The Cowboy Soldier

by Roz Denny Fox

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake! All this because I put rose hips and marigold seeds in a couple of salads?”

  “And dandelion leaves in place of lettuce.”

  “Mixed with romaine.” She sat down and ate a bite of her pie. “If you don’t like the meals here, then I guess you’ll be anxious to go home with Sierra next week. A week from tomorrow, actually.”

  Rafe’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth. “What makes you think that?”

  “I don’t feed you dessert. I make funny salads. I’m guessing Sierra cooks a lot like your mother did. Tonight you all but drooled when you spoke of her food.”

  “My mom made great albondigas soup, homemade tamales and chile rellenos. And my favorite dessert is probably a toss-up between churros and almendrado.” He polished off the final bite of pie. “I may seriously have to add squash pie to my list.”

  “Flattery gets you nowhere, bub. Supper tomorrow night is still going to be vegetable kebabs. What’s almendrado? I’ve never heard of it and I’ve eaten in tons of Mexican restaurants.”

  “I can’t tell you what’s in it. My mom didn’t use a recipe. She started out with a pan of white, pink and green puff things that would melt in your mouth. She scooped those out in individual bowls and topped each with almond custard. I bet it was just loaded with calories.”

  Alexa got up and cleared the table. “At home we had a cook. But my mother is obsessed with maintaining her figure. My dad insisted on steak and potatoes once a week, but other than that our meals were vegetarian. I’m sorry, Rafe, I should have asked what foods you liked, instead of making you eat what I do.”

  “Hey, not to worry. I’m just teasing. And you did offer me steak the first night and I turned you down. If it’ll make you happier, you can add chunks of beef to my vegetable kebab, and serve me meat from now until I leave.”

  “I can do that.”

  “You don’t sound too thrilled. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong,” she repeated.

  But, there was. In just a short while, Alexa thought, Rafe would be leaving.

  DOG WHINED AND PAWED at Rafe’s knee. That generally meant the animal was ready to go to bed. Rafe got up and carried his plate to the sink. He had felt a definite shift in Alexa’s mood. “Is everything okay?” he asked. “Your cooking’s actually pretty good, you know.”

  “Nothing’s wrong. I was just thinking I’ll miss your help with the horses when you leave.” She put away the pie, shooed Rafe out of the kitchen and snapped off the light. “Good night. It’s going to be cold again in the morning, so we probably can do your acupuncture right after breakfast and do the outside chores later.”“Sure. That’d be good.” Rafe headed down the hall but he had only taken a few steps when he stopped and called in her direction. Something was bothering him. “I’m not overly anxious to get back to Sierra’s, you know.”

  He waited for Alexa’s response, but there was nothing.

  He’d really messed things up by coming on to her. Maybe she was anxious for him to go. Truth was, he’d grown comfortable here. Comfortable with her. But Rafe wouldn’t ask her if he could stay. That would be pathetic. He might be a lot of things, but he wasn’t pathetic.

  CHAPTER SIX

  ALEXA GOT UP EARLY, showered and clipped up her hair before hurrying out to take care of morning chores. “Sheesh mineeze, it’s freezing today, girls,” she grumbled to the laying hens, who refused to move from their warm roosts. A thick coating of frost in spidery white lacy whorls blanketed her ranch as far as she could see. The only positive to the morning was that yesterday’s biting wind had dissipated. That could signal the end of the early temperature dip.

  Thankfully, she’d slept well last night under her down comforter. She hadn’t been up and sitting at her computer, reviewing Rafe’s case the way she did most nights. She knew he was counting on favorable results today, but Alexa wasn’t a miracle worker.She fed the horses, goats and the wildlife. The great-horned owl closed his talons around the chunk of raw beef she gave him. His mended wing was probably strong enough to hunt, but she had to wait for a break in the weather to turn him out. He was a magnificent bird. She wanted to give him the best odds for survival.

  Latching the small barn, she bent to retrieve the egg basket. A flash of color at the house drew her eye. Rafe and Compadre stood on the wide porch. Rafe held a steaming mug, which meant he’d found the teakettle and jar of instant coffee. A huge milestone in his progress in mere weeks.

  As she drew closer to the porch, her heart kicked up a rapid drum beat. He looked so appealingly rumpled, not long out of bed, she was sure.

