The Judge And The Heiress (A Salvation Texas Novel)

by Cheryl Gorman

“You must not have spent much time with boys growing up.”

  She shook her head. “No, I was an only child so not a lot of boys hanging around our house.”

  He raised a brow. “I find that hard to believe. What was wrong with the guys in your neighborhood? Didn’t they know a pretty girl when they saw one?”

  She stopped what she was doing, rested her arm over Archie’s fluffy neck and cocked her head to the side. “I looked a tad different when I was a little girl.”

  “I doubt that,” he muttered.

  “It’s true. I had an overbite, skinny as a fence rail with knobby knees.” She gestured toward her hair. “Not to mention my hair. Kids made fun of me all the time. They called me Carrot Head and Corkscrew because of the curls.”

  Linc stepped in close, tipped back his hat and was suddenly, overwhelmingly grateful that Ethan wasn’t around. He placed his hands on either side of her face and looked deep into her eyes. “Just for the record, I loved red-headed girls growing up particularly ones with knobby knees and an overbite.” He leaned in at that moment and laid his lips over hers. Her lips were warm and still flavored with the taste of the berries along with her unmistakable flavor of cinnamon. He let himself slide into the kiss, rubbing his lips over hers, pulling her in close to feel her next to him. He pushed his hand beneath her shirt and glided his fingers over her warm, silky skin. He heard her sigh and felt her hand clasp the back of his neck, her fingers push into his hair. Her tongue tangled with his and she took the kiss deeper. He could feel himself swell and grow hard and if they continued much longer he was going to take her right here under the trees and the briars be damned. He lifted his mouth stared into her pretty eyes. Her lips were wet from his kisses and her skin flushed.

  “Why did you stop?”

  He heaved a breath. “You know why? Ethan might show up any minute and it wouldn’t do for him to find a couple of losers going at it in the grass.”

  She smiled and something settled inside him. The hurt at Ethan’s words was gone. Thank God.

  “Well let’s get going,” Kinley said. “I don’t want him to get too far ahead of us.”

  They started down the trail and in a few minutes clouds bunched overhead like dirty cotton. The breeze kicked hard and thunder rolled like wooden balls inside a barrel. “I was hoping the rain wouldn’t start until after we’d set up camp.”

  Linc scanned the woods and couldn’t see Ethan. It worried him a little but he was sure they would catch up to him soon. A half hour later, he really started to get worried. They exited the woods onto a raised bank over the river and stopped. He was certain that Ethan would be here but he was nowhere in sight and no evidence that he had been there. Linc settled the llamas under the trees and lifted off their packs. “Let’s set up the tents and if he isn’t back by then, I’ll go look for him.”

  ***

  Ethan stumbled down the trail. He was so mad. He could feel the anger trying to claw its way out and he wanted to yell but what good would that do? He was tired of being on the ranch, tired of working all day and shoveling horse poop and painting stupid trailers and planting stupid bushes and going to BBQ’s with a bunch of stupid families. He kicked at a pine cone and sent it skittering. A rabbit rushed from a bush, crossed over the path and disappeared. He must have scared it. So what? It was only a dumb rabbit. What did he care? But deep inside he did care. He felt guilty for scaring it which made him all the madder. It was Kinley and Linc’s fault. Since he’d come to live at Laid Back Ranch he’d started to get mushy and he didn’t like it. He was tough. He always had been. He had to be. And he would be again. He didn’t need anyone or anything.

  Even as he thought the words some other feelings pushed back at him like too much candy in his stomach. He really did like Kinley and Linc. She’d been nice to him. She’d taken care of him and no one had ever taken care of him before. Living with her had been the first real home he’d ever known. Linc had never yelled or raised a hand against him. He hesitated, wanted to turn back to say he was sorry for calling her and Linc losers. But it was her fault about Astrid. If she hadn’t given him the job of taking care of her he wouldn’t have grown attached. Just thinking about that old horse, her gentle eyes, the feel of her breath on his face made tears well. He brushed them aside.

