Asher grinned. “If you’re fishing for a compliment Frank, I’m not telling you you’re pretty.”
Frank laughed. “Fine, I’ll have to get my ego boost someplace else.” Turning serious again he said, “I just want to try and describe to you how I felt about her. When she agreed to go out with me I thought I was the luckiest guy ever, but when she kept going out with me and agreed to marry me, I thought I was lost in a dream. I loved that woman with every fiber of my being. But, my Norma was not perfect. She was raised with a great deal of money and privilege and her upbringing gave her the idea that your status was a huge part of who you were and whether or not people liked you. She felt like we were head and shoulders above most of the people in this county and if she felt she was ‘above’ someone, she could actually be really nice to them and really generous if they needed anything. The people she had trouble relating to believe it or not, were the ones that she felt threatened by. The only people who had more money than her parents when she was growing up were Lily’s parents. Norma and Lily grew up together; they were only a few years apart. I saw your mother go out of her way to speak to Norma and be kind and I saw Norma go out of her way to twist everything Lily said into some kind of an insult. At first I was still too much in awe of my young wife to correct her on it and as time went on I guess I just accepted that was how things were supposed to be between our families. Did your parents ever talk to you about this ridiculous ‘feud?’”
“All they ever told me was that they didn’t really know what started it but that you four had grown to dislike each other.”
“I’m sure they grew to dislike us because of our rude behaviour. When Norma found out that you and Travis were so close, she sat him down and told him that he couldn’t be friends with you. Travis was a smart kid though. He told her that she was the one who taught him to seek out people in his life who were kind and fun and had a capacity to love other people without judging, yet; she was judging you based solely on the merits of your last name. He told her if she could give him a legitimate reason not to be friends with you that he would consider it. Of course, she wasn’t able to do that and you and Travis remained friends. When your mother got sick, Travis told us. But for a long time we continued to see her in town and she just didn’t seem ‘that’ sick to us. I felt horrible for every time I thought about not going over to see if there was anything we could do to help. We were terrible neighbours by that point.”
“I’m sorry about Travis,” Asher said, quietly.
Frank smiled sadly at him and said, “So am I, son. There are no words to describe the horrors of being a parent who has to bury their son. But I want to tell you today and I should have told you then, what happened to Travis wasn’t your fault. He was a kid and sadly, kids sometimes take chances they shouldn’t take. Travis paid for his mistake with his life and that’s the most awful thing that has ever happened to our family, but it wasn’t your fault Asher. I never blamed you. I’m sorry that Norma did. She was losing her mind trying to deal with it and she needed a scapegoat. She was already angry with you for two stupid reasons. You were a Fury and her daughter, her only child left, was in love with you. I’m sorry she vented her anger onto you and I’m sorry that I wasn’t a big enough man to stand up and tell her to stop. None of that was your fault and I couldn’t be any prouder of Mia and her choices.”
“Thank you.”
“So ten years ago Norma has this aneurysm and she ends up in a coma. The doctors told me she was brain dead and I should take her off life support. I didn’t know how I was going to do that. I loved her too much to be the one to pull the plug. Mia told me she was suffering and we needed to let her go. Even then, it took me a lot longer to make the decision than it should have. I ran into your father and he told me how hard it had been to accept that your mother was dying and let her go. He told me she had begged him to end her life. I thought about Norma being comatose and unable to express to me how badly she was hurting. I couldn’t let her suffer any longer and I let her go. After she died I felt like I’d killed her and I was sick in my heart and in my head. Mia told me I should talk to Greg. I did give him credit for getting me through making that horrible decision, but I never thought we could actually be friends. Mia told me she thought we were a lot alike and would make great friends. I thought she was kidding. But, she wasn’t. She was persistent and she also kept throwing in the point that we had a grandson in common. That was something I should have been smart enough to think of on my own. The last thing Axel needed was to see his grandfather’s feuding like kids. So when I ran into Greg after Norma’s death, he offered his condolences to me. Norma had been nothing but terrible to him and his family for as long as I could remember, so I thought that was really big of him. We started talking a lot after that. He told me about turning to alcohol because he couldn’t live with the idea of losing Lily. He also told me about you, Asher. He talked about how much he missed you and how much he loved you. I grew close to your father and I knew he was sincere when he spoke of all the regrets he had where you were concerned. If he could have gone back and repeated that last year with you and your mother, he would have done it. He became my best friend and I loved him. He always told me the truth, son, and that was it.”
