Through The Fire (Guardians, Inc. Book 2) Read online

  Sierra had no idea where she was going or when she might be back. But she couldn’t disclose that fact to her mother without causing her to raise her eyebrows in mild disapproval. Her mother certainly wouldn’t approve of her chasing after Jock Matthews, regardless of the reasons she was intent on tracking him down.

  Although Sierra didn’t know exactly where she was headed, she knew one thing for certain—she would come face to face with Jock tonight. And she would force him to tell her the truth about what had happened all those years ago.

  ***

  “Hey, Mama. I brought the corn and the apples you wanted from the farmers’ market. I got the pick of the crop,” Caleb said cheerfully as he entered his mother’s house with his arms loaded down with groceries.

  As always his mother’s kitchen smelled like apple pie and sourdough biscuits, both piping hot from Lola’s oven. Caleb sniffed the air appreciatively, his stomach rumbling at the thought of the freshly baked biscuits that were his mother’s specialty. She was an amazing cook and Caleb seized every opportunity to fill his belly with her down-home cooking.

  Lola waved her hand wildly in the air and placed her index finger against her lips in an attempt to quiet her son’s rowdy entrance. “Shh. Your daddy's asleep. I don’t want him awoken after the day he’s had at the hospital.”

  Immediately Caleb became concerned by the fretful look on his mother’s face and her mention of the hospital. With his heart in his mouth, Caleb asked, “Did something happen today that I should know about, Momma?”

  “No,” said Lola in a reassuring voice, “your father’s physical therapy session was extremely grueling today. I think he’s becoming frustrated with his lack of progress. It’s very difficult for him to be confined to that wheelchair and unable to live life the way he used to.”

  “I was hoping that he’d get some positive news today. Two years later and he’s still fighting his way back from that accident. Not that the people responsible for putting him in that wheelchair care one bit about him,” he said bitterly.

  “You can’t blame the Jacksons for the-,” Lola began.

  “Yes,” he interrupted sharply, “I can blame them, and I do.”

  “That’s not fair. No one was responsible for your father’s accident. It was a combination of bad timing and bad luck.”

  Caleb laughed harshly, “Bad luck? Is that what you call it? More like negligence. That oil rig should never have been up and running that day. Everyone on the crew knew it - except Lilliana Rose. She didn’t want to hear about safety concerns, not when her precious oil was at stake.”

  “Hush, Caleb. I don’t want your daddy to hear you badmouthing the Jacksons. He’s never blamed that family for the accident, so don’t you go harboring grudges,” his mother admonished in a sharp tone.

  “God forbid we badmouth the high and mighty Jacksons. Why lightning might just strike us down,” he said angrily.

  He should just quit while he was ahead, he thought bitterly. There was no way his mother could understand the full extent of his rage against Sierra’s family. She didn’t know the extent of Sierra’s betrayal or about Lilliana Rose’s cruel treatment of him. She had no idea how it had felt to be labeled as trash. No matter how he tried, Caleb couldn't let it go. He had asked God for help in moving toward forgiveness, but after all this time, he still hadn’t achieved it.

  Oh yes, Mama, he thought, I’m harboring grudges. I’ve harbored them for so long that they feel like a part of me. And after all these years I’ve found a way to force them to their knees. It’s only too bad that Queen Lilliana won’t be around for the fireworks.

  “Zippidy doo dah, zippidy ay. My oh my what a wonderful day.” Drew stomped into the kitchen, guitar in hand, lovingly strumming the instrument while rocking on his heels to the rhythm. Drew’s handsome face was lit up with a huge smile, one that made his eyes crinkle with mirth and two huge dimples appear at the sides of his mouth.

  “Yeah, I’ll bet its been a real zippidy doo dah day, Drew,” Caleb drawled as he fixed his steely gaze on his younger brother. His chiseled features were hard and implacable as he stared down his younger brother. “You were supposed to be working double shifts today to make up for missing two days of work last week. What happened to you?”

  Drew threw back his head and let out a wild chuckle of delight. “Chill out with the major attitude. Who can think about mundane things such as work? I fell in love today with the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I’m on cloud nine.”