  Thunder crashed like a thousand steel drums echoing through the forest. Rain trickled through the tree branches only a trickle at first, then stronger until a debris-filled torrent gushed down the path. In seconds, he was soaked through. The current slammed against his legs.

  He slipped, his fingers barely grasping a tree branch. Panic darted through his veins.

  He stared back down the path desperate to see Kinley and Linc and the llamas but the world blurred in curtains of hard-driving rain. He listened for the llamas humming but the roar of the storm drowned out every other sound. Ethan gulped quick, jagged breaths in an effort to calm his shaking limbs.

  Water rushed into his boots filling them with mud. He glanced around and found himself in a low, marshy area thick with Cyprus trees. Grass and small bushes covered the steep sides of the swale. Rain pelted down filling the marsh with more water. He was in deep do-do now. He had to get to higher ground. He started up the swale. His water-logged boots skidded in the mire of mud and water and grass.

  He scrabbled against the gushing water; his fingers skating greasily off clumps of grass and rain swollen bushes.

  Fear sizzled in his blood. His heartbeat nearly exploded.

  He skated faster and faster over the soggy earth until he plunged into the marsh, the debris-clogged water washing over him. He fought to stand as the cold water rose around him. He wrapped an arm around a sodden tree truck thinking he could shinny up above the rising water but his foot wedged twisting his ankle.

  Pain needled into his foot.

  He pulled but his foot wouldn’t budge. Leaning down, he immersed his hand in the murky water his fingertips connecting with the rough bark of two tree trunks. The storm raged and the water inched higher and higher up his body.

  Frenzied alarm clanged in his head. His eyes widened. He gaped into the pummeling rain, his heart sinking to his toes.

  Please God, no, I don’t want to die.

  ***

  Rain cascaded over Linc and Kinley while the llamas were humming, nervous and jittery in the growing storm.

  “Linc! What about Ethan? We’ve got to find him.”

  “I’ll go,” Linc said pulling a rope from one of the packs along with the first aid kit and the SAT phone. He stuffed them into his backpack. “You stay here with the animals.”

  She shook her head. “I’m coming with you. You might need my help.” She secured the llamas to a sturdy tree branch then they took off together.

  Linc clasped Kinley’s hand and tried to follow the path they had come through in hopes of finding Ethan. But he was nowhere to be seen. “I thought he was going straight ahead but he must have veered off the path,” Linc yelled above the hiss of rain and booming thunder. He thought about the lay of the land, his mind racing over familiar terrain. A terrible thought lit up his brain. “He might be near the marsh. It’ll be flooded. Come on.”

  Together, Linc and Kinley picked their way through the thick trees and dense, wet undergrowth. A couple of times she stumbled but she got right back up and assured him she was okay. She was an amazing woman.

  In a few minutes they came to the top of the swale that lead to the marsh. Linc squinted against the rain and saw Ethan clinging to a tree, the water up to his neck. The boy waved.

  “There he is. Quick we don’t have much time.”

  Slipping and sliding, Kinley and Linc pushed their way down the side of the swale and soon stood waist deep in swampy water, a great place for water moccasins. One bite and they probably wouldn’t get help in time to insure survival. When they reached Ethan the kid yelled, “My foot is stuck between two logs.”

  Linc leaned in close to Kinley. “Do everything you can to keep his head above the water.�
� Then he inhaled a deep breath and pushed his face beneath the murky water. Forcing his eyes open, he watched dirt and debris float across his vision.

  A snake slithered by in the distance or was it just a shadow? Shuddering, he silently prayed neither Ethan nor Kinley would get bitten. Quickly he tied the rope around one of the logs and pulled hard but it wouldn’t budge.

  Fighting against desperation clouding his mind and fear gnawing at his nerves, he grabbed Ethan’s ankle worked it gently back and forth but his lungs burned from lack of oxygen. Unable to hold his breath a second longer, Linc shoved his head above the water and sucked air deep into his lungs.

  Kinley’s hands were lodged under Ethan’s shoulders lifting him as high as she could, but the water lapped at his chin. Linc inhaled another breath and knew if he failed this time, Ethan would surely die.