  Compadre saw her and started running around in circles, barking excitedly. “Settle down.” Alexa bent and scratched his wiggling backside.

  “I overslept,” Rafe said sheepishly. “I discovered you were gone, and Dog needed to go out. This air’s frigid enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.”

  Alexa laughed as she opened the door and Compadre streaked inside.

  “I tell you, I had to shove him out,” Rafe said. “That’s when I decided to put on a kettle of water. Figured you’d need hot tea to warm up.”

  “I appreciate your thoughtfulness.” She couldn’t help thinking of other ways Rafe could warm her. Shaking off the enticing picture, she set the basket of eggs on the counter, then stripped off her gloves, and took off her jacket.

  “After my treatment we should exercise your horses, don’t you think?”

  “Cold as it is, Rafe, it won’t hurt to give them a day off.”

  He looked a little surprised. “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a fair-weather rancher. What do you do when the snow starts to fly?”

  “Hibernate.” Alexa sighed with satisfaction when Rafe passed her a mug of piping hot peppermint tea.

  “Brr. Your hands are freezing.” He set his coffee on the counter and cupped his hands around hers and the mug.

  It had been so long since anyone had looked after her like that. Alexa knew she should move, but didn’t. They stood toe to toe until Compadre forced his shaggy head between them.

  “Did you feed him?” Alexa asked, moving away from Rafe.

  “No. Remember, I said he needed to go out just as I made coffee. I felt ice on the porch rail and forgot everything else. I thought maybe it’d snowed.”

  “Too early for snow here. But, hey, you’re the one who grew up in this neck of the woods.”

  “I’ve been gone too long, I guess. I spent last winter in the Afghan mountains—it freezes a man’s tonsils just to breathe there.”

  “It looks like a rugged, desolate country from what I’ve seen on podcasts. But the people are certainly beautiful. What are they like?”

  “There are bad apples. Most are farmers like my folks were, only poorer. We did our best to make friends, but it’s hard because we never knew who to trust.”

  Rafe’s jaw tensed and his expression turned flat.

  “Were you attacked by someone you trusted?” Alexa asked, concerned to see his hand start to shake. She curled her fingers lightly around his wrist to steady the mug he held.

  “We think our guide ratted us out, but we’ll never know. He died in the ambush. I try so hard to replay what happened, but, dammit, there are too many blank spots.”

  Alexa released his hand. “It’ll come back, Rafe,” she said. “You just have to be patient.”

  “I want to get on with the acupuncture.”

  “Whatever. I need breakfast first.” She filled two bowls with cereal and milk and offered him one.

  Rafe yanked out his chair and sat, taking the bowl from her. He tried a spoonful. “Are these grapes in my cereal?”

  “Blueberries. They’re loaded with free radicals.”

  “Which do what?” he demanded.

  “I can only hope they’ll improve your disposition,” Alexa said, concerned that Rafe seemed to be growing more irritable.

  He looked up as if he were ready to deliver a scathing comeback, but then hi
s whole body seemed to sag. “I’m impatient.”

  “You think?”

  “Okay, I’ll eat.” Rafe picked up his spoon and dug into his granola. “Has anyone ever told you you’d make a good drill sergeant?”

  Alexa clenched her spoon. Was that how Rafe saw her? As a taskmaster? “I’m sorry, Rafe. But if you’re too tense, we can’t do your treatment.”

  Compadre trotted up to Rafe and batted at his thigh a few times before nosing under the fingers Rafe thrummed on his knee. “All right. I know when I’m outnumbered.”

  They finished breakfast in silence then Alexa took their bowls to the sink. She glanced out the window to see a pale sun already melting the frost off the roof. “You know, Rafe, it seems to be warming up a bit. We were cooped up inside yesterday and I think we both need to unwind. What do you say to a short trail ride?”

  “I say you’re stalling on my treatment,” Rafe said bluntly. “But it does sound good. Let me grab my sweatshirt.”

  Alexa had to admit that she might be stalling. But Rafe seemed wound pretty tight this morning, and riding did relax him. She readied a saddlebag for the trip, and by the time she’d finished and stepped onto the porch, Rafe joined her.

  Compadre followed him out. “You have to stay, Dog,” Rafe said.

