by Leanne Banks
Maria gave a careless shrug. “It’s not so hard. Men are easy. You show them love, you tease them and please them, and they will beg. It happens all the time.”
“Maybe for you,” Lori said, envious of Maria’s confidence. “ Jackson is a very strong man. I’m not sure any woman could make him fall in love.”
“Then maybe you’re not the right woman for him. Maybe you’re not strong enough for him,” Maria said lightly. “Maybe you should let another woman have him.”
A sizzling possessiveness raced through her with the power of a freight train. “Absolutely not. Why would I let another woman have him? He may not love me, but he’s married to me.”
Maria put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to one side. “You’ll have to decide if you are strong enough for him.”
Maria’s words haunted Lori during the next days. The woman seemed to boil it all down very nicely, but Lori knew that seducing Jackson didn’t mean he would give her his heart. If she were a different person, she would go after him and tell him she loved him, but she was terrified he would feel awkward because he couldn’t return the affection. Her quandary drove her crazy.
After she didn’t hear from him for two days, she decided to buck up and initiate the call. She dialed his number, and the rings continued so long that she almost hung up, unwilling to leave a message. Just before she decided to hit the disconnect button, his voice came on the line. “Jackson James.”
Her heart raced at the sound of his voice.
“Hello? Jackson James,” he repeated, impatient.
“Hello?” she blurted.
A half second of silence followed. “Lori?”
She nodded even though he couldn’t see her. “Yes, it’s me.” She cleared her throat. “How are you?”
“Okay,” he said. “Busy as hell, but okay. Is there a problem?”
Yes, I miss you. “Not really. I just wanted to check in with you.”
“Hmm. Do you need more money? Did you want to make another donation?” he asked.
“No,” she said, feeling more awkward with each passing second. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, after all. “Well, I’m glad everything’s okay with you. I guess I’ll talk to you some other-”
“Wait,” he cut in. “Why did you call?”
“I told you,” she said. “I just wanted to check in with you.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, mustering courage. “I wanted to hear your voice.”
Silence followed. “Okay. Everything keeps moving very quickly on the construction deal. I never imagined it would move this fast.”
She heard the excitement in his voice and smiled. “That’s great. Did you decide if you’re going to have a pet park?”
“Yes. Good idea. The construction people love it. What about you?”
“I’ve been helping Maria with classes with the campers,” she said proudly.
“Really? You’ve been riding?”
“So far just leading, no riding, but it’s been a lot of fun. Those kids are amazing. They have all kinds of problems, but their disabilities don’t keep them from trying.”
“Yeah, it’s fun to watch. Wait. Excuse me a minute,” he said, and she heard him say something to someone else. “Listen, I’m meeting for drinks with some of my new business contacts. I’ll give you a call tomorrow or the next day.”
“That would be great,” she said, the longing inside her stretching like the Grand Canyon. “Good to hear your voice,” she said.
“Yeah,” he said. “Good to hear yours, too. Bye.”
Pushing the disconnect button, she replayed his last words five times in her head. Then another five. And another. Then she stopped, because she knew she was being goofy.
They talked every other day for the next week. Short calls that made her wish for his closeness. Every time they talked, she hoped she meant something special to him, but she couldn’t be sure. She hated her sense of uncertainty.
Thursday dragged by. Rain started in the morning and didn’t let up all day. Outdoor classes were cancelled, and Maria and Lori played games with the children. One of the children, Reese, was especially challenging. Although mentally handicapped, red-haired Reese was physically strong and active, full of energy that Lori tried to help defuse by running races with him around the cabin.
In early afternoon, Maria announced that she and Geoffrey were going to town.
“Is it a date?” Lori asked, feeling a pinch of envy at the open affection Maria and Geoffrey shared.
Maria’s cheeks bloomed. “Geoffrey wants to take me to dinner.” She paused a half beat and lowered her voice. “We’re also going to apply for the marriage license.”
