When it became evident that Chance would pull through, Dixie turned away from the fire scene and started toward the car. She needed to get herself under control before she faced Mac, but he ran to catch up with her.
As soon as they were out of sight of the others, Mac grabbed Dixie’s arm and held her close, heedless of the grime of his clothing. Dixie heard his comforting heartbeat and tried to calm her own erratic pulse. He’s fine. He wasn’t hurt. Nothing happened to him. She repeated this mantra as she fought for control.
“You’re sure you’re not hurt? No bruises or burns or anything?” she asked. At the negative shake of his head, she began to tremble anew.
Mac stepped away from her, his arms outstretched as he turned in a slow circle. “Look at me, honey. I’m fine. A little dirty, but I’m not hurt.” He gathered her close again and wiped a smudge of dirt off her cheek. She was trembling in the aftermath.
“Are you positive you’re unharmed?”
“Positive.” Mac grinned.
“Good.” She stepped away. Drawing back her fist, she gave him a swift punch to the stomach.
“Oof.” Mac doubled over while she continued to punch him wherever she could reach.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again!” she screamed as she kicked him in the shins. He grunted and grabbed his leg. “Don’t you realize you could have been killed?” She tried to punch him in the eye.
Mac staggered back as she continued to rain punches down upon him. He frantically grabbed her hands and got enough leverage to wrap his arms and legs around her, effectively pinning her to his side. She struggled, jerking her head in the direction of the firefighters.
“Those people are professionals. They do this for a living. They are well trained and well-equipped, but you just had to find your brother yourself didn’t you?”
He put his hand to her mouth, “Let me explain.”
She bit him.
“Oww!” he yelled shaking the injured appendage.
She took the opportunity to struggle out of his grasp and rounded on him once again, her hands on her hips. “Did you give one thought to me? How would I have told your parents? They not only lost one child, but two? I love you, you stupid, brave man. My heart went up in flames when I realized you were in that blaze. You honestly expect me to kiss you and let it go at that? Not very likely, buster.”
She wagged her finger at him. “You’re going to be paying for this escapade for the rest your life. And another thing…” She continued, but suddenly the trees behind him began spinning. Mac’s face became a blur. “Oh God, I don’t feel so good.” And with a sway, Dixie fainted in his arms.
Mac stared dumbly at the prone figure splayed across his outstretched arms. His mind was still staggering from the scolding he had received. One minute she’s shouting at me and the next she’s fainted. Fainted?! With a call for help, he carried the unconscious woman back to the paramedics.
Quickly ascertaining that her vital signs were good, the paramedics opened a small pack of smelling salts and waived it under her nose. After a moment, Dixie began to stir. Supported by Mac’s arms, she slowly regained consciousness. She looked around at the concerned circle of faces. Sam was delivering stinging smacks to her hand in an effort to comfort her with little pats. Jamie was frowning at her as if she had fainted on purpose to prove to Mac how upset she was. Chance was staring at her as if she had grown two heads. “I’m sorry. Too much excitement, I guess.”
Shakily, she tried to regain her feet, but Mac pressed her back against his chest. “You are not going anywhere. You’re going to be checked out by a doctor at the hospital. You have any idea how terrified I was when you just pitched into my arms?”
“Somehow I think I know the feeling,” she said dryly. “It probably came close to the feeling I had when I knew you had disappeared in that barn.”
Mac felt a blush crawl up his face. Repentant, he kissed her. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I was so concerned for my brothers, I failed to realize the impact of my actions on you. We’ll talk later. But right now I want you to get checked out at the hospital.”
“I’m sure it was just nerves. We’ve been through so much lately,” she reassured Mac, but her expression proved she didn’t believe her own words.
Dixie, Jamie, Chance, Sam and Mac, at Dixie’s insistence, were taken to a nearby hospital for a more thorough evaluation. Ben notified Mac’s parents of the situation. Mac conferred with the doctor, and it was decided that Chance should stay overnight for observation, but Sam and Jamie were released after receiving a few stitches and their burns were cleaned and bandaged. Sam had suffered a concussion, but the doctor felt it was okay to release him after giving Mac strict instructions. Mac was all right with this, but he wanted Dixie to stay overnight. Only after the doctor assured him that Dixie was in excellent health, did he relent. They walked down the hall to check on Chance before heading home.
