he'd remember it forever. She was so down-to-earth he couldn't get over it. She was just what she claimed, a plain old girl from Texas, but she sure as hell didn't look it, and no one else in the world would have believed it for a minute. “You blow me away,” he said, standing behind her, as he put his arms around her waist, and leaned his chin on her shoulder. “Next week, I'm going to think I was hallucinating all this time.” It made her sad to think about a time when she wouldn't be there.
“Will you call me?”
“I'll try,” he said, and she put the dishes down and turned around and they were belly to belly.
“What do you mean, you'll ‘try’? Will you call me or won't you?” She looked worried.
“I'll call you. I just don't like phones all that much. But I'll call.” He didn't have a phone in his cabin, and he didn't want to use the ranch phone, and give them a record of it. Most of the time they just paid for their calls at the end of the month. He'd have to go to the 7-Eleven. And it worried her even more that she couldn't call him. It wasn't a great situation. “You'll just have to come back quick, that's all.”
“I promise. Three weeks, if I can. I've got to move some things around.” She had already called Jean, and asked her to do it, and now she had more reason to than ever. “And you better come to L.A. after the summer,” she warned in a sexy undertone, but he was grinding against her, and distracting her from what they were saying.
“I will, I swear. I'll tell Charlotte I need time off at the end of August.” She had already started to figure out gaps in her schedule when she could come to Wyoming. She could fly straight into Jackson Hole if she changed planes in Salt Lake City or Denver. It was certainly an interesting prospect, and she loved it.
They went to bed shortly after that, and were lying in each other's arms, having just made love again, when they heard a pounding on the door, and Tanya jumped about a foot. Gordon grabbed his jeans and ran to the door as he climbed into them. He pulled open the door as soon as he had them on and saw one of the ranch hands.
“The park service just called. We have to evacuate.”
“Now?” Gordon looked stunned, but when he looked up at the sky, he could see that over Shadow Mountain it was bright orange. “Why didn't they warn us?”
“They put us on standby around midnight, but Charlotte thought they'd have it in control by now. The wind just changed,” he explained. There was a brisk breeze, and he saw lights coming on in all the other houses. “Charlotte's rounding up the guests. We have to get the horses and run them down the valley.” There was another ranch nearby, and they'd done it before, but it was dangerous to move that many animals with so much speed. Either the people or the horses could get injured.
“I'll be out in five minutes,” he told the boy, and went back inside to talk to Tanya, He locked his door again, so no one could burst in, and he told her as quickly as he could what had happened. “They'll move you to another ranch,” he explained. “If you call your driver, he can come out and get you. I've got to get the horses. We've got two hundred head to get out as fast as we can,” he said, moving quickly, and then he stopped for an instant and kissed her. “I love you, Texas girl, don't worry about us, we're going to make this thing work, even if I have to go to Hollywood to do it.” He knew she was worried, and he was concerned too, but he was determined to do it. But now he had to turn his mind to other things. “Get dressed,” he told her before he left. “Just stay off the road, go alongside it in the tail grass and no one will see you. They're too busy to worry about you right now. Go back to your cabin. I'll see you later.”
“Can we do anything to help?” She felt stupid just getting on her bus and moving to another ranch, when there were people and animals in danger.
“That's my job,” he smiled, jamming his hat on his head, and grabbing an old denim jacket. “See ya,” he said, and was gone with a last look over his shoulder. She felt like the little woman as she stood there. And she quickly put on her clothes and did as he told her. And as he drove his truck down the road, he smiled when he saw a rustle in the tall grass moving toward the cabins. He knew exactly what it was, and he mentally put his arms around her and kissed her.
But as soon as he got to the corral, his work was cut out for him. They had to get all the horses out of their stalls, into the main corral, and they were going to herd them across the valley. The trick was seeing that none of them got hurt or lost, or stampeded. He rounded up ten good men and four women to do it. They needed all the help they could get, and they had already called ahead to the next ranch. They were emptying their pens and making room for them. And if the fire traveled that far, they would all be in terrible trouble. But for the moment, the winds had shifted in the opposite direction.
