Wind River Undercover

by Lindsay McKenna

  Unhappy, Anna still couldn’t stop the pleasure rippling up her calf from the way he supported her foot in his large, calloused hand. His fingers were gentle, but probing, and she sat there privately absorbing his light touch. “It does look bad,” she agreed. “But I don’t think I tore anything, Gabe, or I couldn’t have walked on it at all. It’s probably just a bad strain. Lord knows how many times I’ve gotten them out in the jungle.”

  It was his turn to grunt as he looked up. “We have to get you to the ER at our local hospital. I want this thoroughly checked out.”

  “Oh, come on!” she protested, pulling her foot out of his hands. “I just need to get some Epsom salts in warm water and I’ll soak it several times a day, buy an ACE bandage at the drugstore to wrap it up, and I’ll be fine.”

  “No.” He held her rebellious expression. “Not this time.” He looked at his watch. “It’s four A.M. I’ll put Ace out in the barn to guard the contents, give him a warm blanket to snuggle down into. Then, we can take off and get to the Wind River Hospital in about an hour and forty minutes. The ER will be empty at this time of morning, and we can get you in and out pretty quickly. Ace will have water and kibble out there, so he’ll be fine until we return.”

  She sat there, craving his touch again. If she hadn’t have pulled her foot from his hands, she might have done something a lot more jolting to Gabe. She wanted to kiss this man and find out how his lips tasted beneath hers. It was unbidden. And stupid. And not the right action to take at the moment. Heaving a sigh, she said, “Well, we’d have to go into Wind River to get the Epsom salts and an ACE bandage from the drugstore, anyway.”

  He gently patted her exposed calf. “Good call. You won’t get that boot back on because your ankle has swollen up to the size of a large orange. Let me get you a pair of your loafers. You can wear them, instead.”

  She appreciated his no-nonsense approach. “We agree,” she said, tugging the sock back on. “I’ll sit here and wait for you to retrieve them from my bedroom.”

  Rising, he teased, “I like that you don’t keep fighting logic,” giving her a warm look of praise.

  Scowling, she growled, “Just get my shoes, will you, Cowboy?” She saw humor light up in his eyes, one corner of his mouth twitch into a slight grin as he turned and walked away. He wasn’t a man who withered at her confrontational style. Anna liked that. Gabe was smart enough to know when to back off and give her room to deal with this situation. One more reason to like him, dammit.

  * * *

  Gabe felt sorry for Anna. She was a person of high confidence, didn’t need help from anyone, and here she was hobbled like a three-legged horse, frustration clearly visible in her eyes. He drove out of the hospital ER parking lot, the sky lightening a pinkish color announcing the coming dawn. She sat in the passenger seat, pouting. She had a pretty lower lip and he entertained thoughts of kissing her. What did she taste like? What was the texture of those lips of hers against his own? Reluctantly suppressing his desire for her, he focused on his driving.

  “I’m going to go over to my parents’ ranch for about an hour. And then, we need to get back home. There’s no one there to feed or water our horses if we both leave the ranch.”

  Looking down on the medical boot that was placed on her lower leg, she muttered, “At least I can walk instead of limping.”

  “Yes, but you’re going to be hobbled for at least six to eight weeks.” He gave her a wry look. “No more night runs for you. At least, for a while.”

  “Talk about rubbing salt in my wounds,” she flung back, a grin edging her lips.

  “We’ll get through it together, Anna. I’ve been expecting someone to call us about what the higher-ups want us to do about our find last night.”

  “Won’t be long in coming,” Anna promised. “I think they’ll follow the truck that either picks up that stash at the Elson home, or wherever the Elson brothers take it. DEA doesn’t want us blowing our cover this early in the game.”

  Gabe slowed the vehicle, turning right onto a wide, graveled dirt road. A mile farther inland stood the heart of his parents’ busy ranch. “I’m in agreement with you.”

  “At least you get to visit your parents. That’s the only good thing to come out of this.”

  He gave her a sympathetic look. “We’re alive. That’s the real point.”

  “You have me there.”

  “I’m looking forward to seeing my parents. We’ll probably be catching everyone at the breakfast table. We’re coming in unannounced.”

