by Linda Warren
He sighed. “Ma’am, I don’t need your money. I just need to get back to doing my job before any more calves die on the ranch.”
“You can’t just leave me out here. I know there are wild animals and no telling what else. It’s dangerous.”
“And that didn’t cross your mind when you were traveling miles and miles without a sign of life?”
“I was looking for Cutoff 149.”
“They changed that many years ago. The roads now have county numbers so it’s easier for emergency vehicles and firefighters.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Horseshoe.”
“Then why not stay on 77?”
He was annoyed and he was making her annoyed. She placed her hands on her hips. “Are you going to help me or not?”
He glanced off to the woods and then at her. “Looks like I don’t have any choice, and I lost the tracks a while ago. If we walk directly east, it should take about two hours to reach a spot where we can get cell phone reception. Then I can call the ranch and someone can meet us in an all-terrain vehicle. Change clothes. I’ll give you a few minutes.” He strolled away without a backward glance.
Goose bumps popped up on her skin. He wouldn’t leave her here, would he? Her gut instinct said no. She didn’t know anything about him, but she sensed he was a man she could trust. Climbing into the backseat, she took a long breath and did a quick change. She felt like Houdini.
This was all her fault and she was angry at herself. She was glad she hadn’t called her father or her brother to let them know she was coming home. They would be worried sick when she didn’t show up. Now they were really going to be surprised. How could one day go so wrong?
* * *
EGAN GAVE THE WOMAN a few minutes, wondering how he’d gotten himself into this mess. He didn’t have time to fool with some ditzy blonde. Being judgmental wasn’t part of his nature, so he should give the woman the benefit of the doubt. But she was far from civilization and it was going to take a big chunk out of his workday to help her. It all depended on how fast she could walk. If he had to guess, he would say it was going to be a slow go.
When he returned to the car, she was standing outside. He took one look and wondered if this woman had any sense at all. She wore short jeans. They had a name, but for the life of him he couldn’t think of it. She had a pink-and-white layered top and pink-and-white sneakers.
He motioned toward the jeans. “Do you have longer ones?”
“No. It’s spring so I brought spring and summer clothes. These are capris.”
“And unsuitable for hiking through the woods.”
Her face crumpled like a little kid’s and he thought she was going to cry. “It’s all I have besides shorts and another dress.”
“It will have to do. Do you have a long-sleeved blouse or a sweater? It’ll get chilly in these hills as it grows darker.”
“I have a lime-green lightweight sweater that goes with my dress, but it doesn’t match what I have on.”
He laughed. He couldn’t help himself. He’d gotten himself involved with a city diva.
Her face broke into a smile. “That was silly.”
“Yes, it was. We’re not going to a party. We’ll be hiking through rough terrain and trying to avoid every pesky critter we can. There will be thick woods, brambles, snakes, bugs and every animal from field mice to whitetail deer to bobcats. And believe me, they won’t care what you’re wearing.”
“I assure you I’m not a weak woman. I can handle this.”
“You’ll pardon me if I don’t quite believe that. You’re a city girl.”
She lifted her chin with determination. “I’m a city woman and I’m stronger than I look.”
“Well, city woman, let’s go. Just follow me and don’t complain and don’t ask questions.”
“Wait.” She grabbed her purse and the sweater from the car. She tied the sweater around her neck and slung the purse over her shoulder. Then she got in line behind him as if they were going on a march or something. He shook his head and started off.
For the first thirty minutes she followed on his heels, but the longer they walked, the farther she trailed behind. She was getting tired and wouldn’t admit it, so he slowed down to give her a break. The problem was, they wouldn’t make it far enough to get cell reception before dark.
The woods were beautiful this time of year. The browns of fall and winter had turned to lively shades of green. New life. New season. New beginnings. Rabbits and squirrels scurried about and birds chirped in perfect harmony, the best music to guide their way. A snake slithered up a tree, but he didn’t show her. He feared she might freak out. He glanced back to check how far behind she was, and saw the sun setting in the west. Without thinking, he pointed.
She gasped as she viewed the beautiful oranges and reds that emanated from the large, fiery ball. “How beautiful. It looks as if the woods are on fire.”
He never grew tired of watching the sun set in Texas on Rebel Ranch. It made him aware that there were more important things in the world than his tiny problems.
“We might as well bed down for the night.”
She stared at him with something close to shock in her eyes. “Out here? Maybe our cells will work now.”
“They won’t. We didn’t make it far enough.”
She reached in her purse and pulled out her phone. After several attempts to call, she gave up. “Can we keep walking?”
“It’s too dangerous at night. We’ll stay here and start again in the morning.”
“I went camping once when I was a kid, and I didn’t like it. I don’t think I’m going to like it now, either.”
He laid his rifle on the ground and removed his duster. He spread it out on the sparse grass. “We can rest on this.”
Without a word she sank onto it. Her breathing was labored. “I don’t mean to complain or anything, but water would be heavenly.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” He knelt and fished a canteen from the pocket of the duster.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a collapsible canteen. See—” he unfolded the durable plastic “—we have something to drink out of.”
