Cardwell Ranch Trespasser - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,63
for not trusting you,” Dana cried, and hugged her.
“Right now, we have to find a way out of here.”
The two of them tried to find another spot along the wall where they could get out. The barn was old but sturdily built, and the smoke was so thick now that staying low wasn’t helping. They could hear the flames growing closer and closer.
With a whoosh the back of the barn began to cave in.
The rest of the structure groaned and creaked. But over the roar of the flames and the falling boards, Hilde heard another sound. A vehicle headed in their direction.
* * *
DEE HAD LEFT Dana a note. “I couldn’t find you and the kids when I got ready to leave for the airport, so I borrowed your pickup. Thank you for everything. I’ll leave the truck in long-term parking. Dee.”
Then she’d taken the keys from where she’d seen Dana hang them on a hook by the door and left.
After they’d finished their horseback ride yesterday, Hud had unsaddled the horses and put everything away. Then she’d heard him go upstairs, his boots heavy on the steps, as if he dreaded telling his wife about her cousin.
She’d listened hard but hadn’t heard a sound once he entered his and Dana’s bedroom, confirming what she’d suspected. That he hadn’t awakened Dana last night to tell her.
Earlier this morning when Dee had come downstairs, she’d seen Hud and Dana with their heads together. He had definitely told her something. She’d seen how reluctant he was to leave his wife. They’d done their best to act normal. But she could tell they were counting down the hours until she left.
She’d helped herself to a cup of coffee. Dana had made French toast and sausage for breakfast and offered her a plate. Dee ate heartily as Dana took care of the kids and nibbled at the food on her plate. “You should eat more breakfast,” Dee told her.
“I’m fine. Anyway, I still need to lose a few pounds after the twins.”
But this is your last breakfast, Dee had wanted to say. She hoped on her last day on earth she ate a good breakfast, since she would never be eating again.
As she drove away from the ranch, she glanced at the barn. Flames were licking up the sides. She looked away, thinking how sad it was that things hadn’t worked out differently.
She looked back only once more as she drove past Big Sky. Smoke billowed up into the air across the river, an orange glow behind the pines. She gave the pickup more gas. She had a plane to catch, and there was no going back and changing things now.
She turned on the radio and began to sing along. She had no idea where she was going or what she would do when she got there, but she had Dee Anna Justice’s trust fund check and options. She would find another identity and disappear.
What amazed her as she left the canyon was that she’d ever thought she could be happy living on Cardwell Ranch with Hud.
* * *
COLT SAW THE smoke and flames in the distance the moment he came out of the narrow part of the canyon. He felt his heart drop. He raced up the highway, calling the fire department as he went, and turned onto the ranch road.
At first he thought it was the house on fire, but as he came up over a rise, he saw that it was the barn. For a moment he felt a wave of relief. Then he saw Hilde’s SUV parked in front of the house. Dana’s ranch pickup was gone. Maybe they’d all left to take Dee to the airport. Maybe they were all fine.
But his gut told him differently.
When he saw the stroller lying on its side in front of the barn and the door barred, he knew. Holding his hand down on the horn, he hit the gas and raced toward the burning front door of the barn.
The bumper smashed through the burning wood as the expensive rental SUV burst into the barn. Pieces of burning wood hit the windshield, sparks flew all around him and then there was nothing but dark thick smoke.
The moment the SUV broke through the door, he hit his brakes. It’s too late, he thought when he saw the entire shell of the barn in flames, the smoke so thick he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. He leaped from the rig, screaming