He swallowed, afraid of how she’d overwhelmed him, invaded his senses, his hopes. His heart thundered, and he thought he heard a roar in his ears. He even had a slight sweat along his neck. “Piper, I ah . . . whoa, I . . .” He licked his lips. His mouth had turned to dust. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why—”
“You were crying, and I shouldn’t have taken advantage—”
Piper looked at him sharply, an awfulness in her eyes that stopped him cold. “You didn’t.” She closed her mouth, breathing fast, as if on the edge of another round of tears. “That’s the problem.”
“What?” The roar in his ears became louder.
“Why can’t you be a jerk?” she whispered in a broken voice.
He barely stifled an incredulous huff. Had she heard nothing of what he’d said earlier tonight? He was the king of jerks.
She backed out of the tent, wiping her cheeks.
The roaring became even louder, a thundering that rushed right through him, as if she’d stolen his heart right out of his chest and left a gaping hole.
Or . . .
His breath jerked, and he barreled out of the tent, a quiet dread turning him toward the sound.
Oh no!
At that moment, Dutch’s voice rose over the chaos. “Stampede!”
Piper had heard about stampedes in movies. Huge, thunderous affairs where the frantic cows trampled everything as they ran to safer ground. According to her calculations, as the black mass swept toward her, she would be among the trampled.
Piper didn’t have time to think about the way she’d thrown herself at Nick, how she’d clearly lost every scrap of sense. No time to consider his response or finally how in his arms she’d not only felt safe and alive but protected from all the demons that roamed in her past and often in her nightmares.
She still tingled from head to toe.
“Run!” Nick grabbed her arm, propelling her across the camp toward the pickups.
Hooves pounded the ground, and she heard tearing as first one tent, then another, ripped to smithereens. Nick sprinted full out, pulling her along with him. She barely felt the ground.
Hot breath grazed her neck as a cow closed in behind her. She cried out, tripping. Nick hauled her up and practically carried her to Stef’s pickup. He opened the door and shoved her inside, crawling in beside her.
The stampede hurtled by, rocking the pickup in a violent wave. Without thinking, she clung to Nick, breathing hard.
He held her tight, his arms a cocoon of safety, his own chest sawing air. “Are you okay?”
She nodded over and over, but she wasn’t sure of her answer. And not because she’d nearly become hamburger. Now that she could think, she realized that back in the tent she’d forgotten everything she’d come to the Silver Buckle to find, everything she’d planned on doing to Nick Noble, and let herself be in his arms. He’d kissed her as if he needed her as desperately as she needed him, and she couldn’t stop herself—especially when he told her that he wanted to kill the person who had left her with her nightmares.
What was she thinking? She knew Nick’s games. Knew that trusting him could only lead to disaster. And hadn’t he confirmed that he had shattered several lives?
Shaking, she moved away from him, feeling cold and weak. He let her go as she wrapped her arms around herself. She couldn’t look at him.
He ducked his head, searching for her eyes. “Piper?”
“I said yes.” Her tone emerged sharper than she wanted. She closed her eyes, hearing him blow out a deep breath, as if she’d punched him. Well, his hurt feelings were the best thing for both of them.
“It’ll be over soon,” he said, his voice hard. Then it softened. “You could have been killed.”
His kindness, his worry for her only made her feel ashamed. Worse, more than anything she wanted to turn to him, feel his arms around her, as if she were really Piper Sullivan, resident chef and not transient liar. She felt on the edge of telling him everything, of begging him to start over, and the sharp-edged, objective journalist in her might be the only thing to save her now.
“How’d it start?” she asked, glancing at him.
His hair was tousled and dirty, and he had one hand braced on the dash, as if to hold the truck together. Outside, animals bellowed, and bodies still slammed the truck.
“I don’t know,” he said just as a cow leaped into the bed and skidded against the cab. The glass shattered.
Piper screamed.
Nick launched himself at her, protecting her with his body. The cow bellowed as it thrashed, finding its footing. The truck nearly turned over as it jumped out.
