The Divine Creek Ranch Collection Volume 3

by Heather Rainier

  She bit her lip when she heard Frank growl from the edge of the creek bank. He was nearby. All she could do was pray that being a city boy, he wouldn’t see the track in the leaves she must have left behind as she’d rolled down the incline and that he wouldn’t notice a blood trail.

  She jumped spasmodically when she discerned a slight, shifting sound to her right.

  Oh no.

  Maya held her breath, realizing she was not alone. The hollow tree had at least one other occupant. She heard the shifting again and the rustle of leaves. Frank sounded like he’d moved a few feet away as he muttered to himself. She knew no relief as she debated pointing the lit screen on her phone in the direction of the sounds.

  She put the phone to her ear and whispered, “Boone, I’m in the tree. I don’t think I’m alone. Frank is nearby. Should I look?”

  “It can’t be any worse than what is waiting for you outside. Whatever happens, we’re going to deal with it. Stay quiet and safe. Be my brave girl, okay? We’re on the other side of the creek now. He doesn’t even know we’re here yet. Fucking city boy doesn’t know anything about tracking. I can see the tree you’re in. He’s about ten feet down from you. Stay where you are. ”

  “’Kay. Hold on.” Boone murmured in assent, and Maya slowly turned the lit screen on her phone to illuminate a bit of the interior of the tree at a time, hoping to not startle whatever occupied the tree with her.

  A cold chill went through her as she looked into a small pair of reflective eyes. They blinked and the small animal shook its head. Whether it was better to be inside the hollowed tree or not was suddenly up for debate as she saw the sleek black coat and white stripes by the dim light of the phone as she slowly raised it to get a better look.

  Papa skunk. I swear by everything holy that if you won’t spray me, I will never, ever, ever, ever invade your home again. I promise, I promise, I promise. Nice skunk. Please don’t be rabid.

  Just as slowly she lowered the phone, making no sudden movements at all. She slowly crouched into a ball, hiding her face and suppressing a whimper as a sharp pain throbbed in her side. She put the phone back to her ear and whispered, “Boone?”

  “No, it’s Kendall. You doing okay?”

  “Yeah, but there’s a—”

  “Maya? Sit tight. Hank and his deputies are almost here, and Ace Webster is also with us. I can see them coming. We’re keeping Reeves in our sights. He’s moving back toward you. Boone has gone down to the bend in the creek and plans to cross over, see if he can’t overpower Reeves. He couldn’t wait anymore.”

  “Skunk,” she whispered.

  “What, babydoll?”

  “Sku—”

  Just then, Maya’s phone made a very audible beeping sound. The noise startled the skunk judging by the sound it made, and the animal sprang through the opening. Maya realized it was possible for relief and terror to coexist.

  “Oh no. My phone just beeped.” Panic began taking hold as she glanced at it. Low battery indicator.

  “Stay put, Maya. He’s moving toward the tree. He must’ve heard it. Don’t move a muscle. We’re coming.”

  Frank’s infuriated voice sounded above her on the creek bank. “Maya, I hear you, dammit! When I get my hands on you, after I get that key, I’m gonna—What the—”

  Maya was confused by the sounds she heard until the noxious vapors reached her inside the tree. She realized what she heard was the sound of Frank Reeves gagging and vomiting. The skunk had sprayed him, evidently at point-blank range.

  “Oh, fuck!” he yelled before vomiting some more.

  Her own stomach roiled, and she put her hands over her nose and mouth. Stars shimmered in her vision, but she heaved a sigh of relief as that lily-livered city boy lost his lunch all over the creek bank, incapacitated by a little skunk spray. It might buy her men some time to save her.

  There was a tussle, and Maya felt the vibrations as Frank rolled into the indentation outside her hiding place. Her breath caught in her throat as the gun fired again.

  The stars that had been wavering in her vision increased, and her head felt like it was filled with static as everything went black.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Boone gritted his teeth against nausea and the stench as he pinned Frank Reeves to the ground, tightening his headlock and pressing down until Reeves quit fighting. He was disgusted by Reeves as he continued gagging and retching.

