Lonestar Secrets by Colleen Coble

vegetation that grows tinder dry. I'm busy for months after a wet spring" The firefighter bent to his task again.
    "Why aren't you at home?" Jack asked Shannon. "Where's Kylie?" He knew his voice held censure when Shannon squared her shoulders and glared at him.
    "She's perfectly fine. Allie wanted to keep her overnight until I get the house ready. Besides, she and Betsy were having fun." She narrowed her eyes. "I hardly think that's any of your business."
    He started to speak, then shut his mouth. She was right. He hadn't married her hadn't even agreed to marry her. He turned back to his work. The fire was moving closer. They'd managed to clear a path about four feet wide.
    "It's not going to be wide enough to stop it," the firefighter said. "Tell the owners to evacuate."
    Jack nodded and grabbed Shannon's hand. "Come with me. I'll need help persuading Harriet to leave."
    Shannon fell into step beside him. "Why won't she go?"
    "She was born here. Her great-grandfather built this place. She's eighty-five and as strong-willed as a bull. She won't believe even a fire could take her home from her."
    "You think it's not going to be stopped?"
    He gestured toward the flames flaring from bush to shrub. "Do you?" Her gaze swept the scene, and his did the same. The blaze was burning hotter than ever. It had just crossed the line of bare dirt they'd worked so hard to make.

    "I guess not," she said.
    THE TWO OF THEM MANAGED TO CONVINCE HARRIET TO LEAYE. OR RATHER, Shannon managed it somehow. Her crisp professional manner disarmed the older woman, who reluctantly agreed to go to the daughter's, just for tonight. When Jack loaded the last of Harriet's valuables into the back of her old pickup, he turned to thank Shannon and found her gone.
    The scarred firefighter, his shoulders slumped, was walking this way with the rest of his crew, having been momentarily relieved by a shift in the wind. Jack blocked his path. "Any of you and your crew are welcome to spend the night at my house."
    The man swiped a grimy hand against his sooty cheek. "The Bluebird Ranch is putting us up, but thanks for the offer."
    "You see where the blonde lady went who was helping me?" Jack asked.
    "She whistled for her horse and rode off that way." The firefighter pointed away from the fire toward Shannon's old ranch.
    "Thanks. What's your name?"
    "Buck. Buck Carter."
    Jack put out his hand. "Jack MacGowan." The man had a strong grip, something Jack liked. He dropped his hand to his side. "Thanks again for the job you did here tonight."
    "It's what I do. Most of the time."
    "What do you do when you're not fighting fires?"
    Buck shrugged. "I'm an outfitter in Arizona. Mogollon Rim coun try. Firefighters have been called from all over to fight the fires here, so I came to join the fun."

    Jack hardly called it fun. "Like I said, my home is open if you ever need it." He clapped the man on the back and went to his truck. He should go home, but he was still high on adrenaline. He turned the truck toward Shannon's ranch. The decision couldn't be put off any longer.
    In the desert with no streetlights and only his headlamps illuminating the landscape, the stars were brighter. Jack's eyes burned from fatigue and smoke, but his lips were tight with determination. He would do whatever was necessary to keep his daughter.
    He turned into the unkempt lane that led to the old Astor homestead. Only one light shone out of a window. The porch light wasn't on, and not even a security light highlighted the barn and the yard. This wasn't a safe environment for Kylie and Shannon. He parked and strode to the door. The porch boards were spongy and weak under his boots. This place was going to take a lot of work to make it livable.
    His fist fell on the rickety screen door. A dog began to bark from inside the house. At least she had some kind of protection. He banged the door again.
    "Who's there?" Shannon's voice was sharp, but fear hovered under the confident tone.
    He should have