Debra Clopton - Her Unforgettable Cowboy

“Glad you came on out today, Jolie,” she said as Jolie gave her a hug.

“I thought it would be best to come and, you know—” she faltered as she looked at Morgan, who frowned at her “—get acquainted, with the boys, I mean, and get prepared.”

Morgan looked as if he’d just witnessed her robbing a bank or something, his eyes narrowing in distrust. Jolie gulped and looked back at Nana.

“Thank you for the snacks. These boys deserve it—as you said, they’ve been working hard.”

Nana waved off the comment. “These bottomless pits always need cookies.” She planted her fists on her hips, giving Jolie and Morgan the once-over. “When I was coming out of the chow hall I saw you two heading around the back of the building.”

Nana looked at Morgan, and Jolie thought she saw worry in her eyes.

“Um, we had things to discuss,” Jolie explained. What else could she say?

“Morgan, how’s your day going?” Nana asked when it was obvious the boys were too engrossed in cookie devouring to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Exasperation flashed in Morgan’s eyes. “How do you think, Nana? Started out with a real bang in Dad’s office this morning.”

Nana blushed—surprising Jolie, since she wasn’t the blushing kind—and she leaned in close to Morgan. “If it makes you feel any better, I told Randolph he needed to warn you.”

“And what about you?” he asked.

“I— Well,” she said, patting his arm. “We’ll talk about this later.”

Jolie wasn’t sure what was going on, but it sounded as if Morgan hadn’t known she was coming. Was that possible? The thought practically made her gasp. If that was the case, then no wonder he was so hostile. His dad had not only made the decision to hire her on his own, but had also kept it a secret—until today.

“You didn’t know?” she whispered.

His lips pressed into a tight line and his left eyebrow lifted ever so slightly.

Jolie gasped, looking from Morgan to Nana. It was true—Randolph hadn’t told him!

Nana turned to where the boys were scarfing down the cookies as if there was no tomorrow. “Did you fellas know Jolie is a world-class champion kayaker? She gets paid by sponsors to travel all over the world and compete using their gear. Isn’t that right, Jolie?”

“Get outta here. For real?” Wes said, stepping away from the cookie fray.

Jolie nodded and her stomach dropped to her feet as a sick feeling washed over her in a wave. Please don’t go there. I can’t handle that right now on top of everything else.

She’d known it was ridiculous to hope no one would mention her kayaking, yet she’d hoped exactly that. She gave a weak smile. “I’ve won a few competitions.”

“Ha!” Nana hooted. “She’s top ten in the country.”

Morgan crossed his arms, his expression stormy.

“Top in the country!” Wes gushed, suddenly looking a lot younger than seventeen.

“Really?” Tony joined in, his eyes lit with expectations.

Alarms clanged inside of Jolie.

“What’s kayaking?” Caleb asked as he and the other smaller fellas looked up from their cookies.

“It’s like a plastic canoe that holds one person, and they compete on riding the rapids and stuff.” Joseph had come closer, as intent as Wes and Tony. “We have some rapids on the river at this place. Do you know that?”

She knew what was coming next. She knew it and she wasn’t even sure she could speak. But she nodded and fought for words as acid churned in her stomach.

“I—I started on those rapids when I was a kid. Morgan showed them to me.”

That was all the encouragement the boys needed. They instantly erupted in excitement.

“Cool! Can you teach us?” Joseph said over the others’ exclamations. Jolie silently prayed for God to help her.

“I’ve always wanted to learn,” Wes gushed again, grinning like he’d just won the lottery. “Can you teach us?” he echoed as the others chimed in.

Jolie’s vision blurred—where had all the air gone? She suddenly felt unbearably hot as every eye in the room stared at her. Her pulse pounded in her head like the roar of the white river rapids she now feared. Black spots began to spatter her vision like paint drops. She swayed, woozy, and her gaze swung to Morgan—for what? To ask for help?

I can’t teach these boys to kayak!

Breathe, she commanded herself, even as her knees turned to jelly....

“Jolie!”

Morgan’s voice rumbled down a long tunnel as Jolie sank like a rock.

One minute she was standing and the next she was swooped up into strong arms. His strong arms. Morgan McDermott’s arms.

The arms she’d longed for since she’d walked away from Sunrise Ranch...six long years ago....

Voices floated to Jolie through a dark fog.

“She fainted,” Caleb gasped.

“Passed smooth out,” Sammy said in a hushed voice.

“I ain’t never in my whole long life seen nobody pass out,” B.J. whispered.

Though lost in the fog, it registered loud and clear to Jolie that her head was resting against Morgan’s chest. His heart beat against her temple so hard it was no wonder she’d come to so quickly.

“Good thang you gone and caught her, Morgan,” B.J. continued. Jolie was surprised how easily she could already identify the boys just by the sound of their voices.

“Yeah, or she might have died,” Sammy said solemnly.

“Caleb and Sammy, how about y’all get me a glass of water and a cold rag?” Nana urged gently.

“Sure! I’ll get the rag,” Caleb volunteered.

“I’ll get the water,” Sammy said. Their voices were followed immediately by the trample of feet.

“Jolie, can you hear me?” Morgan asked gently.

Jolie lifted her eyes and forced herself to pull her head away from Morgan’s heart. Embarrassment warmed her face. “Faint of heart” was not a description of the gal who’d looked down the throat of The Gorilla—the burliest rapids in the toughest of all the extreme kayaking competitions in the world—and felt only an adrenaline rush and excitement. She was not a wimp. Fainting was not in her vocabulary...or at least it hadn’t been until she’d almost drowned.

“Give her some air, boys,” Nana said. Moving in, she fanned Jolie furiously with a booklet she must have snatched from the bookshelf. “Honey, you’re whiter than Walter Pepper’s hair!”

Jolie would have smiled at that if she could have.

“How are you doing?” Morgan asked, his voice gruff in a way that made her heart beat faster.

“I’m okay,” Jolie assured them, looking at Morgan. His eyes were full of concern—and questions. She was thankful they were surrounded by the boys—boys who were silent and looked a little scared. She needed to stand up and show them she was fine.

Even if she was fast becoming a wimp, she certainly didn’t have to broadcast it.

“Are you sure?” Morgan set her on her feet, keeping his arms around her. “Maybe you should sit down.”

Maybe I need to stay in your arms—

Maybe I need to get a grip!

“No, I can stand,” she said firmly, and forced herself to step away from Morgan.

The concern in his eyes almost undid her.

This was the man she’d fallen for when she was sixteen years old. This was a gentler man, not the hard man she’d been dealing with for the last couple of hours. Sadly, she knew she was partly to blame for some of the hard crust encasing Morgan.

Praying her witless knees wouldn’t buckle, she was pleased when she stood firm. All she had to do now was come up with an answer as to why she wasn’t going to teach the boys how to kayak.

Sammy and Caleb came bounding from the back of the building, Caleb waving a washcloth and Sammy sloshing water from the glass as he ran, the hand clamped tightly over the glass not keeping the water from escaping. His big eyes were huge with fear. She hated that she’d worried him when he already had so many things bothering him.