Linda Goodnight - Rancher's Refuge

“All right, then. It’s settled.” He leaned back, almost sighing with relief. After breakfast she would be out of his life, out of his house. Gone.

Cassie would have a fit.

Annalisa rose and began gathering up the dirty dishes. The poodle followed her.

“Leave those.”

“I want to do them.”

She went to the sink and he followed, noticing then what he hadn’t before. She’d been up a while and she’d been busy. The vacuum cleaner sat next to the broom on one wall. How she’d managed to use either with one arm befuddled him, but she had. The clothes drier buzzed from the utility room, and he realized she’d done laundry, too. That explained the yellow scrubs.

As he put away the butter and jelly, she ran water to wash the dishes. One thing he’d say for her, she might wear sissy shoes, but she wasn’t lazy. Even with one hand, she was willing to earn her keep.

He bumped her out of the way. Dishes with one hand would take too long. He had work to do. “I wash. You dry.”

She didn’t argue but took up a dish towel and waited, leaning her cast on the counter—a splash of lime green against black-and-brown granite. “Do you know any place in town I might find a job?”

Austin frowned. “You’re planning to stay in Whisper Falls?”

“Maybe. It seems to be a nice, quiet town.”

“You have family here?”

She pressed her lips, looked away, moody. “No. No family.”

Odd, he thought, to relocate with no family, no job, no personal belongings. “I can ask around.”

“Thank you.”

He held out a cup and when she reached to take it, he didn’t let go. Her gaze fluttered up, startled, and he saw panic rising.

“What are you afraid of, Annalisa? No one here will hurt you.” He knew as sure as he knew her eyes were the purest blue he’d ever seen, someone had hurt her. “Who did this? Who hurts you? Your husband? Is that it? Are you running from your husband?”

The last part stuck in his craw, a wad thick enough to choke him.

She stared at him across the cup that joined their hands. A tiny muscle twitched beneath her cheekbone. Finally, she licked her lips and whispered, “Boyfriend.”

Austin released the cup along with the breath he hadn’t known he was holding. He vacillated between relief that she wasn’t tangled up with an abusive husband and fury at her jerk of a boyfriend.

“He broke your arm and dumped you out at the waterfall?”

“I ran. He pushed me out of the car and tried to...” She bit down on her lip, eyes wide with the painful memory. “I ran into the woods, praying he wouldn’t follow me.”

“Did he?”

“I don’t think so. I think he’ll go back to San Diego without me.”

“San Diego?” That explained a few things. His mystery lady was a long way from home.

“We were on our way to a conference in Nashville. James likes to drive, to make a vacation out of business trips.” Her lips twisted. “To rip off the big bosses anytime he can, although he has all of them fooled. I saw the sign about the waterfall and wanted to see it.”

“What happened?”

She lifted one shoulder as if the load she carried was too heavy. “James doesn’t need much to lose his temper. Hopefully, he went on to the conference.”

“But you aren’t sure? He could still be around, maybe in town waiting for you to show up again?”

“Possibly.” Her lip trembled.

Great. Just terrific. “Was this the first time he hurt you?”

“No.” Her face darkened with a fierce determination. “But it’s the last. I won’t go back. I won’t see him again. No matter what he does.”

Rage boiled in Austin’s gut. If he could get his hands on that jerk... “Maybe you should call the cops.”

Not that he wanted anything to do with cops.

Hands raised in a defensive gesture, she jerked back in panic. “No! Please. I can’t. Don’t say anything. I’ll leave here today and won’t bother you again. Only promise you won’t tell anyone, especially the police.”

“A scum like that shouldn’t get away with hurting a woman.”

“The police won’t help. Trust me. I’ve tried.”

In a way, he understood her reluctance. The police weren’t always helpful. Sometimes they were dead wrong.

Austin gazed into her pretty face and saw fear. He heard the tremor in her voice and the desperation.

A heaviness came down around him, a cloak of responsibility and dread. He knew what he was about to do and he didn’t like it one bit.

No matter how much he wanted Annalisa Keller to leave, he couldn’t send her away.

For the next few days or weeks or months, until his conscience would let her go, Annalisa was here to stay.

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