Desert Moon (The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch Book 1)
Page 13
In her first decisive action since fleeing Pittsburgh, she slid back into the car, reached past the empty coffee cups on the passenger side floor, and dug out the map she hadn’t checked since Texas. Where was she, exactly? Somewhere in Arizona—that much she knew. But where?
She glanced up at the scenery, down at the map, and up again. There’d been a town a couple of miles back, and that was as good a place to start as any. She gunned the engine to life and turned the car around. Twenty miles later, she was there: a tiny no-name town on the fringes of a slightly bigger, no-name town.
Heather checked into a motel that was only marginally less dusty than her car, slept thirty-six hours straight, then pulled herself together, one frayed thread at a time. A friendly waitress at a diner got her started with a phone book and a few names. It took dozens of calls, but within a couple of days, she found a tiny bungalow to rent on the edge of town and a job—a teaching job, even. A one-room schoolhouse on a lonely outpost of a ranch had a last-minute opening. In the interview, Heather rattled off her qualifications then rushed through the reason she’d left her job in Pennsylvania so abruptly.
“A stalker,” she said. That was as close to the truth as she dared utter aloud.
It was enough—she got the job.
“It’s only for two months,” said Lana, the woman from the ranch. “Until our regular teacher comes back from emergency family leave.”
“Two months is perfect.” She’d catch her breath, earn a little cash, and then move on. Because sooner or later, the beast who hunted her would come looking. That much she knew.
Desert Blood: Chapter Two
The schoolhouse was a slanted old adobe, full of charm, if a little run-down, and the job was a bucking bronco, determined to pitch her off. But Heather was just as determined to hang on to this one scrap of sanity within her reach, even if it was the teaching challenge of her life. Eleven students, spread through all grades—from emerging readers to rowdy fifth graders. It took two bouncy weeks for her to convince that bronc to finally let her take the reins, but she did it. She found reserves of patience she didn’t know she had, spent hours prepping lessons, and fell into bed exhausted each night. But she did it.
Once the kids settled into a new routine, everything got easier. Mornings were quieter, afternoons smoother. Right now, the kids were at their learning stations in pairs, working quietly while Heather went over essay writing with two third-graders.
A shriek drew her attention to the back of the schoolhouse, and she looked up then ducked on instinct. Something swept straight over her head, brushing her hair. Becky was screaming, Timmy was pointing. The room erupted into noise as the other kids joined in with high-pitched squeals that resounded off the walls.
“A bat! A bat!”
It made another pass, and Heather swiped the air over her head.
“Miss Luth! Miss Luth! A bat!”
She followed the silky black form until it perched on a high shelf. A tiny, pink tongue darted out and lapped at the air between them. She could swear its beady eyes were studying her. Something about the bat seemed…evil. She held back a shudder and forced herself into action. “Timmy, get me a towel!”
For once, Timmy did as he was told. Heather approached the bat, towel in hand, kids cheering her on.
“Get it, Miss Luth! Get it!”
“Be careful, Miss Luth!”
Telling herself it was only a bat—one little bat—she lunged, but the bat was a step ahead, weaving and diving around the classroom. The noise level surged to a new peak, like a boxing arena at the first sight of blood.
“Everything OK?” A voice came from the doorway, completely unperturbed. It was soothing, like the sound of waves over a smooth sandy shore. The voice warmed her from the inside even before she spun and spotted the newcomer.
“Cody! Cody!” the children cried.
Heather’s stomach did a flip. It was him. The one she’d noticed around the ranch. The one she couldn’t not notice.
The ranch seemed to be a breeding ground for gorgeous men, but this one was in a class of his own. Lean, blond, relaxed. Most of the others came in the strong-but-silent, earthy category, but this one should be bobbing on a surfboard, swiping salt water out of his eyes. He seemed in no hurry whatsoever, as if today was just another great day of many.
The kids whipped themselves into a new frenzy, pointing at the bat, high on another shelf.
“Cody! A bat! A bat!” Timmy jumped up and down on his desk, and a panicked Becky threw herself into the man’s arms. He scooped her up and patted her back while Timmy shouted. “I saw it first! I saw it first!”
“Timmy, sit down!” Heather shot him her best teacher look.
Cody whispered to Becky, bringing a smile back to her face. Then he pointed at Timmy, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Do I know you?”
That voice could soothe a thousand wailing babies. She wanted to wrap it around her like a blanket.
“Cody! It’s me, Timmy!”