“We’re going to get killed,” Piper said, shaking, her hands over her face.
Nick pulled her to his chest. She savored his smell, the feeling of him close, his whiskers rough against her cheek, his strong arms around her as he kept her safe.
“No, we’re not. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you, Piper.”
It was no use. She wrapped her hands around his arms and held on, knowing that somewhere down the road she’d find herself right in the middle of heartbreak.
As she awoke, Maggy smelled the sweet pungency of the barn. When she opened her eyes, she realized why she’d slept so well last night.
Cole held her close against his chest in one arm, while his other draped the little bum she’d been crying over. He’d managed to get some food into the calf because Maggy found it sleeping soundly.
He was a miracle worker, her man. Maggy lifted her head to watch him sleep. He was always moving, and when he finally sat it seemed such a gift to just be quiet with him. He had long eyelashes—she used to call him Pretty Eyes—and a smattering of reddish brown whiskers along his chin. But this morning he looked jaundiced—something that hitched her breath even as she ran her fingers through his hair. He shouldn’t have spent the night out here with her, not in his condition.
But wasn’t he supposed to be getting better? She closed her eyes, laying her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He had lied to her. She knew it. Cole wasn’t getting better.
She felt him jerk, and then his arm around her tightened. She raised her head and saw that he was looking at her.
A slow smile crept up his face. “Have I ever told you how beautiful you look with hay in your hair?”
“I smell like the barn.”
“I love the barn.” He kissed the top of her head. “Your bum made it.”
For today. She petted the animal’s hide, which twitched under her touch. “Remember the first year we were ranching? We spent nearly every night for a month in the barn.” She waggled her eyebrows, remembering more than that.
He rolled his eyes, but they twinkled. “I also remember Dutch finding us more than once.”
Dutch had also found her with Nick. But the stoic cow boss had never said a word. The man knew way too many Noble family secrets. But he’d kept them all. Someday she’d thank him for that.
“You didn’t have to sleep out here, Cole.”
He made to sit up. “I wanted to. You shouldn’t be out here by yourself.”
She pushed herself off him without comment. They both knew how much she did alone. “Did CJ get settled in?”
“I assume so. He’s a big kid. Told me last night that he’s been roping with Nick.”
She stiffened, trying to read Cole’s expression.
He blew out a breath, and she recognized a forced smile. “If anyone can teach him to rope, it’s Nick.”
“I was going to tell you, Cole, but I didn’t want you to get upset.”
He shook his head even before she finished. “I’m not upset, Mags. If CJ wants to win, Nick can help him. I was never the roper Nick was.”
She knew what he was really saying: I was never the man Nick was.
Her throat tightened. “That’s not true. You were every bit as good as Nick. You won together as I remember. I was so proud of you.”
His eyes didn’t meet hers. “You were there for Nick.”
“I was there for both of you. Besides, Nick didn’t even notice me.” She cupped Cole’s face, turning it toward her. “But I remember when you rode around the ring. You looked for me in the stands and waved right at me. Don’t you remember that?”
Cole gave a slight nod. “I didn’t think you remembered.”
“Cole, don’t you know that I always noticed what you did? You made a point of seeing me. Of listening to me. Of making me feel as if I alone made you smile.”
Her words didn’t seem to penetrate. Reaching out for the stall wall, Cole wrestled himself to his feet. She swallowed the pain of seeing him struggle, wanting to cry.
“Did you see Nick last night?” he asked, breathing hard.
“He was there. Acted like he didn’t know a thing about the baby.”
Cole looked at her, and she couldn’t bear the concern on his face. “Maybe he doesn’t know.”
“How could he not? You were there. You helped me leave the note.”
“He was angry. Maybe he never saw it.” Cole hung on the walls as he dragged himself to his crutches. He walked like an eighty-year-old cowboy. “We need to find out if he knows.”