  Lola Matthews rolled her eyes heavenward and clucked like a mother hen as she listened to the familiar words roll off her son’s tongue. It was common knowledge to everyone in Briarwood that Drew Matthews fell in love every day of the week and that he only worked at his older brother’s cattle ranch when the feeling hit him. His announcement that he had fallen in love took neither Caleb or Lola by surprise.

  “When you finally fall in love for real, my son, no one is going to believe you,” Lola said with a shake of her head. “You’re like the boy who cried wolf.”

  Caleb gritted his teeth and slowly counted to ten, all the while resisting the urge to fire his brother on the spot. He reminded himself that he’d been young and irresponsible once too. Thankfully his family and friends hadn’t given up on him. They’d nursed him through his hangovers and brushes with the law, finally staging an intervention whereby all the members of his family, along with a few close friends, had ganged up on him and told him that his life was headed down the toilet. That one moment had changed his life forever. Immediately he had straightened out his life, forsaking the drinking and carousing. He had been given grace by the people who loved him. And by God.

  No, he couldn’t turn his back on Drew, he reckoned, but he sure could ride him hard until he became more responsible. “If you know what’s good for you, Drew, you’ll report to work tomorrow morning at seven, or you’ll find yourself on the unemployment line. I’ve bent over backwards for you so many times already it’s not even funny,” Caleb said, his voice sounding like a growl. “I don’t want people saying that I’m guilty of favoring my little brother.”

  Drew studiously ignored his older brother and began singing in a off-key voice. “Starlight, Starbright. I’ve never seen a woman as lovely as the one I saw tonight. Hair of copper, eyes so bright. Makes a man want to fall to his knees.”

  Caleb snapped his head around, suspicion clouding his brilliant eyes. There was only one woman he knew of whose hair could be described as the color of copper. And her eyes. He knew from personal experience that a man could get lost in Sierra’s eyes. “Copper colored hair?” Caleb mumbled the question out loud. He then jumped up from his chair and turned to face his brother, unable to resist the impulse to get an answer to the burning question on his mind. “Who is this woman that you’re singing about? And where did you see her?”

  “Her name is Sierra,” Drew breathed, his eyes dreamy.

  “Where did you see her?” Caleb repeated with a frown, his anger escalating by the moment. Although his gut instinct was warning him that he wasn’t going to like his little brother’s answer, he knew that he had to get to the truth. Fast.

  A look of confusion appeared on Drew’s face at his brother’s territorial attitude towards the woman of his dreams. “Relax! She was here at the house earlier. I was taking a nap and I heard someone banging on the front door, so I got up and opened it. And wham! Standing right in front of me was the woman of my dreams. Bam! Five feet six, copper highlights in her hair, cafe au lait complexion, eyes the color of a Hershey bar, heart-shaped lips and a body that was curvy in all the right places.”

  “What did she want?” Caleb gritted the words through his teeth, resisting the urge to throttle his simple-minded brother. The way he’d just described Sierra was overly detailed. His little brother was drooling over his woman!

  His woman? Lord, he must be going insane. Sierra wasn’t his woman. Perhaps she had never been! Then why did he feel as if he could strangle any man who made
a claim on her, including his own brother?

  Drew shrugged and said, “She wanted to know where Poppy lived. She said it was a matter of vital importance. She must work for the IRS or something.”

  Without warning Caleb lunged for his brother. “Did you tell her?” Caleb shouted as he grasped the lapels of his brother’s shirt and shook him. He knew he was out of control, but he was acting on pure fear at the moment. Fear for Sierra’s safety. He needed answers. Quickly.

  “Caleb! No!” his mother cried out. “Let him go.”

  Drew shrugged off his brother’s stronghold, a look of irritation crossing his face as he answered his question. “Yes, I told her. What’s up? Big deal!”

  Caleb exploded. “Of all the stupid fool things to do. Didn’t you realize how dangerous that could be? Didn’t you realize how you could be putting her life in danger if she startles Poppy and he’s in a paranoid state?”

  His mother made a tutting sound. Her brows were furrowed. She folded her arms around her middle. “You know how unpredictable he can be. He might frighten her.”

  “He’s fine when he takes his medicine, Caleb,” Drew said sheepishly.

