Chapter 2

Winnie

I let outa long breath as I wipe the sweat out of my eyes and look around. For the tenth time today, I regret deciding to move to Texas to open my animal sanctuary. It’s way too hot here.

I finish feeding the horses and checking on them for the night before I make my way to the nearest building.

At least there’s AC in here,I think as I walk up and down the aisles, checking on the dogs before I lock the door behind me and make my way over to the feline building.

I’m running a little behind tonight and hurry to do my final check. I’m starving and tired from being out in the sun and heat all day. I just want a shower and a sandwich before I fall asleep.

“See you guys in the morning,” I say as I head for the door.

I’m about to lock up when I hear a noise to my right. It sounds like it’s coming from the barn, and I frown. I was just in there, and I didn’t see anything. All of the horses were in their stalls.

I head over there, deciding to check it out before I lock up and leave for the night. I strain to hear any sounds as I make my way closer, but all I can hear are the horses eating and a gentle breeze.

I’m so tired. I probably was just hearing things; I tell myself as I poke my head into the barn door and look around.

Nothing looks out of place, and I sigh.

“Guess I’m just going crazy,” I say, and Sunny, a big dappled grey quarter horse, neighs in agreement.

I smile at him fondly before I turn to leave. Opening up this animal sanctuary has been a long-held dream of mine. I’ve always loved animals. I got along with them better and seemed to understand them more than I ever did humans.

I grew up in New York, the only daughter of two workaholic parents. I was raised by my grandmother and, after she passed, a string of nannies that never seemed to last for longer than a few months. I found out later that it was because my dad was sleeping with them, and when my mom found out, she fired them.

My parents didn’t have the best relationship. I’m not even sure why they stayed together because it was obvious that they didn’t love each other. I’m guessing they never divorced because it would be a blemish on their reputation. My parents were all about status and being seen with the right people at the right events. I never cared about any of that. I’d much rather be at home with my grandma than all dressed up for some party.

It was my grandma who taught me so much about animals. She had always wanted to be a veterinarian, but she had met my grandpa and gotten married instead. She told me that she never regretted it, but that by the time her kids were grown, she felt it was too late to chase that dream. I wish that she had, she would have been great at it.

She had left everything to me when she passed, which had been a surprise. After the shock and grief had started to dim, I realized that I could finally do what we always talked about and open my own animal sanctuary. I just had to finish school. I wanted to get a degree so that I would be able to have a handle on the business side of the sanctuary. Once I graduated, I swore that I would start it then.

That was when I got the call that my parents had been killed in a car accident. My plans were put on hold as I went back to New York City to bury them and handle their affairs. It took me longer than I expected to get everything in order, but six months ago, when everything was finalized, I started to make my plans.

I knew I didn’t want to stay in New York City or even New York. I knew I needed somewhere with a lot of land, somewhere cheaper than New York too so that the money could be used to help more animals. That was how I settled on Maplewood, Texas, a tiny town between Waco and Abilene.

Moving here was a shock at first. I felt a bit like a fish out of water, but it’s quickly become home. I love my little sanctuary and all of the animals I’ve been able to take in here. Sure, things can be lonely at times, and I do wish I had more friends in town, but I’m sure that will come in time. I just need to get out there more and meet some new people.

The animals are all set up here on my piece of land, and hopefully soon, my house will be done too. I glance over at the old two-story ranch style house that’s in the middle of being remodeled. It’s been slow going, but in the next month or two, it should be ready for me to move in.

I close up the barn, lost in thought, as I turn around and come grinding to a halt.

“No!” I scream as I see the flames coming from the cat building.

I take off, running towards it. I can hear the terrified meows as I get closer, and my mind scrambles to figure out what to do now. I head for the front door and burst into the building. This is the smallest building, and I rush to the back, behind the row of crates, and start to open up the boxes, freeing the cats.

“Are you crazy?” A man screams. “Red, get out!”

I don’t look up from the cats as I continue down the row.

“Winnie!”

“Get them out!” I scream at him, and then I’m being grabbed.

I turn, my eyes locking with a pair of vivid blue ones, and it’s like a shock goes through me as his eyes meet mine. He’s so tall, so much taller than me. The man is handsome, and he looks familiar like I’ve seen him around, but I know I’ve never talked to him before. I would remember that.

“Get out. I’ll get the rest of the cats,” he tells me, and I glance at the row of cats.

I’m halfway through, but the smoke is getting so thick that I can barely see. I cough, squinting against the sting in my eyes.

“Go! I’ll get the rest. I promise.”

Even though I don’t know this man at all, I trust him. I nod and bend down, grabbing a few cats as I race for the door. I suck in my first breath of clean air as I look around at the mess.

What do I do now?

I need to put the cats somewhere safe, so I head over to my car and place the cats in the backseat. I’ll need to try to find crates to keep them in, but for now, this will do. I run around, collecting terrified cats. The man comes running out with three cats in his arms. He’s coughing, his face streaked with ash.

“That’s all of them,” he says, coughing again.

“Thank you.”

We gather the last of the cats and he helps me put them in my car.

“Oh god! What if they go after the other buildings?” I ask, twirling around to look at the rest of my property.

“It’s okay. It’s all safe. I think that we scared them off. They probably weren’t expecting you to still be here.”

“We need to call the police and fire department.”

“I already did when I was running in. They should be here any minute.”

As if on cue, blue and red lights flash across the trees. The firemen get to work right away and I sag back against the car.

“Thank you,” I whisper to him.

I glance over at him, and he nods.

“I’m glad that I could help.”

My mind is replaying all of the events from the last ten minutes. Was it really only ten minutes? It seems like it happened so fast and yet lasted so long.

“Wait,” I say, straightening. “How did you know my name?”

I hadn’t caught it in the moment, but he had called me Winnie.

“Have we met before?” I ask him, and he shakes his head.

“No, but it’s a small town.”

“Oh.”

“I’m Aldis, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you. Thanks again for your help. It was lucky that you were driving by at the time,” I tell him as the police make their way over to us.

“Yeah, lucky,” Aldis mutters, and I frown, but before I can ask him what he means, the police are to us.

I spend the next hour answering their questions. Aldis sticks close to me and I find that I feel safer with him nearby.

The police and firemen are getting ready to leave, and I sag. The adrenaline is wearing off, and I know I’m going to crash soon.

“Come on, Red,” Aldis says, and I let him lead me away to my car and his motorcycle.