Forever Driven: Forever Bluegrass #4 (17 page)

M
att burst
out of the woods into the moonlit pasture. He saw the open gate in front of him and scanned the cows for a human racing through the field. He took a deep breath and slowed to a walk, as he now took his time to examine the pasture.

The cows were restless as they mooed their displeasure over being disturbed. Matt was about to run into the field when he heard the sound of gunshots echoing off the land. The dirt near his feet kicked up as a bullet impaled itself in the ground. A second shot went off, and he dropped to a crouch, trying to locate the two shooters. He didn’t have to look far. The cows had taken off in a stampede, and Riley raced down the hillside.

“He’s in with the cows!” Riley screamed so loudly Matt was afraid her vocal chords would rupture. Although she had no choice if she wanted to be heard. It was the only way he could hear her over the noise of the stampede.

Matt closed the metal gate and climbed up on the rail to see where Riley was pointing. Brief glimpses of a man’s shadow could be seen running with the cows. They were quickly outpacing him, and he had somehow managed to stay upright without being run over.

Matt didn’t wait to see more. He kept his eyes on the target, leapt from the gate, and took off through the pasture. Pumping his arms, he sprinted toward the man. When the last cow passed him, Matt could finally get a good view of the perpetrator. By his build, it was definitely a man. Around six feet and average weight. That didn’t help much, but he could rule out Harvey Luttrell. As if Harvey would do his own dirty work. However, his build did fit LeeRoy though Matt doubted LeeRoy was in such good shape. They must have hired someone.

Matt went down to one knee and pulled his rifle from his back. “Stop or I’ll shoot!” he yelled quickly. The man was getting close to being out of range. Matt controlled his breath and put the scope to his eye. He scanned the field until he found his target that stopped, turned, and fired his own weapon. Matt took a slow breath, and right after he exhaled, squeezed the trigger as if he were caressing a lover.

Matt’s shoulder absorbed the recoil from the rifle as he kept his eye on the target through the scope. The man stumbled backward as the shot to the arm flung him back. “Damn,” Matt cursed. The man went down but was able to quickly get back up. Matt put him in his sight again, but the man was returning fire and hitting closer now that Matt was in clear view. He had to flatten himself to the ground as he heard Riley taking shots to cover him.

The man zigged and zagged toward the sound of an engine revving. A truck with no headlights burst through the angry mob of cows, taking advantage of the open gate at the far side of the pasture and pouring out of the enclosure. Riley fired at the truck even though she was too far away to hit it. Matt lay in the grass and held the rifle propped up by his elbows on the ground. He looked through the scope and fired at the truck. He heard the ping of bullets hitting metal but the truck didn’t stop. The driver was in darkness, and Matt couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman.

As the truck bounced by the man, he leapt into its bed and returned fire, forcing Matt to roll out of the way and Riley to the ground. Without slowing down, the truck tore through the wire fencing. Sparks flew from the fencing dragging on the pavement of the main road before they quickly disappeared from view.

“Dammit!” Matt smacked the ground and pushed himself up.

“Matt! Are you okay?” Riley yelled to him as she rushed forward.

“I’m fine. Just pissed I couldn’t catch him. How are you?” Matt ran his hands over her shoulders and down her arms as he tried to see every scratch and bruise in the moonlight. “I didn’t think you’d recover so fast from the gas.”

“I have a headache from hell, but the fresh air has helped. Plus, I took a shortcut. So I had a little more time at home before taking off.” He could see Riley deflate. “A home I no longer have. All my stuff. My clothes, my pictures, my riding trophies. How am I going to tell Reagan all her things are gone as well?”

Matt pulled her into his arms and felt the shock of the night wrack her body. He felt the wetness of her tears on his bare chest as he slowly ran his hand up and down her spine in hopes of soothing her.

When he felt her relax against him, he cupped her face with his hands and forced her to look up at him. “We have each other. We can try to replace everything else. Some of the pictures may be hard, but we can take new ones.”

“Thank you, Matt. If it weren’t for you . . .” Riley didn’t need to finish. Matt knew and the idea terrified him. The thought of losing her was too much. To banish it from his mind, he lowered his lips and claimed hers. He wasn’t gentle this time. It was rough and frantic. They clung to each other, and the knowledge that they had been so close to death infused them more than ever with the desire to bask in life.