He looked at the boy then right into Heather’s eyes. Her heart skipped a beat. “I swear I don’t know this child,” he said.
“Cody!” Timmy protested.
The man tousled Timmy’s hair, stroked Becky’s back, and lowered her back to her seat. Then he stepped up to Heather, eyes utterly, unfailingly devoted to hers. She caught a breath and held it. He’d never been this close before. Never done anything but wave a friendly hello from across the way. She’d had to force herself away every time because the urge to stop and talk—to look, to get closer, maybe even to touch—was damn near impossible to resist.
Now he was inches away. Big, broad—but not too much of either. Just right. The nick in one ear was the only part of him that wasn’t perfect. She caught his scent, and it was an ocean breeze gone walkabout in the desert.
She gave herself an inner slap. No, no, no! Men were not to be trusted. Not ever again.
Not even this one? a small voice in her cried.
Especially not this one! came the slamming reply.
“Cody, get the bat!” the kids urged. “Get it! Get it!” Pandemonium once again.
A second voice boomed into the doorway, deep and gravelly. “What the hell is going on here?”
Without thinking, Heather wheeled, slammed her hands onto her hips, and shot out a reply. “Watch your language! This is a school!” For a moment, she felt like her old self—in command, not only of the students but herself. The Heather from before the nightmare.
When the second man stepped in, the air pressure in the room immediately rose, as if a storm system were squeezing itself through the doorway. Scampering feet pounded the wooden floorboards as kids rushed back to their seats and stood stiffly at attention. She could swear everyone was holding their breath—including the bat.
The man’s piercing eyes glowed with anger. The old Heather might have stood her ground, but the Heather she’d become wavered and took a step back. She might have melted onto the floor, mortified, if Cody hadn’t stepped between them, practically growling.
Her shoulders slumped. Oh God, the second man was the ranch boss. She would lose her job. She would be thrown out. She would—
“Don’t mind my brother,” Cody said softly. That tenor was magic, sending a warm, secure rush her way. Heather straightened slightly and looked from Cody to the other one. Ty, that was his name. Were they really brothers? One was a thundercloud; the other, pure sunshine. As opposite as opposites can be.
Before she knew it, Ty whisked the towel out of her hands and stepped toward the bat. He must have fixed it with that laser of a gaze because the bat submitted without so much as lifting a wing. When Ty scooped it up and stepped outside, moving quickly down the flagstone path, the whole room exhaled.
Heather leaned against the wall, suddenly drained. “Five minute break, kids.” They broke into gleeful cries and ran out to the playground, leaving Heather and Cody alone.
“My brother does have a soft spot, you know.” Cody grinned. “It come
s out every second year or so.”
Definitely opposites, those two. She’d take this one in an instant and worship him like the sun.
His eyes were studying the blackboard, reading the words. “My dream home?” He grinned like Huck Finn, but all grown up. Very grown up.
She would bet anything he’d been like Timmy as a kid. Sweet, energetic, mischievous. And now, sweet, studly, and mischievous. She’d give anything to make like Becky and hide herself against that chest.
Heather cleared her throat. “Geometry. They have to find shapes in the house, and then draw their own dream homes.”
“And this one is yours?” He nodded to the board.
The U-shaped ranch she’d been kidding herself about for years? She shrugged the notion away. “Nah. Just an example.”
He chuckled. “Right.”
God, that smile could make her forget everything. Like the fact that she’d sworn off men. Like the fact that she had eleven rambunctious kids to supervise instead of standing there, letting goose bumps tickle her skin.
Like the fact that the last man she’d let this close nearly killed her.
But with those gold-brown eyes caressing hers, she just might forget.
“Cody!” Ty growled from outside, breaking whatever spell had wafted in with the wind.
“Gotta go,” Cody sighed. He stood looking at her for a long, mournful minute—a kid watching the ice cream truck pull away before he got a scoop. “Gotta go,” he repeated, eyes sliding shut. Seemed to Heather he’d aimed that whisper at himself.
And then he was gone, leaving the room emptier than it had ever felt before.
More from Anna Lowe
Desert Wolf
a short story
coming March 15, 2015
Desert Blood
Book 2 in the series
coming April 2015
Pre-order a copy now or leave a review of Desert Moon and get Desert Blood free! Just email the link to your review to me at author@annalowebooks.com.
Desert Fate
Book 3 in the series
coming May 2015
Desert Hunt
the Prequel to the series
available June 2015 in the
"Masters of the Hunt” Boxed Set