“Brooks is a friend, Mr. Dalton. He asked me to help so I’m here to help. I’m staying.”
Eli had to be a good six foot four. She was only five foot four. He studied her with probing green eyes from her green jacket to her cowl-necked pullover sweater to her skinny blue jeans and boots. “All right,” he said, “But call me Eli.”
“And I’m Hadley.”
He nodded. “It’s good to have backup here, Hadley. Thanks for coming out. Have you eaten lunch?”
“No. I didn’t think to grab anything to bring along.”
“I’ll go up to the house and get us something.” He nodded to the horse. “We have to keep up our strength so we can help her.”
“Amber, did you say?” she asked.
“Her coat’s that color,” he explained. “And her eyes.”
A man who noticed the color of a horse’s eyes. Eli Dalton was intriguing her more and more.
* * *
As Eli trudged through four inches of snow to the farmhouse, he knew he shouldn’t feel hot. It was just the stress of worrying about Amber. It wasn’t his blood running faster every time he looked at Hadley Strickland.
Although he’d more than noticed her when they’d crossed paths in the past, he’d never gone out of his way to chat her up. There was good reason for that. He knew her type all too well. She was educated and career-minded just as Elaine had been. His thoughts wanted to take him back twelve years, but he resisted as he always did. He had no intention of ever getting involved with a woman like that again. Since then, “serious” hadn’t been on his mind.
He knocked the snow from his boots before he went into the house. Once inside, it didn’t take him long. His mom always had the refrigerator stocked. After all, hungry ranch hands needed fuel. He scooped together sandwiches with thick bread and lots of meat and cheese, then slipped them into ziplock bags and put those into a grocery bag. He grabbed packets of mayonnaise and mustard from the refrigerator shelf. His mom kept plenty in there to put in lunch boxes for when they were out for the day fixing fence or other repairs. Next, he brewed coffee. When it was ready, he poured it into a large thermos, grabbed a tin of cookies, a few foam cups and paper dishes, then pushed everything into another grocery bag. Picking up both bags and the thermos, he headed out again.
In the barn once more, Eli spotted Hadley standing at Amber’s stall. The mare was back on her feet.
“She’s not ready,” Hadley said. “I think she’s trying to help herself.”
“You mean let gravity help her,” Eli amended.
Hadley looked at him then, her gaze locking to his.
He felt a jolt of elemental attraction that he attempted to dismiss.
“I told you I don’t have a lot of experience with horses,” she reminded him.
With difficulty, he transferred his focus to Amber again rather than Hadley and gave her an out if she wanted it. “I hate to tie you up here if it’s not necessary.”
“But you’re still worried.”
Apparently she could read him. He didn’t like that. Over the past dozen years, he’d dated...but never seriously. He tried not to let women read him. Still, he answered her truthfully. “I am worried. Not only about Amber. The snow’s getting deeper, and you might not be able to get out if you don’t go now.”
She laid her hand on his forearm. “I think taking care of a horse in labor is more important than my getting back to town.”
The sincerity in her voice rocked him almost as much as the feel of her hand on his arm.
They stood awkwardly for a few moments because they both knew what Hadley staying would entail. They’d be cooped up here together, almost perfect strangers who knew nothing about each other. She pulled her hand away from him.
They might be strangers, but he was becoming more curious about her.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go into the tack room and have some lunch. Dad had that area of the barn renovated so he could use it as an office as well as a tack room. He made sure it was safe for a gas-fed infrared heater. It’s not toasty, but it’s warmer than the barn.”
Hadley followed him to the tack room.
“Living in Montana, I’m sure you’ve been snowed in before.” They might as well get to know something about each other.
“I have,” she agreed with a nod. “If I’m at the clinic, I keep the animals company. I’ve always been able to entertain myself with a good book, and I carry one wherever I go.”
“Do you have one with you now?” he asked as he pulled a wood captain’s chair next to the desk chair.
“I have one in the SUV.”
Hadley was glancing around, and Eli tried to see the tack room area through her eyes. It was orderly with saddles on sawhorses and harnesses and bridles hanging on pegs on the wall. The concrete floor, absent of straw or any debris, made the space safe for the heater. The heater kept the room between fifty-five and sixty degrees when it was running. He kept his jacket hanging on a peg behind the door. If it came to it, Hadley could use his coat as well as her own. Eli’s gaze swept from the computer and flat-screen monitor on the scarred wood desk back to her.
She caught him watching her. “What?”
“I just wondered if you were cold.” He reached for the bag of sandwiches to give his hands something to do. For some reason, he was so tempted to push back the waves of her hair from her cheek. That was a crazy idea.
“I’m cold-weather friendly,” she told him with a smile. “Even though I spend most of my hours in the clinic with small animals, I do like to hike and cross-country ski.”
He arched his brows. “Good to know.”
A few minutes later he’d laid out everything he brought into the tack room and poured the coffee into the insulated cups. She looked at all of it a bit wide-eyed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Her cheeks reddened. “This is really thoughtful.”
He chuckled. “Making a few sandwiches and brewing coffee?”
