Benton’s thumb throbbed from where he had pinched it in a saddle buckle because he hadn’t been paying attention. Chief Zazney’s proposal was pushing the ability to do even the simplest tasks out of his head.
When the chief had asked to meet with him after the training drill, Benton assumed he’d messed up somewhere. He’d run the exercise over and over in his head, but he couldn’t spot his mistake. He’d met with the chief at Ruth’s Place and justified all his decisions. The chief hadn’t disputed them.
Then Zaz had asked to see him at the fire station the next evening, which worried Benton even more. “What’s up, Chief?”
“Andrew Bailey called me a while back to tell me he’s retiring from the department.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing. He says he’s pushing sixty and he’s ready to hang up his fire boots. He doesn’t have the same physical capabilities that he did twenty-five years ago when he first joined, and he doesn’t want to get injured and mess up his retirement or, worse, mess up a situation when we’re counting on him because he can’t do the task.”
Benton could understand that. A lot of emergency response jobs had a best-before date, where the spirit was willing, but the body was unable to keep up. Unfortunately for Andrew, there wasn’t a desk job waiting at the end of his service; the Hopewell Volunteer Fire Department wasn’t big enough for that. Benton knew without a doubt Andrew would lead the charge when it came to community fundraising for them, but if a firefighter announced that they were done, only a fool would argue. The chief was no fool.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“I’ll need an assistant chief to replace him, and I want it to be you,” Zaz said.
Of all the ways Benton had thought this conversation would go, that hadn’t been one of them. “Me?” He wasn’t the most senior person on the squad, nor did he have the same experience as some of the others.
“You already have the training we need to start, but you’ll need additional certification. More importantly, you already have the right mindset. You keep your head when things go sideways, and you’re able to adapt on the fly and make sure your team moves with you. That’s a lot harder to teach. What do you say?”
Him, Benton Lawson, assistant fire chief. Like his rodeo riding, the fire department was something that was all his. This was beyond his extended family asking for one of his brothers and having to settle for him. He was the first choice for a job he’d love to have. “I’m in.”
“You know it’s not paid,” Zaz said. “It’s going to be a lot of extra hours. I know you have commitments to your family’s ranch.”
“I do, but I’m not the only one working there. We’ll be able to handle it.” With the new equipment the Royal Oak Ranch had purchased over the last few years, they were able to do a lot more with less people, since they weren’t losing dozens of manhours every week fixing broken-down machines and other problems. Clay, Paul, and Shannon could handle things on the rare occasion he was called out.
Zaz stuck out his hand. “We’ll do the official paperwork later. It’ll be a pleasure to have you as my assistant, Benton.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Chief.”
Benton was still riding high. The first thing he’d done was text Claire. She would have been proud of him as a pretend girlfriend, but her obvious pride and excitement over his news was humbling as a real one. Even more, she understood the importance of what happened. She insisted on celebrating his volunteer promotion the next day.
Now he was waiting for her to arrive with a cake from Flour Power to go with his announcement to his family.
Her dusty pickup bounced gently when she hit a pothole in the driveway, but when she pulled to a stop by the barn, she flashed him a thumbs-up before grabbing a white box from the seat beside her. “Amazing news! Have you told your folks yet?”
“I was waiting for you,” he replied. Her reaction was everything he hoped his family’s would be. As Claire had said, it was a big deal, and he deserved the recognition. It felt even more important since it was something he’d done on his own. Tyler had his music, Paul had his cooking, and Clay and Shannon each had their own things on the ranch. This was his.
“I’m here now, and I’m hungry for cake. Should we go inside?”
“Clay’s not home yet, but we can save him a piece.” His concern for his brother was premature. He barely finished speaking when Clay’s truck sped down the driveway and skidded to a stop.
Then his brother slammed the door shut and stomped toward the house. “I didn’t expect to find you here, Miss Kincaid, but I’m glad to see you. Will you be here for a while?”
Clay looked absolutely predatory as he stared at Claire. Benton didn’t like it at all. He wrapped his arm around Claire’s waist. “Yes. I have something to tell the family. Why?”
“I’m glad to hear that. It’ll give us a chance to get to know each other a little better,” Clay said. “And it would be more convenient for Corporal Random. He wants to speak to you.”
“Me? Why?” Claire squeaked.
“Yeah, why?” Benton echoed. If Clay had gone to Owen because some stupid rumour had appeared on some gossip website…
“Pierre Beauchamp up on six got robbed the other night. Among the missing items were a recently restored classic Mercury, a rototiller, and a bunch of other yard equipment,” Clay reported.
“What are you saying?”
“Pierre Beauchamp gave Owen a full description of Claire and her truck.”
Benton didn’t try to hide the explosion. “That’s ridiculous. I was with her. She was lost.”
“Great, now she’s dragging you into this mess,” Clay yelled in accusation.
