But they’d both vowed to keep their relationship one of patient and nurse. She had to keep her side of the promise, no matter how much she wanted to break it.
Finally, she heard Linc whispering close to her ear, “I think it’s letting up now.”
Stirring in his arms, she lifted her head and stared toward the front of the cave. From what she could see through the wall of the waterfall, the sky was beginning to lighten. It was time to extract herself from Linc’s embrace.
“Uh—it looks like the worst is over. I guess we need to get out of here,” she said as she dared to glance up at him.
The moment she lifted her face their eyes collided. Her stomach lurched wildly and her heart began to hammer.
“Yeah—I guess we do,” he said in a low voice.
Nevada licked her lips and his gaze settled on them. “I’m sorry I behaved like such a chicken.” But she wasn’t sorry that she was here in his arms, her body pressed close to his. It felt like the perfect place for her to be and it was all she could do to keep from sliding her arms around his neck and pressing her cheek against his.
“A person would be crazy not to fear lightning. Don’t feel badly because you got a little jumpy.” A wry smile twisted his lips as he brought his bandaged hand alongside her face. “Are you okay now? Feel like hiking back home?”
Home. Suddenly that word held a whole new meaning to Nevada. She’d never felt as though she’d had a real home but with Linc she was beginning to imagine what one might be like and the pleasant thought scared her more than she cared to admit.
“Sure. Just let me get on my feet.”
“Wait. I’ll help you,” he said and before she could make a move, he rose to his feet and reached down for her hand.
Nevada shook her head. “Linc, you’re forgetting. No pressure on your hands.”
“Damn it, for one minute forget about my burns and let me help you,” he ordered.
She did as he asked, but she didn’t allow him to pull on her weight any more than necessary. Once on her feet, she started to step around him and dash through the waterfall to the outside. But his hand on her waist prevented her from moving.
Darting a glance up at him, she tried not to notice that the two of them were face to face and hip to hip. “Thank you,” she said. “For making me not feel so scared.”
A faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “Thank you for making me come on this walk. It made me realize there’s nothing wrong with me that a few days won’t cure.”
She smiled up at him. “Then I guess we’ve both made each other feel better.”
His hand moved slightly up and down against her rib cage and Nevada was sure the small cave had suddenly lost all its oxygen.
“Uh—we’d better go,” she said suddenly.
His hand tightened on her waist and for long moments as Nevada watched his eyes darken and his nostrils flare, she became aware that he wanted to kiss her just as badly as she wanted to kiss him. The realization caused her heart to flutter wildly in her throat and she unconsciously reached out and placed her palms against his chest.
“Nevada—I—”
“What?”
Shaking his head, he removed his hand from her waist and took hold of her arm. “Nothing,” he answered grimly. “Let’s get out of here before I do something stupid.”
He urged her forward and Nevada followed him through the waterfall and back outside onto the ledge of rock. Everything was wet around them, but the sun was beginning to peek through the clouds.
“Look, Linc,” Nevada said as she studied the rain-washed sky. “There’s a rainbow over our heads. Isn’t it beautiful?” She glanced over at him and smiled. “Did you know a rainbow is a promise of good things to come?”
“I always thought it meant that people foolishly chased after things they couldn’t have.”
“Oh, what a cynic,” she said with a playful groan. “Don’t you believe in just a little bit of magic?”
Normally Linc would have been quick to spit out the word no. But that was before he’d held Nevada in his arms. That was before he’d tasted her lips and felt himself going to a magical place where nothing mattered but making love to her.
Impatient with his soppy thoughts, he nudged her shoulder toward the now-muddy trail. “I believe we’d better get back home before Marina comes up with our supper and has a spell because she can’t find us.”
The pleasure at spotting the rainbow quickly fell from her face, and she hurried ahead of him to begin the steep climb up the mountain.
Behind her, Linc hated himself for being such a coward. Hated himself for not being able to run after her and admit how much he wanted to make love to her. But the memory of his mother walking away and never looking back was enough to make him keep his place safely behind her.
