Chapter 86

Wade settled at the end of one of the love seats and Lance joined him, scooting close so their thighs touched. He stretched his arm around Lance’s shoulders. Casey and Allyson, along with Charlie and Lorna, took seats, while the boys plopped on the floor next to the coffee table, within reaching distance of the treats.

Charlie’s dog, Scooter, found a warm spot on the carpet in front of the fire and was already dozing.

The wind whipped at the house, rattling the windows and blowing around thick snowflakes. When Charlie had arrived, he let them know there was already at least six inches of snow on the ground with no sign of letting up.

“We should watch White Christmas,” Lance whispered. “I used to watch that every year with my parents.”

“That sounds nice. I haven’t seen that in years.” Everyone agreed and Casey found the movie on On Demand. Soon everyone was watching.

When Scooter barked, everyone startled a little. He’d jumped up and was facing one of the windows, his tail stretched. He continued barking until Charlie sat next to him.

“What’s going on boy?”

“Maybe he wants to open a present,” Landon offered.

Casey shook his head. “We’ll do that after the movie.”

Suddenly, they heard the back door open and one of ranch hands shouted, “The barn’s on fire!”

Everyone jumped up. “Call 911,” Casey barked.

“Got it,” Lance said, pulling out his phone.

Wade’s heart dropped to his stomach. Stardust was in there. All of the horses were. “Dear God,” he whispered as the men raced to the back door. He grabbed his coat in the mudroom and ran outside, Casey and Charlie hot on his heels. Scooter dashed ahead and barked at the barn.

Snow was coming down hard and visibility was less than ten feet, but Wade could make out the bright light of the fire on the far side of the barn and several ranch hands with water pails scooping up snow and tossing it on the flames. The double doors at the entrance stood open and some of the horses were making their way out, several snorting in fear. But he didn’t see Stardust.

He ran inside to help a few other ranch hands free the rest of the horses, but thick smoke rolled through the air, causing him to cough. The fire had already destroyed part of a wall and the flames were beginning to spread.

The first few stalls were already empty, but he came to their Appaloosa. He opened the stall and patted the animal on its rump, sending it running.

The smoke wasn’t as thick in the stall area and Wade was able to see a little better, but he kept coughing. He freed several other horses before coming to Stardust. She snorted as he unlocked the gate. “Come on, girl. Let’s go!”

Her ears flicked back and forth, showing her terror. He grabbed the reins hanging next to her stall and quickly hooked her up, pulling her out. But when she backed up, he knew he was in trouble.

Charlie ran in and slapped her rump, but she only kicked.

“Get out of there, Charlie. She could hurt you,” Wade warned.

Sirens sounded in the distance, letting him know the fire department was close.

“Stardust,” he pleaded, unwilling to leave without her. “Come on, girl. Let’s go!”

She shook her head and whinnied.

“Please!”

Charlie pushed her again, but she wouldn’t budge. Finally he grabbed the reins with Wade and they pulled together. She fought them for a moment, but finally—finally—she seemed to understand and barreled out of her stall, dragging them with her.

They let go of the reins before she exited the barn, then jumped up and joined some of the others in rounding up the horses and leading them to a space out of the way. The snow was coming down harder and Casey had one of the ranch hands grab blankets from the mudroom. They laid those over the horses’ backs and, while they weren’t much protection, they seemed to help.

The fire department pulled in and got to work, spraying down the barn fairly quickly. Wade, Charlie, and the other ranch hands who had helped to free the horses had to be seen by the paramedics for possible smoke inhalation, and several of them, including Wade, were stuck sitting in the ambulance for a while. Wade wasn’t dealing well with sitting. There was too much to do.

Suddenly he realized he’d run out of the house so fast, he hadn’t said anything to his husband. Had Lance run out with them? Had he gone inside the barn?

Casey showed up just as Wade was ready to jump out of the ambulance.