River Road (River's End Series, #4) (30 page)

Kate let him go. Sighing, she closed her front door.

No, it wasn’t a perfect situation. There was no throwing herself into his arms and saying
fuck it all.
There was her business to deal with, bills to pay and employees who relied on her. They needed a reliable place to stay, since her brother’s hospitality would eventually come to an end. But for now, keeping Cami stable and happy were their only goals and focus.

Kate knew it would not be easy. Cami had an uphill battle. But Kate would not relent; and now that Cami came to them, she’d stay with them forever. There were just some details to iron out. And details? Those were Kate’s specialty.

****

Six weeks later, Kate showed up at the ranch on a random Wednesday evening. Cami and AJ were having dinner… together, as Kate insisted. Having spent the last seven weekends in River’s End, she demanded they maintain the established routine. And talking. Kate stipulated they must interact whether she were there or not.

Kate walked in the door and dropped her bag down. Both heads jerked up with surprise. She hadn’t called to inform them.

“Kate. What are you doing back so soon?”

“I’ve had enough. We need to be together and I need to be here. I hired a general manager for the daily business. I introduced the idea to everyone there last week, and spent all this time breaking it in. It’s done now. I listed the condo with a rental agency. Did the same for my mom’s apartment.” She glanced at AJ, who was slowly rising to his feet, and pushing away from the table. “Perhaps I’ll become the newest slumlord of Seattle,” she said with a small smile. AJ smiled too. “And I’m now a proud landowner in River’s End. My…
our
offer was accepted on the land across from the gate. Except I don’t know what the fuck to do with it. So… get your working shoes on, ‘cause you have a lot of work to do in order to develop that from raw land to a buildable home site.”

AJ walked over to her and swept her up into his arms as Cami shrieked behind them. He planted a long, wet kiss on Kate’s lips. “I’m pretty good at working out that kind of stuff, ma’am,” he said with a teasing glint in his eyes. Tears brimmed over Kate’s eyelids. She straightened up in his embrace.

“I still have to return once every week. I’ll work that day, spend the night in a motel and work the next day before I come home. But I think we can manage that. Can’t we… as a family?”

Cami’s smile was huge as she nodded. “Are you guys going to get married?”

They glanced at each other with a broad, goofy smiles. “Let’s not discuss that yet. Why don’t we save something for me to decide? Kate’s not the only one who can get stuff done,” AJ said with a wink at Cami. Kate’s heart grew so big, it seemed to fill up her throat.

First, there was Cami, and dinner, and Kate was starving. She couldn’t wait to hear how Cami’s science test went. All the snotty, catty girls who were teasing and bothering Cami were the next topic Kate wanted to discuss. Kate had a few choice words for them too, although she wouldn’t allow Cami to say them. But they were making some progress in getting the girls to stop. Dropping into a chair at the table, Kate leaned over to steal a piece of chicken from AJ’s plate. Then she began listening to Cami’s recap while eating the savory chicken and feeling a bubble of contentment, even excitement rise up inside her.

She silently marveled, that of all places in the world to buy a chunk of land with plans to put a home on it, she had purposely
chosen
River Road as the location. The road that AJ was so enamored to call his address, was now also, going to be hers.

And instead of resentment, annoyance, disgust or disinterest over that fact, all she could think about was the deep down gut-level feeling that she was finally home.

###

I would be so grateful if you took a few moments to leave a review of
River Road
. It helps expand an author’s audience, and I really do appreciate the effort.

Read on for Chapter One of
River on Fire
.

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Leanne Davis

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Hailey Starr seeks refuge at the Rydell River Resort in the wake of her bitter divorce and from the ensuing hatred she receives from her daughter and her confused, hurt son. While her ex honeymoons with his new wife, Hailey decides
not
to care. She intends to recapture some of what she lost over the tumultuous years preceding the breakdown of their family. She chooses that place because it has no distractions except the sun and total relaxation. Then her daughter decides she’s going to sleep with a man. Hailey’s only true line of defense lies in her daughter’s quarry. Joey Rydell is a decent guy who emphatically rejects her daughter’s attention, but he doesn’t turn Hailey down. Flustered and shocked by his irrational interest, Hailey fears it will do nothing but inflame her already rebellious daughter.

Joey Rydell moved back to River’s End after years of being in the Army. Back for good now, he runs the Rydell River Resort, and consequently, deals directly with the guests. The woman who catches his eye, however, isn’t the one that anyone could have predicted, including Hailey.

But all of that drama ceases to matter when the entire valley bursts into an out of control brush fire. The hot, dry summer fuels a fire bigger than anything anyone has ever seen. Erratically roaring through the valley, it destroys everything in its path. Joey is again called to duty to extinguish much more than just the stark miles that are charred in its wake. Fire augments the end to the loves and lives of the Rydells. Their destiny is in turmoil after being nurtured and groomed unlike any other family. Can they survive the somber aftermath of the Armageddon-like destruction? What if there is nothing left of the ranch? Is it the lifeblood of the Rydells? Or are the Rydells the lifeblood of River’s End?

