“I know what I saw, Len,” Gray rumbled and Lenny stared at him as uniformed officers shuffled around and, far away, in the smoldering remains of the decimated barn, firefighters cautiously circled, beat out, stomped out and sprayed their hoses to dampen the embers and keep any sparks from catching something else.

I knew this was happening but I only had eyes for Lenny and Gray.

And this was because Gray had seen something this time.

And what he’d seen was Lenny’s nephew Pete running to his pickup and racing away.

“You saw him get in it?” Lenny asked quietly.

“Saw him runnin’ to the lane and jumpin’ in the truck,” Gray confirmed.

“You sure it was Pete?”

“Went to grade school with him, Len. Shared first grade, fourth grade and I reckon two dozen classes all through high school with him. Seen him in that truck at least a hundred times in the three years he’s had it.” Gray’s voice was low, rough and really, really pissed. “I know Pete when I see him, Lenny.”

“Fuck,” Lenny whispered.

“He burned down my barn and killed seven of my horses,” Gray stated, his voice starting with the same qualities but degenerating with every word. “Ivey didn’t help, twelve horses would have gone down. And, I’ll add, my woman was in there helpin’.”

Gray paused and a muscle jumped in Lenny’s cheek.

“You bring his ass in,” Gray whispered. “You get him in the tank, Len. You know what I’m sayin’ to you.”

Lenny stared at Gray and he knew what Gray was saying. The safest place for Pete to be was in jail.

Lenny turned his head to an officer and jerked up his chin.

That officer jogged to a cruiser.

Then Lenny avoided Gray’s eyes and mine as his went to the smoldering destruction.

Then he whispered, “Christ, boy’s got shit for brains. Always has.”

“This isn’t shit for brains,” Gray ground out and Lenny flinched. “Ivey was in that barn with me and I got seven horses down. Me and my woman are breathin’ but half the fuckin’ thing collapsed while we were in it.” Lenny looked back at Gray. “This shit’s gotta stop, Len. You got this one last chance to make it stop. You don’t, I’m takin’ measures.”

“Keep calm, Gray,” Lenny whispered.

“Fuck calm!” Gray suddenly exploded and I got closer to him as Lenny’s officers got closer to Lenny. “Did you not fuckin’ hear me?” Gray asked. “Half the goddamned barn collapsed with me and Ivey in it!”

“I hear you son, but let me do my work,” Lenny replied.

“Yeah, you do your work,” Gray shot back. “You got one last fuckin’ chance to do your fuckin’ work.”

As he was saying this, headlights bounced up the drive and all eyes turned to look.

Earlier, even though they had motion sensors, I had run into the house to turn on all the outside lights. We were on a ranch in the middle of nowhere but Cody men weren’t stupid. The middle of nowhere could still hold dangers, evidenced by a now destroyed barn. There were a lot of outside lights that shown all around the house so the space close to the house and then some was brightly illuminated. Therefore, as the shiny, long-cab pickup stopped close and the engine died, I saw it.

I also saw a man get out of it and I knew instantly he was a rancher seeing as it was the dead of night and he was still in a western-style shirt, Wranglers, cowboy boots with his own tattered baseball hat on his head.

“Fuck me,” Lenny muttered and the officers and him all moved fast as I belatedly felt the vibes rolling off Gray.

Really bad vibes had been rolling off him but now they burned so hot they scorched.

I got closer, took his hand and the minute I did his fingers closed around mine tight. It could be they did this because he was glad I had fingers to hold onto. It could be, from what I was getting from him, he did this because he needed to hold onto me so he didn’t wail on the newcomer.

“Who’s that?” I whispered, getting closer and pressing to his side.

“Jeb Sharp,” Gray answered tersely, I sucked in breath and I saw Lenny get up close to Jeb Sharp as the remaining three officers staggered themselves between Sharp and Gray, preparing, should Gray lose it, to lock him down.

Lenny and Sharp had words I couldn’t hear even if they weren’t that far away. Lenny shook his head then moved his body as if to block Sharp but Sharp shook his head too and rounded Lenny.

“Not a good idea, Jeb,” Lenny called after him as Sharp approached Gray and me.

Gray, already tense, went so solid I feared touching him would make him shatter. Still, I curled into him and put my other hand on his abs.

Sharp, astutely, stopped outside arm’s reach.