  “Wise idea,” Anna agreed. “Even though I don’t feel we’re being followed or the Elsons have some kind of tracking device to watch our movements, it’s a good idea to stay way under the radar in order to protect your family.”

  “Better believe it.” He grew less serious. “I’m sure my parents will be happy to see you, too,” he murmured, slanting a glance in her direction. Her eyes warmed and the tight line of her mouth softened. She missed her family, too. Who wouldn’t? He drove into the main area of the ranch, the road paved to the main ranch house. In no time, they were out of the truck.

  “Want some help?” he asked, coming around to Anna’s side.

  “What if I told you I would because I like being close to you?” she asked, and she looked up, watching his surprised reaction followed by a gleam of pleasure in his eyes. There, more of the truth was out. What was Gabe going to do about her bold honesty? She was limping slowly along under her own power, but he remained nearby just in case she needed help.

  “What if I told you I had a double reason for asking that?” he said, giving her a humored look. He opened the gate and stepped aside, watching her.

  “What are the two reasons?” she asked, halting as Gabe latched the gate behind them.

  Anna was an independent, intelligent, and confident woman. Most men would be scared off by that combination, but Gabe wasn’t. “First, I’m going to find out if you’ll take help from someone else when you need it,” he said, approaching her. “Second, I’m doing this for myself, too. I like being able to touch you. I feel we have a nice, building connection with each other. You can tell me if I’m wrong.”

  “You’re not wrong, Gabe. I like a man who isn’t afraid of women like me.”

  “What’s there to be afraid of?” he asked, and he held out his hand toward her. Anna came and moved beside him.

  “We don’t have enough men yet who aren’t cowed by a fully empowered woman. That scares the hell out of most of them, pronto.”

  “Unfortunately, it’s going to take time for most men to accept the fact women are equals to any man. Now? Would you like me to help you?”

  “Yes, I’d like your help.”

  He noted the vulnerability she was sharing with him about herself. That meant a lot to Gabe. He slipped his hand lightly around her upper left arm.

  “We do have a nice, building connection,” she murmured, giving him a momentary glance as they approached the wooden steps.

  “We need to talk about this on the way home. Okay?”

  She saw the seriousness in his expression, but also, if she read him accurately, relief followed by happiness that they’d leveled the playing field with each other. That was what she felt: relief. His fingers were long, steadying, but not tight or controlling as he helped her up those steps to the front door. Halting, she said, “Okay, sounds like a plan to me, Cowboy.”

  Chuckling, he knocked on the door. “I like my new nickname.”

  “Oh, I have many for you.” Anna’s heart warmed as he gave her the look of a man wanting his woman. It sent her lower body into a storm of yearning on its own.

  The front door opened. It was Maud. Her face lit up with shock and she pushed the screen door open.

  “Gabe! Anna! What a surprise! Come in!” Maud said, and she stepped aside.

  Anna followed him in and closed the door as Maud hugged her tall son. She smiled as Maud released him and she stepped over to her.

  “Anna! What happened to your ankl
e?” she asked, and she gave Anna a gentle hug and released her carefully, eyeing the supportive device around her ankle.

  “Tripped,” she lied. “A bad sprain, nothing more. I’ll be fine in about six weeks.”

  “Hey, breakfast is on?” Gabe asked, sniffing the air, pointing toward the kitchen down at the other end of the long hall.

  “Sure is. Your dad is coming home tonight from Australia. Come on, join me. I’m eating all alone.” She picked up Anna’s hand and walked at her side.

  “I was hoping to see him,” Gabe said, falling in behind the women. “We’re only stopping for an hour and then we have to get home.”

  “Figured as much,” Maud said.

  “Hi Gabe and Anna!” Sally Fremont called gaily, coming out of the kitchen area. “Good to see you two.”

  Anna lifted her hand toward the fifty-year-old woman who was dressed in a pink sweater, tan slacks, and a bright red apron around her waist. “Thanks for the welcome. We’re hungry, Sally. Can we beg a breakfast from you?”

  Sally smiled and smoothed the red apron over the tan slacks she wore. “Of course.”

