A Family Name (24 page)

"I see so much of Gretchen in both of them. I
curse the fact that she married that man every day. I'm sorry. That
sounds terrible. It's just that I knew he was trouble the moment I
met him. Too greedy for fame, for accolades. Pride goeth before the
fall, as they say." She took a sip of her tea.

Charlotte regarded the other woman
thoughtfully. "I didn't know Steve or Gretchen. I'm sorry that I
never got the pleasure."

"Thank you for the tea, dear, but I think I
might need to go lie down as well. This day has exhausted me."

"I'll call you when dinner is ready."
Charlotte watched her go, feeling a pang of confusion wash over
her.

She sat at the kitchen table a bit longer,
holding her teacup tightly as she wondered just what was going to
happen next.

"I think we need to talk."

Charlotte whipped her head around at the
sound of Will's soft, serious voice. Judging from his tone, this
wasn't going to be a happy, light conversation. With a quick nod,
Charlotte followed him out onto the front porch. She loved that
this had become their private space to connect with each other.

Despite the fact that the June days had
turned pleasantly warm, the evenings were still chilly. Charlotte
pulled her cardigan tighter around herself as she stepped closer to
the railing where Will leaned gazing into the darkening sky. The
first stars were blinking to life, and the dark silhouettes of the
trees cast a surreal quality to the night. No place had ever felt
better or more like home. She knew that at some point she needed to
share that with Will, and part of her wondered if this might be the
right time. If they were already having a serious discussion, then
more serious topics would fit right in.

Letting her instincts guide her, Charlotte
slid her arm through Will's and they stood connected enjoying the
deepening night. "So," she said, finally breaking the silence,
"what do we need to talk about?"

She held her breath as Will shifted, and drew
her into his arms. He rested his chin on the top of her head. Not
for the first time, Charlotte marveled at the seamless shift in
their relationship, from perfect strangers to… this.

"Sierra and Shane's grandparents are signing
permanent custody over to me."

"What?" Charlotte's breath came in a gasp.
She couldn't believe what she had just heard. There was no way that
her selfish hope had come to fruition.

Will chuckled. Charlotte loved the rumble she
could hear and feel deep in his chest. "That's sort of how I feel.
They think that they can't handle two young children. We still need
to work out all the details, but it looks like I've got three kids
now."

His choice of wording couldn't have been
intentional but it stopped Charlotte cold. He had referred to the
children as his alone. The slight hurt. Charlotte couldn't deny
that. Even if Will had meant nothing by it, the lighthearted, warm
feeling she'd had a few minutes ago had vanished.

Her mind started to race. Had he brought her
out here to finally talk about the custody issue with Lexi? Since
he hadn't mentioned it in so long, Charlotte had assumed that he'd
dropped the lawyer. Perhaps she'd been wrong. She couldn't catch
her breath; a tight band wound itself around her chest, squeezing
ever tighter. Will's arms suddenly felt suffocating. She pushed
them away.

"I… I need to get inside."

Stumbling slightly in her haste to get away
she tried to block out Will's confused voice as he called her name.
All thoughts of sharing her feelings about him and this place fled.
Survival mode kicked in, walls went up, and Charlotte shut down.
She felt like she always had when she'd been sent to a new foster
home. Attachments caused pain. Just when she had gotten used to the
idea of opening herself up to others, had allowed herself to hope
for a family, it all came crashing down around her. And never
before had she allowed herself to feel so deeply for a man. Now she
knew why.

****

Will ran a hand along the back of his neck as
a cool wind whispered around him. He stared at the screen door as
it bumped softly into place. What had just happened here? He
retraced the conversation in his mind. All they had talked about
was his permanent guardianship of Sierra and Shane. He thought
she'd be ecstatic over the news. Every time the kids' grandparents
came to visit with them, he sensed her tension, her hesitation. He
knew how much she loved those kids. So what was the problem?

