Fire and Rain

Fire and Rain Rain Mystery Trilogy Book 3 David Homick Fire and Rain Copyright © 2022 David Homick All rights reserved. Published by Blue Knight Media This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher or author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. The characters, incidents and dialogs in this book are fictional and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental. “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.” ~ James Taylor Chapter One An unexpected knock on your door when you live in the middle of nowhere is never a good thing. I eased the door open, and my back stiffened. “I thought I told you never to come back here.” Three months ago, on Thanksgiving Day, a stranger named Finn Rafferty showed up at our front door claiming to be Jenn’s husband. I felt like a fool, standing there with an engagement ring burning a hole in my pocket. Jenn and I had lived together for seven months on the ranch she inherited from her uncle, and I had finally worked up the nerve to pop the question in front of family and friends. “May I come in?” He hugged himself against the cold. I folded my arms. “You can try, but I wouldn’t recommend it.” His eyes shifted back and forth. “Is Jennifer home?” It bothered me he was back asking for Jenn. It had been three months since I threw him off our porch. Where had he been? Why was he back now? And how do we keep him away for good? “She’s not here.” I shifted my weight. “What’s your play?” “My play?” “What are you after?” I took a step forward to intimidate him. It worked. “You show up here after all this time, claiming to be Jenn’s husband. What do you think is going to happen?” “Sounds like you don’t believe me.” He pulled a folded paper from his back pocket and held it out between us. I slapped it out of his hand. “Jenn is my girl, and no piece of paper from you or anyone else is going to change that.” “That’s a legal document.” He picked it up and took a deep breath. “You may have bullied your way through life, but it isn’t going to change the fact that the State of Kansas recognizes us as man and wife.” “You’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.” He pulled a second paper from his pocket and set them both on one of the porch chairs. “Jenn says the marriage was annulled. It’s like it never happened. So, I suggest you leave now and never come back.” “And what if I don’t?” “You can leave in that car… or in a body bag. Your choice.” One side of his mouth turned up to form a crooked smile. He walked down the steps. I followed. Jenn and Alex walked out of the stables and stopped when they saw me talking to Finn. Jenn said something to Alex and sent him back inside. She looked madder than a wet hen as she marched toward us. “There she is,” Finn said as the crooked smile made another appearance. He waved in her direction like he wasn’t here to destroy our lives. I stepped into her path and held up my hands. She responded with a get-out-of-my-way glare, and I obliged. “What are you doing here?” she huffed. Finn looked around deliberately. “I like what you’ve done with our ranch.” Jenn’s face reddened, and I felt the heat coming off her. She folded her arms across her chest. “Our marriage was annulled. You have no claim to anything here.” “Apparently, he didn’t get the memo,” I said. “I don’t have to move into the main house, just yet. One of those cabins down by the river will work for now. I might even help with chores.” “We don’t need any help.” His eyes narrowed. “We’ll see about that.” It sounded like a threat. I’d heard enough. “Finn was just leaving.” I stepped between the two and puffed up my chest. I got up in his grille. “Wasn’t he?” Finn hesitated, but I left him only one option. “I guess I was.” He relaxed the muscles that had tightened in his neck. I took a half step forward, and he retreated. Jenn stood at my side as we watched him walk toward his car. I made a mental note of the license plate. “I’ll be in town for a while. We should have coffee, get caught up.” He climbed into his car. “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen,” Jenn responded. “Y’all better not come around here again.” He waved out the window as he spun his tires and kicked up gravel on his way down the drive. Jenn flipped him off with both hands. “Did you ever bring him here?” I asked. “You know, back in the day?” She looked about ready to give me the same two-finger salute Finn got. “Never.” “How did he know about the cabins?” “I don’t know.” She paused, then turned and walked away. I called after her. “We need to talk.” “That’s all we’ve been doing.” She turned and looked at me as she walked backward. “I’m getting tired of it. I guess y’all better decide who you believe—him or me.” She turned and headed off toward the stables. “So that’s it?” “I need to get Alex, then make dinner,” she said without looking back. Jenn had adopted Alex, an eleven-year-old boy whom I’d rescued in Afghanistan before Jenn and I met. He’d ended up in an Army hospital in Germany where Jenn had been stationed, and the two became friends. When Jenn returned