“You brought chips and cookies, too.”
There was something in her voice that made him study her. “Why do you think that’s thoughtful? I need to eat as well as you.”
“Never mind,” she said, her cheeks growing a little redder.
He handed her a sandwich. “We could be here a while. We need stuff to talk about. Feel free to spill anything you want.”
Now she laughed. “It’s no deep, dark secret.”
Although those were the words that came from her very pretty lips, a shadow passed over her eyes. That shadow convinced Eli that maybe Hadley Strickland did have secrets. He waited.
“I’ve just come to expect men to think about themselves first.”
To lighten the mood, he grinned at her. “I did. I was hungry.”
She gave him a steady look. “Let’s just say I think your momma taught you well.”
That gave him pause. “She did,” he agreed. “Though with my brother Derek, I’m not sure he had his ears open.”
Hadley laughed. “He does have a reputation.”
“You’ve heard about it from Melba and Old Gene? Or maybe your sisters?”
“My sisters mostly. Not that we talk about men every time we get together.” There was amusement in her voice, and he wondered what they did talk about. Family? Their goals and dreams?
After taking a few bites of his sandwich and having a swallow of coffee, he asked, “How long are you staying in Rust Creek Falls?”
“I plan to stay until after Thanksgiving. My mom and dad will be joining the rest of the clan here.” When she said it, she wrinkled her nose slightly. When she did, he noticed freckles on her cheeks. She had such a beautiful natural look.
He cleared his throat and asked, “You’re not glad your mom and dad are coming?”
She looked thoughtful for a moment then shrugged. “Oh, I love spending time with Mom and Dad and the rest of my family. It’s just that sometimes they gang up on me because my life isn’t as settled as theirs. As long as I can keep the conversation on everybody else, we’re good.”
In the silence that followed, Hadley’s cell phone beeped. She’d opened her coat, and now she pulled the phone from a holder on her belt. Eli couldn’t help but glimpse under her coat—at her softly rounded breasts, her slim waist. She wasn’t tall either. Just how well did she handle the animals she treated?
When she seemed to hesitate about answering the call or text message, he encouraged her to do it. “You’d better use your phone while you can. Service is spotty out here on the best days, and on days like this, it can cut out anytime.”
She checked her phone and smiled. “It’s my grandmother. She wants to know if I got here safely.” Her thumbs worked the small keyboard, and then she returned to eating her sandwich.
“What did you tell Melba?”
“That I’m midwifing and don’t know when I’ll be back.”
“And you added, Don’t worry about me,” he guessed.
“You obviously understand the protective family.”
“I’m protective myself at times.” After all, he was the oldest. He’d learned responsibility at a young age. He’d not only learned it but accepted it. Taking care of those around him came naturally to him.
Suddenly Hadley put her sandwich down and looked over her shoulder.
“What is it?”
She put her finger to her lips to shush him, and seemed to listen intently. Then she got to her feet and was careful to step softly toward the shelves to the rear of the tack room.
“A field mouse could have made its way in here,” he began.
But Hadley paid no attention. Instead she bent over to the lowest shelf, moved a box of grooming equipment and scooped up something. When she turned around, in her arms she held a kitten.
At that moment, Eli knew he was in big trouble. Hadley Strickland standing there with a kitten in the crook of her arm was a sight that made his blood run fast and his heart increase its rhythm. Just what he didn’t need—an attraction to a well-educated woman who probably considered ranch life foreign to her. He had to get his libido under control and do it fast.
Chapter Two
Hadley walked toward Eli, and for a few seconds he thought about backing up. But he couldn’t. He was mesmerized by her and the kitten in her arms.
As she stood in front of him, she handed him the kitten. “Can you hold her? I think the mom is back there, too.”
What choice did he have? Along with catching Hadley’s vanilla scent that was so different from the perfumes women usually wore, besides being close enough to think about touching her hair that looked even softer than he originally thought it might be, besides staring at her lips for a nanosecond and imagining—
Coming back to reality with a jolt, he took the kitten and nestled it on his forearm. It was adorable with colors split on its face. One side was tan, the other dark brown into black. All shades from gold to brown melded in its coat.
Hadley’s gaze met his, and they seemed locked in the moment. Then her focus went to the kitten. She brushed her thumb under its eye.
“She’s too little to be separated from her mom, so if we make friends with one, we have to make friends with both.” With that she swiftly turned and went back to the shelves. In another minute, she had another cat in her arms, a lighter tortoiseshell, one that hardly looked old enough to have a litter of kittens.
“Do you think they’re hungry?” Eli asked. “There’s cat food in the cupboard.” He motioned to the storage units near the shelves.
“Stray cats are usually always hungry,” Hadley agreed. “The little one should be old enough to eat a bit of cat food mixed with water. You haven’t seen them around before?”
“Barn cats come and go. My guess is they hide whenever humans come in. If I see them, I feed them.” He gave a shrug. “But I haven’t seen these two before.”
“They probably took shelter in here from the cold and the snow. They need to be tested, and the little one looks as if she might need eyedrops.”
