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Phil walked toward Lou and Tom leaving Charlie, Matt, Jasper, Dante, Trevor, and Freddie.

Dante stared at the mess as smoke vanished into the darkness of the night.

“I was wondering what that woman wore to bed,” Matt whispered as he nodded his head toward Lori who stood shivering by

the front porch.

The men looked toward Lori noting the light hip hugger boxer shorts and short, tight-fitting raspberry T-shirt. Her tan, toned belly was showing and her long blonde hair was pulled back into two long braids.

She had a voluptuous figure, an amazing smile, and a mature, unselfish personality. Yet she wore her hair in a childish style. She was shy and refined.

Dante watched as she retrieved the two jackets for the Cantrells and helped gather the horses. Now she stood there shivering and he wished he had grabbed his sweatshirt before running from his house.

Some firemen were handing out blankets and immediately a few of them offered one to Lori.

“Fucking guys. They’re drooling,” Dante whispered then glanced at Charlie and Trevor who were in a dead stare at the firemen and Lori.

Dante was annoyed as he watched the way other men flirted with her. He didn’t want to admit it but he was jealous. By the expressions on Charlie’s and Trevor’s faces, they were, too.

It was as if his brother Matt was reading his mind as Matt whispered to his brothers, “If you’re gonna make a move, you’d better make it soon. She’s not going to be single long.”

Dante, Trevor, and Charlie didn’t say a word. Dante knew there was no use in denying the obvious. His brother Matt knew them well but he feared taking a chance on such an intense relationship. He didn’t trust women and Lori was too young. Plus Charlie wasn’t willing to admit his attraction to Lori just yet. They needed to tread carefully.

* * * *

The deputies returned with no leads or strangers in the area and the sheriff promised a full investigation.

The fire was completely out and the firemen continued their cleanup. Diana and Lynn made their way into the house planning on making some coffee.

“I’m gonna head home to grab a sweatshirt and let Maggie know what’s going on. I’ll get one for you, too, Mom,” Lori said, and Lynn stopped by the door.

“You’d better not walk through the dark alone. Boys, go with Lori, please. We don’t know who might be out there,” Lynn stated and the thought suddenly made everyone nervous.

“We’ll go with her, Mrs. Cantrell,” Trevor said as Charlie grabbed a flashlight and they headed toward the Shay house.

“You really don’t have to come with me, it’s not that far,” Lori told the three men. She wasn’t used to having escorts.

“We don’t know who may be out there, Lori. This is a serious situation,” Trevor told her as the four of them walked closely together across the field. They were trying to keep warm. It didn’t take much. The three Henley brothers were extra large and towered over her as they took a flanking position around her. She swallowed hard and all she kept thinking about was them as soldiers escorting her, protecting her through enemy lines. But that wasn’t the case here. They were older, thought she needed babysitting, and she wasn’t in any danger except maybe of having a heart attack. God, they’re so good looking and sexy.

“Yeah, kid, whoever is responsible for this isn’t dealing with a full deck,” Charlie stated, and once again Lori was annoyed at the way he called her kid.

“Who would want to do something like this to the Cantrells?”

“We’re not sure, Lori, but hopefully Sheriff Morgan will find out. In the meantime I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking extra precautions,” Dante said before Charlie made his opinion known. Lori’s impression of Charlie thus far was that he seemed hotheaded and didn’t care who he pissed off.

“So, Lori, how do you like working at Carl’s?” Trevor asked, and Charlie made a noise as if annoyed at the thought of her working there.

“It’s going well. I like it but I’ll be even happier once this cast is off, it kind of gets in the way. What do you think are the chances that your brother Andrew will remove it sooner?”

“Pretty slim. He’s a by-the-book kind of guy. You can’t mess around with broken bones and casts,” Trevor added.

Lori thought that Trevor and Dante were nice yet authoritative in a way and that Charlie continually came across as angry and impolite. They seemed on edge and abrupt and as if being nice to her was difficult. It was just a feeling she had, but it did bother her. She thought of herself as a well-rounded person who was always nice to people even if they weren’t so nice to her. For some reason she felt the lack of patience with these three men that she had with others. It was crazy.

They arrived at the house and Maggie was waiting downstairs in the kitchen.

“What happened? Is everyone all right?”

“There was a fire but no one got hurt,” Lori told her sister as she grabbed some sweatshirts. Charlie, Dante, and Trevor told Maggie what was going on and about keeping the Cantrells company.