Downpour: Chapter 30

“

ou know, I didn’t expect the annoying part of training Brooke to be you lingering in my office,” Cassandra said as she glared at Ray.

Ray had parked his wheelchair on the other side of Cassandra’s desk and had resorted to asking her if I was done for the day every five minutes.

I snickered under my breath and tried to stay focused on the calendar Cassandra and I were setting up.

She let out a low growl and turned back to the schedule. “Anyway. Red blocks are for exclusive arena rental. You’ll need to time them far enough apart to clean the arena between riders and set up the obstacles that are requested. They’ll show up with their own coaches and trailers if we’re not boarding the animal for them. You just need to be present and check in occasionally, during the rental period. Green blocks are⁠—”

She snapped her head to Ray when he hunched over to peer at the screen. “Dear god, what?”

“Seriously, how much longer? It’s already a quarter till seven.”

Cassandra pinched the bridge of her nose. “You of all people should know that the ranch isn’t a nine-to-five. Didn’t you grow up here?”

He leaned back and laced his hands behind his head.

“Anyway,” she said with a huff. “The green blocks are for ranch-led individual lessons. For the time being, you need Christian or CJ with you until they’re ready to kick you out of the nest. So, make sure you ask them before you schedule lessons. Yellow blocks are for⁠—”

“Field trips,” I said, recalling what we had talked about earlier in the day. “No more than two a month, with a max capacity of thirty kids per field trip. And I need another ranch hand or Griffith present for crowd control.”

Cassandra blinked for a moment. She seemed a little surprised I had gotten that right. “That’s correct. You could even get Nate or Becks or Claire and Silas if they’re willing. Just an extra body.”

“What about⁠—”

“Silence,” Cassandra snapped at Ray.

He snickered and went back to playing on his phone.

“Phase one is handling reservations individually. Once the program is up and running and we have enough cash flow to warrant it, we’ll find some kind of online scheduling software so people can reserve time on their own.”

Cassandra clicked around and showed me how to add and edit reservations to the calendar and where to find them in the grand scheme of the ranch’s master calendar.

Seeing all those time blocks made my head spin, but I liked the challenge.

I let out a slow breath. “I hope I don’t mess it up.”

Cassandra was stern. “You will not fail.”

“But what if I accidentally⁠—”

She grabbed my shoulders and turned my rolling desk chair to face her. “You will not fail. Do you understand?”

Okay. My new boss was officially scarier than my old one.

“Yes, ma’am,” I squeaked.

Christian laughed as he strolled into the office. “She hates that. Just so you know.”

Cassandra nodded. “Don’t call me ma’am and I won’t fire you… Today.”

Ray chuckled, and I rolled my eyes. “You two are peas in a pod,” I muttered as I hunched forward to play around with the calendar.

“What are y’all still doing in here?” Christian said as he came up behind Cassandra. “It’s quarter till’ seven.”

“Anyone without boobs has to leave!” she shouted. “Out!”

“Oh cool. I can stay,” Bree said from the doorway. “When’s dinner? It’s almost seven.”

“That’s it,” Cassandra said as she slammed her hands on the desk. “You’re off the clock. Go home.”

Ray, Bree, and Christian shared conspiratorial grins. He wiggled his phone at me and winked.

That man…

“I’ll be here bright and early,” I promised Cassandra.

“What are y’all still doing here?” CJ said from the doorway. He was drenched in sweat and out of breath. “It’s seven.”

“You’re late,” Ray said. “But I appreciate the effort.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “I should’ve known you orchestrated that. I usually have to drag Christian back to the house.”

Gracie poked her head in. “Why are you still working? It’s⁠—”

“Seven! I know!” Cassandra shouted. “I swear, this family is going to drive me batshit crazy.”

“Should’ve clocked out at five,” Ray said.

“Y’all should come up to the bunkhouse after supper,” CJ said. “We’re having a bonfire.”

Christian frowned. “A bonfire in the middle of summer when it hasn’t rained in months is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. How about don’t.”

CJ rolled his eyes. “It’s a little one. We’ll keep it contained. Bring the girls.”

“Please, Daddy?” Gracie said as she grabbed a red permanent marker from the cup on the desk and started coloring on Ray’s arm, filling in a flower that was part of his sleeve of tattoos.

“It’s already pretty late,” Christian said.