“No, we don’t. You’re my husband. You’re the father of my son. That’s all I care about. It doesn’t matter if Nick ever finds out—”
“It does matter, Mags.” His voice had softened almost to a groan. “Especially now.”
Maggy felt his words like a brand on her soul. “What are you talking about?”
He leaned on his crutches, turned to her. “I think you need to give Nick a chance to apologize.”
She stared at him, horrified. “Who are you? Don’t you remember the feel of his fist on your face? remember what he did to your mother?”
“Nick isn’t to blame for Mom’s death. We all knew she wasn’t well.” He didn’t look at Maggy as he spoke. “And Nick’s back for better or worse. We have to accept it and let him back into our lives.”
Her voice lowered. “Do you remember what I said to you the night CJ was born?”
Cole swallowed and looked away.
“I told you that God loved me because He gave me a husband who wouldn’t leave me. Who loved me better than himself. And that I didn’t deserve you. I didn’t want Nick then . . . and I don’t want him now.”
“You deserve better than me.” He turned to leave. “You deserve a man who can take care of you.”
“No, I don’t!” She ran to intercept him, grabbing his crutch. “Yes, I need you here on the ranch, making it work. But I need you for more than that. You alone know the mistakes I made, and you loved me in spite of them.”
Cole met her eyes, and she saw in them their past, that night when she’d realized not only that Nick wasn’t coming back but that Cole had found his way into her heart.
The night she’d accepted his marriage proposal. He’d looked at her the same way then—with the suspicion that her words were born from desperation.
He broke her gaze. “I loved you with your mistakes, Mags.”
“I know, Cole.” She stepped close and grasped his jean jacket, pulling his lapels. He still felt strong and capable. She wrapped her hands around his waist and put her head on his chest.
One arm came around her, and for a long while, he just held her. She listened to his heartbeat and wished that once more Dutch might find them in the hay.
Finally, he lifted his head and touched her chin, raising her face to his. “Mags, I want you to promise me something.”
She frowned, his expression scaring her.
“If something happens to me, I want you to sell the ranch. Go south to Arizona and be with your parents. Send CJ to a great college. And remarry.”
She felt as if he’d reached down and scooped all her insides out.
Then his eyes darkened, and his expression turned hard. “Or if you want, you should marry Nick.”
CHAPTER 14
EARLY DAWN REVEALED the carnage of the stampede. With the sunrise spilling over the prairie, lighting it nearly afire, Nick and Stefanie totaled their losses. The Buckle had lost at least eight calves and four cows. Nick waved his lariat, whistling as he dogged the stray cattle back toward the camp. They’d scattered in the draws and gullies, many of them wounded, some caught in brush.
After spending part of the night with Piper in his arms, Nick also felt disoriented, tangled in unfamiliar feelings. She hadn’t kissed him again—and he wasn’t about to try after the horrified look on her face—but she had let him hold her and had finally fallen asleep. That felt strange. Not because his arm had fallen asleep, but because he well remembered the last time he’d held a sleeping woman. All he’d been thinking then was what if his father found them, if his mother could see him from heaven, and how guilty he felt for talking Maggy into something they both knew was wrong.
But sitting in the cab of the truck last night, cradling Piper, none of those feelings had assaulted him. In fact, as he’d smoothed her hair and tried not to jostle her, he felt as if maybe—finally—he’d done something right.
When light crept over the horizon, he’d settled her onto the seat and climbed out of the mangled truck. Dutch caught up with him, and they’d spent the next three hours rounding up the horses and taking a head count of the cattle. Thankfully, all the hands were accounted for—Pete and Quint and Andy and the three from the other ranch who had stayed to help them today. Nick felt nearly hollow with relief that Maggy and CJ had gone home. The kid had gotten inside him just a little—perhaps in CJ’s eagerness, Nick had seen a smidgen of his own youthful zeal.