Prologue

In fifteen minutes, only nine hundred seconds, the fire burned up one side of the entire valley, devouring all the trees, sagebrush, grass and structures. It’s ruthless, ravenous arms reached out, engulfing everything in its path like a firestorm from Armageddon, and mercilessly destroyed homes, roads, outbuildings, orchards, and pastures full of livestock along with forests full of wildlife. It was so fast, they had no time. No time to run. No time to take cover. No time to fight. The fire won the battle before anyone could even suit up. Like a nuclear incinerator, it  defeated all of them. Plumes of smoke were all that was left of the formerly lush land. In a matter of minutes, trees were scorched into a blackened, charred wasteland. Now, only a swath of blue water twisting down the center was the sole color the fire spared. Few remnants of life were left. The next day, the stubborn fire circled around to take out the other side of the valley, burning all the way down into the very heart of River’s End.

Jack Rydell rose from his knees before the charred ruins of their land. Black and soot covered his face and arms and the backs of his hands. Ian, Shane and Joey Rydell stood beside him, every bit as black and soot-covered. Silence descended for over an hour. There was nothing to say. No words could describe the last few days of horror and tragedy. There were no words to describe the pain of watching their entire livelihood burn up in smoke. Their eyes were rimmed in red from lack of sleep. Their lips were dry and cracked, and their voices hoarse from the choking smoke they had to inhale during the last four days.

Before them lay the remains of their ranch. Charred buildings, extended gaps in fencing, and restless horses that were kicking, stomping, turning and twisting in a fear so real and primal, some even escaped their enclosures. The sun was somewhere above them, a hot, red oven burning up along with the fire. Gray and black smoke obscured everything as ashes floated down like rain, and they surveyed the blackened land that they previously called their home.

“I can’t… I don’t think I can do this anymore,” Jack said finally. They all looked up in disbelief at him. He was their leader, their father-figure, their ruler and king. He was
Jack Rydell.
He dropped his head, shaking it as he pressed his hands against his face. Finally, hot tears streamed down his cheeks. “First, our parents, then Lily, then…” he couldn’t say another word about the latest tragedy. No words were necessary. Joey understood that.

Jack continued, “…Then this? I can’t… I can’t do it again. I can’t start over again. This place is cursed. This place will be the death of me, and my family, as well as you and all of yours. I can’t do it anymore. I can’t give anymore to it. I’m done. I’m so fucking done.”

Joey’s heart climbed up into his throat. No. Never. This could not be his brother, Jack, quitting before him. On his knees, literally, saying this latest tragedy and loss was it? Could this finally break Jack’s spirit? Joey refused to believe it. Tears streamed from his own eyes, stinging and burning as he wiped them, his gritty hands only making them hurt more. His soot-stained skin was so black in places, he doubted it would ever wash off. A fitting reminder for the destruction they all witnessed, battled and lost. Seeing his indomitable brother on his knees, crying, disoriented, and giving up, made something deep inside Joey crack. If Jack couldn’t handle this, who could? He was the strongest man Joey knew. Jack had all the answers to his questions. If Jack quit, what would become of them? His brothers and nephews? And most of all, Joey? What would become of the ranch? And the lifestyle they carved out and protected as a family for over a century? One fire? One day? One hour? Fifteen minutes? Could that be all it took to wipe everything away?

Fuck, no!

But no one said anything. Ian, usually second in line with answers and confidence, should have spoken up and argued with Jack. Or kicked Jack in the ass. Why wasn’t Ian doing something? Or Shane? Shit! He never took any crap. Shane could do anything. But Shane’s head was hanging, and he looked just as desolate as the rest of them as he rubbed his eyes. Tears. All four brothers had tears in their eyes. Joey had never seen them all crying. Not even when their parents died. Not when Lily died. Never, until now.

The silence was as thick as the smoke between them. They refused to leave, those four Rydell brothers. Everyone else found their way to safety under a mandatory evacuation. But the Rydells stayed together. As always, whether physically present or not, Joey considered their loyalty as something that went far beyond anything physical; it was a state of being, a way of life. This place was the essence of all of them, their heart, soul and core. The family home. The source of all love and faith and life.

The ranch
was
their life.

Joey turned towards the remains of the ranch as they stood up on the road, trying to assess the damage. Down below, the valley stretched far into the horizon before meeting the base of the mountains. Spots of blue sky, so incongruent to the black devastation, peeked through the smoke plumes.

Now, however, it was no more than a black, charred wasteland, with hot spots flaring and the loud crackle and popping of trees exploding. They were the paralyzed victims of hell’s fury. The brothers choked on air devoid of oxygen and had watched the local wildlife running frantically down the road and into the green orchards. They purposely cut down the fences to let them take refuge. Although they resisted the fire on the borders of the ranch, it still managed to find a way onto their land, despite their earnest efforts, and the determination of the hotshot fire crews. It devoured part of their souls when it hit the ranch. Their livelihood.

It also devoured something in Jack. And without Jack, and this place, what would Joey have? The ranch was his home and family. It was his identity and their legacy. It was supposed to last forever.

How could it all get burned up and incinerated today? It wasn’t supposed to end this way.