Lori couldn’t help feeling a rush of joy. She was glad someone would get the marriage thing right. “Then you really need to decide on a dress.”
Maria nodded. “I never thought I would be marrying an English duke. I never really thought I would be getting married at all. I still can’t believe that Geoffrey thinks I’m the most beautiful woman in the world. Even with my scar,” she said, lifting her hand to the jagged mark on her cheek. She sighed, then shook her head. “But yes, I want to get a dress. Did you wear a dress for your wedding to Jackson?”
Lori shook her head. “No. It was all done so quickly there wasn’t time.”
“Didn’t you miss that? Didn’t you want that romantic experience?”
Lori felt a knot form in her throat. “It wasn’t supposed to be romantic. We don’t have that kind of relationship,” she said.
“Maybe you could if you would stop hiding your marriage,” Maria said.
“That will happen eventually,” she said. “But we weren’t discussing my wedding. We were discussing your wedding.”
Maria shot her a look of disapproval, but she couldn’t hold it long. Her lips curved into a big smile of joy. “He is the sweetest man in the world. Thank you for not agreeing to marry him.”
Lori laughed. “He wouldn’t have been able to go through with it with me. He fell for you the first time he met you.”
“True,” Maria said. “Now, if you have any problems at all, just call my cell. Hopefully we wore out the little kiddies enough that they will settle down easily tonight. That cutie Reese was a little terror, wasn’t he? I couldn’t believe how many times you raced him around the cabin.”
“And in the rain,” Lori added. “There shouldn’t be any problems here. Enjoy your afternoon and evening. You deserve it.”
“Thanks,” Maria said, then impulsively hugged Lori. “You’re not as much of a stuck-up, clueless rich girl as I originally thought.”
“Thanks,” Lori said. “I think.”
After Geoffrey and Maria left, Lori stayed indoors until dinner, when she delivered the evening meal to the campers. She and Virginia organized simple relays to entertain the children, then followed up by reading books to help the campers calm down.
Since Reese was still wound up with energy, Lori opened a big umbrella and took him for a walk to the barn. He enjoyed visiting the horses and protested when she took him back to the cabin.
Worn out from the day, Lori climbed into her bed and stared at her cell phone, willing it to ring. It remained silent, and she felt the distance between her and Jackson more than ever. She couldn’t help wondering what the future for the two of them held. She fell asleep, cradling the phone in her hand.
A knock on her door woke her in the middle of the night. “Lori, Lori,” Virginia said from the other side of the door. “We have an emergency.”
Lori immediately sprang out of bed and flung open the door. Dressed in her robe, with an expression of fear tightening her face, Virginia shook her head. “One of the children is missing. He must have left after the camp counselors fell asleep. They’ve looked all around the cabin and the barn and can’t find him anywhere.”
Him. Lori had a sinking sensation. “Reese?”
Virginia nodded. “We have to find him. It’s still raining out there. The streams are overflowing
and the road is rained out. Maria and Geoffrey are stuck in town, and Cash can’t get through, either.”
“Oh, no,” Lori said, feeling helpless. “Let me get dressed so I can start looking, too.”
“I would take out one of the horses myself, but my arthritis has been giving me a fit,” Virginia said. “Lori, I know the conditions are terrible, but our best bet is if someone takes Lady to do the search. She’s sure-footed, gentle, and can always find her way back to the barn.”
Lori’s stomach clenched. Virginia needed her to step up. Virginia didn’t know what she was asking, and Lori was terrified she couldn’t deliver. “You think Lady can do this?” Lori asked at the same time she was asking herself if she could do it.
“I do,” Virginia said.
Lori knew what she had to do.
Chapter Twenty-one
“The great thing about life is just when you think you’re headed straight for the dump, you hit a curve that takes you to paradise.”
– SUNNY COLLINS
Underneath her jeans, T-shirt, rain cloak, and hat, Lori broke into a cold sweat as she approached the barn. Rain pelted relentlessly against her vinyl raincoat. Armed with a lantern, flashlight, first-aid kit, and cell phone that would be intermittently useless due to lack of coverage, she wished she could just have a one-minute conversation with Jackson.