“You can’t deny that she showed up in town right about when the robberies started,” Paul added, joining them from inside the house. “Do you know if she visited the Neufelds?”
Benton warred with himself. If he told his brothers who Claire really was and why she’d ended up on the Beauchamp farm, they’d drop the conversation and throw their support behind her. But the more people who knew Claire’s real identity, the more chances there would be for people to slip up and put her at risk. Benton knew the minute he said a word, the news would spread from his brothers to the rest of his family and to their significant others. Nobody would betray the confidence on purpose, but the risk to Claire was too great. Besides, he wasn’t sure they’d believe him without proof beyond his word. “Claire is not involved with the thefts. I know it. I know her. You don’t.” It was the only thing Benton could say in her defence.
“It’s not looking good for her,” Clay said. “Why was she out there if she’s not guilty? It’s not like anybody can end up there accidentally unless they’re specifically looking for trouble, or in this case, something to steal. It’s in the middle of nowhere. She’s trouble, Benton. You should have listened to us.”
Benton’s last bit of patience went up in a puff of smoke at his oldest brother’s double insult. He was literally holding Claire in his arms while she’d brought a cake to share with his family. “I told you, she got lost. She was practicing driving around the area and didn’t want me to help with directions. It was an honest mistake. We didn’t even get out of the truck. She certainly didn’t rob anybody.”
“I’m right here. I can answer for myself,” she protested.
“You don’t need to explain yourself to anyone, Claire.”
“But I want to tell Clay exactly how wrong he is. A person can end up anywhere accidentally. That’s what I did. I got lost. I do it a lot. I’m not from around here, Clay. I don’t know all the rural back roads in Manitoba like the back of my hand. Ask Laurie. Or Luba Melnyk.”
“Where were you trying to go then?” his brother demanded.
“That’s none of your business,” Benton interrupted. He was not about to let Claire be questioned like she was some kind of criminal. He knew she was smart enough not to get caught in a lie, which left him with only one option he could think of. If being his girlfriend wasn’t enough protection, he’d have to draw a line in the sand that even Clay and his brothers would hesitate to cross.
He pulled Claire closer. He had one chance to sell this. His brothers needed another target to concentrate on, and this wouldn’t put him at risk or compromise Claire’s investigation in any way. “I’m telling you to lay off Claire.”
“Why? Because you’re dating?”
“Will you let me finish? Clay, you’re building your own house. Tyler bought one in town. Paul, you and Joni are probably going to move in here once Mom and Dad fully retire because they’re going to want to be in town too, closer to friends and facilities. I can’t live at home forever. Since I’m still going to be working here, I’ll need some place that’s within daily commuting distance. I gave Claire some addresses to check out, to see if any of the houses on them were habitable now, or make note of how much work they needed before somebody could move in.”
“Why would you ask Claire to look at them? It’s not like she’s going to be around to hire to fix them up if she’s going back to school like she said,” Clay said.
Benton fixed a disappointed look on his brother.
Paul went for the more direct route and punched his eldest brother in the arm. “He’s talking about moving in with her, doofus.” He turned to Benton. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Clay falls in love with a movie star in two weeks, and we all say congratulations. I look at properties with a woman I’ve known for years, and I’m the crazy one?”
“I’m going to marry mine,” Clay protested.
“And I’m not?”
That shut everybody up. Benton held the silence. He squeezed Claire’s shoulder, hoping she understood his unspoken message. Once his brothers’ faces moved from shock into horror, he continued. “I haven’t officially proposed yet. I’m saying that it could happen soon. We’re being responsible and taking things slowly and making plans. I didn’t intend to say anything, so I’m asking you, man to man, not to say anything either. The last thing we need is for you to go running off spreading rumours. Any kind of rumours,” he repeated heavily.
Clay let out a deep sigh. “Listen, kid—”
Benton was done with making excuses and apologizing to keep the peace when he’d done nothing wrong. He stood taller when the full realization hit him: he didn’t have to explain himself at all. “I am twenty-six years old. I’ve won numerous awards for rodeo riding. I’ve been working full-time for almost a decade doing the same jobs you have for most of that time. Tonight, Claire came out specifically to celebrate the fact that Chief Zazney has asked me to be the assistant fire chief for the department after five years of volunteer service. I’m not a kid. I’m not arguing about this, and I’m not yelling. Accept it or don’t, but we’re done here.”
Claire was shaking under his arm. Her lips were pressed together so tightly they were white, but she hadn’t contradicted him.
“Call Owen. Tell him that we’re heading into town to save him the trip. I’ll be back later.” Benton walked Claire to her truck and helped her inside. He followed her down the driveway. He wasn’t surprised when she pulled to the shoulder once they were out of sight of the ranch. He stopped behind her, exited his truck, and climbed into the passenger seat.
Benton winced when he saw the tightness in her jaw. “What was that?” she asked.