Chapter Nine
For the next three days Nevada and Linc settled into somewhat of a routine. He’d fixed the problem of showering by having one of the ranch hands come up and help him deal with the task. That usually took away the need for Nevada to help him dress in the mornings. Afterwards she prepared their breakfast and in the evenings, she changed his bandages and urged him to take some sort of exercise.
The walks he took were simple jaunts down the road and back to the house. Nevada never offered to go with him, and he never invited her. Which was probably for the best. Both of them were trying their best to put on an act of indifference, and it was beginning to take its toll.
At night, after the supper that Marina always brought up to them, they would go their separate ways until it was time for bed and then the provocative ordeal of undressing him would have to be gone through all over again.
Nevada’s nerves were wearing thin. She’d read more novels than she’d ever read, and the idea of having a television to watch was actually becoming attractive to her.
As for Linc, she wasn’t sure how he’d been spending his time. Sometimes she could hear him out on the front porch talking with Ross or some other ranch hand. The last couple of days an old buckaroo named Skinny had come up to visit him.
The first day the older man had arrived, Linc had called Nevada out on the porch to meet him. Which had surprised her somewhat. Several ranch hands had come and gone from the place in the past couple of days and he had not bothered to introduce her to any of them. The fact that he’d wanted her to meet Skinny told her the old man was important to him. And she’d found out that she liked him. He’d had a kind twinkle in his faded blue eyes and it was obvious that he adored Linc.
As for herself, Nevada had almost stopped trying to fool herself. She adored Linc, too. Only she was smart enough to keep her feelings to herself.
The ring of the telephone punctured Nevada’s thoughts and she left her seat in the living room to hurry to the kitchen to answer it.
“Nevada, it’s Victoria. I’m down here at the big ranch house and I thought I might run up to see you for a few minutes. Are you busy?”
Nevada laughed lightly. “Busy? What would I be doing? It’s like a tomb around here.”
“Poor thing. I’ll bet you’re about to go out of your mind.”
“Not exactly,” Nevada hedged.
“Well, you can tell me all about it in a few minutes. And I’ve got an appointment card for Linc. Dr. Olstead wants to see him tomorrow at eleven.”
“You’re just full of news,” Nevada remarked, then asked, “Are the babies with you?”
“Brace yourself,” Victoria laughed. “I have both of them with me. Better get Linc some earplugs before I get there.”
She hung up and Nevada walked through the house in search of her patient.
After a quick peek on the porch and the back patio, she finally found him in his bedroom reading a hardbound book. He was propped against the headboard with a couple of pillows cushioning his back. Heedless of the fancy coverlet, his brown cowboy boots were crossed at the ankles and Nevada could only think it was a good thing he hadn’t been walking around in the feed lot
.
Since the door was fully open, she knocked lightly on the facing. “Sorry to disturb you, Linc, but that was Victoria who just called. She’s coming up to see you—us.”
He stood on the floor and with a puzzled frown glanced at his wristwatch. “It’s the middle of the afternoon. What’s she doing off work?”
“I didn’t ask. She probably had Dr. Martinez take her place today. I’ll go make coffee before she gets here.”
Nevada left him and hurried to the kitchen to put a few refreshments together. The coffeepot was almost full and Marina’s famous cowboy cookies were laid out on a tray when Nevada heard Victoria’s vehicle arrive in front of the house. As she walked to the front door to greet her boss and friend, she could hear Katrina and little Sam both squealing with loud delight.
Stepping onto the porch, she could see that Linc had already met the little group and had somehow managed to lift Sam up on his back. Katrina was hopping eagerly at his side.
“I wanta ride too, Uncle Linc. Let me ride, too,” she pleaded.
“Uncle Linc can’t give you a ride now,” Victoria told her daughter as the little group headed to the house. “He shouldn’t even be carrying Sam. You run on ahead and find Aunt Nevada.”
