“We’re coming,” he said, hanging up the phone.
Hearing the urgency in his voice, Leslie grabbed her boots.
Owen snatched her bag, and they raced to the truck. He sped all the way up the mountain, seeing the billowing grey and black smoke.
They jumped out of the vehicle and ran toward the men.
“Where’s Tucker and Conner?” Leslie called out. “I told them to do the chores.”
“Dillon sent them in the house,” Cade said as the fire truck’s siren blared on its way up. “We put the animals in the pasture.”
“Check on the boys and stay inside until we get this under control,” Owen ordered, running to help his brothers.
Leslie enteredthe house to find the boys watching out the window. Mason paced back and forth as he watched his sons.
“I have them,” she assured him. “Go help your brothers.”
Mason shot from the house as the fire enginepulled into the driveway and firefighters piled out of the truck.
“What happened?” she asked the boys, peering out the window.
“We don’t know. We finished the chores and when Uncle Dillon went to push the door, it didn’t open. He busted it down with an ax to get us out,” Tucker told her, trembling.
Fear trickled down her spine as she realized the boys might be in danger, too. Placing her arms around them, she gave them a squeeze. Gunny’s truck pulled onto the grass as Gunny, Rucker, JoJo, and Max exited their vehicle. They spoke with Owen while Rucker and JoJo entered the house.
“Oh, honey. How awful. Do they know how it started?” Rucker asked, hugging her.
“No.” Glancing at the boys, she replied, “The barn door got stuck and refused to open. The fire started while Dillon and the boys worked on their chores. Luckily, he took an ax to the door and got the boys and the animals out. It’s all I know. Do you want to come into the kitchen and help me make lemonade and water for everyone?”
The two women followed her into the next room, and she took out the large glass containers to hold ice, water, and lemonade.
“I take it, you don’t think it’s an accident?” Rucker asked quietly.
“No. Someone broke into my home, too. It’s how Igot cut. Owen wants us to stay here until they get to the bottom of this,” she explained.
“It’s a good time to get the cameras put up. Sorry, we got a bit of a late start this morning, or we might’ve gotten here earlier. One piece of equipment arrived late. Elias ordered a ton of items,” Rucker said, taking the lemonade and scooping out the mix. JoJo grabbed ice cubes to add to each jug.
“Hopefully it’ll deter anyone else from doing any damage,” she said worriedly.
“Jake and Max can stay if you need help. Gunny came to talk to the men anyway,” JoJo told her.
Rucker elbowed her in the side. “Dad has some business he wants to discuss.”
“I have one more day off before I need to return to work. I’m worried about the boys. I can’t send them to school,” she said, biting her nail.
“They suffered a loss. Surely the school will understand. You have all the Wolfe brothers to watch over them. Do you have the weapon Gunny and Jeremiah taught you how to shoot?”
“Yeah. Fat chance of me actually using it. The intruder knocked it from my hand before I even got to use it,” she explained.
“Hmmm,” Rucker said, thoughtfully. “Maybe we need to give you a refresher course on personal safety.”
“Yes, she’ll feel better if she can protect herself,” JoJo agreed.
“Let’s get these out to the men,” Leslie said. “Oh, shoot. I’m watching Mason’s boys. I can’t leave them. They get into everything.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll take it out,” Rucker volunteered.
The two women picked up the jugs and carried them outside. Leslie returned to the living room to check on Mason’s boys and watch from the window.