  He plunged his head back into the water then grasped the rope once again. He pulled and pulled on the rope resting his left foot on the other log for leverage.

  It moved but barely.

  He pulled again, harder than he’d ever pulled in his life, his muscles straining, his hands shaking with the effort. The rope bit into his fingers and palms cutting the flesh but he would gladly shred his hands if it meant he could save Ethan’s life.

  When he was certain the tendons in his arms and hands were ripping free from the bones, the log shifted and Ethan’s foot popped free. Linc dropped the rope and hugged Ethan to his side. Over the kid’s shoulder, he saw a water moccasin swimming toward them. With the other hand, he grasped Kinley’s hand and the three of them slogged their way through the marsh until they reached the slope. Slowly, they made their way to the top of the swale and cover of trees. Kinley and Ethan slumped to the ground. Linc stood over them glancing from one to the other, his heart knocking against his ribs. “Are you okay?”

  Kinley nodded, wrapped an arm around Ethan and held out her other hand to Linc for him to join them. The three of them huddled beneath the trees no one saying anything just filling their lungs with breath, the breath of relief. Kinley clung to Ethan like a life line. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

  The rain slowly abated by degrees from a blistering torrent, to a downpour, to a heavy rain, until it ended with light rain. “Let’s get to the camp. We need to make sure the animals are okay,” Linc said.

  As they walked back toward camp, Linc laid a hand on Ethan’s shoulder and he didn’t shrug it off. He just looked up at him then back at the ground. Kinley trudged beside him, her shirt clinging to her sexy body the outline of her pink bra showing through the light blue material. Her jeans were caked with mud, her boots ruined. But she was here, she was alive and Ethan was alive. The kid was covered in mud, caked in his hair and his clothes.

  By the time they reached the camp, the rain had stopped. The llamas were huddled together, soaked but safe. The river had breached its banks and rushed by like white water. Thank God they had survived. They dug clean clothes out of the pack after setting up the tents, rinsed off as best they could in the river then put on dry clothes.

  The woods were soggy with the new rain. “Sorry we can’t have a fire. We’ll have to run a cold camp,” Linc said.

  Kinley shrugged her shoulders. “So much for s’mores.”

  Ethan had been quiet since they reached camp. He sat in the door of the tent Linc was sharing with him and watched the river flow past. The sun peeked out, its rays melting into orange and purple as they penetrated the retreating storm clouds. Kinley handed Ethan a plate of cold beans and a hotdog. He took the plate and held it in his hands without eating. She handed him a juice box with a straw stuck in it. Linc waited for the sarcastic comment about the kid’s drink but he took a sip instead, looked at Kinley and murmured, “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Ethan’s gaze found Linc’s. “I’m sorry I ran off. It was stupid.”

  Linc heaved a breath. “Yeah, it was.”

  The boy stared at the ground. “If you hadn’t helped me I would have drowned for sure. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Kinley smiled and laid a hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “Glad you didn’t drown. I like having you around.”

  Ethan looked up at her, his eyes shining with hope, joy and surprise. He smiled then tucked into his food.

  Chapter Eleven

  Despite the long day and Ethan almost dying, Linc lay awake in his sleeping bag and listened to the night sounds. An owl hooted, little animals rustled through the brush. A waning moon rose filling the woods with silvery light. He could see it perfectly from the doorway of the tent hanging like a giant glowing pearl in the sky while stars wheeled around it.

  The river’s angry rush had calmed and was nearly back to normal as if nothing had happened. But something had happened. He’d nearly lost Ethan. He studied the kid sleeping the sleep of the dead. Gone was the defiant expression, his face relaxed and innocent and he was an innocent. He’d had no one to look out for him, to protect him. Then he’d crossed Linc’s path and he’d reached out and grabbed the chance to help the boy with both hands and his heart.

  He rolled to his side and thought about Kinley in the next tent. What if it had been her caught with Ethan and they had both drowned? He could have lost her. He could have lost them both. The thought of her and Ethan dying during that flash flood scared him worse than anything he’d ever been scared of in his life. More than that day at the rodeo. More than seeing that snake swimming toward them and helpless to stop it. More than the worst nightmare he could ever imagine. If something happened to Kinley and Ethan he didn’t think he could survive it. He loved them.