  “And when he doesn’t? We all know what happens,” Caleb shouted, rage overflowing as he addressed his younger brother.

  Fear was building inside of him at the thought of Sierra tracking down his grandfather to his isolated mountain cabin. Jock was unpredictable and cagey. And worst of all, his grandfather carried a rifle with him at all times when he was at his cabin, almost as if he was waiting for an intruder to interrupt his solitude and privacy on Pete’s Mountain. He’d been know to say that if a stranger were to put a single toe on his property, he’d blow it off quicker than a blink of the eye.

  “What is all this ruckus out here?”

  Caleb, Drew and Lola all spun around at the sound of Buster Matthews’ booming voice. Caleb’s father wheeled himself into the kitchen, his large, craggy face showing his irritation and confusion over the loud sounds emanating from this area of the house. There was a strong resemblance between the father and his sons. Like his sons, Buster had brown eyes with amber flecks, ruggedly handsome features and a sturdy physique. Despite the fact that he was confined to a wheelchair, Buster Matthews hadn’t let his body go soft, and he continued to work out vigorously via his physical therapy sessions at the hospital.

  At the moment he was fit to be tied.

  “Would someone mind explaining to me what is going on? The neighbors can probably hear your shouting match word for word,” he barked.

  Lola walked toward her husband and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, her fingers lightly caressing the muscles. “I’m sorry we woke you, honey. There’s a bit of a crisis. It seems that Sierra Jackson came by the house earlier looking for Poppy and Drew sent her to find him at Pete’s Mountain. We’re a little concerned at the moment about her... safety.”

  Buster exploded. “Drew, what got into you? Jock’ll go nuts if a stranger steps onto his property. Boy, you better get in your car and go after that lady before the trouble starts. Go on and git, Drew!”

  “No, Dad, I’ll go.” Caleb grabbed his car keys from the counter and raced to the back door, not wasting a second on goodbyes. He felt grim and purposeful as he exited the house, as if he was prepared for trouble and was ready to tackle it head-on. The screen door slammed and he was gone.

  Buster expertly wheeled himself to the spot where his wife stood by the back door, her eyes filled with unshed tears as she watched her son run to his car. He reached out and clasped Lola’s hand in a firm grip, then pressed his lips to her knuckles, murmuring soft words of reassurance and love. “Don’t look so sad, Lola. He’s a big boy. He knows how to take care of himself. Out of all our children, Caleb is the most self-sufficient. He takes care of people. That’s why he and his friends set up Guardians, Inc. To protect people.”

  Lola looked down at her husband and gave him a tender smile. “It’s his heart that I’m worried about, Buster. His body is young and strong, but his heart...it’s not as solid as the rest of him. And if he’s not careful, I think he’s going to get his heart broken all over again.”

  ***

  Caleb raced down the rural road, his tires slamming against the dusty gravel, spewing rocks and sticks in their wake. He hit the accelerator until he reached eighty miles per hour, all the while praying he wasn’t too late. He could see the sun setting in the horizon. The pinkish-purple hues would swiftly change to pewter as the night crept into being. Before too long it would be nightfall, and his only guide would be the twinkling stars, the light of the moon and his small flashlight.

  Although Pete’s Mountain wasn’t vast, its terrain was rugged and at times treacherous. He'd been visiting his grandfather at Pete’s Mountain since he was a small child. Caleb knew the mountain almost as well as his grandfather, and with this information came first-hand knowledge of the dangers. Rattlers, wolves and wild coyotes all freely roamed the mountain ranges.

  His grandfather had set animal traps all over the mountain. He didn’t even want to think about Sierra coming across one of those traps. Although his family had repeatedly cautioned his grandfather against using the outdated traps, Jock continued to use them on his property because he was concerned about the wild coyotes in the area.

  It was almost impossible to find Poppy’s cabin if you didn’t know Pete’s Mountain. Maybe he was worrying for nothing. Maybe Sierra wouldn’t even make it up to the area where Poppy lived. But then again, he mused, there was also the possibility that she could get lost in the mountains. The mountain air turned cool after sunset, and all Caleb could picture was Sierra - lost, hungry, cold and scared out of her wits.

