Gunner urged Silver to go faster and the stallion reacted with a fierce surge forward. It was all Gunner could do to stay on top of him.
He veered right to get outside the herd, to tell the idiots on the ATVs to turn off the motors, stand down and be still.
Christ, one of them started waving his hat like some kind of rodeo clown. Then another kid followed suit, and Gunner’s plan was pretty much shot to shit. There was only one thing to do.
He ran straight up the middle, through the pack. Almost got ripped off the stallion by a crazed gray, but he got the kicking horse to run away from the boys instead of over them.
The horse weighed at least seven hundred pounds, and spooked? It could do some real damage to anything in its path. Luckily, the other group of kids froze as he approached. Good reaction. The only safe one.
But there were more kids on the other two ATVs, and they were doubled up, and moving.
Gunner timed his shift to the left so he didn’t smack into a dun, then he went straight toward the boys. “Shut off the motors!” He’d never yelled so loud. Probably end up with a torn larynx. “Keep still. Stop waving your goddamned hats!”
At least the kids on the nearest four-wheeler heard him, and they stopped what they were doing. Gunner sidled up to the next one, yelling for all he was worth.
Under him, Silver worked like an old friend. The last ATV shut down and finally, all the kids were standing as still as statues as the mustangs weaved their way through to freedom.
At least it wasn’t raining like a waterfall anymore. It was still pissin’ down, but it wasn’t blinding. “You all follow me back. No one goes faster than Silver, you understand? And keep your stupid hats on your heads.”
17
MALLORY HAD RUN for the nearest barn, but when the heaviest rainfall had stopped, she’d joined Kathy and the other volunteers standing by the busted corral. Everyone was staring north, waiting.
She crossed her arms over her chest as if she could slow her racing heart. She needed some water, but she’d be damned if she was going to move. Gunner had acted so quickly it had taken her a while to understand he’d gone off to try to stop the kids from chasing after the mustangs.
“You okay?”
Mallory jumped at Kathy’s voice. “I’m fine. I’m just—”
“That’s one hell of a cowboy. That horse he got on is barely tame enough to saddle.”
“He is— Wait. Is that—”
“I think so.” Kathy was squinting hard at the approaching group, the kids loaded onto the ATVs, Gunner on the silver horse, leading them. His hat was cockeyed but you’d never know he didn’t have a saddle under him. He looked damn good.
It took the group a minute to get to the barn, but when they finally were huddled together, the kids were all staring at Gunner like he was Iron Man or something.
“How’d you do that?” It was one of the drenched girls. They all looked like they’d been dragged out of a lake. “It was awesome.”
“Totally. Like in the movies.” This from a shivering blond boy. “I swear, it was like you voodooed the mustangs. Dammit, I wish I could have taped it. It would go viral on YouTube for sure!”
“Hey,” Gunner said, his gravelly voice cutting through the chatter like a knife. “Shut it. All of you. That was not like the movies. You were all reckless in a dangerous situation. You don’t chase wild horses and you don’t get in their way. You stay as far away from them as you can. Remember what happened so you’ll never do anything stupid like that again.”
“But you—”
“I’m a professional stuntman. It took me years to be able to ride like that. Don’t you go jumping on the next horse you see. You’ll get creamed. Believe me. You’re all so damn lucky nothing went seriously wrong. Spooked horses are nothing to mess with. Got it?”
They all nodded. Mallory barely looked at the kids. That speech from Gunner? She stared at him as if she’d been given a new pair of glasses. He looked like a drowned rat, and she’d never found him more appealing.
“And don’t go talking about this when you go back to school. It might make some parents feel like they shouldn’t let their kids come help out at Safe Haven. You don’t want that, right?”
Another group nod.
Then Kathy took over, and Mallory couldn’t wait to have Gunner to herself.
* * *
GOOD THING GUNNER’S truck had sturdy leather seats. They’d mopped themselves up as best they could but they were both pretty wet. Mallory rolled their soggy borrowed towels and glanced around for a place to stash them.
“Well, that was kind of weird,” she said, deciding on the floorboard by her feet.
“Yeah, this being a ranching community you’d think those damn kids would have more sense.”
“I meant you,” she said. “The way you handled them. You even got that tall blond kid—you know which one, Mr. Hot Shit—to shut up and listen. You were awesome.” She didn’t care that he shook his head and looked mildly irritated. “How did you know what to say? Everything just came out so perfectly.”
“Lucky, I guess.”
“Nope. You don’t get to be modest. Not with me. I wasn’t the only one impressed, either. If Kathy wasn’t old enough to be your mother, she would’ve married you on the spot.”
That earned Mallory a wry smile.
She just laughed.
“Man, I was looking at those boys and thinking, was I ever that young?”
“Huh.” She hadn’t thought about it. “I’m not sure either of us were.”
“Probably not,” he said, and shrugged a shoulder.
“Do you want kids, Gunner?” She saw him stiffen and realized how easily the question could be misinterpreted. “What I mean is, have you ever thought about having your own kids?”
“Is there a difference between those two questions? Because I’m not seeing it.”
