Roxann Delaney - Rachel's Rescuer

“You’ve got a bigger problem than that, little lady.” Ben pointed to the front tire of her car, where a soft hiss could be heard.

“Flat,” Lucas grumbled. He wanted her gone, blue eyes and all. Something was wrong, and he didn’t want to know what it was. He wanted her off the Blue Sage. “We’ll get it changed, and you can be on your way.”

“I—I don’t have a spare.”

Before Lucas could reply with a string of words unfit for a woman’s ears, Ben interrupted. “Where was it you said you were headed?”

Looking up, she tensed again. “I didn’t say.”

It couldn’t have been clearer that something was going on. Lucas glimpsed fear beneath the stubborn stance. He wondered if Ben noticed it. The sheriff might look a little slow to some, but the man didn’t let much get by him.

Lucas didn’t take his eyes off her. He quickly reminded himself that strangers couldn’t be trusted in the middle of nowhere. Even isolated areas like the Blue Sage Ranch were known to have their share of con artists and other misbegotten vermin. Never a trusting soul, especially when it came to women, he wouldn’t put it past her to be part of some sort of scam.

And he didn’t welcome the interruption. The weather was expected to get bad—real bad. The woman needed to be on her way. The sooner the better.

Lucas let his gaze take a slow journey over the stranger, checking out the chestnut brown of her hair and the slender neck holding up an obstinate chin. Skipping over the loose-fitting shirt, his gaze lingered on her slim hips and long legs encased in threadbare blue jeans. A pair of dirty, time-worn tennis shoes finished the trip.

“If you’re lost, I’ll give you directions,” Ben was saying, jerking Lucas’s attention away from the leisurely tour of her body.

“Just tell me where and how far I am from Deer-fork,” the woman replied. “I’ll find my way from there.”

“You’re headed to Deerfork?”

She hesitated. “Sort of.”

“Near Deerfork?”

Nodding, she said nothing.

“I’ll give Willie a call and have him bring the tow truck out,” Ben said, then turned for his patrol car.

“If you tell me where you’re headed, I can give you better directions,” Lucas offered, his patience wearing thin. His suspicion mounted as he watched her twist her fingers in the hem of her shirt. She was scared. And not just of the law.

“I’m headed to see my—my friend,” she finally answered. “She and her husband live near Deerfork. I must have taken a wrong turn.”

The glare she directed at him nearly brought a smile to his lips. She was too easily riled. And too pretty when she was. He shook off the thought. “A name would give me somethin’ to go on.”

Lowering her head, she hid her expression behind a curtain of hair. “Richmond. Jenny Richmond.”

He swore under his breath. “Jen and Pete left a couple of weeks ago for a vacation.”

“Oh, no!” She swayed, wrapping her arms around her middle.

He gripped the fence in front of him to keep from rushing to her. No way was he getting involved. “You okay?”

Her chin lifted again. “I’ll be on my way, as soon as the tow truck gets here.”

While they glared at each other, Ben returned. “There’s been an accident over on I-15 I’ve gotta get to. Willie’s on his way there now.” He turned to the woman. “You’ll have to stay here, until he’s done and can get here.”

“Hold on!” Vaulting the fence and crossing the short distance to where the pair stood, Lucas addressed them both. “She can ride back with you, and Willie can get her car tomorrow. We’ll find her a place to stay in Deerfork.”

The wind kicked up, swirling dirt into the sharply cooling air around them. Gesturing with a nod of his head, Ben led Lucas to the cruiser. “She’ll have to stay here, Lucas, unless you can take her into Deer-fork.”

“Can’t. I’ve got a new bull calf I have to keep an eye on. You’ll have to take her.”

“Nope, can’t do it. I’ve gotta get to that accident.” Ben climbed into his car and rolled down the window, shaking his head. “Bunch o’ wild kids drivin’ too fast. When a storm’s a’comin’, all hell breaks loose. Nothin’ but trouble.”

“I’d say she’s trouble.” Lucas silently counted to five as Ben started the engine. “She’s not stayin’ here, and that’s—”

“Mom?”

He spun around at the sound of the voice, while Ben pulled out of the drive. Too preoccupied with this new development to try to stop the sheriff, Lucas squinted into the blowing dust to see the driver’s door of the woman’s car swing open. Unable to make out who it was, he rounded the back of the car and stopped in his tracks.

“It’s all right,” the woman said, pulling a small boy of about five or six close to her. With her arms wrapped possessively around the youngster, she glared at Lucas.

Eyes full of distrust, the boy looked up at him. “Who’s he?”

If his life depended on it, Lucas couldn’t have uttered a single word. After a moment of dead silence, he cleared his throat and forced himself to speak. “I’m Lucas Callahan. And your name is?”

“Cody.”

Promising himself the satisfaction of blasting Ben the next time he saw him, Lucas looked at the sky, then nodded. “Guess we’d better get to the house.”

“Isn’t there something else we can do? We can’t stay here.” The woman kept the boy close and shivered, but whether from fear or cold, Lucas couldn’t be sure.

“You’ll have to,” he stated, pointing them toward the porch and silently damning his luck. The sky had darkened to near black, and fat snowflakes whirled in the wind with the dust. “In thirty minutes, nobody’ll be able to get to the county road.”

And he was stuck with a woman and a kid for God knew how long.

Rachel Harris didn’t know if her legs would carry her to the house. She could feel the man’s eyes on her, and she knew he didn’t trust her. She couldn’t blame him. In the same situation, she would react the same way. She had to be careful. Suspicious people asked questions. Questions she couldn’t answer. Not if she wanted to keep Cody safe.

Blinking at the lights shining brightly inside the house, she entered the kitchen.

“Coffee?” the cowboy asked and pulled out two chairs from a large table.

Uncertainty gnawed at her, but she nodded and took the seat he offered. Daring a glance at the scowling man who crossed the roomy kitchen with long, bold strides, Rachel’s breath caught. Outside, the light had grown too dim to notice much by the time she’d realized he was there, and she had been too scared after that to pay much attention. But now that she could see him, if only from the back, she wished she had jumped in the car and taken off, flat tire and all.

A good six feet plus tall, Lucas Callahan resembled the devil himself. Beneath his black hat, thick dark hair curled against a deeply tanned neck and touched the collar of his matching black shirt. From the back, he looked formidable. From the front, she guessed he’d be frightening. The expanse of his shoulders was broad enough to lean on and feel safe, but didn’t look in the least bit inviting. Narrow-hipped and long-legged, he reminded her of a piece of onyx. Hard. Cold.

“Thank you,” she whispered, when he set a cup of coffee before her. After breathing in the comforting aroma, she offered a grateful smile. She hadn’t had any coffee since yesterday morning, and she craved it. But she had less than forty dollars, and she hadn’t wanted to spend even a little on a selfish cup of coffee. She’d counted on Jenny being home. Disappointment brought the walls of desperation closing in on her. In her twenty-seven years, she had felt many things. This bordered on the worst.