“But we have no water.”
“There’s a natural spring not far from here.”
She got up on her knees. “You’re not going to leave me here?”
“I won’t be far. Just holler if something happens.”
She sank back on the duster as if in defeat. He watched her for a moment and thought she was holding up well for a city woman.
It didn’t take him long to find the spring. He filled the canteen and drank from it, and then filled it again for her. When he returned, she was sitting on the duster with her arms wrapped around her waist, watching the woods warily. It was getting dark now and her eyes lit up at the sight him. He realized for the first time they were blue—a brilliant, beautiful blue, like a field of Texas bluebonnets.
He sat beside her as she drank the water.
“This is divine.”
“It’s springwater and the best there is.”
She handed him the canteen and he shook his head. “I drank at the spring.”
“Wait.” She dug around in her purse and pulled out two chocolate bars. “I forgot I have Kit Kat bars. I never go anywhere without chocolate.”
“No, tha—”
She held one in front of his face. “Eat it. It’s all we have.”
Before he knew it, he was eating a candy bar with her.
The darkness closed in like a wall, isolating them. It was a dark night and they couldn’t see beyond their hands as crickets serenaded them. The quarter moon hung like a big, bright banana and served as a small spotlight of reassurance that the world was still out there.
She scooted back on the duster. “Thank you for doing this.”
“Yeah.” What else did she want him to say?
“I don’t think we introduced ourselves. You said you worked on Rebel Ranch. Do you kno
w the Rebel family?”
“You could say that. I’m Egan Rebel.”
“Oh, are you Phoenix’s brother?”
“Yes.” It felt a little strange that she knew his family.
“He was in my class in school. He spiked the punch at one of my parties and got everyone drunk.”
“That’s Phoenix. The life of the party.”
“He was always fun to be around, but he was one of the wild boys the girls were told to stay away from. All the Rebel boys were known for that, but it didn’t keep the girls from talking about them or wanting to go out with them.”
“Did you want to go out with Phoenix?”
“No. He really was a little wild for me. I was timid in school.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
“It was twelve years ago. I’ve matured and now wild boys don’t scare me at all.” She scooted forward. “I’m Rachel...Rachel Hollister.”
Egan’s chest caved in. It took a moment before he could speak. She couldn’t be... No way. But he had to ask the question. “Are you Judge Hollister’s daughter?”
“Yes. Do you know my father?”
Egan was a mild-mannered man and hate didn’t come easily for him, but he hated Judge Hollister. The man had sent him to prison without any hard evidence. He’d sent him into the bowels of hell and Egan had barely escaped with his life. It seemed surreal that he was sitting here with his daughter. A daughter the man loved. For a brief moment he wondered how Judge Hollister would feel if he lost his daughter. Egan wanted him to feel some of the pain he’d felt.
Could he be the criminal Judge Hollister had branded him?
Chapter Two
“I can’t sleep.” The woman twisted and turned.
“Just be still.”
“I’m trying, but the ground is so hard.” She sat up and untied the sweater from around her neck. Wadding it into a ball, she placed it on the duster and used it for a pillow. “That’s better.”
After a few minutes she grew still and Egan knew she was close to sleep. The temperature had dropped for the evening and it was cooler. She curled into a ball with her arms wrapped around her waist. He reached over, grabbed the end of the duster and pulled it over her legs so she wouldn’t be cold. When he did that, he knew he couldn’t harm one hair on her head. He wasn’t that type of man. No matter what Judge Hollister had done to him, he had no desire for revenge. At least, not that type of revenge.
“What time do you think it is?” she asked, surprising him.
“I thought you were asleep.”
“No. I’m just tired.”
“Rest, then.”
“Aren’t you going to sleep?”
“In a minute.”
She sat up. “It’s so dark and quiet, except for the crickets. It’s like I’m having a bad dream.”
Egan wrapped his arms around his knees. “Yeah.” If he closed his eyes, he could hear the shouts, the filthy cuss words, the goading and the ugly faces of evil. He’d thought he was tough, but he didn’t know tough until he had to stand toe-to-toe with hardened criminals.
“I feel so stupid,” she murmured.
“Why?” Her words brought him back from the abyss that always threatened to take him down.
“Because I’m a coward. I should have stayed on US 77 and I’d be home now, facing my past the way I was supposed to. The way I’d planned.”
“You have a past?” He couldn’t imagine what kind of a dire past a beautiful blonde could have.
“My parents spoiled me terribly.”
“Pardon me, but I don’t consider that a past.”
“If you’ll listen, I’ll tell you,” she snapped.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I love the way you say ma’am.”
“I say it like everybody else in Texas.”
“No, you say it with respect and I feel it.”
That threw him, so he just sat and stared at the blanket of twinkling stars and waited for her to speak.
“My mother was killed when I was seventeen.”
“I remember that. She was shot by gang members while walking to her car in a mall, right?”
“Yes. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time...all because of me.”