“It popped into my head and I said it, okay?” She waited, disappointed that he’d made a joke instead of answering.
“You know I was a runaway,” he said finally. “Hey, I wonder if that’s the right term if the mom doesn’t give a shit or doesn’t even know her kid’s missing.”
Mallory swallowed at the hint of pain in his voice, or maybe she was projecting because of her own crappy childhood. Either way she was tempted to touch him, offer him some small measure of comfort. But she feared the odds were greater that he’d reject her and shut down. “You were fifteen when you left home, right?”
“Yep. Left town, left Texas. And whoever was the father du jour. Hell, I could pass any one of Luanne’s boyfriends on the street and I wouldn’t recognize him.” He shrugged. “A couple were pretty decent guys. At least they treated me better than she did, which isn’t saying much. So, yeah, I’d probably make a lousy father. No point putting a kid through that.” He carefully kept his gaze on the road ahead. “What about you?”
Mallory shouldn’t have been startled. Why wouldn’t he ask her the same question? “I guess I haven’t really thought about it,” she said. “You knew Coop. As for my mom, consider yourself lucky you never met her. Two really great role models. I wouldn’t know the first thing about raising kids.”
Gunner smiled a little, and she wondered if she should tell him he was wrong about himself. He’d be a great dad. She’d just seen the evidence with her own eyes. In fact, she was beginning to realize there was a lot more to Gunner than she’d known.
“Have I ever mentioned Krista?” he asked, and Mallory shook her head. “She was a kid I met about a year after I got to LA. I was living rough, sleeping anywhere I could get away with, doing odd jobs for food. Krista was thirteen, naive and scared. She’d left home the week before I found her in an alley.
“I was sixteen by then, and knew how to get food when I didn’t have money. An
d this poor kid, starving, getting no sleep because she was being hassled by some of the guys...” He shook his head, eyes staying focused on the road. “I told myself it wasn’t my problem. Plenty of others like her. But I couldn’t walk away. I even tried talking her into going back home until I found out her stepfather was abusive. So we started hanging out together. I shared my food with her, and when I was broke I stole a few apples and oranges, stuff like that.”
Gunner tightened his mouth before releasing a harsh exhale. “I hated those times when it came down to stealing and I think she knew it. After two days of going without eating I told her to stay put while I got something from the corner grocer. She didn’t listen. I suspected that she’d followed me into the store but I didn’t do anything about it. She grabbed some candy bars right in front of the store’s owner. He called the police and she was arrested. I vowed that day I would never be responsible for another human being again.”
“Oh, my God, Gunner. You were sixteen.” Mallory swallowed back a lump at the anguish in his face. She hated that the incident still haunted him. “Krista was lucky to have you.”
“Yeah, right. I found out later she was sent back to her mom and stepfather.” His hands tightened on the wheel. “I’d tried to protect her and I failed. They sent her right back to the bastard who was abusing her. I still think about her sometimes.”
“I’m sure she thinks about you, too. How you’d shielded her from things that could’ve been so much worse.” She sighed when he glanced at her with raised brows. “I’m not being naive. You know damn well she could’ve been terribly damaged. And who’s to say she didn’t end up in foster care or with another family member after social services figured out why she’d run away.”
They’d reached town and lapsed into silence until they got to her street.
“The store owner who had her arrested turned out to be a pretty nice guy. I met him about eight years ago.” A faint smile curved Gunner’s mouth. “He knew kids had been stealing from him, but as long as they stuck to the little stuff and didn’t grab two handfuls of candy bars right under his nose...” He shook his head. “If Krista hadn’t been so bold Mr. Rawi would’ve looked the other way. He’d recently immigrated and knew what it was like to go hungry.”
“How in the world did you run into him?”
“He still owns that same store on the corner. I dropped by one day to settle up. Confessed I’d shoplifted from him and gave him some money.”
“Well, he must’ve been shocked.”
Gunner laughed, looking more relaxed. “Yeah, he was, and damned if some little punk didn’t try to sneak out with a bag of cookies while we were talking. Rawi made him put it back and threatened to call the police if he saw the boy again. He explained the kid wasn’t homeless. Guess that was his criteria. Hell, I threw in another five hundred bucks to help with his losses.”
“Wow, Gunner, that’s an awesome story.”
“Wish it had turned out better for Krista.” He pulled the truck up to the curb near her gate.
“You don’t know how that ended up,” Mallory reminded him and scooped up the wet towels. She paused when he left the truck running. “Aren’t you coming in?”
He glanced at the time.
“Unless you have somewhere else to be.”
“Nope. Just don’t want to make you late for work.”
She leaned over and kissed him. “I’m the boss, remember? Now, come on. We could both use a hot shower.”
That got his attention. With a slow smile he cut the engine.
* * *
“I CALLED ELAINE and it’s all settled. She’ll open up for me. We don’t expect to be busy tonight, so I won’t be going in till around eight. Oh, but I do have to run over in an hour to let the electrician in. Won’t take long.”
“Does Elaine have a key?”
“I gave her one yesterday.”
