with a chuckle.

"Tell you what, I'll let you know."

"Please, spare me."

She laughed and then turned serious as part of the barn's roof caved and sent red-orange sparks flying outward. "What can I do to help here?"

"When the rigs arrive, stay on the road and by the phone in case we need more a.s.sistance."

"Okay. But I sure wish they'd get here. I'm about ready to roll up my sleeves and start fighting that fire with my bare hands."

"I know. But safety comes first. They'll be here soon. We'll quickly set up a perimeter with water to contain the fire and let the barn burn out."

"You're sure Hannah and Ruby are okay?"

"So far so good. I'll be the first to get them out of the area if that fire looks like it's getting away from us." He squeezed her waist as he looked down at her. "Trust me?"

She wanted to say, "Always," but could she really put her complete faith in a man again, even if his name was Kent Duval? She wasn't sure, so she gave a noncommittal nod, hoping she could learn to trust him in the way she had when she was young.

Chapter 18.

When Kent saw the headlights of two vehicles coming down Cougar Lane from the direction of the fire station, he gave a big, ole Texas-size sigh of relief. He hadn't said anything to Lauren because he didn't want to worry her, but he'd been about to go to his backup plan. He had a couple of fire extinguishers in his truck that he could use to help keep stray sparks under control, but that was only a stopgap measure. Now that the big guns were here, he'd save his alternate plan for another day.

They were lucky they had some illumination from a couple of security lights on nearby properties. And they were even luckier that so far the fire was mostly staying confined to the barn. On the bad luck side, the wind had picked up and was sending smoke gusting in one direction and then another. Hot sparks were carried on the breeze and could easily turn the surrounding pastures into blazing infernos. He could smell the acrid scent of burning wood and hear the spitting, crackling sound of leaping flames. Now was the time to get the blaze under control.

"Those are the boosters, aren't they?" Lauren pointed at the vehicles coming down the road toward them.

"Got to be."

"What a relief."

"You know it." Now that the rigs were almost here, he needed to get ready to fight fire. "Come on to the truck. I've got some stuff back there." He clasped her hand, threaded their fingers together, and realized how right it felt. As they walked quickly to his pickup, he knew without a doubt that she belonged in Wildcat Bluff. Now if he could just convince her of that fact.

"I'd like to help."

"I understand, but you can do more another time." He jerked open the back door of his truck. "We won't enter the barn, so we won't need full turnout gear or breathing apparatus."

He reached inside his pickup, moved aside the fire extinguishers, and pulled out a high-visibility orange-and-yellow parka. He pulled on the jacket and tucked leather gloves into his pocket. He reached for his cowboy hat, remembered he'd left it in Ruby's kitchen, so he dug around till he found a battered tan felt one that was better for a dirty job anyway. His scuffed cowboy boots would do to protect his feet.

Lauren watched him get ready to fight fire and realized again that he was a professional at it now, unlike the days when they were learning the ropes.

"I'm here if anybody needs me." She felt for her phone in her pocket to make sure she was ready to call for help at a moment's notice.

"Thanks." He slammed shut the door of his pickup and glanced up as the boosters came to a halt, one in front of the other, across from the fire.

"Kent!" Sydney stepped out of the front booster and gestured past him. "Is that Lauren with you?"

"Yes," Lauren called back. "He's got me staying by his truck out of the way, but I'm ready to help."

Sydney put her hands on her hips, looked at the fire, and then back at Lauren. "I think we can manage on our own, but we'll let you know if we need you."

"Okay!" Lauren called as she stepped back to Kent's truck.