Hellfire, Texas (Hellfire #1) Read Free Page B

back porch. He wasn’t sure who would be at the ranch house.
    “I really think this is a bad idea,” Kinsey said. “You have a big family. The more people who know where I am, the more likely the information will get leaked.”
    “You can trust my family. If I tell them to keep mum about you being here, I guarantee they will.”
    “What are Rider, Chance, and Nash doing these days?”
    Becket dropped down from his pickup and rounded to her side, opening the door before answering. “As I mentioned, Rider’s into cars. He bought an auto repair shop in Hellfire. He works long hours, so he rarely comes out to the ranch, preferring to stay at his apartment over the shop. When he doesn’t have his head under a hood, he’s pretty handy at day trading. But if you ask him, he’ll tell you he prefers working with his hands, restoring vintage cars and motorcycles.”
    “He always did like tinkering with the equipment.” Kinsey grinned. “Your father would get so mad when he’d come looking for his chainsaw, tractor, or riding lawn mower. Rider usually had them torn into pieces. He always managed to put them back together, though.”
    “And they ran better.” Becket grabbed her around the waist and swung her to the ground.
    Kinsey’s face blanched and she swayed, bracing a hand on his chest.
    Becket slipped an arm around her and held Kinsey against him. “Are you all right?”
    “Yeah.” She gave him a wan smile. “Just a little dizzy. What is Chance up to?”
    “He’s one of the few full-time firefighters and EMTs at the Hellfire Fire Department.”
    She glanced up at him. “They have a full-time staff now? Wasn’t it all volunteer?”
    “The town’s population has grown. People are moving out of the cities, wanting a simpler life away from the rat race.”
    “Yeah, but that much?”
    “You’d be surprised. In the last year, we’ve added a new grocery store, a small shopping center, a florist, and two new restaurants.” He chuckled and raised an eyebrow. “We even have a massage parlor.”
    “Hellfire’s really moving up in the world to afford a full-time fire department.”
    “We couldn’t afford a huge full-time staff, so we make do with volunteers, especially when fighting grass fires and structural fires in out of the way places.”
    “Like the Coyote Creek Ranch.”
    “Exactly.”
    “And you’re a volunteer? Or are you full-time, along with full-time ranching and part-time architecture?”
    He shook his head. “A volunteer. I have my hands full enough with the ranch and my firm.”
    “Then why volunteer?”
    “Partly for the training, but mostly to help others. If a fire spreads out of control, the destruction could make it to the ranch. Rather help nip the blaze in the bud before it gets too big to contain.”
    Her gaze swept over him, lingering on his chest. “I take it you were training today.”
    “What was your first clue?”
    “Hmmm.” She held up her hands, smudged black from touching him. “I’d say the fine layer of soot was a dead giveaway.”
    “You got it right.” He took her hand and led her toward the house. “We were practicing barn fires.”
    Her hand squeezed his. “Sounds hot. And dangerous.”
    “It was.”
    “What about your sister, Lily? Does she still live at home?”
    “She does. She’s a kindergarten teacher in Hellfire. During the summer, she hires out as an au pair and travels around the world with rich families, watching their kids.”
    “Where’d she go this summer?”
    “She hasn’t gone yet. Lily is in Dallas today, purchasing clothes and supplies for her trip to Guatemala to babysit for a rich Spanish banana farmer, who wants her to teach his children English while he and his wife visit relatives in Madrid.”
    “Which leaves Senor Sanchez and his wife, Margarita.” Kinsey climbed the steps to the porch. “Margarita made the best tamales .”
    “She’s still here, and she still makes great tamales .” Becket opened the back door and