  “If we don’t ride in the park, he can come, Rafe. There are trails in the Christmas Mountains. This time of year we should have them to ourselves. I threw apples and water in a saddlebag, and I can add kibble for Compadre. If I ride Gigi, she’s fine with me hooking a rope to the dog’s collar. That’ll ensure he doesn’t run off chasing rabbits.”

  Rafe knelt and scrubbed the dog’s head. “That sounds good. He wants to go, don’t you, guy?”

  Alexa went back inside for the kibble. Minutes later they entered the barn, where Rafe saddled Loki with practiced ease.

  “Good job,” Alexa said as she climbed on Gigi. “I told you saddling a horse is like riding a bicycle, Rafe. It’s a skill you never forget.”

  “It felt good to land a saddle on Loki’s back the first time,” he admitted. “I’ve missed riding. It was such a big part of my life before I went into the army. You know, Alexa, much as I want my next treatment, I admit I’m strung tight as a fiddle.”

  Alexa grinned to herself. With a snap of the reins, she urged Gigi into a trot.

  Rafe caught up. “Aren’t you going to say I told you so?”

  “I’m too pleased by how far you’ve come from the silent, stone-faced man Sierra delivered to my ranch.”

  Rafe hung back as she sped up, and Alexa worried that maybe she’d spoken too soon. She kept glancing back, and so did Compadre.

  Eventually Rafe drew his horse abreast of hers. “What happened to the sun?”

  “It’s hidden behind a tree-topped ridge. If you’re cold we can turn back, Rafe.”

  He wrapped his reins around the saddle horn and zipped up his heavy sweatshirt. He was in the process of groping again for the reins when Loki tossed his head a couple of times, whinnied, and began a sideways hop back down the trail. The gelding backed into Alexa’s horse.

  At first, she didn’t know what was happening. It took a moment to control Gigi. By then Loki was blowing, snorting and rearing, and Compadre lunged against his rope, barking crazily.

  “What’s going on?” Rafe asked anxiously. “Alexa? I can’t find but one damned rein. Did it drop and tangle in Dog’s rope? What’s happening?”

  “Coyotes,” Alexa said in a low voice, doing her best to keep her skittish mare on the trail. “I count five, Rafe. That’s a big pack.” She couldn’t keep the panic from her voice. “A hunting pack, I’d say from the way they’ve split on either side of the trail. I’ve never known coyotes to attack humans, but this cold snap’s probably driven a lot of their food underground. Compadre,” she ordered sternly, “settle down.”

  “Did you hear me say I dropped a rein?” Rafe attempted to control Loki by grabbing hold of his mane. But the gelding would have none of that. A big horse, he dug his back hooves into the soft red clay and all but sat on his haunches as he pawed the air. His right hoof clipped Alexa’s shoulder as she forced Gigi closer in an attempt to scoop up Rafe’s loose rein. The lead coyotes ran ahead on the trail and began circling, which sent Compadre into an even greater frenzy.

  On the third try, Alexa managed to snag Loki’s rein. “Sit still, Rafe, and hang on,” she said, panting from the exertion of trying to steady the dog and the extra horse. “I’ll turn both horses, and we’ll blast past the coyotes. I doubt they’ll follow us to the clearing.” Loki and Gigi bumped rumps and kicked out at one another.

  “Dammit, I feel useless.” Rafe swore roundly a second time when stirrups tangled with Alexa’s. His swearing sent the coyote pair nearest the horses slinking off into the trees.

  “Good going, Rafe—you scared off two coyotes,” Alexa told him through gritted teeth. “Okay, I’ve got us turned around. But we have three stubborn coyotes keeping pace to our left. Now’s the time to let out a rebel yell if you know any, Rafe.”

  “That I do,” Rafe said. His raucous yodel echoed off the ridge and set the coyotes yipping off after their pack mates, but Compadre gave chase, doubling back under Gigi’s belly. His wild barking frightened an already agitated Loki, who proceeded to buck Rafe off. He slid ten feet or so in the soft, wet red clay and came to a stop face-first on a bed of pine needles.

  “Oh my God, Rafe.” Alexa vaulted out of her saddle. “Are you all right?” In her haste, she lost her tenuous hold on Loki’s rein, and he galloped off down the trail.

  Sitting up, Rafe spat out dirt and pine needles around a steady stream of curses that had Alexa cringing.