“What in blue blazes is going on around here?” Ginny Coalson demanded from the doorway of Chance’s hospital room. “Ben comes by the house and tells us that the construction company offices have burned down and that most of my children are at the hospital. Did no one think we would want to be informed of this disaster?”
“Well, uh, Mom,” Mac stammered, searching the room for reinforcements, but his other brothers were suddenly intensely interested in the art on the wall, the carpet on the floor, or the tiles on the ceiling. He was on his own.
With a sigh of disgust, he tried to allay her fears. He knew that was the true cause of her anger. She had always yelled at them severely whenever one of them had been injured. It was her way of releasing the tension and fear that she felt. Apparently, Dixie was a lot like his mother, Mac reflected as he massaged his still tender stomach.
Sam took pity on him. “I was sitting at his kitchen table drinking a beer and mulling over the evidence gathered at each of the vandalized houses. It wasn’t much. The vandalism had started right after the first home had been built by Mac. The most logical conclusion was that some of the competition wasn’t too happy about being outbid on the projects, but I checked into that angle with a few discreet inquiries and came up with nothing. This has the feel of something personal. But I knew we were missing something. Maybe there was another angle somewhere and this guy was simply using the homes because he knows it’s our weak point.”
Sam took a drink of water. “I thought maybe this was a personal vendetta against the family. After all, I’m the most hated person in the family so I looked up the personnel files of everyone who had been involved in the fiasco fifteen years ago. The only name to come up on the computer with any sort of grudge against me was Angel, and no matter what we had gone through years ago, I couldn’t believe she would exact revenge by taking it out on the whole family.”
“Of course not!” Chance retorted from his hospital bed.
Sam frowned at the interruption. “I made a quick call to my superiors in Washington, and was reassured that all the criminals I had helped bring down were either still incarcerated, out of the country, or dead. I also knew from personal experiences how easy it was to get certain jobs done even thousands of miles away. I was a specialist in tracking down individuals that wanted to remain “anonymous”. This had the feel of a professional. He knew just where to hit the hardest, what to hit the hardest, that would hurt the most. He had to be getting inside information. That’s when I realized how much time had passed since Chance had left for the offices.”
“I grabbed my cell phone and dialed the office, but received the answering machine. I tried Chance’s cell phone, then Jamie’s. When they went automatically to voicemail, my intuition screamed. I grabbed my keys and headed out the door.”
“Why didn’t you call me sooner?” Mac huffed.
“Because I’m used to working alone. I didn’t think about it. I spotted Chance’s car parked in the lot. I was preparing to ream them both new assholes for not answering their phones. As I started for the front door, I noted a slight disturbance in the bushes at the back of the building. I crept closer, and shortened the distance between me and the figure there. He was oblivious to my approach, but that’s when the smell of gas hit me.”
“I darted forward, intent upon stopping this guy. I didn’t know where Jamie and Chance were, but it was a sure bet they couldn’t help me. I reached out to grab the man by the collar. I saw Jeb’s face, then my head exploded.”
Mac continued the tale. “When Sam came to, he called me, said the barn was on fire, and he had already called the fire department, but Chance and Jamie were in the offices. He was going to get them out. By the time we got there, the barn was in flames, firefighters were running around, and my brothers were nowhere to be found.”
Dixie interrupted with a scowl. “So you took it upon yourself to enter the blaze to rescue Chance.”
“Well, Sam and Jamie had a pretty good idea where he was and I couldn’t waste time trying to relay that to the firemen. The place was about to blow!”
“YOU WHAT?!” Hank shouted.
“It turned out okay, Dad. We were able to save everyone. Besides, Dixie’s already had her say about it.” Mac threw a frown at his wife.
“Then Chance kissed the firefighter and they lived happily ever after,” Jamie joked, hoping to lighten the mood and downplay Mac’s involvement in Chance’s rescue.
Hank Coalson looked at each of his sons. “Well if you would humor an old man, I would like for all of you to stay at the farm tonight. I feel the need to be close to my children. And maybe I can worm the rest of the story out of you, Mac.”
Mac flushed. He knew a command when he heard one.
Ginny took charge immediately. “That’s an excellent notion, dear. Let’s get all of you home where I can fuss over you for a while. Chance needs to rest. The night nurse has already frowned at us three times from the doorway.” With a promise to return tomorrow, she kissed Chance on the forehead and ushered the rest of the clan out and into the night.