LITMIR.BIZ

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leaned closer. “Do you need to go?” she asked in a hushed voice. “Everyone’s fine, right?”

      He nodded. “My mother-in-law and son are with the sheriff. I don’t know anything other than that. I need to make sure they’re safe.” He glanced at his girls.

      “They can still go with me. I’ll have Xavier follow us out, and I’ll call you as soon as we get there.” She held out her hand. “Give me your phone and I’ll put my number in your contacts. I won’t say anything to them. Is there anything else I can do?”

      “Find me a place to live?” he half joked. His kids were homeless in the middle of a storm.

      Sorry, Kari. His wife had been gone for almost five years now, but it seemed that every time he turned around, he was finding new ways to disappoint her. He jabbed his fists deep into his jacket pockets, fighting the need to rush out of here, but there was nothing he could do. He gritted his teeth. The girls needed to be in a safe place, too.

      “That rental was hard enough to find.” He watched her fingers type her number into his phone. They were strong hands, capable. But gentle when she was soothing a scared horse or a terrified man.

      “I might be able to help you with that. We have a few bunkhouses and cabins on the ranch. We’re on the Diamondback Ranch.”

      His breath seized somewhere between his lungs and his throat. She couldn’t have said what he thought she said.

      “We are a bit out of town, but as you’ve pointed out, there aren’t many options in Port Del Mar.”

      Right. It would be ironic if he ended up living there. Should he tell her that was the reason he was in town? He hadn’t gathered all the facts yet, but the Diamondback Ranch had one of the longest privately owned beaches on the Texas side of the Gulf Coast. And it wasn’t developed yet. He was here to ensure it never would be.

      Jazz joined them, cutting off anything he might say. “What’s going on?”

      “There’s been an emergency at Quinn’s house. I’m taking the girls to the ranch.” Her gaze sought his. “Right?”

      He nodded.

      “What kind of emergency?” Jazz asked. “Is it medical? Should you go with him?”

      He broke eye contact with Belle and looked at Jazz in confusion.

      The petite woman pointed to Belle. “She’s one of our county’s backup EMTs and an official Red Cross volunteer. She’s not on call tonight, but she’s the perfect person to have on-site. Xavier and I can drive the girls and horses to the ranch.”

      Belle’s hand tightened on his bicep again. The contact shouldn’t have comforted him. “Will that work? I can go with you.”

      “Yeah. I need to be there. She says they’re fine, but—”

      “I get it.”

      Quinn pulled out his keys to unlock his Land Rover and was surprised to see his hands shaking. He had lost the stupid key fob a few months ago. He should have taken the time to replace it.

      Belle had gone to get something out of her truck and was now talking to her girls. Raising her head, she made eye contact with him. The keys fell out of his grip. Picking them up, he tried unlocking his door again.

      She hugged her daughters, then joined him. Her steady hand gently covered his trembling one. “I’ll drive. It’ll be safer.” Then she opened the driver’s door and climbed in behind the wheel.

      “I can—”

      “I know you can. But your focus is on your family right now. Mine would be, too. Let me focus on the road and get us there safely.”

      He gave her his address, then rushed to the passenger side. As soon as he was in, she was moving. “EMT. Red Cross. Animal rescue. When you said you could take care of yourself, you were being modest. It seems you can take care of everyone.”

      With a shrug, she kept her eyes on the wet roads. “Running a ranch and raising two girls alone in a small rural community kind of forces one to be self-sufficient. There’s always someone who needs help. It feels good to provide it.”

      The wipers cut back and forth, but the rain was coming down so hard they couldn’t keep up. He wanted to ask her about the beach that ran along her ranch, but he wasn’t ready to explain why he was in town. Locals had been known to react badly when they found out he was trying to stop development. But he also didn’t want to get information without her knowing who he was. That wouldn’t be fair.

      She cared so much for her community. Maybe she cared about the land, too.

      He didn’t want this to turn into a small-town conflict.

      “Maybe it’s not that bad, and you can stay in the house,” she said.

      One could hope. “She said it was only in the back.”

      Turning the steering wheel hand over hand, she drove down his street. Flashing lights from first-response vehicles lit the night. Smoke billowed over the neighborhood. The bright colors of the three-story coastal homes were muted in the stormy night.

      She moved in behind a fire truck, but before she came to a complete stop, he was out of the SUV.

      Everything inside him went still. As usual, his mother-in-law was the queen of understatement. It was not a small fire. Half of the house was gone. Nothing but a blackened shell stood where the girls’ rooms had been. The front of the house looked untouched. But even he could see it was a total loss. The support beams had to be compromised.

      Gina and Jonah had been in there when the fire started. His muscles locked.

      Firefighters and police were everywhere. He scanned the area for his mother-in-law. She had Jonah. He needed to see them. Hold them.

      “Mr. Sinclair?” A tall officer in a tan cowboy hat approached. “I’m Sheriff Cantu. Your son and mother are over here.”

      He didn’t bother to correct the man. Gina often introduced herself as his mother. They were in the sheriff’s SUV. Jonah was cocooned in a blanket, his cheek resting against his grandmother’s chest. Tears streaked his face.

      Opening the door, he wrapped his son in his arms and pressed him close. Their hearts matched up. “Shhh. It’s okay. I’ve got you, little man.”

      “Daddy, a big bang hit our house and woke me up. It’s on fire. Buck is inside.”

      He laid his lips against the top of his son’s silky black hair. The faint smell of smoke replaced the usual clean scent of his apple shampoo. “We’ll get you a new Buck.” The floppy toy pony had been with Jonah since his birth.

      Kari had bought it for him. Quinn closed his eyes tight against the grief. “You and Baba are safe. That’s all that matters.” The stoic expression was barely covering the distress in his mother-in-law’s face. “How are you, Baba?” He had fallen into the habit of calling her by the grandmother title.

      The rain stopped hitting him. Glancing up, he saw a huge rainbow umbrella. Behind it was Belle. The blue and red lights flashed across her face.

      The sheriff moved closer to her. “Hey, Belle. I thought Miguel was on Red Cross duty tonight.”

      “He is. But the father and his two girls were with me at the arena. Please, let Miguel know I’ve got them covered. They’ll be at the ranch if anyone needs to talk to them.”

      “Sure thing. We almost lost the whole street, but the rain helped control the fire.” He nodded to Quinn. “Sorry about your loss.” Then he moved toward the fire truck.

      Belle leaned into the SUV and held her free hand out to Gina. “Hello, I’m Izabella De La Rosa. I’m with the Red Cross, and I have a warm, dry place for y’all to stay tonight.”

      Gina took the offered hand. “Thank you. I’m Gina Yamazaki.” She looked at Quinn.

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