Acquiring Trouble (14 page)

"That's right. Miles here is
the top bachelor in Keeneston," Miss Daisy told her with a big grin.

"Really? Who else is on this list?"

"Marshall, but he's obviously
off the list now. Then
there’s
Henry Rooney, do you remember him?" Morgan saw Miles roll his eyes
and lean back in his chair for the inevitable girl talk.

"Henry Rooney…. hmm, black hair?" Morgan asked as she thought ba
ck to high school.

"That's right. I
gotta
ask
—w
hat was he like in high school?"
a
sprite of a young woman
from the next table interjected
.

"Who are you?" Morgan ask
ed the new woman to the conversation
.

"Tammy
Fields
. I'm Henry's secretary. I just have to know. Anything embarrassing that can be used for blackmail would be preferential.
" She put her hands under her chin and leaned forward to hear
better
.

"If my memory is right Henry played basketball and hit on every girl in
the school." Morgan smiled as
Tammy giggled. She appreciated the woman's pink
-
tipped
blonde hair and friendly face.

"That's him alright. He's still
like
that."

Morgan looked back to Miss Daisy and found Miles picking at his food. She should feel sorry for him, but she didn't. "Who else is on this list?"

"Ahmed," Tammy sighed and then fanned herself.

"Now, I know I didn't go to high school with
anybody by that name
."

"He moved here, what five years ago?"
Tammy questioned as
Miss Daisy nodded
in response
and then headed
off to another table. "And he'
s yummy! There's a
s
heik here that owns the farm next to the A
shton's. Ahmed is his head of security. Dark, dangerous and damn sexy
.
"

"Oh! I may need to meet him," Morgan laughed as she, much to her surprise, fell easily into girl talk with this young woman.

"Excuse me? I guess I need to remind you that you're on a date with me. I'm number one
on that list
after all." Miles said dryly.

"Oh
my
god! You're actually on a date
date
? Not just a business dinner, but a date?" Tammy's voice rose and sudde
nly the c
afé
was quiet again as
the tidal wave of air hit her
when
everyone turned
at once to look her over again.

"Yes, we are. If you'll excuse us?" Miles politely said goodnight and then turned back to
Morgan
. "Well, now it's out there. I give it ten minutes."

"Are you kidding?
News like this will be all over town in five."
Morgan laughe
d as she took a bite of dinner.

She was having such a good time with him. Every time he looked at her, every time he touched her
,
she
felt her feelings for him growing.
It wasn't high school all over
again,
it was something with a lot more substance that just a high school crush.
Which made what she was going to have to do tomorrow all
that
much worse, but nothing was going to stand in her way of forcing the sale of his company.
Even realizing that she still loved him. Damn, why couldn’t anything be easy?

Miles ignored the sweat dripping down his face and over his stubble. His legs were burning, but he pushed himself harder. His legs screamed in pain as he forced them to move faster and faster along the grass path. Miles'
s
breathing was slow and controlled as he
pushed his body to its limits.

It was five
in the morning, another
hour and a half
until
sunrise.
The air
was cold, but he didn’t feel it.
He had started running almost two hours ago.
Bill had long given up trying to follow him across the
pastures and with a sigh
had collapsed into a heap on the ground. Forty minutes later as Miles made another lap
by the house
he saw that Bill had managed to make it onto the patio furniture an
d was fast asleep on the chair.

Thro
ugh the still early morning air
,
the sounds of sirens drew
his
attention from his running. He slowed down and turned toward the sound behind him. In the distance an orange glow
cut through the darkness. It only took a split second for Miles to leap into action. He pushed his legs faster, har
der, as he pounded over the frost
-
tipped
grass. He kept his breathing slow and steady as his mind raced.
He had to get home and to his cell phone immediately.
Marshall would already know. B
ut he needed
to call
his parents, Pierce
,
and Cade immediately or they could lose everything as the orange glow overtook the night
sky
.

As he sprinted to the
porch, Bill lifted his gray face off his paws. Instantly the dog was on his feet, his nose in the air. Miles grabbed his phone from the small
patio table and called Pierce.

"Dude, this better be good. I had two more hours of sleep before I needed to get up." Pierce mumbled into the phone.

"The
Li
kens
’
s
property i
s on fire! The wind is blowing s
outh and we have cows in that pasture," Miles told his brother as he ran for the bar
n with Bill right on his heels.

"
Crap
!"
The phone call ended abruptly as he imagined Pierce leaping from bed.

Pierce would know what to do from here.
Animals got spooked by fire and smoke
, and when a herd of cattle got spooked it was impossible to get them to move in the right direction. If they didn't hurry, those cattle would be too frenzied to move to the far pasture where they'd be safe. They could stampede and then be too out of their minds to watch where they were going.
They could get hurt and damage the property.