Bree found a blue permanent marker and took Ray’s other arm, coloring in a pocket watch and chain that wrapped around his elbow and forearm. “I cleaned my room and did all my chores.”

Christian glanced at Cassandra. She returned the look to him, passing back whatever silent communication they had going between them.

“Well then,” Christian said. “Since I know you did all those things because you know it’s your responsibility, bonfire it is. But you still have to be in bed by ten.”

Bree’s marker stilled on Ray’s arm. “And because I’ve been so responsible, you’ll think about letting me go out with Mason on Saturday?”

The room froze.

The eighteen-plus crowd looked at Christian. Gracie looked at Bree, then Cassandra.

Ray frowned. “Who’s Mason?”

“Mason Cruz,” Bree blurted out. “He’s a grade ahead of me, and I’ve done everything Dad said I had to do to be able to go on dates. I get A’s and B’s. I keep up with my chores. And he still won’t let me go out with him.”

Christian crossed his arms. “Because you don’t have your driver’s license yet. Do you want me or Cass going on dates with you?”

Bree slammed the marker back onto the desk. “No!”

“You need your driver’s license so that you can leave the date whenever you want to. It’s for your own safety and agency,” Cassandra said.

Bree looked up at Ray. “Will you talk to them? Please? If I have to tell him that my dad won’t let me go one more time, he’ll stop asking me out and move on.”

Ray shrugged. “Let him move on.”

Her features curled up in anger. “But… no.”

Ray pointed to the tattoo she had been coloring in. “You missed a spot. If that kid wants to move on, let him move on. If he likes you, he’ll wait. Simple as that.”

Bree rolled her eyes. “You’re not supposed to take their side.”

“Sorry, kid. I’m full of disappointments these days. If you want a popsicle, you know where to find ‘em. Your dad and Cass are just looking out for you.” Ray glanced at Christian. “But maybe you could compromise and let the kid come to family dinner. After Cass runs a background check.”

“Already done,” she clipped.

Something warm inside me bloomed as I watched Ray diffuse Bree’s frustration. He would be such a great dad…

“Brooke.”

I snapped out of the haze. “Huh?”

Ray was pushing away from Cassandra’s desk. “You ready to go back to the house?”

Hearing him call it that—like it was mine too—was everything I ever wanted.

We made our way out of the office and back to the house for a quick dinner before heading out to the bunkhouse.

Trucks, ATVs, and horses carried everyone to the bonfire that glowed in the middle of an open field. Ray needed both hands to drive the golf cart down the dirt path, so I simply rested my head on his shoulder and took in the view.

The sun lit up the pastures in seas of gold. The dark silhouette of the construction site jutted out of the earth. The exterior to what would eventually be a luxury lodge and restaurant was almost done, but they still had a long way to go before it would function.

The lodge was a mix of stonework, cedar beams, and massive glass panes. The architecture was breathtaking. I couldn’t wait to see it completed.

“You’re late,” CJ hollered from the circle of camping chairs, hay bales, and tailgates.

One of the ranch hands had a guitar out and was playing an old country tune.

Ray grinned. “Had to eat dinner.”

It was me. I was dinner.

“Where do you want to sit?” I asked him.

Ray glanced around. “I, uh… I’ll just hang out in the golf cart.”

My heart sank a little. I wanted to sit close to the fire, but Ray and I were a team. I wasn’t going to abandon him. There were a lot of people around; a lot of people he didn’t usually interact with.

“Sounds good,” I said as I settled in.

Ray laced our hands together and looked down at me with a weight to his gaze.

“I don’t think I’ve told you how fucking thankful I am that you’re here,” he said, just between us. He brushed his thumb over the top of my hand. “I know I don’t deserve you. But I’m grateful for every day I get to wake up with you beside me.”

I chewed on my lip. “Do you think we’ll make it?”

The lines around his eyes relaxed, but deepened over his nose. “Why do you ask that?”

“We don’t have a lot in common. You’re a lot older than me. I fell for you the moment I saw you for the first time, and I never stopped to think. I have a bad habit of not thinking before I speak or act, and I just⁠—”

Ray chuckled. “Look at Chris and Cass. Do you think they’re alike? Or Nate and Becks? She was a lot more like Cass when she first moved to the ranch. I know one thing for certain. I want this, so I’m gonna work for it.”