He was like his son, good-looking. But he was that way in the way Gray was. He’d be that way until he died. There were lines on his face that came from hard work in the sun and hard laughing often in his life. There was a burn in his eyes that came from not a small amount of anger and a hint of shame he couldn’t quite hide but he was trying. I knew he was Buddy’s Dad and, one look at him, I still couldn’t help but like him.

Then he announced, “I’ll deal with this, son.”

“Time for that’s passed, Jeb. Got seven dead horses and no barn,” Gray returned.

“You’re smart, you’ll let me take care ‘a this,” Jeb said quietly.

“He’s been gunnin’ for me since junior high and tonight he put my woman in danger. Not feelin’ like bein’ smart right about now,” Gray replied.

Jeb’s eyes came to me, his hand went to the bill of his baseball cap for a second before it dropped and he muttered, “Ma’am.”

I lifted my chin to him but no more and he looked back at Gray.

“Ask you one more time, Grayson, let me deal with this.”

“You do what you gotta do. Len’ll do what he’s gotta do. And I’ll do what I gotta do,” Gray stated.

Jeb Sharp held my man’s eyes.

Then he whispered, “Fair enough.” Then his eyes went to the barn and he kept whispering when he said, “Cryin’ shame.”

He was not wrong about that.

I pressed closer to Gray and Gray’s hand squeezed mine tighter.

Sharp looked through me and back to Gray.

“You need help cleanin’ up and buildin’, you call on me. I’ll send some boys,” he offered.

When Gray made no reply, I had a mind to suggest he didn’t hold his breath but I kept my tongue.

“Right,” Sharp muttered, knowing exactly what Gray’s non-response meant then he looked to me. “Mizz Larue, wish we’d met under more auspicious circumstances.”

“Me too,” I whispered.

He nodded. Then he looked at Gray. Then he sighed deeply. Finally he turned and walked away.

That was when I sighed.

Jeb Sharp got in his truck, turned it around and drove down the lane.

I felt some of the tension leave Gray’s body and he turned us to face the destruction.

Wood barn, it went up like tinder, came down in no time flat.

“I’m gonna go make coffee for the firemen, honey,” I whispered.

“Good idea, baby,” Gray murmured, his eyes never leaving the barn.

I squeezed his hand. He squeezed mine back but he did it not looking away from his loss.

I let him go, took two steps away then turned and took two back.

Pressing again to his side, I lifted up until I was as close as I could get to his ear and whispered, “Say you love me, Gray.”

I rolled back to the soles of my feet and watched as he closed his eyes then he opened them and turned to me.

His hand came up, he cupped my jaw and his eyes moved over my face.

Then he said, “I love you, Ivey.”

I grinned a small, sad grin.

He gave me the same.

Then he bent and touched his mouth to mine, dropped his hand and I turned and went into the house to make coffee for firefighters.

* * *

Three hours later…

Dawn was hitting the sky, weak light beginning to glow through the window.

Gray and I had had showers but no sleep. We were in bed, Gray on his back, me pressed to his side, my head on his pectoral, hand flat and lightly trailing his chest and gut, his arm around me, hand in my panties cupping my ass.

We’d been there awhile, lying close, not speaking but also not sleeping.

Finally, I broke the silence by whispering, “You okay?”

“No.”

I pulled in a breath. Then I slid my hand up his chest, lifted and turned my head and rested my chin on my hand under me.

He had four pillows bunched haphazardly behind his head and shoulders (this was his way, my man liked pillows) and his eyes dipped to me.

“Please don’t kill Buddy,” I said quietly. “Just got you back after seven years. I don’t want to spend the next seven visiting you in the penitentiary.”

His face softened but he didn’t smile.

Still, he replied teasingly, “You’re in the mountain plains of Colorado, dollface. No jury from these parts would convict me for killin’ a man who killed seven horses.”

His joke fell flat, I knew he saw it on my face just as I saw it on his but I suspected his was worse. He was a cowboy, horses were kind of important to cowboys.

I lifted up, pushed up closer, sliding more onto his chest, my hand moving to curl around the side of his neck all as I whispered, “Baby, I don’t know what to do to help you.”

That was when he grinned. It wasn’t a big one and it didn’t warm his beautiful eyes the usual way but it still warmed his eyes.

His hand left my panties so his arm could close tight around the middle of my back and he told me, “You’re doin’ it, Ivey.”

I nodded and smiled.