Miles shoved open the barn door and raced for Mach, his most seasoned horse. He pushed three on his speed dial and soon heard Cade's voice. "I know Miles. Annie just got the call. Justin and I will meet you there." Miles didn't bother saying a thing. He didn't nee
d to. Cade had already hung up.

Bill barked madly from where he had climbed up onto some hay bales. Miles
fastened
the western saddle on Mach and looked down at what he was wearing
—b
lack
athletic pants and a tight
black
Under Armor shirt
. He hadn't bothered with a
jacket
when he had gone running, but now he didn't want to take the time to go inside a
nd get one. Instead he grabbed the
black bandana he used when he was mucking stalls and
tied it quickly around his face
to help with smoke inhalation.

Bill barked again and stood up on his back legs
as he danced
in circles. "You think you can handle this?" Bill barked again as Miles swung his leg over the saddle. Miles leaned over in the saddle and Bill leapt into his arms. "You need to
be still, okay?" Bill
sat on the saddle in front of Miles as if he wa
s a Dalmatian on a fire truck while
Miles urged Mach into a gallop.

Miles gave Mach his head as the black horse thundered down the lane heading straight for the fire. Bill whined as they approached the pasture. The fire was right across the street. The one fire truck from Keeneston was already in place, trying to prevent the spread of the fire.
He was sure Lexington had already been contacted for backup.
The Likens
family stood watching as
the fire ravaged their apple orchard
.
Miles would talk to them later, but now it was only a
matter of time before t
he cattle broke down the fence.

Through the smoke he saw a dog dart toward him, his long black and white hair flowing behind him.
The
hot pink bow on his head helped
Miles see the bearded collie
as the smoke filled the area. If Justin was here, Cade was somewhere in the smoke. Bill barked madly as he waited for Cade t
o clear the smoke and find him.

An old pickup slid to a stop and he saw his mother climb out.
She
was still in her pajamas
with a big coat thrown on in haste
,
h
er blonde hair pulled back into a messy
ponytail
. She ran toward him in her cowboy boots.

"I have water and bandanas to help you boys breathe. I also have first aid and a couple gallons of water for Justin. I see Bill wants to help." Marcy Davies lifted Bill down from the saddle and placed him on the ground. "There's Cade now. Pierce and your father are right behind me. Here's your whistle
—r
emember all the codes?"

Miles nodded his head as he grabbed the orange whistle and put it around his neck. One blow meant move forward two meant to stop. They also had codes for right, left, straggler, and anything else you could think of.

Cade took his whistle and put i
t over his cowboy hat
. Miles turned when he saw his mother look away
and saw
Pierce and his father, Jake, galloping toward them
.
His mother handed out the whistles and bananas as she stood in the center of the group giving orders. "Take them to the back pasture on Marshall's property. It's the
farthest
away. I'll follow along in the truck if you need anything. It'll also deter the h
erd from running into the fences
. Form a U along the fence closest to the fire. Jake will take point in the center. Miles
,
you and Bill take the right flank. Cade, you and Justin take the left. Pierce, you work next to your father and once we get them moving, he'll take the lead and you make sure none are left behind. Now go!"

Miles
pulle
d the reins on Mach
and hurried toward the pasture. Bill
stayed
with him as his
short legs
ran double time to keep up.
His mother opened the gate and let them throu
gh. The pasture was
eighty
-
five
acres
and there were close to one hundred
cattle scattered everywhere. Their eyes
were
large with fear as the smoke hid the fence line and the other cows from each other.

Miles felt the heat from the fire instantly as
he
raced along the far fence line to get to the right side of the pasture. When he made it
to his position
he looked down
, surprised to see the dog had kept up with him
.
Bill’s
long t
ail was arched over his body, his
tongue hanging out of his mouth
,
and a light was in his eyes that Miles had never seen before. Miles blew his whistle to signal he was in place. He was the last one to get there.

His father gave one short blow to signal the start of the round up. Miles leaned over to Bill, "Okay, let's see what you can do. Go!" Bill shot off, his long tail low to the ground now as he sped off like a bullet. Miles grabbed the rope looped over the horn of his saddle. He carried it in one hand and used the other to steer Mach.

Bill ran fearlessly up to the huge cows and when they didn't listen he would nip them on their hocks. Miles watched in amazement as a
thirty-five
pound dog forced cows that weighed almost a thousand pounds to do his bidding. Miles and Bill worked in tandem
for hours
as the
y
cleared the area of cows and push
ed
them together in the center of the pasture.

Sweat ran down his chest as he yelled at a cow to get moving.
His voice was low and scratchy from
so much
yelling
and the smoke he’d inhaled
. His eyes stung with smoke as
he coughed into the bandana. He heard one of his group
signal
that they had a stray. Deep barking rang out over the calls of the cows and Miles knew it was Cade. Justin had gone to bring the stray back into the group.