R
iley hissed
as she and Matt limped toward the road. She would rather hitchhike than walk back home through the woods. The inferno was no longer lighting the night sky so the fire department must have arrived. She felt sore and bruised, but she was alive. She could not believe she had lost her house. She was so beyond fury that she felt a crazy little smile steal over her face.

“Um, Riley. You’re looking a little . . . off,” Matt said slowly as he helped her limp along. He started helping her after she stepped in a cow patty, which, while disgusting, had soothed her feet for a minute. Riley had insisted she could walk on her own and she had—right into the cow patty—and then another.

“I’m just thinking of ways to torture the person behind this. I think I’m going to walk over to Luttrell’s house tonight and pay him a little visit,” Riley said as she quickly tried to figure out which way to go.

“While I applaud your tenacity, let’s get you home and cleaned up. You can take them all down on Monday when you surprisingly show up at work.” Riley heard Matt sigh in relief and looked up. “A car.”

A truck bounced off the road and into the field. Riley tensed but felt better seeing her cousin Sydney’s husband behind the wheel. “There they are!” Sydney cried as she stuck her head out the window. “Are you all right? Are you hurt? Everyone is worried sick!”

“We’re fine except for some scrapes and bruises.”

Sydney jumped out of the truck and ran toward them. Her husband, Deacon, followed closely behind. “Boy, are we glad to see you. Cy and Gemma are fit to be tied. To prevent the fire from spreading, they had to stay and help contain it until the fire department arrived. By then, half the town was there helping. That is, until the cow situation,” Deacon explained.

“What cow situation?” Riley asked as Syd engulfed her in a hug.

“What is that smell?” Sydney sniffed.

“I had a cow patty incident.”

“Two,” Matt hid under a fake cough.

“Well, I have Robyn’s towel in the back of the truck that you can use to clean up a little,” Sydney said as she carefully helped Riley to the truck bed. “Honey, can you text Uncle Cy and let him know they’re safe.”

“Already done,” Deacon said in his smooth Georgian voice. The way he talked, you thought they were sipping mint juleps on the veranda instead of hoisting a cow-pattied cousin-in-law into the back of a truck after her house exploded.

“Let’s get you home. Your mom said she has some clothes, and I’ll bring over all I have tomorrow,” Sydney said through the sliding window separating the truck bed and the cab.

“Ugh,” Riley groaned. Spending the night back at her parents’ house was the last thing she wanted.
Smothered
wouldn’t even begin to describe what would be in store for her.

Matt leaned over and pushed her hair from her face. “Don’t worry. We’ll get your clothes and then use my car to go to my house. Somehow, I don’t think your dad will let me spend the night at his house and I have no intention of letting you out of my sight.”

R
iley closed
her eyes and leaned against Matt’s chest. Deacon drove the truck out of the field and turned toward Keeneston. Going in that direction, they were only a few miles from the farm entrance. They could turn onto Maple and wind their way past the old houses and the bed-and-breakfast, where they would then turn left onto Main Street and pass the Café before heading out of town to the farm. Basically, they were traveling in a circle since the cow pastures were cut off from the main farm by the large hills and woods.

The truck slowed and Riley felt Matt stiffen beneath her. “Holy shit,” he muttered as he frantically started tapping her arm.

Riley opened her eyes and felt her mouth fall open.

“Get out of here, you beasts!” Miss Daisy yelled as she sprayed a hose at a cow. The cow seemed to enjoy it as she tried to lick the water. More cows lumbered closer to where Miss Daisy was standing on the porch with her sisters, their cousins Poppy and Zinnia, and the B&B guests staring as a hundred cows roamed down the street into downtown.

“Don’t even think about eating that rose!”
Thwack
. Miss Lily smacked a cow on the head with her broom. The cow licked the broom and took a bite of the corn bristles.

“No, we have to scare them, not feed and water them,” Miss Violet tried to explain.

“Well then, just take off your nightgown and say
Boo
,” Miss Daisy snarked back as she turned the hose onto jet and blasted a cow right in the side. The cow mooed happily as another one tried to bite the stream of water.

“There’s going to be a cow fight soon over who gets to play in the water,” Riley laughed as they stared out of the bed of truck.