  “Why? Tell me why, motherfucker. One day you’re professing your devotion and acting like a jealous lover and the next you’re trying to kill her.”

  “Fuck you, Warner.”

  “No thanks. But you let me know how that feels when you’re some seven-foot-tall inmate’s girlfriend, all right?”

  Chance and Clayton Carlisle galloped up on horseback as Richard, Kendall, and Ace Webster descended into the bowl-like indentation and scrambled for the opening in the hollow tree.

  “Maya? Oh God, Maya.” Richard reached into the tree and pulled out one little sneaker-clad foot. She didn’t move or make a sound.

  Kendall sounded like he was barely holding it together. “Careful. She must be unconscious.”

  Please, God, let her just be unconscious.

  Frank struggled for a moment, and Boone landed a solid punch to his jaw and turned Frank’s face so he couldn’t watch as they extricated her from the hollow tree. Kendall felt for her pulse and nodded at them, relief evident in his eyes.

  Chance and Clayton jumped from their horses, and Chance rifled through his saddlebag and pulled out a first-aid kit.

  He caught Boone’s eye and grinned. Holding up the kit he said, “Eagle Scout. Always prepared. Holy shit, but it stinks over here.”

  Boone grinned and replied, “Yeah, thank God for that skunk, too. Otherwise Reeves might’ve found Maya before I got to him.”

  Clayton pulled a length of rope from his saddlebag and threw it to Boone, saying, “Why don’t we hog-tie the son of a bitch for Hank.” Clayton pointed at the flurry of activity on the other side of the creek where several Divine Creek Ranch ATVs loaded with law enforcement and EMTs were pulling to a stop. Jack had also arrived in his SUV.

  Boone hog-tied Reeves and left him for the sheriff’s deputies to take charge of. The men busied themselves checking her injuries and tried to stop Maya’s blood loss from the wound at her side. When the EMTs made it across the creek, after being directed to the shallowest point by Richard so their equipment wouldn’t get wet, they stabilized Maya. Kendall, Boone, and Richard personally carried her stretcher across the creek and rode with her in Jack’s SUV back to the waiting ambulance.

  Boone helped to hold Maya’s stretcher in place and listened to Jack’s cell phone conversation with Grace as he tried to keep Maya from being jostled too much.

  “That’s right, darlin’. Hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish soap. And a bucket. Meet us at the old horse trough out by the barn. One of the ranch hands can fill it for you. No running, okay? I love you, too, darlin’.”

  Jack slipped his phone in his pocket and grinned at Boone and said, “Grace is bringing skunk remedy. No offense, Boone, but you stink to high heaven.”

  Boone had become desensitized to it, but when he put his nose to his shirt and sniffed hard, the odor made him gag a little. He was distracted by Maya’s moan.

  The two EMTs perched in the back of the SUV tended to her, and she looked over to Boone.

  He held her hand as she smiled at him and murmured, “You’re okay. I was afraid you were hit when the gun went off. I–I must have passed out. What happened?”

  “The skunk sprayed Reeves right before I jumped him. He got it worse than I did.”

  “I probably stink, too. It made me want to be sick, it was so strong. I can’t smell it now.”

  One of the EMTs spoke up and said, “We’ll probably all need de-skunking. With the humidity this high his spray was thick in the air.”

  At the ranch, Grace waited with a bucket and the other ingredients Jack had requested. J
ack couldn’t talk her into going back to the house, though. She stayed with Maya until they had her loaded and took off for the hospital.

  The EMTs told them that she was in good hands and urged them to take the few minutes to use the de-skunking solution so they would be allowed to stay in the ER waiting room.

  As it was, they got lots of surprised looks and a few disgusted ones when they showed up a few minutes later. Fresh clothes evidently hadn’t helped much either. Boone didn’t really care as long as he got to be with Maya. Judging by the looks in Kendall’s and Richard’s eyes they felt the same.

  In consideration of the other occupants of the ER waiting room, they stood in the hallway outside the doors to the emergency and trauma department. Kendall and Richard looked about as bad as Boone felt. He hoped he never saw a look on Richard’s face like he’d worn that afternoon while on the phone with Maya. Sheer panic, devastation, and powerlessness.