He reached into the caddy behind us and pulled out a plastic bag of blue and pink Sweet Tarts.

“My hero.” I laughed as I opened the bag and picked out a blue one. “What do you do with the other ones?”

He chuckled. “I eat the purple and yellow ones, and throw away the green ones. They suck.”

I tucked my feet under my butt and curled up beside him on the bench seat. “I love you.”

He kissed the top of my head, then my forehead, then my lips. We sat in silence, watching the flames lick up into the sky. Ray had a small length of rope he was working on. The monotony was soothing.

“Y’all just gonna hide over there all night?” Christian hollered from the tailgate of his truck.

“Yep,” Ray shouted back. “You’re lucky we graced you with our presence in the first place.”

Light flashed in my peripheral vision. I looked over toward the lodge and smiled as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a royal blue hue across the sky.

Ray pressed his lips to my temple. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. I just thought I saw lights on at the lodge. It was probably just the sun on the windows.”

He grabbed a piece of candy from the bag. “I don’t think they’ve got the electricity up and running yet.”

Anarchy was grazing from a patch of grass behind where CJ was seated. She stopped and glared in the direction of the lodge. Her ears twitched, and she let out a displeased grunt.

Laughter and music bubbled up from the bonfire. I closed my eyes, soaking it all in.

“This feels like home,” I said softly, so it stayed just between Ray and me. “I haven’t felt this in a long time.”

He wrapped his arm around me and held me close. “Sometimes I worry you like my family more than me.”

I laughed softly. “They have less groveling to do.”

“Are the construction crews still here?” Cassandra asked as she checked the time on her phone.

Heads turned toward the lodge, where flashlights danced through the second floor.

“The crew left two hours ago,” a ranch hand said as bodies began to rise.

“We’ll go check it out,” Ray said as he put the golf cart into drive.

CJ called Anny over and mounted her. “I’m coming.” A handful of his boys joined in.

The golf cart jostled and bumped along the divots in the road. As we got closer, the flashlights dancing inside the lodge grew more frantic.

My heart jumped in my throat, and I squeezed Ray’s arm. “There’s people in there. More than one.”

“Maybe one of the workers forgot to put the tools up or something,” he said.

The ominous pounding of Anny’s hooves echoed like a sinister roll of thunder. CJ rounded the front of the lodge and hopped off her back.

“Who’s up there?” he shouted into the framework.

Profanities were mixed in a scuffle as the lights danced over the site.

“Hey!” Ray shouted at CJ as he stormed into the lodge. His knuckles went white against the steering wheel.

I knew where his head and heart were. Ray wanted to be the one going up there to see who was messing around inside.

Boots thundered on plywood sheets. Shouts rose up, drawing the attention of the rest of the ranch hands and Griffiths.

A shadow darted out of the lodge.

“Oh my god!” I clapped my hands over my mouth. “That’s⁠—”

CJ tackled the man, and he yelped. I recognized that voice instantly. I used to dread hearing it through my bedroom door.

CJ and my former roommate, Nick, grunted as they rolled across the dirt.

Something slick and black glinted in the moonlight.

“Carson!” Ray roared.

BANG!

I screamed and ducked into Ray as a gunshot cracked through the air, not sure where it had been pointed.

Another shot went off as CJ’s boot connected with Nick’s jaw. He went limp. The bullet slammed into something metallic.

CJ crawled off Nick, then froze. We all heard it at the same time.

A slow, unsettling hiss.

“Get out!” CJ shouted.

The ranch hands that had gone into the lodge bolted out into the pasture as glass exploded from the windows in a hailstorm.

Ray grabbed me, pulled me across his lap, and tucked me under his stomach, hunching down as orange flames billowed out of the lodge.

The whoosh and crackle of flames bigger than the bonfire lit up the night sky. The ranch came alive as everyone jumped into action.

“Here,” Ray shouted to CJ as he tossed him the rope he had been working with. “Tie him up and get back.”

CJ caught the rope and had Nick trussed like a turkey in seconds.

“The lodge is on fire,” I whispered as reality set in.

My roommates had done this.

They did it—for whatever reason—because of me.

Christian’s truck growled as he came to a screeching halt next to a picturesque pond and started unloading a pump and hoses. I could hear someone talking on the phone to a 911 operator as the fire ate up the future of the ranch.

Everything went numb. “This is all my fault.”