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Zeke
One more to go.
Technically, Zeke didn’t have to worry anymore. Eloise was his last daughter to be married and that would happen soon enough. Each of his daughters had found someone he could tolerate. Sure, some of these men were better than others, but his daughters were happy and that was all that mattered.
Right?
Of course it was. His late wife would be turning in her grave if she heard even a whiff of uncertainty on his part. That was something he’d figured out over the more recent years. His daughters needed room to spread their wings as much as he hated to let them do it.
That was why he’d retreated out to his hunting cabin on the edge of the forest. The more time he spent under his own roof, the harder it was to mind his own business.
Brielle had nearly driven him to distraction with the two young men who came and went. It was much smarter to be out here where there was only one bedroom, a living space, and a kitchen. It couldn’t be more than five-hundred square feet, but it suited him just fine.
No women to disrupt his routine, and he was still close enough to the ranch that he could show up and get work done without anyone being the wiser. Zeke didn’t even know if his daughters were aware he wasn’t sleeping at home. They were all so caught up in their relationships, and he made a point to join them at mealtime.
Thunder cracked outside the hunting cabin and the building creaked along with the wind. The storm had moved in fast after Brielle’s wedding was over. A weather warning had been sent out to the residents of Copper Creek for high winds and hail.
Zeke pulled off his boots and wandered toward the window to peer out into the darkness. There wasn’t much he could see. Not even the swaying of the trees. The moon was completely shrouded in storm clouds and only the barest glow on the edges of objects gave his view depth.
The average person would see all this darkness and immediately get claustrophobic, but Zeke found he liked the never-ending darkness a lot more than the stark light of a typical day. He leaned his shoulder against the wall beside the window, relishing in the thunder and the sound of the hail hitting the house.
A bright flash of lightning zig-zagged through the sky and small tendrils of energy seemed to pour off it as it darted through the clouds. He could smell the electricity in the air and feel the hum of it as it fueled the nature that surrounded him.
Thunder boomed almost immediately after. The lightning had been close. He’d have to keep an eye on the woods surrounding his property in case it started a fire.
The storm continued to rage with more bursts of lightning. Then one slammed into the earth.
Zeke straightened, his eyes narrowing as he peered out the window and into the darkness. There was no way that bolt didn’t do some damage. Most of the ones prior fizzled out before hitting anything, but that last one most definitely made contact.
His heart thumped with anticipation. The rain and hail had stopped, but the wind had picked up. That wasn’t a good sign. The lightning storm was moving away, which meant more peace around here, but his gut was telling him that they were going to be dealing with the aftermath for days, if not weeks.
Shifting nervously, he raked a hand through his hair. He was still dressed in his suit and tie from the wedding, and if he’d had any sense, he would have changed right away. Now, it was too late. If there was, in fact, something he would have to deal with, he wouldn’t have time to change. The winds alone would add problems to any fire that might have been started.
Still, he searched the horizon for the smallest hint that something was wrong.
Then he saw it.
It was barely discernable, but thanks to the blacked-out sky, he was able to see it.
A soft glow behind the line of trees to the east. That wasn’t where his home was, thankfully. If he was lucky, it was just a field that had caught fire and all he’d have to do is call in some reinforcements to control the spread.
His brows lowered.
Actually, from this distance, the fire looked too far away to be on his property but only just. Zeke racked his brain for the folks who lived out in that direction. Ruth Mumford used to live out that way, but she’d since moved out of state to be closer to family.
His brows shot up. Last he’d heard, a family had moved in, but he wasn’t sure who. There had been a lot of turnover in town. Any of the new faces he interacted with could live there now.
Zeke darted from the window toward his boots. He yanked them on, his eyes flitting to the window as the glow grew stronger. It was a house. The house was on fire; he was certain of it. By the time he saddled his horse, the winds had died down, but the glow in the distance was still raging.
Praying he wasn’t too late and that no one was harmed, he kicked his heels into his horse’s flanks and darted into the night.
The path was familiar, easy to traverse even in the dark. Once upon a time he might have considered dating Miss Mumford. She’d lost her husband a few years after he’d lost his wife. But the timing had never been right. That didn’t stop them from forming a friendship, and he’d visited her on occasion.
Smoke quickly inundated his senses the closer he got to the edge of his property. The glow burned brighter, and by the time the house appeared in his sights, he could hear the sirens, but they were too far away. The small house wasn’t quite engulfed in flames, but it would definitely need to be rebuilt.
Zeke leaned forward in the saddle, urging his horse to move faster. Wind whipped at his face and tugged at his suit coat. He hadn’t grabbed his hat, but if he had, it would have been long gone by now.