  Maud motioned them to the table. “Sally has made me pancakes this morning, with a side of bacon. Interested?” she asked them.

  “Count me in,” Anna said, thanking Gabe as he pulled out the chair for her to sit down.

  “Makes two of us,” Gabe said, giving the woman a look of thanks.

  “I’ll be back in about ten minutes,” Sally promised.

  “I’ll get them coffee,” Maud called to her housekeeper.

  “I can help you,” Gabe said.

  “Nah,” Maud said, waving at him to sit down. “Pouring two cups of coffee isn’t hard to do. And we have caramel-coated coffee cake as well.”

  Gabe looked around, a sense of relaxation overwhelming him simply because he was home. The only one he’d ever known. Being here was filled with nothing but good memories, incredible love, and happiness.

  “How are you doing?” he asked his mother, taking the coffee and giving one mug to Anna and the second one for himself. He divided up slices of coffee cake to the three of them. Maud handed him two forks; one for him and one for Anna.

  “Oh, fine. Everything is running like a top around here,” Maud assured him, putting the tray aside and sitting down. “We’re cranking up for spring. There’s a lot of cattle leases that Jake, our foreman, is getting set up. It will be crazy time from late May through mid-June, thousands of cattle are being trucked up here to eat the nutritious grass we grow here in the valley.”

  “We never had cattle on our estancia. Only a milk cow that I learned how to milk,” Anna said, sipping her coffee, a look of pleasure wreathing her face. “I really like your coffee, Maud. It’s strong, hearty, but not acid-tasting.”

  “Blame that on me going to northern Costa Rica with Steve. We discovered an organic coffee grower and we’ve bought his beans ever since. Just nothing else like them. They are grown in volcanic soil and I think that’s what makes them so special.”

  “We pride ourselves in Guatemala because we raise coffee in the volcanic mountain areas, too,” Anna said. “This reminds me of home, very much like our coffee. It’s delicious.”

  Smiling, Maud said, “That’s good to hear. Doesn’t hurt to have a little taste of home. I’ll have Sally bag up some beans for you so you two can enjoy it together.”

  “Wow,” Anna murmured, surprised but pleased, “that’s wonderful, Maud. Thank you!”

  Gabe chuckled. “Now? We’ll both bail out of bed with our hair on fire knowing that good coffee is waiting for us.”

  Anna laughed and so did Maud.

  “So,” Maud said, “how are things down there?”

  “Going fine,” Gabe reassured her, seeing the worry banked in her eyes. He wanted to ease her concern in any way that he could.

  “It’s quiet,” Anna reassured her. “This mission is just about watching, is all.”

  Gabe felt his tightened gut relax. Anna wasn’t lying to his mother, but she was shading the truth of it. There was the potential for danger every day living next to the Elsons.

  “How did you get an ankle sprain?” Maud wondered.

  “Oh,” she said, “that. Really embarrassing. I tripped on a plank that was slightly above the floor of the barn and that did it.”

  “I’ve done that myself,” Maud said sympathetically. “All our barns here on the ranch are a hundred years old. We work hard to replace old, weather-beaten planks, but there’s always one that will catch you sooner or later.”

  “Well,” Anna said dryly, “it was my turn.”

  “Will that interfere with your job?” she wondered.

  “Not at all.”

  “That’s why they sent two of us,” Gabe said. “It won’t hamper what we’re doing down there.”

  Maud sighed and gave them a wispy look. “I’ve missed both of you so much. I know you don’t want to be seen around here very much while this mission is going on, but it’s awfully nice to see you.”

  “Breakfast is on,” Sally sang, coming with two plates in her hands filled with pancakes and a side of thick, crisp bacon.

  * * *

  “Your mom, I think, is pining away for your company, Gabe.”

  Gabe drove out on the gravel road and onto the highway that would take them south to their ranch. “I know. I feel guilty, if you want the truth. That was the part of the mission I didn’t like: being so close to my parents and then not being able to have much contact with them.”

  She smiled a little. “Maud understands the circumstances, though. I hope you don’t mind that I fibbed about how I sprained my ankle.”