“I have a taser. You think that would get the cows moving?” Syd asked with a smile.

Deacon just shook his head. “Not anymore you don’t. Remember, you traded your taser for your favorite red lipstick last week. But I’m sure the cows will appreciate a makeover.”

“You better hurry and get me home. I’ll grab my horse and help round up these ladies,” Riley told Deacon, rapping on the roof of the cab.

Slowly Deacon made his way down the street and out of downtown. The lights of the fire trucks and emergency vehicles were still flashing as the sun began to rise. Riley saw her entire family and all her friends standing in a semicircle watching both the Lipston and Lexington fire departments hosing down what had been her house.

“Here they are!” Sienna Ashton Parker called loudly. The entire semicircle spun around and swarmed the truck.

“What happened? Are you both all right?” Ryan, Sienna’s FBI husband and Riley’s cousin, asked.

“Nothing major. Just some cuts and bruises from not having the right clothes and shoes. But we have a bigger problem,” Riley told them as Matt lifted her from the back of the truck.

“I’ll get my gun,” the entire group said in unison.

Riley laughed and felt that the cows and her family had saved her life. The emotional wreck she had been drifted away on the tendrils of her laughter. How could it not? Cows were moseying through Keeneston, her family were all in their night clothes, and everyone was prepared to go to battle in the early morning dawn while water sprayed on the smoking ashes of her home.

“We caught up with the man who blew up my house in the cow pasture,” Riley explained.

Ahmed shrugged. “Then I’ll get the shovel.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Matt said with a roll of his eyes but a smile on his lips. If he was going to be part of the family, he had a feeling he was going to start sounding like Marshall Davies, always covering his ears and complaining about his family’s enjoyment of the gray area of the law.

Riley shook her head. “I didn’t catch him.”

“Well, that’s okay, dear. I’m sure you’ll shoot him next time.” Aunt Annie, who was former DEA and currently a sheriff’s deputy, patted Riley’s shoulder comfortingly.

“I shot him. Does that count?” Matt asked Annie.

“Did you kill him?” Cy asked him.

“No. Shoulder wound.”

“Then no, it doesn’t count.”

“I think it should count,” her mother said, giving Matt a kind smile.

“Me too. I mean, he did hit his target. Just not a bullseye,” Uncle Pierce put in as his wife, Tammy, nodded her spiked blond hair in agreement.

“I’ll bake you one of my famous apple pies to thank you for shooting that bastard,” Marcy Davies, Riley’s grandmother, told Matt fondly.

Riley put her fingers to her lips and blew. A piercing whistle had everyone silent in seconds. “As I was saying, we have a problem. The reason he got away was because he had help. Someone tore through the gate in a pickup to rescue him while taking a good part of the metal fence as they left. The cows have wandered into town. When we drove by, they were trying to eat Miss Lily’s prize roses.”

“Why didn’t you say so?” Uncle Cade, a former Special Forces soldier turned high school biology teacher, asked as the family members scrambled into the back of pickup trucks and SUVs. “Get us to the barns, fast!”

Trucks sped away from the smoking pile of timber and over to her father’s stables. After fighting with the Special Forces, Miles, Marshall, and Cade had all moved back to Keeneston and bought farms of their own. Her father, she had just learned last year, had been a spy when he met her mother in Los Angeles. Her mother had thought he was a stuntman, but it turned out he did a lot more than pretend to shoot a gun. When he met Gemma, they came back to Keeneston and never left. He retired from being a stuntman and a spy, and started a farm along with his other brothers. Pierce, the youngest of the Davies brothers, had made a lot of money inventing the next age of agricultural equipment now being used on farms all over the world. So, if there was one thing her uncles knew, it was how to ride, and Riley had never been so relieved for their country life when, in less than ten minutes, everyone was on horseback and riding toward town in their pajamas, ready to round up the rose-eating cows.

“
I
will say this
, Marcy and Jake Davies sure know how to make babies.” Riley heard Miss Lily sigh. Riley swung her horse around and looked at her father, uncles, a handful of cousins, and friends rounding up the last of the cows.

They were all riding in athletic shorts or pajama bottoms. She didn’t think anything of it until Poppy similarly sighed. “I think your roses were worth the sacrifice so we could see this. It’s like the
Magic Mike
movie if they were all real-life cowboys.”