Somewhere out in the woods a coyote howled.
The eerie yodel sent a chill along Will's spine. Just yesterday
this woman had dissolved into a puddle of passion in his arms. He
chuckled in spite of his confusion. Kissing Charlotte just felt so
right. Everything about being with her felt right. With her and the
kids, he finally felt like he fit somewhere. The five of them were
a family. He'd been skirting the issue of his deepening feelings
for her for far too long. He assumed that had something to do with
her sudden departure.

The moment was gone, ruined. He could have
confessed everything to her in the soft June night. The stars
sparkled brighter now. Will wondered idly what sort of summer it
would be. They needed a rainy one after the last few years of
drought. Despite the fact that his teaching at the Institute took
up most of his professional time, he still had a vested interest in
the ranch, no matter what his father might think. Walker had just
been talking the other day about the need for a month of good heavy
soakers every afternoon. Will couldn't remember the last time they
had rain like that.

As if the cosmos had heard his thoughts,
lighting flashed on the horizon. Will watched the pink-tinged glow
illuminate the western hills. He wished Charlotte had stayed out
here to see it. This was just the sort of thing that she loved.

Kicking the porch post with his boot, Will
sighed. There was clearly a reason he had screwed up his first
marriage, and hadn't had a serious relationship since. He was lost
so deep in thought that when the front door banged open again, he
jumped.

"Hey, Dad, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, Lex. What's up?"

His daughter frowned up at him as she leaned
against the porch rail. In other circumstances he'd have smiled to
see how much she mimicked him.

"What'd you do to Charlotte?" Lexi crossed
her arms in front of her chest.

"Nothing. We were just talking, and…I don't
know. Why?" Will felt the fluttering of nerves in his stomach. He
had never been that kind of guy until he had a family.

"She's in her room crying." Lexi's accusing
stare made Will feel guilty, but he still didn't know what he had
done wrong.

"I'll go talk to her," he said, feeling hazy
all of a sudden. He groaned. The feeling always preceded a
migraine. The stress of the situation must have been his trigger.
He dropped a kiss on his daughter's head, and hurried to the
kitchen to take some pain medication. With any luck he could head
it off before it got too bad.

Will grimaced as he headed down the hallway.
He was relieved that the younger two had gone to bed without much
fuss. He knocked on Charlotte's door, and leaned his head against
the smooth wood. A sniffle was all he could hear. He hated that she
was crying, and he hated that Lexi seemed to think that he was
responsible for it. There was no way he could be, though. Wouldn't
he have known if he was the cause of her pain?

With a groan, Will knocked again. Trying to
figure Charlotte out was making his head hurt more than the
migraine. "Charlotte? I think we need to talk."

Silence followed his request. Will sighed,
and turned around to lean on the door. He sank to the floor, and
placed his head on his hands. A wave of nausea rolled over him, and
he prayed the medicine would take effect soon. He couldn't think
straight anymore. The thoughts that he'd had out on the porch,
about discussing his feelings, their future, fled. Survival mode
kicked in.

Will had always prided himself on being in
control, especially after his debacle with Mary. Years of carefully
crafted restraint had been undone in four months by one amazing
woman and three sweet children.

"Dad?" Lexi's fearful voice drew him out of
his pain induced haze.

"Down here, Lex." He called, his voice
sounding rough and raw.

Lexi sprinted into the hallway, and skidded
to a stop in front of him. The look of alarm on her face got Will
to his feet faster than he could have imagined, especially with a
migraine.

"What's wrong?" His voice cracked.

Taking a deep breath, Lexi said, "Uncle
Walker's at the door. Some lightning struck in the south pasture.
There's a fire. He told me to get you."

Charlotte's door opened. "A fire?"

Lexi nodded, her dark hair flying across her
face. Will caught Charlotte's gaze, and his heart ached when he saw
the red-rimmed eyes. Despite the strangeness of these emotions for
him, he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss away the
sadness.

"I'll go find out more from Walker," Will
said softly. Charlotte nodded, and reached out for Lexi, who went
gratefully into her embrace.