  “Tell me you didn’t break any bones,” she said, shakily brushing twigs and leaves out of Rafe’s hair and off his shoulders.

  He shook off her hands and stood up. “What’s hurt is my pride,” he snarled. “Where are those damned coyotes?”

  Alexa shifted Gigi’s reins and Compadre’s rope to her left hand. “I think they took off. Our Abbott and Costello routine was too much for them. But Loki ran off, too. If only your pride hurts, Rafe, we need to double up and go find him.”

  “Will the mare handle our combined weight?”

  She pictured them riding spooned together and it wasn’t the extra burden on the horse that concerned her. “You’ll have to squeeze on behind me, Rafe.” It would be more comfortable if he sat in front, but Alexa needed to see. He’d probably realize that and feel really useless. The trail ride she had hoped would relax him was going to have the opposite effect.

  RAFE MOUNTED WITHOUT help. He even pulled Alexa up. They were wedged tight together in the saddle. He wrapped his fingers in the fabric of her jacket, and by the time Gigi took two steps down the trail, the friction of Alexa’s butt in the cradle of his thighs took Rafe’s mind off the humiliating incident and sent it in a new direction. If she noticed the discomfort their riding double caused him, she didn’t show it. She rattled on, fretting about losing Loki. He gritted his teeth and tried to scoot back against the cantle.

  “Rafe?” Alexa turned slightly. “Are you brooding over being dumped off Loki? It wasn’t your fault.”The agony Rafe was experiencing had nothing to do with the fall, but Alexa’s comment served to refocus his attention. “I’m a three-time national bronc riding champion. It’s a little ego bruising to be dumped by a good-natured riding horse.”

  Every so often Rafe’s unshaven jaw caught in Alexa’s hair and it was all he could do to keep from burying his face in the warm, sweet-smelling strands. She was so much smaller than he was, and he wanted to draw her back against him and take the reins. Damn his blindness.

  “I knew the fall was eating at you,” she said. “Accidents happen, Rafe.”

  Each time her soft curls blew back and tickled his face, he felt a sweet heat burn straight down between his thighs. If he dipped his head just slightly forward, he could press his lips into the delicate curve of her neck. Rafe forced another inch
between them. Being near Alexa made him horny as hell, and he didn’t give a rat’s ass about doctor-patient trust. Nothing could keep him from wanting to get her naked. He had it bad.

  “There he is,” Alexa exclaimed suddenly, cutting into Rafe’s thoughts. “Loki’s waiting at the corral, docile as a kitten, the goofball. Why don’t I let you off here at the house, Rafe? You can take Compadre inside. I’m sure you want a shower. I’ll put up the horses, then come in and fix lunch. I swear, Rafe, I feel so bad. I envisioned us riding up to the butte for lunch.”

  He dismounted behind her, his body screaming from pain, and not just from his tumble off Loki. That ride had been pure torture. He only hoped he could get his body back under control before their scheduled treatment.

  ALEXA’S CELL PHONE RANG as she was putting away the remains of their lunch. “Mother,” she exclaimed after stretching to scoop up the phone from the counter. “Is everything all right with Daddy?” Her mother never called during the day. She was too busy with her charities.

  “At a fundraiser your father and I attended Saturday, Dr. Levinson asked about you,” Kate Robinson said in her low, well modulated voice. “Driving home, Jason noted we hadn’t heard from you in a month. Are you okay, Alexa?”Obviously her mother hadn’t been worried. She’d waited until Tuesday to check up on her daughter. “I’m fine, Mother. Just busy.”

  “Doing what?” Kate pressed.

  Rafe walked back into the kitchen just then.

  “What did you say, Alexa?”

  She covered the speaker and hissed that she was on the phone. Then she turned away from him. “I’m training new horses, Mother,” she said. “And a park ranger brought me two baby foxes that take a lot of care. I probably should go now. Tell Daddy I said hi.”

  But her mother droned on about a new hospital committee she chaired. “Your father wants to visit you. But honestly, Alexa, between the wind farm he’s setting up and my meetings, we can’t find two consecutive days free. You live so far out in the boonies. And before you scold me, I said the same thing when your grandparents were alive. You simply must come to Houston for Thanksgiving. The Wednesday prior we’re hosting an open house, but it’s a small gathering. Thirty or so of Jason’s employees.”