Joanna Wayne - Ambush At Dry Gulch

Edna stepped into the room, her arms filled with fluffy white towels. She passed them around, and the ladies took them eagerly.

“I’d best get back to the horses,” Tilson said.

“I’ll help,” Lanky said, “unless you want me to hang around longer, boss man.”

“No. You and Tilson just take care of the horses. Move quickly and take cover if need be. There are some extra ponchos on hooks in the garage,” Jake said. “Grab a couple.”

“Too late now. Besides, a little rain never hurt a cowboy,” Tilson said. “Mighty sorry for letting our guests get caught in the downpour, though.”

Unwittingly Jake’s gaze swept back to Carolina. She dabbed her face before wrapping long locks of dripping hair between folds of the thick terry.

“Where’s Lizzie?” Jake asked, coming to his senses to realize she was missing from the group.

“Headed straight to her room to get out of her wet clothes,” Edna said.

“You have a lovely daughter,” Carolina said.

“Really fun to be around,” Peg added.

“Thank you.” Obviously they’d seen the side of Lizzie she seldom shared with him anymore.

“We’re puddling your floors,” Carolina said, looking down. “If you’ll get me a mop, I’ll clean up our mess.”

“Guests don’t mop,” Edna said quickly. “I’m more worried about the four of you standing around in those wet clothes. Why don’t I show you to guest rooms and gather some robes? You can change into them and I’ll toss your wet clothes into the dryer. They’ll be ready for you to put back on in no time.”

All four of the women voiced their approval of that.

Jake walked over to the counter to start a pot of coffee while the women now draped in thirsty towels followed Edna to retrieve the robes. As usual, Edna was way ahead of him. The pot was full.

He was halfway through a mug of hot brew when Lizzie padded barefoot into the kitchen. Her long auburn hair was turbaned in a light blue towel. Her too-skimpy white denim shorts rode low on her hips. A blue cropped top showed far too much skin for his liking.

As tempted as he was to send her back to her room for something more suitable for guests, he decided to let it ride this time.

“Where did everyone go?” she asked.

“To change into robes so that Edna could dry their clothes.”

“I’ll go see if I can help.” She headed for the hallway.

“Lizzie.”

She stopped and turned toward him with a roll of her eyes. “What did I do now?”

“Nothing. I appreciate you helping out today. It was a...” He searched for the right words.

“Decent thing to do. I get it, Dad. Don’t sound so shocked. I’m not completely heathen.”

“I was simply saying thanks.”

“Yeah.” She nodded and left the room.

He couldn’t even pull off being appreciative and make it work with her anymore. How had the gulf between him and his daughter ever grown so wide?

Jake checked the weather radar on his phone. The entire county was getting hit, but the worst was north of them, toward Austin. He stamped to the mudroom, grabbed the mop from the closet and went to work on the floor.

“Keep that up and you’ll scrub the finish off the tiles,” Edna said, rejoining him in the kitchen a few minutes later.

He looked down. The floor was completely dry. He eased his grip on the mop handle as lightning zigzagged across the sky, followed by a clap of thunder that shook the windows.

“Keeps storming like this and a few of those low-lying roads are sure to flood,” Edna said. “Lucky we have plenty of spare bedrooms if the ladies need to stay over.”

A sleepover with Carolina was exactly what he didn’t need. “Storm will likely pass in a couple of hours.”

“Might. Might not. I’ll take some chicken out of the freezer just in case. It can be thawing while I wash their clothes.”

“What happened to the plan to just throw them in the dryer for a few minutes?”

“The hems of the jeans were muddy and everything smelled of wet horseflesh.”

“Nothing wrong with that. This is a ranch.”

“We don’t have to smell like the horses. Besides, it’s not as if they have to get dressed immediately. They can’t set off for Austin in this storm. I told them to slip out of everything and put the laundry outside the door. I’ll pick their soiled clothes up in a few minutes and toss them in the washer while they just make themselves at home.”

“You are definitely getting into this.”

“Do you blame me? It’s not every day we have someone like Carolina Lambert in the house.”

“Now you’re knocking my friends.”

“You know what I mean. She’s exciting and so interesting. Her friends are nice, too. Even Lizzie is enjoying herself, in case you haven’t noticed.”

He’d noticed. He’d dated a few times since Gloria’s death. None of the women had made anywhere near the impression Carolina was making.

“Did you know that Carolina is a widow with three adult sons and four grandchildren?” Edna asked.

“I’ve heard that.”

“She doesn’t look nearly old enough to have grown sons or be a grandmother.”

He couldn’t argue with that.

“Her son Durk is the CEO of the family oil business and her other two sons, Damien and Tague, manage the Bent Pine Ranch.”

“You are just chock-full of information today.”

“I like to know about the people I’ll be entertaining for the next few days.”

“Whoa. We are not entertaining them. They’re using our facilities and our horses, but we’re not involved. It’s totally their show. Keep that in mind.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t be hospitable. You need to do the same. You never know. You might just find some chemistry with one of our guests.”

“I’m not looking for chemistry.”

“It might find you anyway if you’d stop being so contrary.” Edna pulled a package of chicken from the freezer. “I settled the ladies into all four of our guest suites. Made sure they had plenty of that good-smelling soap, shampoo, and fresh towels and washcloths, too.”

Great. So now Carolina Lambert was taking a hot shower under his roof. Naked. He swallowed hard, determined to keep his arousal level at low-key. He didn’t like the woman, and with good reason. Why couldn’t his manly urges get that?

“Just remember you’re bringing all this extra work on yourself, Edna. Don’t blame me if your good intentions turn into more than you bargained for. In the meantime, I’ll be in my office if you need me—getting some work done while we still have power.”

“Good thinking. I’ll put out some candles and the oil lamps. Never know when the electricity will go out.”

His office was down the hall on the first floor, far away from all the guest rooms—except one, which was only a few steps from his office. With his luck, Carolina was probably stripping out of her clothes in that one right now.

* * *

CAROLINA STARED OUT the window and into a torrent of rain. She should be back in her hotel room in Austin. But here she was, standing in one of Jake Dalton’s guest rooms, no longer dripping, but with her damp clothes clinging to her like a clammy second skin. She looked away from the storm and glanced around the room.

A king-size bed topped with a dark green comforter was piled high with pillows. A small antique desk held a cup of pens, some note paper and several hardcover novels displayed between beautifully sculptured horse-head bookends. A floor mirror in a beautiful oak stand adorned a far corner.

The walls were painted a pale green and decorated with framed photographs of Texas landscapes, at least two of which she was certain had been taken on the Silver Spur. She recognized the magnificent views from this afternoon’s ride.