It was then that it registered for Riley what they were talking about. None of them had shirts on. Riley had been so focused on watching Matt shirtless on a horse as he worked his way through downtown, rounding up cows, that she didn’t think of anyone else. Besides, that was her family and just—
eww
.

“Maybe I should swoon. Do you think Carter would catch me?” Zinnia said with a giggle as Riley cut off a cow trying to head back to Miss Lily’s rosebush, now missing a couple blooms.

“Or Wyatt. Look at those muscles,” Poppy said with wonder.

Miss Violet sighed longingly. “And I’ve had them all in my bosom. I miss those days. But I promised my dear Anton no more flirting after we tied the knot.” Anton stood behind her and shook his head with a smirk on his lips.

Riley snorted. Miss Violet hadn’t given up her famous smothering hugs. She just made sure she did it when no one was looking. Ryan had told them he was afraid he’d pass out from lack of oxygen the last time Miss Violet grabbed him for a hug—a hug that just happened to bring his head right into her pillowy bosom.

“You’re so lucky,” Poppy and Zinnia said as the men rode by.

It was the first time Riley had heard Poppy or Zinnia talk about men. It hadn’t really dawned on her that neither of them had dated during their time in Keeneston. They were both in the mid to late twenties, yet Riley had never seen either one with a man. Though, come to think of it, she really didn’t know much about their past except that they had come from a small town in Alabama six years before to help out their cousins—cousins they never knew existed until Miss Lily tracked them down. They fit into Keeneston perfectly, but something told Riley there was more to their story.

“Riley! That’s the last cow. We have room for one more in the trailer. Bring her over here,” her father called to her. Riley shook off her thoughts. She was becoming paranoid, thinking there were secrets everywhere when there was probably nothing to the sisters’ story at all.

All her aunts had driven to their farms and retrieved trailers to fill with cows rather than trying to herd them all back through town. People were already at work repairing the fence in the pasture.

“Nolan Flynn just called,” Riley’s mom yelled from the cab of the truck. “He said he has the new gate from the feed and farm store up, and his crew should have the fence repair complete in the next half hour.”

Riley ushered the last cow down Miss Lily’s driveway and into the waiting trailer. Nolan was a hard worker. He was a couple of years younger than she was and had dated Abby Mueez when they were in high school. It was short lived, but the friendship remained intact. He had gone to college and returned with a business plan to keep Flynn’s Feed and Farm on the map. Part of that was working with her Uncle Pierce to make sure Flynn’s had access to the latest inventions from Pierce’s company. It included a beta program in which farmers would sign up to test products ranging from new seeds to new machines.

Riley shifted in the saddle and hoped that Sydney had dropped off some more clothes at Matt’s house. She was in old jeans from her freshman year of college and the top button wouldn’t close. She was also pretty sure she had split the pants along her bottom.

Matt rode up to her and the thought crossed her mind that torn clothes may be easier to get out of faster. What was it about a man on a horse that sent a
zing
straight to her hoo-ha?

“Hey. Don’t you have that meeting with Angela Cobb soon? I don’t know if the café’s going to be open,” Matt called as he sent a wink to Poppy and Zinnia, who were startled out of a trance from gazing at all of the men sitting on their horses.

“Oh, right!” Poppy gasped.

“Free pancake brunch at the café for all the cow wranglers!” Zinnia called out. “Anything to keep them from putting shirts back on,” Zinnia winked to Riley before taking off at a jog toward the café.

Riley saw her mother smile and roll her eyes as the men whooped. “I’ll bring the guys back from the farm and pay for their meals to thank them for their hard work, too. I’ll see you all shortly.”

The diesel truck roared to life and slowly chugged its way toward the farm. Riley followed the group toward the café as everyone eagerly talked about this morning’s happenings. She also didn’t miss the fact that Poppy was busy taking bets left and right after it quickly spread that, at the time of the explosion, Riley and Matt had been in bed. Together. Naked.

“
I
don’t even know
how to explain this,” Riley said as she looked down from her horse to where Angela stood, looking splendid in a fitted pants suit. She looked around at the shirtless men swinging their legs over the saddles and tying their horses to the street lamps.

