Cowboy's Special Woman. Sara Orwig

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      “Everything,” she said quietly. She gave a small shake of her shoulders. “Those saddles,” she said, pointing, and Jake ran to get what she asked for. He carried out three saddles and put them in the pickup.

      In minutes the blaze approached the barn.

      “Get the pickup out of here,” Jake shouted to her. “If you don’t, you’ll lose everything and the pickup, too.”

      She climbed in and was gone as more men came into view. Jake heard a shout and saw a fireman pointing. He turned and saw the first lick of flame curling on the barn roof. Jake swore, grabbing up a shovel.

      Creating a barrier, the drive cut through between the house to the east and the barn, the garage, the bunkhouse and the sheds to the west, so firemen moved to widen the swath of wet, plowed ground between the barn and the house to try to save the house. Maggie’s father plowed furrows, riding in widening strips while everyone battled the blaze.

      When Jake spotted Maggie back with the firefighters, he worked his way toward her. “You could still get another carload of your belongings out of the house if you want. I’ll help.”

      She shook her head. “No, we’ll try to save the house. I’d rather—”

      “Maggie, did you get the trunks out of the barn?” her father called, driving the tractor up beside them. Jake glanced at the barn and saw the whole building was burning now.

      “No, I got the saddles.”

      “I’m getting them,” her father said, sprinting toward the barn.

      “Dad!” Maggie started after him, but Jake grabbed her arm.

      “I’ll go,” he said and raced after her father who had already disappeared inside the barn.

      Jake yanked down his bandanna and tied it over his nose. As he ran inside he put an arm up to shield his face, trying to hold his breath and not inhale the thick smoke. All around him, fire roared and he couldn’t see through the smoke.

      Then a figure loomed up before him. “Take this,” Maggie’s father shouted and thrust a small trunk at Jake.

      “Sir, this building is going to go!”

      “Get out!”

      Sprinting outside, Jake set down the trunk and ran back toward the burning barn. He spotted a dark silhouette of a man only a few yards inside, but before he reached the open door, he heard a crack like a shotgun blast. A large beam fell.

      The beam struck Ben Alden, knocking him down only a few feet from the door.

      Two

      Running toward the burning barn, Maggie screamed.

      “I’ll get him,” Jake shouted. “You stay out.”

      Crouching to avoid smoke as much as possible, Jake raced inside. He groped his way until he spotted the figure lying in front of him, a burning beam across his legs. Without hesitation Jake grabbed the beam and shoved it away. He hoisted Maggie’s father over his shoulder, moving blindly and praying he was headed toward the door and not deeper into the barn.

      As he burst through smoke and into fresh air, he staggered and lowered her father carefully to the ground. While Jake yanked away the bandanna and gulped fresh air, Maggie knelt beside her dad.

      “This man needs help,” Jake yelled to one of the firefighters who ran toward them.

      “Dad! I’ve called an ambulance.”

      “Are you all right?” a fireman asked Jake.

      “Yeah,” he nodded, coughing and still trying to get fresh air into his lungs. He moved back to allow two firemen to help her father.

      Maggie thrust a bucket of water into Jake’s hands and he poured it over himself, cold water drenching him, a momentary relief from the smoke and heat. “Thank you,” she said, earnest blue eyes gazing at him. Her face was smudged with soot and her blond hair had come loose from the braid so that long strands fell freely around her face.

      “Sure,” he said and then she was gone, back kneeling beside her father while the firemen hovered over him.

      With a rumble and a crack, the entire roof of the barn fell, sending flames and sparks shooting high overhead. Firefighters yelled as they worked frantically to keep the flames away from the house. Jake walked to a truck and poured a cup of water, gulping it, aware of hurting and stinging in a dozen different places. His hands felt like raw meat. Wind swirled against him and he lifted his head, realizing that it had shifted slightly.

      When he went back to join the firefighters, he heard men talking about the wind, but conversation wasn’t needed to tell him the wind was shifting. So far the flames had not crossed the road or flown over the swath of plowed dirt.

      He glanced over his shoulder and saw an ambulance with flashing lights. Jake guessed they were getting Maggie’s father into the ambulance. He hoped Ben Alden recovered.

      The wind shifted, giving renewed energy to Jake to battle the blaze that was now turning back on itself.

      In another hour they had the blaze under control and the professionals took over to finish the work. On blackened ground lay the smoldering ruins of the barn, the garage and the other outbuildings. Everything was destroyed except the house.

      “I think you should let a doctor look at your burns.”

      When he turned, Maggie stood only a few feet away. She had cleaned up and changed clothes. Now in jeans and a blue shirt, she looked cool and as sexy as ever. She had combed her hair and it hung in a thick braid over her shoulder.

      “I’m all right.”

      “You don’t look all right. I’m going to the hospital to see about my dad. Come with me to the emergency and someone will treat your burns.”

      Half of him wanted to get on his bike and go. The other half was drawn to her soft voice and big blue eyes and the sense that she really cared.

      “Sure,” he answered, feeling he was making a mistake, yet unable to resist hanging around her a little longer. “I need to move my bike from the road.”

      “I’ll take you to get it.” When she jerked her head, he saw she had brought her pickup back to the house. It was still loaded with her belongings.

      “If you’d like, I can help you unload first.”

      She shook her head. “I want to get to town to see my dad.”

      They walked in silence to the pickup, and he climbed into the passenger side. Sliding behind the wheel, Maggie started the motor. In a few minutes she dropped him off at his bike, turned around and drove back to the house with him trailing behind.

      Jake parked his bike, yanked on his black T-shirt and climbed into the pickup. “Want me to drive?”

      “No,” Maggie answered with amusement. “I’m accustomed to doing things for myself. And your hands look as if it would be painful to drive.”

      “I СКАЧАТЬ