  He’d heard Maya’s pained yelp each time Reeves’s bullets had struck her, and the sound had terrified him.

  No one could blame them if they wrapped Maya in cotton, took her home, and never let her go anywhere else alone ever again.

  * * * *

  Maya returned to consciousness slowly. The first things she was aware of were a deep, rhythmic sound, a warm weight on her thigh, and the fragrance of roses.

  Her mouth was dry, and she shivered with cold. Shivering made her tense up, and she felt a weird sort of muffled pain in her right side. Then she remembered being shot. The room was dim as she opened her eyes and took in a sight that brought the sting of tears to her eyes.

  Boone sat in the corner by the window in a very uncomfortable-looking chair with wooden arms. His chin rested in his palm, and he was turned sideways in the chair. It looked like the chair had won the battle to find a comfortable position to sleep in.

  Kendall sat in an identical chair on one side of the bed next to a lot of monitoring equipment. He didn’t look like he was faring much better with his head tilted back, mouth wide open, snoring like a jackhammer.

  She grinned and almost wished she had a camera so she could snap a picture of him like that. The others wouldn’t think that was so amusing, but Kendall would laugh and ask her why she didn’t take a video instead and post it on YouTube so he could be famous.

  Maya looked down at the dark form on her right and realized the warm weight on her thigh was Richard’s hand. He sat forward in a hospital chair with his upper body resting on the mattress, his head on his forearms.

  Even though he was in repose, she could see the stress of the day’s events on his face. His eyebrows were drawn slightly together so a line formed between them, and there was tension around his eyes. Even so, he was a handsome man. She loved his full lips and neatly trimmed beard and moustache and the way it tickled when he kissed her.

  She longed to thread her fingers through his silky hair but resisted the impulse so he could rest. According to the clock on the wall it was nearly midnight. She reached for the cup on the bedside table and grimaced at the pain in her side. Taking a drink eased the dryness of her throat.

  When she shifted it must have awakened Richard because he looked at her and then quickly sat up.

  “Hi,” he whispered, his voice laced with sleepiness. He laced his fingers through hers and glanced at the clock. “How do you feel?”

  “Groggy. What happened? I’m having a hard time remembering coming here.”

  “You had a through-and-through gunshot wound to your side. They did exploratory surgery to make sure there was no internal damage and made some repairs. They removed the bullet from your shoulder. The wound in your arm was a through-and-through also, but it did some damage to the muscle and your humerus, which is why your arm is in a temporary cast.”

  “After he shot me it felt like it didn’t work right. That explains it. What about Frank?”

  “Hank locked him up. He’s being charged with attempted murder. They’re going to reinvestigate Morgan’s death, and if they can find enough evidence they’ll charge him with murder as well. Any idea why he would do this?”

  Grief and confusion swirled through her grogginess. That hotheaded bastard had murdered her husband, probably for his money. It made her head ache as she tried to piece the puzzle together. “I don’t know. It makes no sense. One day he’s telling me we belong to together and the next he’s trying to—he put a GPS on my car.”

  Richard sat back and reached into the bedside table for a notepad and pencil. He jotted down what she’d told him. “We’ll let the police know so they can check it out. Did he say anything else you thought was odd?”

  “Nothing comes to mind right now. My head feels like it’s full of cotton,” she said, grimacing when she felt her hair. It was full of grit from the inside of the tree and from crawling through the brush.

  “Yuck. I need a shower. Did they say when I can go home?”

  Richard smiled at her in commiseration and said, “They want you to stay for two more nights. We’ll help you get cleaned up. But that’s waiting until the morning.”

  The night nurse quietly came in to check on her, and Kendall and Boone sat up, wide awake, when she turned on the lights. It was then that Maya noticed the lovely rose arrangements sitting on her windowsill.

  Kendall, Boone, and Richard stood at the foot of the bed while the nurse did her job and administered pain meds to Maya.

  The nurse, who looked like the no-nonsense type, wrinkled her nose and said, “She’s not supposed to still have visitors in her room this late at night. Don’t you want her to get well?”