  He loved them both.

  Damn it, he was crazy in love with Kinley.

  He had completely lost control now. He had lost control of the hike, of Ethan, of the whole situation. He knew he couldn’t control the weather but he realized he couldn’t control how he felt about Kinley. He wanted them in his life. He needed them in his life but at what price?

  He was like a new born baby at the mercy of a cruel world unable to fend for itself. Yet he was a grown man who had looked out for himself his whole life. He had controlled his life and now it was out of control. He wanted to run, to hide but he couldn’t. He had two people who needed him. The renovation on the ranch was almost complete and then he could step back, take a break and get his head on straight again.

  ***

  A few days later, Kinley smiled at Linc as he walked in the barn. She and Ethan were grooming the horses. It had taken them a while to clean up all the debris. Thank goodness Rafe had been at the ranch when the flood hit. He’d kept the animals safe and there had been some minor damage to the flower beds around the trailers but with a little extra care they would be okay.

  “Hey,” Linc said has he strolled into the barn looking handsome in his jeans, long sleeved shirt and boots. She didn’t want to think about what could have happened if he hadn’t been there during the flash flood. She would never have been able to get Ethan’s foot unstuck between those two big logs. He would have drowned. She might have drowned herself.

  The sun was at Linc’s back and lined him in gold. He sauntered to Bear’s stall, rested his arms on top and smiled at her. He smiled at her the way he had done many times since she had met him. It was a carefree smile, a sexy smile. His eyes were warm, easy going, typical Linc. In that moment, the world tilted on its axis. Her head spun, her stomach flipped over on its side, her vision blurred and her heart fell long and deep and hard. She was in love with Linc McCord. In love for the first and she knew the last time in her life. She stared at him, her body still as if frozen in time.

  “Hey, you feeling okay?” Linc asked snapping her back to the present.

  She swallowed then turned back to her horse. The world righted again only everything was not back to normal. She would never be the same again. And what was she going to do about Linc? She wanted him and needed him in her life permanently.

  “Hey, Kinley come an
d take a look,” Ethan called running into the barn. “You won’t believe it.”

  She stepped out of Bear’s stall, dropped the brush into the tool bucket. Linc gazed at her with his blue, blue eyes. She wanted to stand there and look at him for the rest of her life but how could she convince him to want the same with her? “Guess we’d better go see what all the fuss is about.”

  Ethan pointed to the llamas ambling from beneath the shed. The kid laughed, a deep belly laugh. Hope rose inside her, smooth and hot and deep. It was good to see Ethan so happy. She wanted to see him happy for the rest of his life. Jelly Bean, Cocoa and Archie were covered in fine, white powder and Kinley didn’t need to wonder what the powder was.

  The day before, she and Linc and Ethan had repaired a stone fence that enclosed a plot for a vegetable garden. They had left a bag of mortar mix next to the fence and obviously the llamas had gotten into it. Kinley started laughing and soon Linc joined her. All she could see were the animal’s gentle eyes and noses. Their ears were pricked and they hummed as if they were very proud of themselves. Linc’s laughter flowed through her like a warm drink on a cold night. “We need to clean them up before it rains again.”

  The three of them rounded up the llamas and brushed away as much of the powder as they could then washed them down. When they were done, Kinley turned to Linc. “I invited Rafe, JC and Molly for dinner tonight. I thought it would be a nice way of saying thank you for looking after the ranch while we were gone.” She thought about their trip, the hike that turned into a disaster and nearly cost Ethan his life.

  Linc frowned and rubbed his chin.

  “Is there a problem?”

  He gave her a phony smile. “No problem. Sounds good.”

  She folded her arms and studied him. “You don’t look sure and you don’t sound it either.”

  “No, it’s just that I was going to take it easy tonight, kick back maybe watch a little television.”

  “Well, this isn’t a formal occasion. It’s just friends and family getting together to break bread. Nothing fancy. And I have a television so no problem there.”