  Please God, he prayed. Let Sierra be all right. As he once again pressed his foot down on the gas, the thought struck him that the ride to Pete’s Mountain was going to be the longest ride of his life. The sky was darkening ominously and the temperature had taken a sudden dip, as if a storm was brewing on the horizon. Trouble was fast approaching.

  ***

  “Stop or I’ll shoot!” the voice threatened from behind the large clump of pines.

  Sierra stopped in her tracks, frightened by the booming voice shouting at her from behind the trees. Although she’d heard the voice call to her, she saw nothing else that let her know she was dealing with a human being. All she saw staring back at her was the eye of a rifle.

  “Please, don’t shoot. I’ve come as a friend, Mr. Matthews.” She held her hands up in a gesture of surrender. “You are Jock Matthews, aren’t you?”

  “Who are you?” the voice grunted. “And why shouldn’t I shoot you for stepping on my land?”

  “My name's Sierra,” she explained. “Sierra Jackson. I’m Lilliana Rose’s grandaughter. I’ve come to talk to you about my grandmother. She asked me to come talk to you, Jock.”

  “That’s a lie,” the voice wailed. “My Lilliana is gone...gone forever. It’s impossible that she sent you here to talk to me.” The hand that held the rifle wavered, and for an instant Sierra thought that Jock was preparing to take a shot at her.

  “Look at me, Mr. Matthews,” Sierra pleaded. “People always said that I’m the spitting image of my grandmother. Look at me and then decide if I’m telling the truth or not about being Lilliana’s kin.”

  She heard a rustling noise and then watched as Jock stepped out from behind the huge pine tree, the rifle held down at his side, his weathered face searching her own, perhaps for a resemblance to her grandmother. Sierra studied him for a moment, noting that he looked better than he had looked at the cemetery. He was dressed in a plaid wool shirt and overalls, along with a pair of scalloped cowboy boots and a wide-brimmed hat. If she hadn’t been warned otherwise by Marissa, she wasn’t sure if she would’ve viewed Jock Matthews as a strange man. Wary and cagey, perhaps, but not strange.

  “Lilliana,” he breathed, his eyes misting over as he gazed at her. “You look like my Lilliana. Her hair was the same color...never thought I’d see
another person in the whole world with the same color. And your eyes...doe eyes I used to call em.”

  Sierra stepped toward Jock, wanting to reach out to him in this tender moment and needing to reassure him that she meant him no harm by coming to visit him. If she could connect with him on a personal level, she thought, perhaps he’d talk to her about his past with Lilliana. And then perhaps she would learn the truth. Not just for Lilliana, but for herself as well.

  Without warning Jock raised his rifle and screamed, “Don’t move a muscle!” Sierra watched in horror as he gripped the Winchester with both hands and then pointed it at her, his finger poised on the trigger. His face looked determined and cold as he prepared to fire. As if in a dream she heard the rifle shot, the loud boom reverberating in the silence of the tranquil mountain.

  She then let out a scream to wake the dead.

  ***

  Caleb heard the shot ring out, followed by the scream - a high-pitched, agonizing scream that made him stop in his tracks. No! This couldn’t be happening! His grandfather was shooting at her.

  An eerie silence surrounded him. No screams. No gun shots. Nothing. “Sierra!” he screamed into the silence, an agonizing cry that echoed throughout the mountain. He let out a heart-rending cry, one of anguish and grief...of love found and then lost. But you haven’t lost her yet, a part of him cautioned. There’s still hope.

  He had to find her quickly. The gunshot had come from the trail leading up to his grandfather’s cabin. He could get there within minutes if he ran really fast.

  Caleb scrambled through the pine and the brush, not caring that tree limbs were slashing his face and arms. His attention was focused on one thing and one thing only. Finding Sierra. Saving her. Racing back down the mountain with Sierra cradled in his arms and heading toward the nearest hospital. If only it’s not too late!

  When he turned the corner where the trail began he stopped dead in his tracks. Sierra was standing in a clearing, safe and sound, despite the fact that her face bore a shell-shocked expression. She had wrapped her arms around her mid-section and she was shivering, either from fright or due to the cold night air.