Nevada used that cue to step from the porch and call to the little girl. “Here, Katrina!”
With a loud squeal of excitement, Katrina raced to Nevada and jumped straight into her arms.
Laughing, Nevada lifted the three-and-a-half-year-old high in the air, then set her back on her feet and smacked a big kiss on her cheek.
“Hi, Aunt Nevada! You smell good! And you look pretty, too. Do you think I look pretty? Mommy bought me a new dress.” Lifting the pink skirt on both sides, the golden-haired child twirled around on her toes for Nevada.
Her eyes sparkling with love, Nevada kissed the girl’s cheek again. “Oh, I wish I had a dress like that. You look like the most beautiful girl in the world.”
Beaming, Katrina turned to the other two adults who had reached the porch. “Mommy, Uncle Linc! Nevada says I’m the most beautiful girl in the world.”
“Well, you are, aren’t you?” Linc asked his niece as he bent down and allowed the dark-headed toddler on his back to step onto the porch. Sam was just over a year old but extremely steady on his feet. Linc had predicted the boy was going to make a championship bronc rider, but Victoria refused to think of her baby doing such a dangerous sport. She was even skittish when Jess rode the tot around on his gentle roping horse.
“Nope,” Katrina told him. “I’m just pretty. Nevada is beautiful.”
Laughing with embarrassment, Nevada reached out and playfully swatted the girl’s bottom. “I think you’re making up fairy tales, young lady.”
While Katrina giggled and danced, Sam left Linc’s side and toddled over to Nevada. Raising his arms up to her, he said, “Nada. Up, Nada!”
Bending down, Nevada lovingly scooped up the boy and cuddled him in her arms. “Come on, Sam, let’s go have a cookie. Okay?”
“‘Kay!” he shouted with enough enthusiasm to make the adults laugh.
Nevada carried the toddler into the house while Katrina and the other two adults followed. In the kitchen, Victoria settled the children at the table with cookies and milk while Nevada poured fresh coffee for the adults.
“What are you doing off work?” Linc asked his cousin.
Victoria took a seat next to Sam. “I needed a day to get caught up on some personal chores. Dr. Martinez is filling in for me,” she answered, then turned a pointed look on Nevada. “He wasn’t at all happy when he found out you weren’t working at the clinic. He thinks he can’t do anything without you.”
Nevada frowned. “You’re exaggerating even more than your daughter.”
“Hmmph. I think he’s sweet on you. He’s just too shy to say anything to you about it,” Victoria remarked.
Across the room, Linc leaned his hip against the cabinet counter and watched Nevada take a seat across from his cousin. He could see a pink tinge of embarrassment on her cheeks and Linc was suddenly struck by the thought that once Nevada left here she would be fair game for any man’s attention. The notion irked him, but in the same breath he tried to tell himself that her personal life was none of his business.
“Dr. Martinez is rather old for Nevada, don’t you think?” he asked his cousin.
Victoria turned her attention to him. “He’s not much older than you, Linc. And he’s a good-looking man. If I were Nevada I’d be flattered by his attention.”
“Oh, Victoria, don’t be silly. I don’t need you to round me up a boyfriend. I already have plenty. Besides, if I ever dated the man it would be awkward to work with him later.”
“Hmm. That’s true,” Victoria agreed as she returned her attention to Nevada. “And you’re right. You have plenty of guys waiting to date you without me scrounging you up another one. Even if he is a rich, well-to-do doctor.”
“Is that what you come up here for?” Linc shot at her. “Just to talk about Nevada’s boyfriends?”
Victoria was clearly surprised by Linc’s outburst and her mouth fell open as she stared at him. “Is something wrong with that?”
Linc suddenly felt like an idiot and with a deep frown marring his forehead he marched over to the table and picked up a cookie from the tray.
“No,” he answered without bothering to give any explanation for his remark. How could he explain his burst of jealousy, he wondered, when he didn’t even understand it himself.