Gordon was shouting directions at all of them, and riding an old paint mare that he knew would be good for the job, just as Tanya walked into the cabin.
“My God, where were you?” Mary Stuart was looking unnerved, and Zoe was putting her clothes on. They had just been called, and they knew exactly where Tanya was, but they didn't know how to find her. “They called to say we have to evacuate, and I didn't want to tell them you were in the wranglers’ cabins,” Mary Stuart said, still looking nervous.
“Thanks for that,” Tanya smiled, and dialed Tom. She asked him to come to the ranch, and told him what had happened. She was going to offer the bus to transport as many people as they wanted. There were nearly a hundred guests at the ranch at the moment.
“Do you think the ranch will burn down?” Mary Stuart asked anxiously, just as Zoe walked into the room in a heavy sweater and jeans, carrying her doctor's bag. It was chilly, and there was a stiff wind out.
“No, I don't think the ranch will burn down. Gordon says this happens from time to time, and they always control it. What are you doing?” she asked, as she turned to Zoe.
“I'm going to offer them a hand. They've got firefighters going up there.”
“Are they asking for volunteers?” Tanya looked surprised. Gordon hadn't given her the impression that the guests would be helping, and at that exact moment Hartley arrived, and said they were wanted in the main building as fast as they could get there. Everyone looked slightly tousled and very concerned, in an assortment of rough clothes and peculiar outfits, as they hurried up the hill to the main hall. Mary Stuart chatted with Hartley, and seemed calmer when she got there. She was holding his hand, and he was carrying a briefcase, he'd been working on a manuscript off and on since he got there. The other guests were carrying an odd assortment of things they didn't want to lose, from briefcases, to fishing equipment, to handbags.
Charlotte Collins was waiting for all of them, and she explained calmly and succinctly that she was sure there was no real danger to the ranch, but it seemed wisest to move the guests to another location, should the winds change. They didn't want to be caught in a situation that presented any danger to anyone, or where they had to move too quickly. They were all being taken to a neighboring ranch, and they would be made as comfortable as possible in the spare rooms they had, and their living rooms would be made available for their exclusive use for the duration. There weren't enough rooms for everyone of course, but they were hoping that people would be good sports about it, and they were sure that they could come back in a matter of hours. Charlotte hoped that, in the spirit of the ranch, they would look upon it as an adventure. She was very bright and very cool, and very cheerful.
Sandwiches were being made, she said, and thermoses of coffee being prepared, and she indicated that transportation would not be a problem. She said their biggest concern was getting the horses out, and that was being handled at this very moment. Tanya thought of Gordon as she said it.
She said that everyone would be moved out in the next half hour, and they would, of course, keep them posted. And with that, the meeting ended, and there was a huge hubbub of voices as people milled around, discussing what was happening with each other and Charlotte. Tanya made her way to her and let her know that her bus would be available at any moment. And they were welcome to use it for transporting people to other locations.
Charlotte said she was very kind, and they'd be grateful to use it. She explained too that there were busloads of volunteers going up to fight the fire on Shadow Mountain, at which point Zoe stepped in, and asked if she could go up with them. She had a medical kit with her, and Charlotte knew she was a physician. She hesitated for an instant, knowing she wasn't well, and then agreed to let her do it. They always needed medical assistance, and she knew Zoe was well enough to provide it. Whatever her long-term medical problems were, and John Kroner had hinted to her that they were severe, she was certainly fine at this point.
“We'd appreciate that, Dr. Phillips,” she said as two other guests came forward, also carrying their bags. Zoe didn't know them, one was a gynecologist from the South, and the other was a heart surgeon from St. Louis, but they were certainly all capable of doing what was needed. “I've got a truck going up in a few minutes,” Charlotte told the three physicians, and the three of them conferred, and showed each other their supplies. None of them was well prepared for burns, but Charlotte said she had a kit just for that purpose, and someone brought it to them. It