It was nice to hear about his dad telling other people he loved him. Missing him was hard in this town where everyone knew him sometimes because he wanted to be left alone with his grief. Other times, the people in the small town who missed Greg too, told him stories about his dad that made him smile. “Thank you, Frank.”
Asher put out his hand to the older man as he stood up. Frank stood up too and suddenly Asher was wrapped in a tight bear hug. Frank was at least six inches shorter than Asher so the top of his head only came to the bottom of Asher’s neck. The door opened behind them and Axel and Mia were framed in the doorway. They were both smiling as he stood there with Frank’s arms around him.
Asher was dreaming. Since he had been home and slept with Mia snuggled warm in his arms, he had actually been able to have a nice dream or two again instead of the horrifying nightmares that had plagued him so ruthlessly. He was dreaming about dancing with Mia at their wedding, when suddenly the dream was shattered by the sound of a siren. He opened his eyes and looked down at Mia’s beautiful, peaceful face. He gently slipped out from underneath the covers. He made his way over to the window and pulled the curtain back to see what was happening. The sound of the screaming siren got louder as the fire trucks came into view. The red lights on top of the truck blazed in time with the screeching echoes through the neighbourhood. A car was coming towards it and pulled to the right as the fire truck raced by. Asher shuddered. The mere presence of the vehicle signified the misfortune of someone. He said a silent prayer for whoever it was as he heard Mia stirring behind him. He turned to look at her as she lifted her sleepy head off the pillow, her long hair fanning out behind her.
“What’s going on?”
He smiled at her. He couldn’t help it. Even after last night’s shower and their round of love-making she was still the most gorgeous thing he had ever laid eyes on. “I don’t know. A lot of fire trucks.”
“Oh no. I hope no one is hurt.” Asher loved her heart. She genuinely never wanted to see anyone in pain. He never failed to look at her and remember how lucky he was to be here.
He went over and sat down next to her. Taking her into his arms he said, “Me too, baby.” The sound of his phone ringing startled them both. It wasn’t a good sign after seeing the fire trucks that someone would be calling him in the middle of the night. He reached for it and saw that it was Dean’s father. “Hello?”
“Asher, there’s a fire out at the Harper ranch.”
“Oh shit!” He looked at Mia and said, “It’s the Harper ranch.” Back into the phone he asked, “How bad?”
“I’m not sure exactly but I live about a mile away and I can see the flames from here.” Asher was already up and getting dressed. He thanked Mr. Kentworth for calling and hung up the phone. Mia climbed out of the bed and grabbed for her jeans.
“No baby, you stay here…”
She made a face at him and kept getting dressed. “I know Randy and Lucille. I want to see if there is anything I can do.”
He shook his head at her stubbornness, but he couldn’t argue with her. She had as much right to go as he did. Once they were dressed, they got into the Mustang and raced out towards the ranch. As they drove down the long, windy dirt road that led from the main road to the ranch they saw a plume of fire explode up into the blackness of the sky and a flame rolled outwards like smoke from a mushroom cloud. Asher could tell even from this distance that it was bad.
As they got closer they could see the chaos unfolding. One of the stables was engulfed completely and that was where the firefighters were concentrated. But there were two other stables and Asher saw Randy standing in front of one that had black smoke rising from the back of it. He parked the car, and he and Mia both got out.
