So I pulled him into a bear hug, shocked when I heard another round of applause.
“Thank you for saving my sister,” he muttered.
As I pulled away, I noticed her father and mother were running toward us. “I love her, Wade. I know your family doesn’t like me or my family, but I’m in love with her. I think I have been for a long time.”
He backed further away, rubbing the soot from his hand. Or at least trying to. When he held it out, a smile crossed his face. “I wouldn’t mind having you as a brother-in-law.”
“Now, hold on. Let’s not go that far.” We both laughed, but my thoughts were drifting to why the fire was set in the first place, my anger growing. “You saved Sasha.” There were police already talking with the Sterlings.
“Yeah, well, I don’t think my sister could lose another horse.” The tension remained, but not nearly as disruptive as before. “Maybe when this is all over, we could grab a beer sometime.”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
He nodded, the strain still there, but maybe we could repair our friendship. Stranger things had occurred. “Well, I’m going to go talk to my parents.”
“Yeah, you do that.” As he walked away, I turned to see what they were doing with Kenzie, the ache in my gut unlike anything I’d ever felt. When I shifted toward the barn once again, I rubbed my face.
A rag and a bottle of water suddenly appeared.
“That was officially called hot-dogging.” Jameson stood right beside me.
I laughed and grabbed both, wiping my face as I continued staring at the building. “Yeah, well, I had no choice.”
“I know you didn’t. I don’t think I’ll mention it to the captain.”
“It’s okay if you do. If he wants to keep me off the roster, I’m fine with that.” I shifted so I could see Kenzie. “I have a few things to do.”
“Yeah, so I heard. Like handling a new rodeo.”
Glancing toward her father, I did what I could to keep the anger controlled. “I don’t know if it’ll happen now.”
“You think he burned his own building down?”
“I think there’s a chance.”
He clapped me on the shoulder. “I don’t think so. In fact, I didn’t get a chance to tell you, but the fire inspector called. The accelerant was linseed oil used by any rancher and homeowner with a lot of leather. The arsonist wasn’t that smart. The inspectors traced a link to a guy who had purchased a huge quantity with a credit card.”
I turned toward my brother. “And?”
“Well, from what I understand, he should be in custody right about now. I guess we’ll see who hired him. But don’t be too hard on Bartholomew Sterling. At least not until all the facts come out. Besides, she is your girlfriend’s father.”
“Yeah, I’ll try, but that man has a lot to answer for.”
“Maybe so, but just remember we’re all human,” he said, chuckling as he walked away.
Why was it that my brother just had to grin at me like some loon? That was the moment I noticed Bartholomew was walking in my direction. The truth was I doubted he’d had anything to do with the fire. I could blame him for a lot of shit, but this wasn’t part of it.
I stood right where I was, watching him as he took his time heading in my direction. I had no intention of going to him.
As he approached, I thought about everything that had happened and all the shitty things he’d said over the years, accusing me of cheating and of trying to defile his daughter. I’d always looked up to him and the craziest thing of all was that I’d wanted to be on his rodeo team.
“Axe. I just wanted to thank you for saving my little girl’s life.”
“Did you have anything to do with that fire? Did you lure her here to use her and nothing else because if you did, I will personally ensure that you spend the rest of your life in prison.”
He studied me intently. “No, I did not. But I think I know who did.”
“Alright. Then I’ll expect your full cooperation with the police. In fact, I demand it. And while we’re on the subject of doing the right thing. I am not riding a motherfucking goddamn bull for you. You hear me? I wanted nothing more than to do that on your team and you treated me like trash.”
