Finally Home (19 page)

“
No, not you and Noah. The special occasion is that Mr. Barrington is gone! I will make a sinful chocolate cake for dessert!”

“
You’re terrible,” Amanda teased and followed her inside. But just as she was about to close the door, she heard a noise. Stepping back outside, she squinted her eyes. Unfortunately, her vision was not the best at dusk.

As her heart swelled with hope, she walked quickly to the corral. Could Noah be home? But she hadn’t heard his jeep pull up to the house...and the noise she heard sounded like an animal. A noise that a horse would make.

“
Amos, Luke,” she shouted as she crept to the stable. But no one answered.

When she took a step closer, the double doors on the stable broke wide open and the horses galloped out in panic. Amanda, thrown back against a wall of the stable from the force of the stampede, rubbed the back of her head. Trying to calm her shaking, she focused on what to do.

“
Miss Amanda, are you out there? What was that terrible rumble?”

Amanda looked toward the house and noticed Maria on the porch. “
Help!
Call the ranch hands. Hopefully most of them are in their cabins. Tell them all the horses got loose from their stalls and broke through the stable doors! Hurry, Maria....”

“
I-yi-yi! I will call them right now!”

Amanda didn’t know what to do next. Twisting around she stared at the stable doors, crushed from the stampede of horses. Cautiously, she entered the stable. It wasn’t long before her nose crinkled up in disfavor.
Smoke
. She smelled smoke. Searching around the stable she finally spotted a small fire in a corner stall that was growing rapidly. A chill of fear sliced through her. Helplessly, she ran to the fire, knowing she had to attempt putting it out or it could spread through the whole stable.

She located the water hose the ranch hands used to fill the troughs and turned on the faucet to full strength. Feeling the sweat on her brow, she wiped it away and defiantly stared at the fire. There was no way it was going to take this ranch from her. The cold water streamed from the hose and onto the fire, but all the hay was just too much ignition for the flames as the fire climbed a wall of the stable.

Amanda felt weak. She continued to spray water on the bright orange flames, but dropped to her knees. Where were all those ranch hands?

Suddenly, her eyes caught something shiny in the hay beneath her. When she pulled the object from the hay, she gasped. A lighter with the initials E.P.E. engraved on the wood casing.

“
Amanda!” Noah’s voice was rough with outrage.

Still on her knees, she turned her head, elated to see him. “I don’t know what else to do!”

Rushing to her side, he pried the hose from her cold hands and started spraying the areas of the stable that hadn’t caught on fire. “I’ll try to wet down as much of the stable as I can. Where’s all the guys?”

“
I told Maria to call them,” she rose to her tired feet, wiping hay from her jeans. “Noah, all the horses got loose somehow....”

“
Damn,” he shouted in frustration. “How did this happen?”

As she started to hold her hand out and reveal the lighter she found, a couple of the ranch hands raced into the stable.

“
How did all the horses get loose?” Luke yelled.

Two other ranch hands picked up pitchforks and began tossing dirt onto the fire. Luke hustled to the second faucet, that didn’t have a hose attached, and began to fill a large bucket with water.

“
Don’t know,” Noah replied and moved as close to the fire as he could stretch the hose, feeling more in control now that the flames were waning.

“
I heard a noise,” Amanda rubbed her arms from the chilly air, not fully aware that she had even spoken.

“
What kinda noise, Miss Brookfield?” Luke poured the bucket of water on the fire and hurried back to the faucet to refill.

“
I was about to enter the house when I heard a strange noise from the corral. So, I went over and looked around, but heard nothing more. Then I decided to inspect the stable. That’s when it happened,” her eyes filled with tears as the hysteria of the moment replayed itself in her head.

Noah handed the hose over to a fourth ranch hand that scrambled into the stable, instructing him to continue watering the mostly diminished fire. Then he moved toward Amanda. “
What
happened?”

Her eyes met his, locking with them instantly. “The stable doors broke and all the horses came rushing through...and I fell back and hit my head.”

“
You could have been trampled by those horses,” his dark eyebrows lowered with worry. He slipped his fingers through her hair and massaged the back of her head. “I feel a bump. Do you feel dizzy or anything?”

She closed her eyes, relishing the movement of Noah’s fingers on her skin. “I’m fine. Just a bit shaky.”

His other hand squeezed her shoulder, then he moved away to help Luke figure out how they were going to round up the horses.

Amanda clutched the lighter. Furious that Mr. Ellinger was able to sneak into Moonlight Ranch once again. What did he hope to accomplish this time? Setting fire to the stable but letting all the horses go? Puzzled, she tried to understand his evil mind. Then, she noticed Amos.

He was lingering around the shattered doors, a frightened expression on his face. His hands were tucked deeply into his pockets, causing him to hunch over as he walked. When he saw Amanda staring at him, he jumped.

Why was he looking so guilty, Amanda wondered. Did he know something about what Mr. Ellinger did? She continued to watch him.

“
Amos,” Noah waved his hand after he spotted the ranch hand loitering around. “I need your help rounding up the horses. Most likely, they’ll return here after the scare wears off, but it could be a couple of days.”

“
Yes sir,” Amos walked toward him, keeping his eyes lowered.

Amanda’s teeth were chattering from the chilly evening, but knew she just couldn’t go inside yet. There were too many questions to be answered. “Noah, I’d like to help with the round up.”

“
No, Amanda. We can handle it. Why don’t you go inside and eat dinner? And assure Maria that everything’s under control out here.”

“
I want to help.”

He motioned for the ranch hands to go about their business. “I think it’s best that you go inside. Me and the guys can get the horses just fine.”

“
But Noah, I don’t want to sit inside and feel useless! Especially since I know who did this....”

“
What do you mean?”