  “It had to be done.” He set the cruise control, barely any vehicles on the road. The sun had risen, sending long, warming beams across the valley. “You won’t be climbing that ladder to get up to the second floor for a while,” he cautioned. “I’ll take over your duties up there until you can do it yourself.”

  “I’m going to feel useless,” she grumped unhappily.

  “With the weather keeping the ground muddy and wet, there’s not much we can do outside right now, anyway. I was thinking we could do some inside work on the ranch house, like put insulation in and then hang up drywall instead. You can be a second pair of hands and my chief helper. That will keep you busy. That place leaks like a sieve, and I really want to get it warmed up and stop the drafts once and for all.”

  She brightened. “I like that idea. Painting the drywall after we get it up and dried?”

  “Sure. This is something we can do during daylight hours. We can keep an eye on the Elsons while we’re at it.”

  She sighed and laid her head against the back of the seat. “I meant what I said earlier about us, Gabe,” she said, and she rolled her head to the left watching him give her a brief glance. She saw his hands tighten briefly on the wheel and then relax.

  “So did I.” Mouth quirking, his voice became roughened. “Look, I’ve tried ever since I met you to ignore you. And I can’t.”

  “It’s not like I’m some kind of infection.”

  Chuckling, he saw her give that wry grin of hers. “I guess I had that coming. This isn’t anyone’s fault. I’ve lived so long undercover, pretending, that I was pretty much numb, emotionally speaking.”

  “I can’t imagine the energy and stress it took to play at liking a woman who was a convenient cover to keep you safe in your mission.”

  “Yeah, I hated that. I didn’t mind lying to the drug soldiers, but it was rough to lie to the woman involved as cover for me.”

  “So,” she said, gazing out the front window, the sunshine bright and the sky puddled with what looked like white cotton puffs here and there, “maybe you’re not numbed out emotionally after all if you’re attracted to me. Right?”

  “Right.”

  “Don’t sound so glum about it. Worse things could have happened. We could have been a complete misfit for each other. That would be hell on earth.”

  “I�
�ve never had a situation like ours before. Has it ever happened to you?”

  “Me? Nada. I was always running and hiding in the jungles from drug soldiers who want that million dollars that was placed on my head. I didn’t dare go home or be seen near our estancia, either.”

  “That’s hard on everyone,” he said, sympathetic. “We’re attracted to each other, Anna. I know we’ve danced around this conversation before, but last night when you got injured, something deep inside me snapped. I said to hell with it, that I was going to tell you how I felt.”

  “I’m all ears. I want to see if it matches how I feel toward you.”

  “I think about you all the time. I feel like I’m going to die if I don’t get some personal conversation time with you. I liken you to the air that I breathe. I want to know everything about you, your growing-up years, your parents, and how life shaped and molded you into who you are today.” He slanted a look her way. “Is that asking too much?”

  “As we drive home? Let me fill in the blank spots in my life for you,” she said, meeting his gaze, feeling the heat radiate even more from her lower body.

  * * *

  It was nearly eleven A.M. when Gabe came in from feeding and watering their horses. Ace was more than happy to see Gabe and Anna return, and remained with him while he did the feeding. He smelled of alfalfa, a fragrance that Anna loved. There was an invisible connection throbbing between them. This time, it didn’t bother her. She had an hour to tell Gabe much about her childhood and he listened intently. Only when she stopped would he ask focused questions. It brought her to tears almost because her father was so much like him. He, too, would listen with respect, even when she was a young child of eight, excitedly sharing her experience outdoors somewhere on the estancia, and he took it all in without interrupting her. And then, later, her father would ask questions that made her think hard and caused her heart to bloom with such fierce love for him. He might have been a Marine and a high-ranking officer, but with her, he was vulnerable in ways she’d never seen a man. Until now. Gabe was entrusting himself to her, little by little. And she reciprocated. Her parents’ marriage had been based upon mutual respect, mutual trust, and a deep love for each other. Now, far more mature than her years, she recognized how fortunate she’d been to have the parents she had. Losing her father was the single hardest blow to hit her in her life. There were so few men like her papa.