Just one minute and her heart rate would settle down, her breathing would slow, and she would believe that she could do what she needed to do. She hadn’t ridden a horse alone in years.
Lanterns flickered nearby as two of the camp counselors searched for the little boy. Standing outside the barn, Lori closed her eyes and imagined Jackson ’s voice. “You can do anything you want. Anything.”
Taking a deep breath, Lori stepped inside the barn.
Virginia and another camp counselor, Mrs. Aliff, greeted her. “Try the north pasture first,” Virginia said.
Lori nodded and walked toward Lady’s stall. “Hey, Lady, I’m counting on you.” she whispered.
Mrs. Aliff came to stand beside her. “We hope you can find him. He’s a pistol, but he means so much to everyone. His parents, the other children.” The woman sniffed back tears. “He loves running games, races, tag, and hide and seek.”
Pushing her own anxiety aside for a moment, Lori covered the counselor’s hand with hers. “I know he likes to run. He ran circles around me this afternoon,” she said and mustered a smile. “I think he’s tough enough that he’ll still be running circles tomorrow.”
“I hope so.”
“Lady and I will do our best,” Lori said, feeling her nerves rise inside her again. Hauling the saddle from the tack room, she strapped it on, followed by the bridle, murmuring to the horse all along. All too aware of the horse’s size and strength, she led Lady out of the barn and prepared to mount.
Swallowing over the ball of nerves in her throat that refused to go away, she fought the urge to run. Her body still wrapped in cold sweat, she fought the urge to panic, to splinter into a million tiny, useless pieces.
“Are you okay?” Virginia asked from behind her.
“I’m good,” she lied, determined to make it the truth. Placing her left foot in the stirrup, she swung herself into the saddle and slid her other foot into a stirrup. For a second, the ground began to waver and swim. Light-headed, she gulped in deep breaths of air. She couldn’t pass out. She couldn’t. She had to do this.
No time to waste, she told herself and nudged the horse into a walk. Clinging for her life, she took it slow and moved north or, for her, right. The rain continued without abating, with the wind slapping moisture on her face every few moments. It was messy and miserable, and Lori could only imagine how frightened Reese must be.
The unpleasantness distracted her from her fear, and she urged Lady into a trot. “Not too fast,” she said in a soothing tone. “I don’t want you to slip, but let’s not poke.” Then she began to yell. “Reese! Reese!”
Two hours later, riding Lady was the least of her discomfort. Her throat hurt from yelling, and she was certain not one inch of her was dry. Worse yet, she didn’t know where she was, and there was no sign of Reese.
“Okay, let’s turn around and try a different direction,” she said to the well-mannered mare. “If you were an eight-year-old boy, where would you go in the middle of a torrential downpour?”
Lady gave a nod and snort as if she knew better than to wander out in this kind of weather.
“You are definitely due some serious apples after this,” Lori said and began to call for Reese.
An hour and a half later, she didn’t know whether to keep looking or head back to the barn. Out of sheer frustration, she called out, “Hide and seek, Reese. You’re it. Can you find me?” She repeated it for over twenty minutes. Her voice grew husky, breaking on every other word, and she paused and swallowed a sip from her water bottle.
She began to yell again but heard a faint sound. Rain splattered loudly on her drooping hat and vinyl raincoat. “Reese?” she croaked. “Reese?”
She heard another sound, high-pitched but indecipherable. Her pulse picked up. “Reese?”
“One, two, three on you,” a voice called. “You are it!”
Lori’s heart nearly exploded in her chest as she turned Lady toward the sound of his voice. “Reese, where are you? Come here.”
“You are it,” he called, his voice closer.
Swinging the lantern around, she spotted a tiny figure huddled under a large tree. “Come here, sweetie,” she called. “Come here and let me take you home.”
