Page 123 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

As he helped her sit up, he cradled her head in his huge palm. She took a sip. She wanted to gulp the cool liquid, but didn’t want to choke on it, so she took small mouthfuls atatime.

“What happened?” Loganasked.

“I don’t know. I woke up and smelled smoke. When I came outside, the barn was on fire. I had to save theanimals.”

“You could have beenkilled.”

“I couldn’t let them be burned alive. Did I get them all? There should bethirty.”

“Hey Mack, can you get a head count?” Loganyelled.

He sat on the frozen ground and pulled her into his arms. The warmth and safety of his body helped ease the tension in her spine. For the first time since she’d arrived on the ranch, she cried. Thick tears spilled downherface.

“You’re safe now,” Logan whispered as he pressed his lips against hertemple.

“He loved that barnsomuch.”

“Yourfather?”

“Yes. He built it from the ground up when I was a little girl. He took so much pride in it. Sometimes, I think he loved it more than he loved me.” Shesniffed.

“I’m sure he lovedyoutoo.”

“Wishful thinking. He only ever loved two things: booze and himself,” she saidbitterly.

A firefighter in full gear approached. “Are you the owner of thisproperty?”

“Yes.”

“It’s going to be a total loss. The best we can do is keep it fromspreading.”

“I understand,” she said. “Thankyou.”

After the firefighter left, she turned away from the burning remains of the barn. She buried her face in Logan’s chest and took comfort in his piney scent. At least she wasn’t going through this completelyalone.

* * *

Logan waiteduntil the last flickering flame died. Tendrils of smoke curled up from the wreckage. Kate clung to him and cried for at least an hour before finally calming. He listened to her even breaths and thanked God a thousand times that she hadn’tbeenhurt.

Rage boiled in his veins. He knew exactly who was responsible for this. There was no way Milton was going to get away with another arson. If he had to hunt down the bastard himself and let his bear tear him apart, so be it. No one hurt his family without answeringtohim.

He held her closer. So what if she wasn’t really a part of his family. He cared about her, more than he’d realized. His bear huffed in frustration as if to say,of course youdummy.

Apparently his bear was more in tune with his desires than he was. But wasn’t that always the case? Maybe he needed to listen to his bear more, and not just pay attention to his bear’s basic needs. Maybe there was more to the creature than he realized. Maybe his bear also needed to love and beloved.

After the fire marshal finished picking through the remains of the barn, he walked over to Logan. “I still have to do an official investigation, but the stink of accelerant is all over what’s left ofthewood.”

“Just like the Jenkinses’ place,”Logansaid.

“Exactly like it. Normally we get maybe one barn fire a year, so two in one month is suspicious as hell. I’d bet my badge it’s the same criminal startin’ thesefires.”

“It’s Milton,”Logansaid.

“We looked into him. Clean as a whistle. Not a singleprior.”

“He probably paid someone todoit.”

“Could be. Either way, we didn’t find anything that could tie him to thelastfire.”

---