Will hurried toward the front door. When he
stepped out on to the porch the acrid odor of smoke filled his
nostrils. Will flinched as the smell made his temples throb and his
stomach heave. Walker's face was drawn, his mouth set in a grim
line. His brother didn't need to say a word to understand the
gravity of the situation.

"Where did it strike?"

Walker half-turned and tipped his head toward
the south pasture. Staring out into the dark night, blacker now
that the stars were obscured by the clouds, he thought he could
make out a plume of smoke against the inky sky.

"How far do you think it is?" Will choked on
the smoke rapidly filling the air.

With another frown, Walker gazed out into the
night as well. "As best we could tell, it's about three-quarters of
a mile south of the ridge."

The words hit Will hard as if each one were a
punch to his gut. "That close?"

"Dad already called the Volunteers, and put a
call in to Rapid. Wyatt went to get the tank truck. Are you up for
this?" Walker's voice cut through Will's cloud of pain.

"Of course. What kind of question is that? I
have to help Charlotte get the kids up and out. Is Mom going into
town? They could all go together." Will didn't wait for Walker's
answer. He turned back into the house just as the squeal of tires
over gravel alerted Will to Wyatt's arrival.

Will rounded the corner into the hallway to
find Charlotte still hugging Lexi. They turned toward him,
questioning looks on both their faces. When he met Charlotte's
gaze, he knew that she understood the seriousness of the
situation.

"What do we do?" Her voice was completely
calm but Will noticed the way she sunk her teeth into her lower lip
after she finished speaking.

"Pack an overnight bag. Lex, go do the same.
I'll get Sierra and Shane's things together. My mom will take you
guys into town." Will turned on his heel and hurried toward the
little ones' room.

Charlotte caught him by the elbow right
before he opened the door. "And what are you going to do?"

He looked down at her, the pain of his
migraine receding slightly at the look of intense concern in
Charlotte's eyes. Despite the fact that they'd never had a talk
about their feelings, he knew she cared about him. Just the way he
cared about her. The realization startled him, even though he had
felt it for a long time.

"I'm going to fight the fire."

"What?" Charlotte pressed a hand over her
mouth and stepped back.

"I'll be fine. My brothers and I, we're all
trained as volunteer firefighters. It made sense when we were
younger. The nearest fire department is in Spearfish. All Mountain
View has are volunteers. You need to get these kids somewhere safe.
Take care of yourself and them. I'll be fine." He reached out and
cupped her cheek with one hand.

Charlotte laid her hand over his.
"Promise?"

Will felt his throat close around a lump of
unshed tears. "Promise."

****

Charlotte's hands shook as she put the keys
into the ignition. The smoke from the fire hung heavily in the air
making her eyes water, even in the confines of the truck's cab.
Shane had managed to doze back off in his car seat, but Sierra
clung to Lexi's hand. Karen patted Charlotte's arm.

"They'll get the fire under control quickly.
It isn't even at three acres yet. Bill and the boys have all been
trained in proper technique to fight these fires, and the
professionals from Rapid City will be here soon." Karen kept her
voice at a low, calm tone, but when Charlotte glanced over the
lines creasing the older woman's eyes were a giveaway for her
worry.

"Have you ever had a fire this close to the
ranch?" Charlotte asked, forcing herself to focus on the road in
front of her so her gaze wouldn't be glued to the rearview
mirror.

Karen nodded. The movement in Charlotte's
peripheral vision made her jump. She righted the truck quickly.

"Years ago when the boys were small, we had a
similar lightning strike in the west part of the ranch. Burned
forty acres north and west of here. I'm sure you've noticed that
there are dozens of fires in the Hills every year. With the pine
beetle infestation and the drought, this year will probably be the
worst in years." Karen sighed.

"I've never had to evacuate before,"
Charlotte said. "Even when there was that fire in Rapid City a few
years ago. I was far enough away not to be affected by it."

"Is Dad gonna be okay?" Lexi's voice sounded
tiny and terrified as it drifted from the back seat.

Karen turned in her seat. "Of course,
sweetheart. We'll go stay with my friend, Maggie. You kids can get
some sleep while we wait."