The Rancher Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides Book 1)

seconds before the ceiling would collapse. "I'm not leaving you."
    "Then come on!" he said, running across the barn to stalls she hadn't seen.
    Throwing open the doors, he shooed the animals out while she herded them through the thick haze and burning embers toward the open wooden door.
    "Come on, let's get out of here," he yelled over the growing roar of the flames.
    The loud bawl of a frightened cow and a bawling calf stopped her cold.
    Travis turned and looked at her. "Come on, let's go-"
    "Not yet." She let go of his hand and ran toward the calf.
    "Damn it, Rose, we don't have time."
    She ignored him and went to the stall. As soon as she opened the door, the mother cow hurried out of the barn, but the calf stood there frightened, braying.
    Rose looked at the little calf and her heart ached. She couldn't leave the baby. She reached in and gave the animal a push on the backside toward the open barn door. Thankfully, the frightened baby ran after its mother and Rose followed.
    When she reached Travis's side, the roof over the stall collapsed. Wrapping his hand around her arm, he pulled her toward the main door.
    Sweat was pouring off her from the heat of the fire, and her skirt started to smolder. She watched in amazement as the hem caught fire. A cry of fright escaped her as she stopped, bent, and tried to put out the small flame.
    Behind them the cracking and popping exploded, and the splintering wood fell to the ground, causing them to sprint for the open door, regardless of her flaming skirt. Rose knew they didn't have time to stop. They were mere seconds from death.
    Travis pulled her until they ran through the open wooden door and gasped the fresh air. Only then did he grab the edge of her flaming skirt and rip the material from the waist down, leaving her in her pantaloons. Given the alternative, she didn't mind.
    Rose collapsed to the ground, coughing and choking on the fresh air. She gasped and sputtered, trying to get rid of the awful taste the smoke left in her mouth and lungs. Tears streamed from her smoke-irritated eyes.
    "Travis, Rose, we didn't know you were in there. I didn't know where you were," Eugenia cried, rushing over to them.
    Rose lay back on the ground and gulped fresh air. She glanced over at Travis, who was lying on the ground, watching her closely.
    He looked up from the ground at his mother. "I came out of the bunkhouse and saw Rose enter the barn at the same time I saw the smoke. I rushed into the barn after her and to try to get the horses out."
    "The animals can be replaced. Thank God you're both safe." Eugenia said as she watched Travis continue coughing. "You need a doctor. I'll get one of the men to ride into town and bring him back."
    Eugenia walked away, leaving them lying on the ground in the late evening shadows as the men tried to keep the fire from spreading with a bucket brigade.
    Travis stared at Rose, his eyes dark with fury. "What the hell were you thinking, going into a blazing barn? You could have been killed."
    She coughed, her lungs burning. "I ... I couldn't leave the animals to die."
    "You don't even like horses."
    "No, but I didn't want them to die. I was afraid you'd blame this on me, just like you blame everything on me. I wasn't going to be responsible for the deaths of your animals."
    "I damn sure would hold you responsible. After all, if you hadn't been holding a séance in my barn, none of this would have happened." He stared at her incredulously. "Did you consider for a moment how much danger you were in? You could have been killed!"
    She coughed and raised herself on one elbow to lean over the man she'd been afraid was lying hurt or burning in that barn. The man she'd wanted so desperately to leave, yet, when she'd seen the fire, she couldn't walk away from.
    "If you would let me go, I could be holding séances back in my nice little house on Main Street in Fort Worth. Instead I'm stuck here with a man who wouldn't know the truth if it smacked him in the face. And who is ungrateful to boot!" She lay back in the grass, whatever energy she'd mustered spent.
    "I'm not ungrateful—but you scared me. You could have died in there." His brown eyes darkened, but this time they weren't quite as hostile. This time they appeared softer, gender. "I don't understand why you stayed."
    "I know," she said. "But I couldn't let those animals burn to death. I couldn't stand the thought."
    Travis rolled over next to her, until their shoulders were touching. He put his arm