“Are the horses still in there?” He yelled towards Randy. The sounds of the crackling flames and the water the firefighters were shooting were almost deafening. Gray ash was raining down on top of them and Randy looked like he was in shock as he stood there covered in it.
“Yes, I can’t get the door opened. Someone locked it and the lock is melting. I can’t get the key in.”
Asher looked around and saw that the barn next to them was catching sparks now. “Mia, see if you can safely get the animals out of the barn.” She nodded and ran towards the barn. Asher picked up a large rock and began slamming it into the lock that had melted into the iron bar across the front of the stable. It took him several hits but it finally came loose. His hands felt like they were on fire as he grabbed a hold of the hot door and pulled it open. The horses were frightened and making loud whinny noises as they kicked against their fiery prison. Asher and Randy ran in and started pulling the horses out one at a time. When Asher came out with the first one Mia ran up and said, “Lucille and I cleared out the barn. Here, give her to me and you can get another.” He handed the horse off to Mia and went back for another. He and Randy, the fire crews, Mia and Lucille worked tirelessly until all of the animals they could save were safe and the fire was out. When there was nothing left for them to do Asher and Mia, Randy and Lucille waited in the nearby field and watched as the fire fighters finished up their job. It was obvious the first stable was not going to be repairable. It was practically a pile of ash. Asher could tell by the way Lucille was sobbing and Randy was shaking that it was much worse than that.
Mia had tears running down her cheeks and she was the one to finally ask, “Lucille…how many?”
The other woman let out another big, gulping sob as she said, “Six! There were six horses in there. My babies! When Randy woke up and smelled the fire we ran right out but it was already engulfed. Whoever set the fire locked both stables, they wanted those poor horses to die!” Her voice was high-pitched and she fell against her husband in another torrent of tears. Randy still looked like he was in shock. Mia was crying silently. Asher was filled with a black rage. There was no question who would do something like this. His heart was aching for the Harper’s, and it ached when he thought about those poor horses. Someone was going to pay for this. Enough was fucking enough!
**
There was no more sleep that night. Asher showered and dressed and while Mia showered he sat sipping his coffee and staring off into space thinking about the confrontation he planned on having with Randall Proctor as soon as it was late enough for him to be at his office.
“Hey, are you okay?” He hadn’t even noticed Mia walk into the room. He held his arms out and she came into them and he pulled her down onto his lap. He just held her there for a long time and then he looked up at her face and said, “I’m okay. We’re all going to be okay. I’m going to see Proctor today.”
Mia looked instantly worried. “Asher, I know you’re capable of handling yourself, but please be careful. You need to be wary of him and his boys. They don’t fight fair.” Asher smiled gently at her. He was very capable of not fighting fair himself, but he didn’t want Mia worrying about that too.
“I’ll be careful baby, but this has to end.”
She nodded and pulled his head against her chest and held him there. They sat like that for a long time and when it was finally time for him to get up and go Mia said, “I’m going to start a fund for the Harper’s at the Bar and Grille. It’s time this community started standing up for each other.”
“You’re amazing,” he told her, as he ran his fingers down the side of her smooth face.
“I get my strength from you,” she said, with a smile. “Be safe. I love you.”
“I love you too baby. I’ll be fine.”
He kept imagining those poor horses as he drove into town and down the street that would take him to Proctor’s office. The kind of hate and greed it would take to do something like that to defenceless animals and people like the Harper’s who had worked their entire life for everything they had, was unimaginable to him. He parked in the front lot and walked into the outer office. Proctor’s secretary looked up at him and smiled. Asher ignored her and walked up to the door of his office.
“Sir, you can’t go in there…” Asher already had the door open and was stepping inside. He slammed it behind him, drowning her out. Proctor was on the phone. When he saw Asher, he got a smug smile on his face. Asher let him tell the person on the other end he would call them back and hung up the phone. He just stood there for a few seconds letting the smug bastard think he was here to beg them to let him sell.