Im fine. His terse reply was answer enough.
Yep, definitely a tough guy. Too macho for his own good. Michelle rolled her eyes and capped her pen. He wasnt her responsibility, not entirely, but what was she going to do? Just leave him? He obviously needed help and he didnt even know it.
Im sorry, the clerk returned. Ive called all the chains and independents around. The closest vacancy I could find was a room in Butte.
An hour away. Brody groaned. That wasnt going to work. Maybe hed call his emergency contact at the local office. See if he couldnt crash on a fellow agents couch for the night. Brody thanked the woman for her trouble.
If youre interested, Michelle said as she handed something to the woman. On the house. For your trouble tonight.
Why, thats awful nice of you. She beamed at Michelle. Ill sure do that. Ive been needing to make an appointment, and gosh, just couldnt fit it into my budget.
Then Ill be seeing you. Michelle joined him at the door.
Had she just given away a free haircut? Brody pondered that.
What are we going to do with you, mister? Rain dripped off the overhead entrance and whispered in the evening around them as she flipped through her key ring.
Abandon me in the street? He shrugged. Ill be fine. Let me get my pack out of your truck before you go.
Im not leaving you here. With a flick of her hair, she marched toward her truck, fearless in the rain. What are you standing there for? Hurry up. Youre coming with me.
As in, going home with you?
Isnt that what I said?
No way. That was too good to be true.
What are you going to do? Sleep in the rain? My parents have this big house. They wont mind a guest for the night.
An invitation to spend the night in the McKaslins home. He was speechless at this rare opportunity. Theyd take a stranger into their house, just like that?
You can have the bed over the garage. Dont worry. Its nice. You can get a good nights sleep, and in the morning one of us will drive you to town so you can check out the damage to your bike. With a shrug, Michelle unlocked her truck and climbed behind the wheel.
He swiped rain out of his eyes and took refuge inside the cab. Unbelievable.
As the rain began falling in earnest, tapping like a hundred impatient drummers on the roof, he had this strange, sinking feeling. Just like the time when hed been diving and his gear hung up on a snag, pulling him down against his will. You shouldnt be offering perfect strangers rides in your truck. Or to stay overnight in your parents house.
I trust you.
You shouldnt.
Youre a man of faith. She touched her own dainty cross.
I dont suppose you realize some people pretend to be what theyre not. To take advantage of others. When he did so, he did it for justice. To protect the innocent citizens of this country.
He knew for a fact there were bad people in this world. And those bad people kept him and his colleagues well employed. Didnt she have a clue? I could be dangerous.
But youre not. I have a sense about these things. Michelles smile was pure sunlightgentle and bright and trueas she turned her attention to her driving.
Unaware that she was about to bring a wolf in sheeps clothes into her familys home. A protective wolf, but one just the same.
The hard edge of his trusty revolver cut into his side, mocking him, concealed in the slim leather holder beneath his leather jacket.
Besides, what else are you going to do? Walk all the way to Butte? Youre injured and I told you, I feel responsible.
The way Michelle saw it, God might have placed her on that road at that exact moment just so that Brody wouldnt be alone when he crashed to avoid the deer and her fawn.
Maybe she was meant to help him. As a Christian, it was her duty. How could she not help? It would be wrong.
She didnt know if her mom would see it that way, but she was absolutely sure that her dad would, because he was cool. By now, her parents ought to be used to her habit of bringing home strays, right?
Even if shed never brought home a stray this big before.
Or one so handsome he made her teeth ache.
The house was dark, except for the lone lamp in the entryway. It wasnt Moms Bible-study night. Or Dads grange hall meeting night. Where were they? And didnt they know she worried?
Maybe theyd gone out to dinner. Could it be? Afraid to hope, afraid to say it out loud, Michelle grabbed fresh linens from the hall closet. If her parents had gone out together, it would be the first time in six years. Ooh, the curiosity was killing her as she stole a pillow off Kendras bed along with the plain blue comforter.
Brody. Hed turned down her invitation to come into the house and was checking out the apartment over the garage.