“It’s like
Magic Mike
, but real,” Angela said with wide appreciative eyes.

“That’s what I said,” Poppy giggled as she rushed by to help open the café.

“If I had known Keeneston was like this, I would have moved here instead of Cairo,” Angela muttered as the men nodded to her, making their way inside. “Hello, Mr. Davies, it’s nice to see you again.”

“Ah, Mrs. Cobb. You too. You’re in for a treat. Zinnia is whipping up her famous pancakes,” Cy smiled before headed inside.

“I don’t think it’s the pancakes that are the treats,” Angela softly said before starting to go inside after Cy.

“Eww, that’s my dad,” Riley groaned.

“Face it. Your dad’s a DILF.”

Riley felt her face flush. “How do you know what a DILF is?”

“I may be old, but I’m not dead. You may have competition for reelection because I am seriously thinking of relocating. Now, do you want to tell me why you’re in a T-shirt and jeans that are two sizes too small? Or why the men in town are half-dressed? Not that I’m complaining about that one, mind you,” Angela said as they headed inside the café.

Riley found a small table in the back and told Angela what had happened. By the end of the story, Angela blinked, then stared at Riley. “I don’t know whether to be horrified or to laugh hysterically. At least the people after you have been unable to succeed. I worry for you, though. You could have been killed and all over this stupid highway.” Angela shook her head and reached across the table to take Riley’s hand in hers.

“Riley, I hate to say this, but I think you should drop your fight against the highway. It’s just not worth your life.”

Riley looked around at her friends and family and townspeople filling the café. There was laughter, teasing, love, and support flowing as freely as the iced tea. “No. I won’t give up. This place is worth it.”

Angela let out a frustrated breath and leaned back in her chair. She nodded her understanding, and Riley knew her mentor didn’t agree but was going to support her anyway. “I apologize for even more bad news, but I think it’s going to be an uphill battle. The budget the governor and the Senate are set on includes funding for the highway. I’ve talked to everyone who you said were supporters. You don’t have the votes. Most have seen the writing on the wall and switched their votes. The Senate is voting tomorrow morning and it will pass. We’ll be locked in debate thereafter. The end of session is this week and we have to pass a budget. My sources tell me the Speaker is going to bring the budget to the floor everyday until one passes. I’m sorry, but I think it could possibly pass on Tuesday.”

Riley felt the news like a punch to the gut. No, it couldn’t pass. Good couldn’t lose to evil. Wrong should never trump right. “No,” Riley said shaking her head. “What can I do to stop it?”

“I’m sorry, honey, but I don’t think you can. If the Senate sways enough Reps, there is nothing you can do. And they have.”

“I can filibuster,” Riley said decisively. “That can buy me more time.”

“A day, maybe two. But Riley, you need to be realistic. I’m sorry, but it looks like the highway is a reality.”

“Tell me what I can do, Angela. There has to be something,” Riley said desperately.

Angela let out a long slow breath. “You could vote for it.”

“No way!”

Angela held up her hand to calm Riley. “Let me explain. Everyone is in a bargaining mode. They would do practically anything to get your vote. Why not agree to vote for it with conditions, conditions that could minimize the harm to Keeneston.”

“Like making sure we have an exit or finding a way for them to build the highway around downtown,” Riley said with defeat.

“Exactly. They’ll give you anything to get the publicity of your support.”

“Everything except for doing the right thing by not dividing Keeneston in half.” Riley felt her throat tightening. She was going to lose. “I just don’t understand it.”

“Understand what?” Angela asked.

“Why the highway? Why Keeneston? It’s as if someone is out to destroy my town.”

“That’s ridiculous, Riley. No one has a grudge against a town. It’s just business.”

“That seems even worse somehow,” Riley said sadly. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t do it. Not until I’ve tried absolutely everything.”

“What else is left for you to try?” Angela asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m not a quitter. I’ll think of something.”

“You’d better think fast. I think Tuesday is your deadline. I’ll let you know if anything changes, or if I can think of anything that may help.”

Angela stood up from the table and placed a twenty beside her plate. She gave Riley a tight smile, and suddenly Riley felt the weight of the town on her shoulders as Angela left. Was she doing the right thing by not giving up, or would her stubbornness be the downfall of Keeneston?