  Kendall grinned and turned on the charm for the nurse. “Of course we do, ma’am. She only just woke up a second ago.”

  The nurse had a twinkle in her eye when she glanced at Boone as he stretched and his spine crackled. “You should go home and get yourselves some rest. Those uncomfortable chairs they put in these rooms are meant to keep people from staying too long, I think.”

  “Oh, we’re just fine, ma’am,” Kendall replied, giving Maya’s hand a gentle pat. “We had a close call with this beautiful lady and can’t seem to pry ourselves from her side.”

  “All of you stink to high heaven. You could at least go take a shower.”

  “That is the eau du skunk of the varmint that saved Maya’s life,” Kendall said as he sniffed his shirt and grimaced. “Guys, she may have a point. We are obnoxious.”

  “The skunk saved her life?” the nurse asked doubtfully.

  “He sure did.”

  “So, is one of you her husband?”

  Maya suppressed a giggle and waited to see how Kendall handled that one.

  Kendall grinned and said, “Nope, but we will be.”

  The nurse, who had to have seen some pretty crazy stuff working in a hospital, arched her eyebrows in mild surprise. “We? Who?”

  Maya caught Boone rolling his eyes and smiled. Kendall chuckled and replied, “We—us.” He gestured at his brothers with his thumb.

  The nurse grinned and doubtfully said, “All three of you?” Maya knew a nurse wouldn’t normally get into such detailed conversations with visitors in a hospital but made allowances since this was a small town and her curiosity was clearly benign. There was no judgment in her posture or voice. Chances were, Maya would probably get to know her well if she worked for Dr. Guthrie.

  “Yes, ma’am. All three of us.” Kendall replied, clearly the spokesman for their group.

  The nurse turned to Maya to finish her task with one hundred questions in her twinkling eyes. “So all three claimed you? Do they have any single brothers?”

  Maya giggled and shook her head.

  “Cousins? Distant relations?”

  With a laugh Maya replied, “I don’t think so, but I’ll put in a good word for you.” The laughter made her grimace and she put her hand to her side.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have got you laughing. Those pain meds will kick in soon.” Turning to the guys, she said, “She’ll get loopy soon and probab
ly be out like a light for the rest of the night if y’all want to go rest. I might be able to wrangle a cot, but no more than one in a room this size.”

  Boone replied, “That’s all right, ma’am. We really don’t mind. We’ll just watch over her tonight and let her sleep. Don’t put yourself to trouble on our account.”

  The nurse shook her head and smiled. “My name is Ruth. I’ll be around tonight if she needs anything.”

  “Thank you, Ruth,” Maya replied quietly, sighing as a dreamy, peaceful feeling descended upon her.

  “Yep. She’s feeling better already,” Ruth said as she turned out the light over Maya’s bed.

  They clustered around her as soon as Ruth left.

  Gesturing at the windowsill, she said, “The roses are wonderful. Who are they from?”

  Boone replied, “Kendall sent the red roses, Richard sent the white and pink roses, and I sent the multicolored orange roses. Like them?”

  Maya nodded and murmured, “They’re perfect.”

  Their color choices communicated a lot to Maya. Red roses for desire, white roses for loyalty and sincerity, pink for love, and fiery, multicolored orange roses for passion.

  Kendall sat on the left edge of the bed, and Boone occupied the right side. Richard got another blanket from the closet when he noticed her shiver. He spread it over her, smiling as Kendall and Boone each kissed her forehead.

  “You should go home and get some sleep. You’re going to be worthless tomorrow,” she said as she caressed their cheeks.

  Boone replied, “Chance gave me and Richard the day off tomorrow and said to tell you he and Clayton hope you feel better soon.”

  “We’re staying here with you tonight. We’ll rest some more tomorrow. Right now, I—” Kendall had to clear his throat when his voice cracked. “I don’t want to leave. We came so close to losing you today.”

  Normally so playful and verbose, he looked down and picked at the blanket and said no more. When he looked up at her, Maya saw the sheen of tears in his eyes. Because of the clunky full-arm cast and bandage on her left shoulder and arm she had to reach across her body for him, which pulled at the stitches on her right side, and she grimaced.