Riggs straightened up from attaching the hayride wagon to the tractor.

Bond and Posey sat in the hay, holding their baby daughter. The wagon was loaded with children, and parents pressed in from both sides, trying to catch a picture of their kids with the alien family.

He stepped forward and out of the way.

Tansy sat on the tractor in front, grinning widely.

“Okay, everyone,” Tansy yelled. “Listen up!”

The happy chaos faded to a joyful din.

“These are the safety rules for the hayride,” she called out. “Number one, stay seated. Don’t get up until we stop. Number two, keep your hands inside the wagon. Number three, have fun!”

The kids cheered and the parents smiled at each other.

Tansy turned the key in the tractor and the engine started right up.

The hayride headed slowly up the hill past the peach orchard.

Tansy pointed to the trees, explaining to the kids about how old they were, and how they had been grown from cuttings of the original trees her grandmother had planted here.

Riggs smiled, realizing Tansy was truly in her element.

He trailed them on foot at a bit of a distance, enjoying the breeze and the sight of all the happy faces.

The tractor looped downhill again, heading for the berry fields, picking up a bit of speed on the way.

Riggs moved closer, covering his eyes against the rising sun to see if Tansy was in trouble. Surely she wouldn’t want to go so fast.

At the same moment, he noticed a toddler break away from his mother to get closer to the hayride.

The scene unfolded in a heartbeat.

Tansy was between two lines of tourists waiting to pick berries and the little one was nearly in front of her. There was no place to turn. And the tractor wasn’t slowing.

He was not supposed to use his gift in public.

But it wasn’t even a decision, not really.

Riggs ran, pushing his muscles until he could feel them burning, and reached the child seconds before impact.

He wrapped his arms around the unsuspecting little one and rolled into the crowd as the tractor smashed into his shoulder.

He could hear Tansy’s scream over the terrified shouts of the crowd and the sobs of the toddler in his arms.

He could already feel his shoulder mending, the ligaments tightening back into place.

“Oh my god, oh my god,” the child’s mother repeated taking him from Riggs. “Thank you.”

But Riggs was already turning to see what happened to the runaway hayride.

And now he understood Tansy’s frenzied scream.

The tractor and wagon were out of control, hurtling straight at the storage shed by the old berry field.

“Sage,” he moaned, running again but knowing that this time he would be too late.

There was a horrible crash as the tractor went straight through the shed and half-ejected itself on the other side, finally coming to a stop as it smashed against a massive oak tree that was just two feet outside the shed.

Smoke billowed from the engine and small flames licked the back of the shed.

Most of the wagon was trapped inside.

Tansy dragged herself off the tractor, yanking the keys from the engine, and staggered toward the side of the shed. She reached it at the same time as Riggs.

Burton arrived by her side a few seconds later.

“We have to get them out,” she screamed.

“We will, it’s okay, they’re going to be okay,” he reassured her. “You need to sit down. That was a bad crash.”

“The brakes weren’t working,” Tansy whined, clawing at the side of the shed. “We have to get them out. There are propane tanks stored in there.”

Riggs’s heart dropped to his stomach.

“I’ll call 9-1-1,” Tansy said pulling out her phone.

“I’ll grab an ax from the barn,” Burton added, taking off faster than Riggs had ever seen him move.

A tearing sound came from inside the shed.

A section of wall opened and he could see a small child trying to climb out.

“That’s it, there you go,” Sage said in a happy way. “Just climb right out.”

“I’m here to catch you,” Riggs said, tugging on the section of wall until it came loose.

Tourists were wandering down the hill to witness what had happened.

The little girl climbed out into Riggs’s arms and he set her down.

She ran down the hill to her father, who swept her up in his arms.

But Riggs focused his attention on the next child, who was already heading his way.

“Sage, you need to look for another opening,” he said as calmly as he could, not wanting to frighten the children.

“I can’t do that right now,” she said lightly. “Here you go!”

Another child came out and another. Some were crying. But more than one was shouting, “Again!” So Riggs figured they were going to be just fine, as long as they could get them all away from the shed before…

“Sage, do you know what is stored in that shed?” he asked.

“I do,” she said. “Come on, honey, you can do it.”

Another little girl came out, then two boys.

“That’s the last of the little ones. Go on, Bond and Posey,” Sage said. “I’ll come right after you.”

Riggs moved aside, and helped his brother down, then his sister-in-law, who held the baby tight to her chest.

“Okay, Sage, now you,” Riggs said anxiously, holding his arms out.

“I can’t,” she said calmly. “I’m pinned to the wall.”

“What do you mean you can’t?” he howled. The words refused to make sense. “Just push.”

“This thing weighs two tons,” she told him sensibly. “Even I’m not that determined.”

“Tansy is calling 9-1-1,” he told her. “Burton is on his way from the barn with an ax.”

“Maybe one of them will get me out in time,” Sage said, not sounding hopeful. “But I need you to do something for me.”

He could hear Tansy in the background telling the tourists to get away from the shed.

“Anything. I’ll do anything,” he said. “You know that.”

“I want you to move away from the shed now,” she said softly.

“Sage,” he sobbed.

“Listen to that,” she whispered.

He quieted his own ragged breath and heard a hissing noise coming from inside.

“One of the propane tanks is leaking,” she said. “You need to get to safety.

“No,” he cried, tearing helplessly at the wall to the shed. The wood splintered in his hands but he was no closer to getting her out.

“I love you, Riggs,” she told him. “I don’t want to die without saying it. I wish I could accept you as my mate, and live our lives together in happiness. You are everything to me. But I don’t want to imagine a world without you in it. Please move to safety.”

“I love you,” he told her, moved beyond anything.

“Please,” she begged. “Please back away.”

Then he felt Burton and Drago’s arms around him, dragging him bodily away from the shed. He was too dazed to fight. Too dazed to even think.

They had just reached the edge of the berry field when there was a thunderous explosion.

The air suddenly filled with smoke.

The sound jarred him out of his trance. He broke free from his brothers and ran up the hillside, tears running down his cheeks freely.

Only one wall of the structure still stood. The rest was jagged stone and wood.

When he got close enough to see the true extent of the damage he fell to his knees, burying his head in his hands.

A communal gasp from the gathered crowd made him look up.

From out of the cloud of dust and rubble, a figure emerged.

Tears in his eyes blurred his vision but he could see the long wavy brown hair, and the impeccable posture of his incredible mate, standing in the rubble.

Unharmed.

The remains of her tattered clothing fluttered around her curvy frame as she walked to him, smiling, her eyes shining with tears of her own.