“C’mon, doggie,” Nick hollered as he drove a handful of cows and calves toward the rest of the herd, not penned but grazing happily and monitored by the few hands on horseback. Stefanie or Old Pete had rebuilt the fire pit, and he smelled coffee brewing. Whistles and calls, the sounds of a dog barking, laced the air.
The chuck wagon had taken a hit—its wheel had cracked in two places, and Nick would have to unload it and transport the wagon on a flatbed to get it home. Dishes and utensils littered the ground, Piper’s delicious biscuits trampled into the grass.
He spied Piper collecting the debris as he rode closer. Herding the cattle toward the others, he turned his horse toward camp, dismounted, and tied the bay to the chuck wagon.
Piper didn’t look at him while she loaded tin plates and cups into her apron, then dumped them into the washbasin.
He picked up a runaway pot and tossed it into the wagon. “You in one piece this morning, Piper?” He walked over to her and helped her gather silverware.
She nodded but still didn’t look at him.
“Everything okay, George?” He reached for her, but she skittered away. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” Only her voice didn’t sound like nothing. It was sharp and nasty.
He caught up with her, touched her elbow.
This time, she turned and looked at him. She’d been crying. But this wasn’t the sad, nearly frantic grief of last night. Piper gave him a look of pure fury.
Ouch. He dropped her elbow and stepped back. “Please tell me that you’re not mad at me.”
She looked momentarily shocked, then shook her head. “Dutch said that someone started this stampede on purpose.”
Nick raised an eyebrow. Since when did Dutch turn chatty?
“He said gunshots scared the cattle into running. I’ll bet that if we look around, we’ll find hoofprints of the culprit at the far edge of the field.”
“Hoofprints? You are cognizant of the fact that cows have hooves, right?”
She glared at him, hands on her hips. She had a smudge of dirt across her cheek, and her hair had been blown by the wind. He couldn’t help a sudden burst of affection for her.
“Don’t patronize me. You yourself said that Cole wanted this ranch. And didn’t Stefanie say that a bunch of cattle had mysteriously died in Hatcher’s field? Is it outside the realm of possibility
that someone might try and make you lose more cattle? Look at this!” She spread her hands, and he saw her emotions flash across her face at the destruction. “It’s wrong.”
“I think you’re jumping to conclusions, Lois Lane. Yes, I was there, and they sounded like shots, but sometimes cowboys shoot their guns as a warning.”
“And how many of the hands had guns on them last night? Excuse me for noticing, but this isn’t the OK Corral. People don’t walk around with guns at their hips anymore.”
Nick hid a smirk. “No, but an occasional cowboy carries a rifle. More do now that we’ve had wolves and coyotes in the area.”
“I thought you’re not allowed to shoot wolves.”
What was with this woman? “No one stampeded the cattle. It was an accident, and while I do believe Cole wants this property, I highly doubt he’d try and kill us to get it.”
In fact, he was sure of it. His own words shook him. He’d been so sure that Cole had hornswoggled his father out of the land. But was that the Cole he’d known, had grown up with?
He took off his glove and lifted his hand to wipe off the smudge on Piper’s cheek. She stood there, her lips pursed, looking so sure of herself he had to laugh.
“I appreciate the indignation, but really, Piper, I think this was just an accident. Let’s not round up the lynch mob yet.”
She regarded him with narrowed eyes.
“I think you need a hat. Help cool you off.”
She harrumphed and shook her head.
Nick looked up, hearing hooves.
Andy rode in, towing a horse behind him. A paint, an overo with white legs and body, and a splash of black across his back.
Nick felt paralyzed watching the animal, everything inside him burning. No, it couldn’t be . . . “Andy, where did you get that horse?” He heard the catch in his voice and cleared his throat.
“Found him back behind the herd. Must have broken away from the cavvy during the ruckus.”
Nick moved toward the animal, his hands out so the horse could watch him approach. As he drew closer, he thought he saw recognition flicker in the animal’s blue eyes. His throat constricted. “This horse wasn’t in the cavvy.”
Reclaiming Nick Page 18