He sure was a courteous guy. Concerned about her safety. Maybe it came from the kind of life hed lived. Always on the road with the rodeo. Hed probably seen a lot that she couldnt even dream of.
She liked that about him. That he was worldly. Experienced. But when he smiled, his eyes sparkled with a quiet kindness. She liked that. Which was too bad. Brody didnt have plans to stay. He was just passing through.
At least it didnt hurt a girl to dream.
She caught sight of him through the second-story windows. He stood gazing around the small apartment, wandering around to look at this or that. A zip of warmth flooded her heart, and she couldnt stop the sigh that bubbled up until she felt as if she were floating with it.
What a man. He stood like a soldier, alert, strong and disciplined, and so inherently good, it made her eyes glisten. She knew beyond a doubt that helping him was the right thing to do.
She closed the front door, skipped down the steps and dashed through the remaining splashes of the rainstorm. In no time at all she was bouncing up the steps and into the attic apartment where Brody turned to her.
And made her pulse stop.
This is a nice place youve got here. Brody gestured around at the shadowed front room that led into the small kitchen.
But Michelle didnt bother to look around the place and admire it with him. How could she notice anything when he was so near? Hed taken his leather jacket off and folded it on the tabletop, leaving him in the black T-shirt where torn fabric gaped over another thick bandage.
Was her heart ever going to start beating again, she wondered as air rushed into her lungs and she could breathe. Maybe shed waited too long to eat dinnertheyd grabbed takeout on the way out of Bozemanand thats why she felt funny.
Does someone live here? Brody strolled to the wide front windows and closed the blinds. Or do you just keep this place for random strangers in need of a good nights sleep and patching up?
The foreman used to live here until my dad had a cottage built down by the creek. Then my sister Karen lived here for a long time, but then she got married, and my uncle lost both his job and his wife and needed some place to stay but he said it was too small. Oh my, was she rambling? Yes, she definitely was. Stop it, Michelle.
As it turns out, we dont have a foreman anymore, so my uncle took over the cottage last month. So, no ones staying here right now. Was she still holding the sheets and stuff?
Yes. What was with her anyway, staring at handsome Brody as if shed lost her cerebral cortex? She dropped the pillow, sheets and comforter on the corner of the couch.
She still felt nervous. Why suddenly now? Because she was alone with him, and that didnt make any sense at all. Theyd been all alone in the truck. This felt different. When was the last time shed been alone with a guy like Brody? Had she ever?
I appreciate the hospitality. He favored his injured right ankle as he ambled over to grab the set of floral-printed linens. I cant say that Ive slept on pink and blue flowers before.
Flowered sheets are more restful.
Is that a scientifically proven fact?
Absolutely.
They should have been teasing, but it was something else. Something that flickered in an odd way in her chest. A warmth of emotion that she didnt know how to describe because shed never felt it before.
She turned away. Feeling like this couldnt be a good thing. Vulnerable, thats what she was, and she didnt like it. She retreated to the open entry where a dark slash of the deepening night welcomed her. The bedrooms through those doors. If you need anything, let me know.
Thanks, Michelle. You dont know how much I appreciate this. He looked sincere. Strong. Like everything a good man ought to be.
Michelle fled onto the tiny porch, pulling the door closed behind her. She felt her face flaming and her pulse jackhammering. She was feeling a strange tug of emotion, longing and admiration all rolled into one.
Great. Had he noticed?
Probably. How could he not? At least he was leaving come morning. She could pretend she didnt think he was the coolest man ever for a few more hours.
It wasnt like she had a chance with him. He was too worldly, and he had a life. It wasnt as if he was going to drop everything and move to a tiny town in Montana that was a pinpoint on a detailed state map.
Be real, Michelle.
Common sense didnt stop the stab of longing that pierced through her chest. It didnt stop the pain of it.
She wiped her feet on the welcome mat on the front porch. She locked the door behind her. As she did every night, she hung her denim jacket on one of the hangers inside the entry closet. There was a note tacked to the message board in the kitchen by the phone. Her mom was the queen of organization.
Michelle, went to supper and a show with your gramma. Make sure you start the dishwasher when you get in. Dont stay up too late.