“
I found this in the hay,” she held out her hand, revealing the shiny lighter.

He grabbed it, mouthing the initials on the casing as he fixed his angry eyes on her. “What is his fixation on fire? First the barn, now the stable....”

“
He threatened me this afternoon. Said he wasn’t finished with us,” she watched for Noah’s reaction. “He was extremely upset about...your earlier visit.”

The burning rage in his eyes faded when he glimpsed at her. His gaze turned softer, almost vulnerable. “I can’t talk about that right now.”

She barely heard his low whisper. Reaching up, she cupped his chin in her palm. “You saved the ranch.”

“
I gotta go,” he stuffed the lighter in his jeans pocket and walked toward the group of patiently waiting ranch hands gathered in a corner.

Amanda watched as they grabbed flashlights and lassos, then eagerly followed Noah from the stable and into the dreary night.

CHAPTER ~ TEN

“
You must eat something,” Maria coaxed. “They will be back soon.”

Amanda swirled her fork into her mashed potatoes. “They’ve been gone for a long time.”

“
Probably only been an hour,” Maria smiled, patting Amanda’s back.

“
Oh, I just wish that Noah would’ve let me help them with the horses. I’m worried about Stormy...what if they can’t find him? He’s still so young.”

Maria made herself comfortable in a chair across the table from Amanda. Wiping her hands on a frilly red apron tied around her waist, she sighed. “I’m sure the little-one’s momma is right beside him. Don’t worry so much, honey. I think you are just being nervous about other things.”

“
Like what?”

“
Talking to Noah.”

“
Why would I be feeling nervous about talking to Noah?”

“
I am sorry, I overheard something this morning,” she folded her heavily ringed hands beneath her chin.

“
What did you hear, Maria?”

“
A talk between Mr. Barrington and Noah.”

Amanda’s eyes grew round with curiosity. “Brandon talked with Noah? My stars! What did they say to each other?”

“
Well,” Maria wrung her hands anxiously. “I know I should not have been so nosey....”

“
Too late! You have to tell me now. Or I’ll go crazy wondering what they talked about before Brandon left.”

Maria busied herself with unfolding a cloth napkin, refolding it, then unfolding it again. “I was in the kitchen... when I heard the two men in the dining room. Noah did not sound happy to run into Mr. Barrington. I heard him laugh and say he would skip breakfast this morning, but Mr. Barrington told him to stay because he needed to talk to him before he left for Chicago.”

“
Go on,” Amanda urged, her ears alert to every word Maria said.

“
Well, Noah laughed and said hallelujah!”

“
He actually said that?” Amanda pushed her china plate aside, her appetite long gone.

“
Yes, he did. And then Mr. Barrington said he was going out on a limb to say what he wanted to say, so Noah should just sit and listen because it is very important. Well, then I heard silence, then Mr. Barrington said he wasn’t usually a nice man and he had no good feelings toward Noah, but Noah needed to know something about a meeting taking place in the afternoon.”

Amanda leaned back in her chair, her eyes glued to Maria’s face. “So, Brandon told Noah about the meeting! I’ve been trying to figure that out all day.”

“
Then Mr. Barrington told Noah about your meeting with Mr. Ellinger and how you were going to sell...something...but I couldn’t understand what it was--”

“
Don’t worry about that...what else did they say?”

“
Well, Noah sounded angry and he hit something...maybe the table. He said he couldn’t let Amanda do that, and knew she was doing it for him, and that it meant too much to her, and he couldn’t let the meeting take place. Then he must have left because I heard the front door slam.”

The room seemed to brighten before Amanda’s eyes, as she felt an overpowering pride for the man she loved. He had sacrificed for her twice now. Proving to her that he cared more for her own happiness then his own. How could she ever have thought he was such a scoundrel? And now, knowing about his childhood, how he suffered from guilt after his brother died, how he felt to blame, how he felt forced to stay on a ranch that held such bad memories for him...she finally understood his indifference.

“
Thank you for telling me, Maria. It means so much to me.”

“
Miss Amanda, I don’t think I’ve kept it a secret about how I think you and Noah should get together. And I’ve seen the way you look at each other. You’re both just so bullheaded!”

“
Yes, we are,” Amanda agreed. “Now that you’ve told me the story, I have to go back to what you said earlier about me being nervous--”

“
I only meant that you wanting to talk to Noah must be related to what happened this morning when Noah stormed out. I thought you were feeling nervous because you were going to tell him how you feel...after he obviously did something important for you.”

“
Well, what I was going to say before you interrupted me,” Amanda stretched out her arm and covered Maria’s hand with her own. “Was that you’re right. I am feeling nervous. I have a lot to say to Noah....”

“
Miss Brookfield, are ya in here, Miss Brookfield?”

Amanda jumped from her chair when she recognized Luke’s voice at the front door. “Luke, I’m in the dining room. What’s wrong?”

“
I’m sorry to barge in like this...but we need some help. It’s Amos,” he tried to slow his rapid breathing and leaned forward, planting both hands on his knees.

“
Amos? Is he ok?” Amanda immediately flashed back to earlier when she observed how suspicious Amos was acting.

Luke removed his hat and combed his fingers through his shoulder-length brown hair. His pale green eyes were watery from being out in the cold night. “No. He’s got a gun to his head, ma’am.”

“
Mama-mia!” Maria shouted.

“
Luke, why does he have a gun?”

“
We all went up to the hills ‘cause that’s where Noah said the horses probably were. Sure enough, they were eatin’ on those wildflowers. All the sudden, Amos started screamin’ that he couldn’t take it anymore and pulled out a gun. Now he’s got it to his head,” he took a deep breath. “And Noah and the other guys can’t seem to get Amos to put the gun down.”