AllFreeNovel
Share Us
For a heartbeat, I consider yelling, screaming for the cowboy to come back. But it’s too late now. little sparks are jumping from the flaming tool onto the ground.
I need something to put it out. Water is too far, and there’s all kinds of oil and grease in there that might react with it and make the blaze worse…
Fire extinguisher.
We keep one in the tractor because it has always seemed like a good idea. Grass fires and tractors are killers out here in the sticks, so my dad always wanted to have one on hand just in case. I dash up to the tractor, open the cab, and look for it…
There. Under the seat.
By the time I spin back to the flames, they’re already in a three-foot radius around the auger. I pull the pin on the extinguisher, praying with everything I have that this little thing will be enough to put out a fire that size.
For a second, nothing happens. I pull on the handle, and there’s nothing. Then foam sprays out of it, choking the auger and the grass fire together.
I spray until the canister is completely empty. My hand feels locked around the handle, and it takes me a concentrated effort to uncurl my fingers.
Panting, my chest heaving, I look at the spot where the fire was. I stare at it for much longer than necessary, making sure that it’s out. When I’m convinced that it won’t light up again, I climb back into the tractor’s cab. I start it up, my hands shaking with the adrenaline.
I need to tell my dad. It’s handled, it’s fine, but that was… scary.
As the tractor trundles away, I realize that the fence is still not mended. And the Wild Spur boys could still come over it… whenever they want.
Back at the house, my dad’s gone. He doesn’t answer his phone, so I assume he either didn’t bring it, or he left it in the car while he runs his errands. Shit.
I grab one of the beers in the fridge, opening it and taking a sip, trying to calm my nerves.
That was awful.
My phone dings, and I snatch it up, hoping that it’s my dad, but it’s Kendall. She sent a picture of her plane landing in Denver.
Kendall: Colorado for the week!
I call her.
“Well, I didn’t think it was that newsworthy,” Kendall drawls. Her voice, sonorous as always, makes something in me break open a little. I sit down, and my throat clogs with tears. “Nora?”
“Hi,” I croak.
Kendall sucks in a breath. “Girl, hold on. Let me get somewhere more private.”
I hear rustling, and then the sounds of the airport dim slightly. “What’s happening? What’s wrong?” she asks.
“Everything,” I sob. I proceed to tell Kendall everything. The ranch. The bank. My dad acting weird. The cowboys at the Wild Spur. The fire. It all comes pouring out.
When I’m done, she makes a little noise, and I can picture her pursing her lips to think. “So, while I’m all about three hot cowboys moving in next door?—”
“I did not say they were hot,” I interrupt.
“—you don’t think that they had anything to do with your digging thing exploding, do you?”
I freeze. “What?”
“You know. The fact that this Landon guy was like messing around with it, and then it lit up like the fourth of July?”
My mouth opens, then shuts. “Oh, my God.”
“Yeah. I mean, that’s what I’m kind of wondering, Nora.”
“You think he tried to kill me?”
