My smile drops, throat tightening. “Actually, I adopted her.”
There’s a beat of silence, then Nash shakes my hand again, clapping my shoulder. “Well, fuck. Congrats, man.”
“Yeah,” Dallas says, tipping his chin. “Hell of a thing, Kade. Good for you.”
I nod, grateful for the simplicity of it. No questions. No pity. Just respect.
Dallas glances over his shoulder at the smoking ruin behind us. “Once it cools, we can do a full inspection for you. But first impressions?”
I step forward. “You three are the professionals. I’ll take your thoughts.”
Memphis gestures for me to follow, and I do, the four of us trudging across scorched earth, the mud sucking at our boots. The smoke stings my eyes, and steam rises in gentle plumes off what used to be the most valuable building on the back half of our land.
This is fucked and so bad.
Dallas crouches low near the barn’s side, running a gloved hand along the frame. “See this?”
I follow his finger. There’s a patch along the metal siding that looks…off. Warped in a way that doesn’t match the rest of the structure. Almost like it melted from the inside out.
“Burned hot, real fast,” Dallas says, frowning. “Too hot, too fast for a standard equipment fire. Especially one that started after midnight, when no one was working.”
He nods toward another spot where the earth’s scorched in a weird semicircle.
“That’s accelerant.”
Nausea hits me in the gut. “The fuck?”
“Sorry it’s not better news, man,” he says, standing and brushing ash off his pants with a pained look. Dallas has a small farm of his own. Knows the hit we’re about to take.
“We’ll get you something solid in a few days,” Memphis adds. “But first take? This wasn’t an accident.”
My blood runs ice-cold.
It’s one thing to lose a barn. One thing to face an act of God, or bad luck, or faulty wiring. But arson?
That’s someone declaring war.
“Hey, guys!” a voice calls.
We turn as Vander jogs up the hill, winded but grinning. Anger pulses through me at the sight of his smug, likely-drunk, ass.
“Your mom sent me to grab everyone for breakfast at the big house. Said she’s not takin’ no for an answer.”
My fists clench at my sides.
The fire’s still warm, ash still floating in the damn air, and this little shit has the audacity to show up with a smile like it’s just another day on the job. Like he’s not at fault for this gettin’ so bad, so damn fast.
“You good, Kade?” Dallas asks under his breath, clearly picking up on the shift in my posture.
“I’m fine,” I grit out, eyes locked on Van’s smug face.
The fact that Hazel put Vander and his brother in charge while Ridge was gone—and they spent the night drinking at theSaddleinstead of checking on the animals or walking the fields—makes me want to put my fist through a wall. Or his teeth.
The fact that he doesn’t even seem to realize he screwed up?
Infuriating.
I jerk a nod and shove past him, calling over my shoulder, “Round up your crews, Calloways. My mom’ll lose her shit if you don’t stop by.”
