The Texan's Promise. Jolene Navarro

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      “I can—”

      “I know you can. But your focus is on your family right now. Mine would be, too. Let me focus on the road and get us there safely.”

      He gave her his address, then rushed to the passenger side. As soon as he was in, she was moving. “EMT. Red Cross. Animal rescue. When you said you could take care of yourself, you were being modest. It seems you can take care of everyone.”

      With a shrug, she kept her eyes on the wet roads. “Running a ranch and raising two girls alone in a small rural community kind of forces one to be self-sufficient. There’s always someone who needs help. It feels good to provide it.”

      The wipers cut back and forth, but the rain was coming down so hard they couldn’t keep up. He wanted to ask her about the beach that ran along her ranch, but he wasn’t ready to explain why he was in town. Locals had been known to react badly when they found out he was trying to stop development. But he also didn’t want to get information without her knowing who he was. That wouldn’t be fair.

      She cared so much for her community. Maybe she cared about the land, too.

      He didn’t want this to turn into a small-town conflict.

      “Maybe it’s not that bad, and you can stay in the house,” she said.

      One could hope. “She said it was only in the back.”

      Turning the steering wheel hand over hand, she drove down his street. Flashing lights from first-response vehicles lit the night. Smoke billowed over the neighborhood. The bright colors of the three-story coastal homes were muted in the stormy night.

      She moved in behind a fire truck, but before she came to a complete stop, he was out of the SUV.

      Everything inside him went still. As usual, his mother-in-law was the queen of understatement. It was not a small fire. Half of the house was gone. Nothing but a blackened shell stood where the girls’ rooms had been. The front of the house looked untouched. But even he could see it was a total loss. The support beams had to be compromised.

      Gina and Jonah had been in there when the fire started. His muscles locked.

      Firefighters and police were everywhere. He scanned the area for his mother-in-law. She had Jonah. He needed to see them. Hold them.

      “Mr. Sinclair?” A tall officer in a tan cowboy hat approached. “I’m Sheriff Cantu. Your son and mother are over here.”

      He didn’t bother to correct the man. Gina often introduced herself as his mother. They were in the sheriff’s SUV. Jonah was cocooned in a blanket, his cheek resting against his grandmother’s chest. Tears streaked his face.

      Opening the door, he wrapped his son in his arms and pressed him close. Their hearts matched up. “Shhh. It’s okay. I’ve got you, little man.”

      “Daddy, a big bang hit our house and woke me up. It’s on fire. Buck is inside.”

      He laid his lips against the top of his son’s silky black hair. The faint smell of smoke replaced the usual clean scent of his apple shampoo. “We’ll get you a new Buck.” The floppy toy pony had been with Jonah since his birth.

      Kari had bought it for him. Quinn closed his eyes tight against the grief. “You and Baba are safe. That’s all that matters.” The stoic expression was barely covering the distress in his mother-in-law’s face. “How are you, Baba?” He had fallen into the habit of calling her by the grandmother title.

      The rain stopped hitting him. Glancing up, he saw a huge rainbow umbrella. Behind it was Belle. The blue and red lights flashed across her face.

      The sheriff moved closer to her. “Hey, Belle. I thought Miguel was on Red Cross duty tonight.”

      “He is. But the father and his two girls were with me at the arena. Please, let Miguel know I’ve got them covered. They’ll be at the ranch if anyone needs to talk to them.”

      “Sure thing. We almost lost the whole street, but the rain helped control the fire.” He nodded to Quinn. “Sorry about your loss.” Then he moved toward the fire truck.

      Belle leaned into the SUV and held her free hand out to Gina. “Hello, I’m Izabella De La Rosa. I’m with the Red Cross, and I have a warm, dry place for y’all to stay tonight.”

      Gina took the offered hand. “Thank you. I’m Gina Yamazaki.” She looked at Quinn. “The girls?”

      “They’re with Belle’s daughters. We’ll be following them,” he reassured her.

      “We should go now. They won’t let you close to the house tonight. My kids are about the same size as yours, so we’ll have everything you need. My brother and cousins keep a change of clothes at the ranch.” Carefully holding the huge umbrella over them, she guided them to his Land Rover. The rain soaked her clothing. He wanted to hand Jonah to Gina and make sure Belle was under cover, too, but he doubted she would appreciate his offer.

      As they made their way back to his car, he kept his gaze away from the house they had moved into less than a month ago. His goal was to get to know the people of the community and the land. Right now, he wanted his family in one safe place where he could see them and hold them.

      With everyone secured, they drove out of town.

      “I smell like smoke,” Gina said from the back, next to a now sleeping Jonah. Turning in his seat, Quinn reached over and placed a hand on her knee. Order and control were her happy places. She twisted her wedding ring as she stared out the window.

      Belle made brief eye contact. “It’s been a trying night. Once you get settled in the cabin, you can take a nice, warm shower. Jazz is more your size, Gina. She has some extra clothes at the ranch that will fit you. The cabins are one room with a loft. There’s a double in the room with two bunk beds upstairs, and the sofa folds out into a bed. There’s only one bathroom, but it’s big. We’ll get the kitchen stocked for you. You’ll be able to stay as long as you need.”

      “How much longer until we’re there?”

      “We’re about twenty minutes out of town. Another fifteen, and we’ll be there. It’s the Diamondback Ranch.”

      Her eyes went big. “Diamondback? Is that the—”

      “It’s your family’s ranch?” He didn’t want Gina to say too much yet. Not until he could figure out what direction they were going to go. There was a lot of shoreline to explore, and her ranch was a part of it. How much of a part?

      She took some time answering. He wasn’t sure if it was the weather she was driving through or the question.

      “Yes. Frank De La Rosa ran it for the last twenty-five years, but he passed away recently. It’s complicated. He was my uncle—my mother’s brother—but raised my brother and me along with his kids. If you had any dealings with him, I’ll apologize so we can move on.”

      Quinn studied the woman driving. This was not going to go well. “We did know of Frank. I had spoken with him on the phone several times.” He had not been a pleasant man and had been putting roadblocks up.

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