That surprised Gunner. He continued to dry himself, aware that Mallory was leaning against the door frame with only a towel wrapped around her. But not for long. It was a damn crime to hide all those tempting female parts.
“You don’t think I should’ve given her a key.”
He glanced up. “Actually I was thinking about something else, but yeah, it’s surprising since you’ve only known her for a few weeks.”
“I suppose that’s true. It’s odd how trusting I’ve been lately. But the people around here are nice, Gunner. They really are.” She seemed to glow with contentment but something nagged at him.
There was no question he was happy for her. She liked Blackfoot Falls and she was already making friends. After her shitty childhood she deserved to have stability and security. And like she’d said, maybe she’d be able to have a life.
He tied the towel around his waist and, trying to get a handle on his scattered thoughts, turned to the mirror. It was completely fogged. Just like his befuddled brain. “I should’ve brought in my shaving kit,” he murmured, rubbing his stubbled jaw.
“I can go get it for you,” she said. “But if you’re thinking about shaving for my benefit, don’t bother.”
“Would you please just stay in that towel? At least for a few more minutes.”
Mallory grinned. “I’ll drop mine when you drop yours.”
He made a fake play for her that sent her jumping back and laughing.
Eyeing her legs while he cleared a spot on the mirror, he said, “I am so pissed it took me this long to find out you have great legs.”
“Oh, yeah? If you’d known sooner what would you have done about it?”
Gunner smiled and combed his damp hair straight back.
He was about 95 percent certain he wanted to move to Blackfoot Falls and work with Ben. He just didn’t understand why the 5 percent was holding him back. It had nothing to do with leaving Hollywood behind, that was for damn sure. But he was beginning to realize that it did have something to do with Mallory. She’d worried about disappointing him when he knew it should be the other way around. What if he couldn’t be the man she needed? What if he failed her just like he’d failed Krista?
Dammit, why was he even thinking about the girl? For the most part he’d made peace with what had happened back then. As Mallory had pointed out, he’d been a kid himself at the time. So no, he wouldn’t let the past sabotage his future, if that’s what his subconscious was trying to do.
But he was clear on one thing...he didn’t want to screw up anything for Mallory. Maybe he simply needed to explain about the opportunity to work with Ben. Not tell her how close he was to a final decision. Just that there was a chance he could be moving to Blackfoot Falls.
Relief washed over him.
It was the best course of action he could think of without actually committing to anything or sinking in too deep.
He’d tell her in private. So he could see her face. Watch her reaction.
That first unguarded second would tell him a lot. It could reveal something she might not be comfortable admitting out loud. After all, when her car had run out of gas, her first instinct hadn’t been to call him.
The possibility she didn’t want him to stay twisted him up inside.
“Okay.” He stripped off his towel and hung it on the rack. Telling her now wouldn’t be right. She still had to go to the bar later. Tonight, after she closed, would be better. “Your turn.”
The towel hit the floor before he’d finished speaking.
Her gaze slid down his body and briefly rested on his hardening cock. With a gentle smile she walked into his arms. He held her tight. And she hugged him back, as though she’d never let go.
She buried her face against his neck and sighed, her soft breath brushing his skin.
And just like that, the 5 percent of uncertainty disappeared. This was right. Her. Him. The two of them together. It didn’t matter where
. But if Blackfoot Falls made her happy, and she would have him, Gunner wasn’t going anywhere.
* * *
MALLORY WAS RELIEVED to see Gunner walk into the bar at 10:30. Precisely when she’d expected him, so there’d been no reason for her to be anxious. She blamed the full moon for putting crazy thoughts in her head. Two customers had also caught the bug. Arguing over darts. So stupid. It reminded her of the Renegade.
Huh. She was thinking about the old place less these days. Of course she’d been too busy to be nostalgic. Or maybe it was because Gunner was here.
He sat at the other end since the stools by her were occupied by three older gentlemen. She finished pouring two whiskeys before she glanced over at him. All he did was wink and her heart fluttered. Damn, she really had it bad. Even worse since seeing him with the Safe Haven kids earlier.
Mallory should probably be worried. All fairy tales came to an end at some point. And hers would, too. She figured she’d wait until it happened and then be sad.
Oh, brother. She was so delusional.
Sadie’s prediction had been spot-on. Business was slower than usual. Payday wasn’t till the end of the week for the local hired hands, which had a lot to do with it. All in all, she couldn’t complain. They’d had a decent crowd, thanks in part to some guys from the film crew who’d wandered in an hour ago.
Two of them were playing pool and flirting with a guest from the Sundance. The other two men were sitting at a table. She didn’t think any of the guys were stuntmen.
Elaine was talking to one of her neighbors, an old-timer sitting by himself and nursing a beer. It didn’t appear she’d need an order filled soon.
“You guys okay for now?” she asked the trio near her.
They all nodded, so she grabbed a rag and wiped the oak countertop as she made her way toward Gunner. He’d locked gazes with her and she’d be damned if she would look away first. Anyone trying to get her attention could get their own drink.
She stopped in front of him and watched one corner of his mouth slowly lift. “What can I do for you, cowboy?”
Come Closer, Cowboy Page 16