He knew he should stop with the questions. He didn’t want to get any more involved with her than he already was. But something in her voice prompted him to ask, “What did you have to do with it?”
She didn’t answer and the silence stretched. They kept looking at the beautiful night sky above them. Then her voice came, low and achy. “I haven’t told anyone this and I don’t know why I’m telling you. I just need to say the words—to hear them out loud.” She paused. “It happened on a Friday. There was a dance at my school on Saturday and I wanted this special dress that I’d seen. I begged and begged my mother to buy it, and she said no, that I had plenty of dresses.” A muffled sound followed the words and he knew Rachel was crying. He remained still, not making any movement because he had a feeling she didn’t want him to react. And he wasn’t comfortable with that type of emotion.
“She must’ve changed her mind because that’s what she was doing at the mall—buying my dress. The police gave it to me later and I threw it in the garbage. I killed...my mother.”
“Come on, you can’t possibly believe that.”
“She wouldn’t have been at that mall if I hadn’t continually kept asking for the dress.”
“But it was her choice to go.”
Rachel rested her chin on her knees. “My mother was the most loving person I’ve ever known, and she didn’t deserve to die like that. I just can’t forget it and I’ve tried. For twelve years I’ve been trying. I went to art school in Paris, hoping that would obliterate the guilt, but it didn’t. I longed for home and my mother. But she wasn’t there anymore.”
“I don’t know anything about your mother, but I’m almost positive she wouldn’t want you to live with the guilt.”
“I tell myself that all the time and it doesn’t make that ache go away.”
“Have you talked to someone in your family?”
The answer was a long time coming. “No. I wanted to tell my best friend, Angie, and my brother, but I could never find the right words.”
Egan stared into the darkness and tried to find words of his own to help her. That blew his mind, because he didn’t want to help her. But there was something about her that just begged for protection. His mama had always told him he could never resist a person in need. Even when he considered them the enemy.
“You don’t have a past. You have a guilt complex, and the only way to get rid of it is to talk to your family, the ones who are close to you.” Judge Hollister’s name stuck in his craw and he couldn’t say it out loud.
“That’s what I finally decided to do. You probably know that my brother, Hardy, married Angie Wiznowski, and they have a new baby. I’m dying to see him and to meet their older daughter, Erin, so I planned to come home and deal with all the guilt. And what did I do?” She slapped the top of her knee with her right hand. “At the last minute, I balked and stalled for time by taking the long way and getting lost. Now here I sit with a very nice stranger, wondering if maybe I’m losing my mind.”
“You’re not. Tomorrow we’ll make it to the ranch and you can call your family and talk and tell them how you’re feeling. I’m told talking works wonders.”
“Mmm. You don’t like to talk, do you?”
“Nope. It’s not my favorite thing.”
“Are you married?”
They were getting into personal territory and he certainly didn’t like that. Talking about himself was his least favorite subject. A coyote howled in the distance, diverting her attention.
“How close is that?” she asked, edging a little nearer to him.
“Not very.”
“You didn’t answer my question. Are you married?”
He gritted his teeth. She was one of those women who just wouldn’t let go. “No. I’m not m
arried. If I was, I wouldn’t be spending the night in these woods.”
“Have you ever been married?”
“Ma’am, it’s time to get some rest.”
“Since you said that so nicely, I will.” She wrapped her arms around herself “It’s getting chilly.”
“You can use the duster. It’ll keep you warm.”
“I will not.” She shoved her right arm into a sleeve. “Now, do the same with your left.”
“What...”
“Remember, you said no complaining.”
He shoved his arm into the hole and it drew them together inside the duster. Maybe too close together. A flowery scent from her hair reached his nostrils, and he wanted to pull away, but there was nowhere to go.
“See, this way we both can stay warm,” she said, with a smile in her voice. “Now we just lie back and go to sleep.”
He grunted, but did as she’d instructed. It took a moment for them to get comfortable. They tried several positions, and finally, lying on their sides worked best. Her soft curves fitted nicely into his hardened body. It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman and the feeling was doing a familiar number on his senses. All he had to do was remember who she was and his mind cleared. For a second.
“Are you going to sleep with your hat on?”
“Is that a problem?”
“No.” She wiggled against him and that was a problem. “I just find it strange.”
“I spent a lot of time in these woods, and on one occasion I took off my hat and the next morning it was gone. A varmint had stolen it. A raccoon is probably wearing it now.”
“I like you, Egan Rebel.”
Don’t like me. Please don’t like me!
“Go to sleep.”
“Call me ma’am.”
“Go to sleep.”
“I will if...”
“Go to sleep...ma’am.”
She laughed, a tingly sound that warmed parts of his heart that had been cold for a long time. He immediately shut out the sound and the feeling.
After a moment, he heard her easy breathing and knew she had fallen asleep. It was a long time before he could succumb to the tiredness of his mind and his body. He had to have the most rotten luck in the world. How ironic was it that he would rescue the judge-from-hell’s daughter? His beautiful daughter.