“We can do that,” he said. “They’re not going to get out of the barn now, that’s for sure.”
Hadley settled the momma cat on the chair. Instead of scampering away like Eli might have expected she would do, she sat there and looked up at Hadley, as if grateful for the company and the attention.
“What about the kitten?” he asked. “Should I just put her down?”
“Do you have a box and maybe an old blanket? We can make her a better bed. After she eats, she might sleep there, depending on the mom.”
“You said they need to be tested. What are you testing for?”
“Feline leukemia and FIV.”
“And if they have it?”
“We’ll talk after they’re tested. No use jumping the gun.”
Eli handed Hadley the kitten, understanding that she dealt with this every day—clients bringing pets for her care, clients losing pets, clients hoping Hadley could make everything better. He found the food, then emptied a box that held old tack that needed repair. In no time, he’d created a bed with a fleece saddle pad.
Eli searched for something they could use for dishes. He borrowed the lid to a jar that held organic cookie treats for the horses. It was big enough that both mom and kitten could eat from it.
Handing it to Hadley along with a bottle of water from a case on the floor, he said, “This is the best I could do.”
“This will work great. Are you sure you’ve never done this before?”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
When their eyes met, Eli thought he caught a flash of attraction in Hadley’s brown gaze. He knew he was feeling it. Maybe it was just the idea of being cooped up during a snowstorm that made their awareness of each other so intense.
“I’ll check on Amber,” he said gruffly and exited the tack room to do just that.
Hadley told herself to focus on what she was doing while Eli checked on his horse. Why did her gaze want to follow him? Eli drew her eyes to him like he was a magnet and she was the weakest piece of metal. It wasn’t just his broad shoulders, though they were broad. It wasn’t his slim hips and his flat stomach under his vest, though she could imagine a six-pack under his flannel shirt. It wasn’t his long legs encased in jeans that fit oh, so well. How often had she seen cowboys in jeans? Eli’s jeans looked as if they were comfortable, worn white in some places. She had to stop sneaking peeks at him.
Focusing on the cat food and the water, she mixed it together in the lid. As soon as she lowered it to the floor, momma cat was there instantly and so was baby. Only baby seemed to be having a hard time of it. Not used to eating food from a dish? That was easily fixed.
Hadley dipped her finger into the mixture and held it to the kitten’s nose. The kitten’s little pink tongue snuck out and lapped at her finger. The hairs on the nape of her neck prickled, and she felt Eli’s presence as soon as he was near. It wasn’t his shadow. It wasn’t the soapy leather scent that seemed to surround him. It was just...him. He was back and watching her.
Hadley knew about the cowboy kind. She’d dated a few. They were hardworking, but often narrow-minded, never looking at the world around them, only at the world they knew.
Eli hunkered down next to her and lifted the cat food can. “It looks like she needs a little more.” He forked more food into the lid, his arm bumping hers.
Hadley poured more water from the bottle and almost spilled it. Being this close to Eli made her feel a bit shaky. How crazy was that?
“Do you really think they’ll sleep in the box?” he asked.
As she turned to face him, he
r body was close to his. She took in the details of his face, the lines around his eyes, the slight furrow in his brow. There was a light scar on the left side of his cheek, and her fingers suddenly itched to touch it.
No, no, no, she told herself, turning away from him. She murmured, “They might. If Momma thinks it’s cuddly, warm and safe.”
Giving her attention once more to the momma cat and baby, she saw the kitten was eating from the dish now, having gotten the idea from tasting the food on Hadley’s finger.
Feeling suddenly nervous around Eli, she needed something to say. “They’ll probably sleep after they eat. If you put the box right near those shelves where they were, they’ll probably settle there. They’re creatures of habit just as we are.”
She used a bit of the water to wash her fingers, and then wiped them on a napkin. She went to her bag that she’d dropped on the desk and took out a vial of antibacterial gel that needed no water and rubbed it on her hands. Then she hurriedly left the tack room to check on Eli’s mustang.
Immediately, Hadley saw that Amber didn’t seem to be in any distress. Maybe Eli had been all wrong about a problem with labor. Maybe she should leave while she could.
On the other hand, she sighed at the thought of being around a whole boardinghouse full of Stricklands. Maybe the truth was that it was getting harder to keep her secret from her family. In some ways, she wanted to talk to her sisters about it. Yet in others, she still felt ashamed and foolish about a romance that had been so wrong. No one really needed to know what she’d done. Not ever. But keeping her past romantic mistake to herself sometimes made her feel as if there was a wall between her and her family.
As she walked back to the tack room, she glimpsed Eli setting the box near the shelves. Joining him, she watched the momma cat walk toward the box and the baby follow. Momma circled a few times, hopped in and kneaded the saddle pad. Baby hopped in with her. Soon she was suckling her mom.
With a smile that made Hadley feel tingly all over, Eli studied the cats with her. Then he asked about Amber. Though she told him the mare was fine, he obviously needed to see for himself.
The Maverick's Snowbound Christmas Page 2