Victoria continued to look at him with a keen eye. “Well, actually, I didn’t come up here to discuss anything with Nevada. I came to see you and to check on how you’re doing. Nevada tells me you’ve been in a better mood, but now I’m beginning to wonder if she only told me that to appease me.”
Little Sam had eaten most of his cookie and was now placing the last of the crumbs on top of his head, which was making Katrina giggle hysterically and was prompting him to keep repeating the act.
Nevada used the children’s antics as a good excuse to leave the table and take the two of them outside.
“I think we’ll go pick some wildflowers,” she told Victoria. “You go ahead and visit with Linc.”
As Nevada hurried the two children out of the kitchen, Linc walked over to the table and sat down across from his cousin.
Victoria heaved out a disgusted sigh. “Well, you managed to run her off without much effort.”
Linc lifted his bandaged hands in a gesture of helplessness. “I didn’t do any such thing. And why are you suddenly badgering me?”
“Because you make me angry. I want to see my dear cousin Linc and instead you—oh, just forget it. You’re just a man.”
She reached into the pocket of her shirt, pulled out a small white card and placed it on the table between them.
Ignoring it, Linc asked, “What is that supposed to mean? Are you and Jess having marital problems?”
Tilting her head back, Victoria laughed. “Not in the least. How could you even think such a thing?”
He turned a brooding expression out the window where Nevada was now romping with Sam and Katrina. “It happens,” he quipped. “A lot.”
“Well, not with us. Never with us. In fact, we’re thinking about having another baby,” Victoria admitted.
This brought his head around and he stared at her in surprise. “Another baby! But Sam isn’t yet two! And you already have two children.”
She shrugged as a dreamy expression crossed her face. “So we do. But there’s not a limit, is there? We might want four or five or six.”
Shaking his head, Linc said, “Kids are nice. But I don’t understand your need for more of them. They’re lots of work.”
Victoria grinned at him. “So are your colts. But you wouldn’t understand, Linc. Not until you have a family of your own.”
He looked away from her and in spite of himself, he found his gaze drawn back to the picture Nevada was making as she knelt down to help the children pick wi
ldflowers.
“That won’t ever happen,” he said lowly.
Silent moments passed before he felt Victoria’s hand resting on his arm.
“Why, Linc?” she asked softly. “You know, each month, each year that passes, I keep hoping and praying that someone will come into your life.”
Emotions balled in his throat and he did his best to swallow them down before he glanced at her. “You’re wasting your prayers on me. You know how I feel about things.”
“No. I don’t. I know you’ve never gotten over your mother remarrying and leaving like she did, but—”
“I don’t want to talk about her, Victoria. Not now.” Sighing wearily, Victoria pushed the card toward him. “There’s your appointment for tomorrow. Dr. Olstead wants to make sure you’ve been healing all right since you left the hospital.”
His arms and hands were healing, he could have told her. But his insides had gone through some sort of trauma that he couldn’t shake. Ever since he’d held Nevada in the cave, he’d felt like a different man. When he looked at her now, he didn’t only want to make love to her, he also wanted to protect and cherish her. He wanted to see her smile over and over and feel her joy for life flow into him.
Linc had never felt anything like what he was feeling now and he desperately wished Dr. Olstead could heal his state of mind along with his hands.
“All right. Is Nevada going to drive me in or are you going to send up one of the hands to take me?”
His question puckered her dark brows together. “Nevada is going to take you, of course. There’s not one man down on the ranch who wants to sit in a doctor’s office any more than you do.”
“Yeah, guess you’re right about that,” he said flatly, then inclined his head to the view of the yard. “Sam and Katrina obviously think Nevada is wonderful.”
A fond smile crossed Victoria’s face. “They call herAunt Nevada. And she’s great with them.” Her expression sobered as she added, “It’s such a shame that she doesn’t want to become a mother. She loves children so much and she’d make such a good parent. But everyone has their own demons to deal with, I suppose.”
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