There went the hope that her parents were out together. After all this time, she knew better than to hope. But it was one of those wishes that never died, that flickered to life new and fragile every day.
The message light on the answering machine was blinking and she hit the playback button. The old machine ground and hissed and clicked. There was a message from older sister Karen, calling to remind Michelle about her shift tomorrow at the coffee shop. A message from some old guy looking for Dad.
Michelle groaned at the third message. It was from Bart Holmes. The farmer who lived down the road. The same Bart whod been mooning after her sister Kirby, until Kirby had married.
As if! In disgust, Michelle erased Barts nasal voice. She was so not interested in going out to dinner. Shed do her best to avoid him in church. She was not interested in joining his Bible study, either, thank you very much! Couldnt he get a clue?
Just her luck. The guys she didnt want to notice her, pursued her. And the one that she did want to notice her was so far out of her league, she might as well be trying to jump to the moon.
Give it up, Michelle. She squeezed dishwashing soap into the compartment and turned on the contraption. She left the kitchen to the hissing sound of water filling the dishwasher, and hopped up the stairs.
Every step she took was like a glimpse at her past. School pictures framed and carefully hung on the wall showed the six McKaslin girls, all blond and blue-eyed, alike as peas in a pod, smiling nearly identical smiles.
As she climbed toward the second story, the pictures grew older, marching through the years. To high school portraits in the hallway and Karens and Kirbys wedding pictures. Everyone looked so happy and joyful, all the sisters crowded together in colorful bridesmaid dresses in both sets of wedding photos, but one sister was missing. Allison.
Nothing would ever be the same, she knew, as she stood before the final picture in the photo saga of the McKaslin family. Karens newborn daughter, Allie was named in honor of the sister who had died so young.
What other pictures would follow, Michelle wondered? There would be more babies, more weddings. She had no doubt her two currently unmarried sisters would find love.
Would there be love for her? Or would she always be like this, running behind, left in the dust. Shed watched as her sisters were old enough to do what she couldnt: ride horses, ride bikes, go to school, become cheerleaders, go to the prom, go steady, marry a great guy.
Shed always felt as if shed never caught up as her sisters grew up and left home. And in the grief of losing Allison, shed felt like shed lost her family, as well. The house that was once full now echoed around her as she made her way down the hall.
She supposed thats why she wanted to fall in love. To try and finally have what had been so wonderful and then slipped away. The warm tight cohesive love of a family and the happiness that came from it.
Patience, Gramma was always telling her. The good Lord gives us what we need at just the right time.
Well, how long would she have to wait? Her steps echoed through the lonely house that once had been filled with laughter and love.
She knew better than to hope that a stranger, a man passing through town on his way to a more exciting life, would be the one who could save her from this aloneness.
She was old enough to have stopped believing in fairy tales. But she wanted a happily-ever-after of her very own. She wanted a white knight on a fast horse with a heart strong and true.
That it was impossible. There werent men like that in the world. Well, maybe the world, but absolutely certainly not in tiny, humble Manhattan, Montana.
She could see Brodys window from her bedroom. Just the corner of it, where a small light shone through the dark and the winds and rain. Her heart caught and remained a stark ache in the middle of her chest.
Brody would be moving on come morning. She knew it. Thats why she was sad as she brushed her teeth, washed her face and changed into her pjs. The sadness deepened as she said her prayers and turned out the light.
It wasnt about Brody. That wasnt it. It was the promise of what he could be. Of what she wanted a man to be. Protective and disciplined and honest and strong. The kind of man who would never lie, never fail, never betray her and love her forever.
Were there men out there like that?
Only in fairy tales.
She drew her comforter up over her head and closed her eyes.
Im in. Brody kept the lights off as he sat on the little balcony deck, tucked beneath the awning just off the small apartment bedroom. I took a spill on the bike, but
Are you okay? His partner sounded concerned.
When havent I been? Ive crashed and burned before. Hed learned how to avoid serious injury during his training. He related the sequences of occurrences that had him bunked up in the McKaslins spare apartment. Banged up, but Ill survive. I dont have my pack with me, or I could start surveillance tonight.