Reese began to cry, and the sound wrenched at her. Lori slid off the horse and raced toward the child, pulling Lady behind her. Reese cowered under the tree, sobbing. “One, two, three. You are it.”
“Come here, sweetie. Let me take you home.”
Reese continued to wail.
At a loss, Lori put her arms around him and held him. “You’re okay. Wet, but okay. Don’t you want a ride with Lady? She’s very nice. She likes little boys. She wants to take us home.”
“Ride?” he echoed, sniffing as he stared at the horse.
Lori nodded. “You bet. Let’s go home.”
After she got both of them on the horse, Lori tucked Reese’s squirmy, wet little body under her raincoat and let Lady lead the way.
Jackson had been awakened by the phone call two hours ago. He’d been dead asleep, but it had taken only a moment for his heart to stop in his chest when Maria explained why she was calling so early.
Jackson had been in his car within two minutes. Driving through the constant downpour, he took his SUV off-road when the lanes were flooded. Rain shimmered down his windshield faster than the wipers could push it aside. Despite the vehicles he saw abandoned and the signs warning of flash floods, he drove on. He almost stalled out once but maneuvered out of the deepest waters. Sheer luck.
All he could think about was Lori. Although Maria and Geoffrey had been barricaded from returning to the ranch by flooded roads, Maria had learned that Lori had been looking for one of the campers for hours. Now Virginia feared that Lori was lost, too.
Jackson ’s stomach churned with remorse. He should have been there with her instead of focusing on this real-estate development deal. His pride had been mortally wounded when she’d insisted she didn’t want her family to know she’d married him. Determined to make her proud of him, he’d worked night and day to pull this deal together.
She’d been the biggest headache of his life, and now she was the biggest heartache. His hands clammy as he clenched the steering wheel, he held on to a scrap of hope that her training had come back to her.
Lord help him, though, the woman was vulnerable. Her father had kept her wrapped in a cocoon, unprepared for life, let alone riding around on a horse in the middle of the night looking for a lost child.
Turning on the road to the ranch, he stepped on the gas. He would be there soon. The ranch was just three miles away. Just three miles. He saw the shiny puddle, or w
as it a lake stretching across the road? Swearing, he slowed. He didn’t have time for this. Damn this rain. Damn the flooded roads. Damn it all.
Jackson swerved, but the engine gulped too much water and stalled. He tried to restart the SUV. It coughed and sputtered and died. Thumping his fist against the steering wheel, he swore again. Getting out of the car, he pushed it to the side of the road and started running. Two and a half miles to go. He had to get to Lori.
Twenty-five minutes later, he jogged toward the barn. He’d spent the last mile alternately praying and swearing. The chorus of voices and whistles he heard gave him hope. Brushing the rain from his face, he sped up his pace and ran to the far side of the barn that led into the paddock.
He stopped dead in his tracks. A small figure, covered in a hooded raincoat, rode Lady, the large, gentle mare, and held a small child peeking out from the raincoat. “One, two, three, I see you,” the child called. “You are it.”
The small group of people let out yells of praise. A volunteer stepped forward, reached up to the child, a boy, and carried him down off the horse.
“Lori, you’re drenched,” Virginia said.
The small woman on the horse was Lori. His heart racing, he ran to the horse’s side and held out his arms.
“I tried to call you,” she said in a croaky voice.
Lifting her foot from one stirrup, she slid down into his arms. “Sorry I’m so wet,” she whispered, shivering.
Jackson held her close, so relieved that she was safe.
“She’s been out in that rain for hours,” Virginia said. “We should get her inside.”
Jackson picked Lori up and headed for the house. “I’m so wet,” Lori said.
“We’ll get you dry,” he said.
She lifted her hands to his face. “You’re wet, too. What happened?”
“Another story,” he said, still worried about her.
She coughed. “My throat hurts. I yelled and yelled and yelled,” she whispered.
“You did good,” he said. “You rescued that little boy. You’re a hero.”
