She moved into the shadows where the stairs climbed the north wall. He heard her feet take the first few steps. I can see it. Itll add warmth to the room and last forever.
Im thinking my lifetime will be enough. I dont have any relatives to pass this place along to. He walked to her and glanced up into the darkness, where no lights warmed the second floor.
She came down one step so that they were at eye level. I have to go, she whisperedas if there were anyone to hear but him. Start the rails. Ill be back to help shape and stain them.
Studying her, he wondered if she were lying. Fine, he managed, wishing he had the nerve to ask her just one question before she disappeared.
He waited for her to come down the last step.
She didnt move. The house was pure, snowflake silent.
I didnt mind you touching me. She moved one step closer. Would you mind if I got a little closer to say good-night?
Before he could answer, her lips touched his. When he didnt move, she leaned against him and put her hands on each side of his face. Kiss me back, Yancy, she whispered against his mouth. Please, kiss me back.
Something deep inside Yancy broke. Maybe it was reason. Maybe it was the door to his own private prison.
He pulled her against him and kissed her full on, like hed always wanted to kiss a girl.
After a few moments, he felt her fingers gently brushing against the sides of his face, as if she were calming him down. When he let her go, he realized hed been holding her so tightly she probably couldnt breathe.
Hed kissed her too hard. Too long for a first kiss.
His hands dropped to his sides, but she didnt pull away. He wouldnt have blamed her if she ran. She had to think he was some kind of wild animal. It would probably be no surprise to her that hed had very few girlfriends.
But she stayed so near he could feel her breath as she whispered, Easy now, Yancy. Lets do it again. Im not going away. You dont have to hold on so tight. Im right here in front of you, wanting very much to kiss you. Do you think we can try again?
He moved his hands gently up her body and held her as tenderly as he knew how as she kissed him a second time.
This woman with all her secrets and closed doors kissed him with an openness unlike anyone had ever kissed him. She wasnt just going through the motions, waiting for what happened next, but there was tenderness, caring, as if shed held all her passion in check for so long that she had to explode.
This time he was the one who couldnt breathe.
CHAPTER EIGHT
MADISON OGRADY WAS one of the best pilots Fifth Weathers had ever seen. It took him a minute to get used to the cramped space and the vibration of the chopper, but the view was beautiful, both the land outside and the woman so close she was almost touching him.
They flew low across Kirkland land, following the canyon and riverbeds as if running with the wild horses. The landscape took his breath away, and when he glanced at her, Madison smiled as if she understood how he felt.
Finally, he calmed enough to explain how a cowhand had reported seeing a car far down in a gully where not even a truck could go. The canyon was too steep for the cowhand to get his horse close to the car, so hed called in to the sheriffs office.
We might not have checked out an old car, Fifth added, but for the last week weve been getting info that a woman is missing. We dont have details, but if she was passing through this area and was kidnapped, whoever took her might have wanted to make the vehicle disappear.
Madison looked down at the treeless, rolling land. That wouldnt be easy to do in this country. An abandoned car would be easy to spot.
Right, he said. Short of digging a hole and burying it, the best way is to sink it in water. Only, if a flash rain comes, itll swell the gullies and drag the car along in a sudden flood. A few hours later, it could be miles from where it was dumped and above water or damming up a creek.
Much as he hated to brag, Fifth did feel like an expert on the subject. The one animal, besides man, that does the most to change the lay of the land is a beaver. One den, built on a stream, can end up changing water flow for miles. So, even if its simply an abandoned old car, someone has to deal with it.
So were looking for beavers? She made a face.
No. He laughed. Were looking for a car that might have done the beavers job. Someone reported seeing our missing person driving a red Chev. If we find it and there is a body in it, thats where the law comes in. Of course, there have been other apparent sightings of this missing lady. One report said she might have taken a bus from Oklahoma City. Another claimed to have seen a hitchhiker near Dallas who fit her description. Right now we have no idea which ones are true. All I know is shes missing and someone is in a real hurry to find her.
They flew for almost an hour, with Fifth marking off their route as they went. Now was a good time to note the flow of streams for future reference. The sheriff liked to walk the land, but Fifth preferred using a computer when he could. Madison was saving him several days of work. Some of the terrain could be reached only on horseback, and that would have taken a week.
No old car appeared. Maybe it went back underwater. Maybe the guy who spotted it was wrong on his location. But, thanks to his mapping, the flight hadnt been a waste of time.
When they finally landed and she cut the engine, he leaned back and said, Thanks. I cant wait to get all this data into the computer. We might not have found the SUV, but I have a much better sense of the flow of the streams around these parts.
She grinned. You are welcome, Deputy Weathers.
He collected his notes. She picked up her satchel. They walked back to the headquarters in matching strides.
Id like to offer to buy you lunch, but Im afraid youd think I meant it as a date. Fifth fought the urge to step out of range as he asked.
Im starving. I might go if we both understand its only a thank-you lunch. She pointed to where the sheriffs cruiser had been parked. It was missing, along with Statens huge black Dodge. Looks like everyone left us.
There is a big meeting in town. Didnt they tell you? We may have wind turbines coming in across this part of Texas. Some say itll double the size of the town. If I know the people of Crossroads, theyll talk it to death before deciding.
She nodded. Quinn mentioned it. Im staying over for a few days, so she said well have lots of time to catch up. I grew up around here, but my parents moved to Granbury when I started college.
Opening the car door, he added to the offer. If you have lunch, I promise to bring you back to Kirklands place. Im guessing you dont have a car and you wont want to wait in town for the meeting to end.
Madison hesitated. Youre right, but I dont know about a lunch date. Small town. Crowd in town, half of which will know me. All probably know you. Theyll have us engaged before we order dessert.
Well, then, we might as well do it right here. How about in the back of my cruiser or on the grass? We could skip lunch or dating or marriage. Lets just...
Stop it. I get the point.
He laughed. Dont tell me youre shy?
No, I just dont like crowds.
He understood. They would stick out by about a head. I know just the place that will be perfect for lunch, or whatever you have in mind. Trust me.
She looked like she was about to say not a chance, but instead she folded into his cruiser without a word.
He lifted a brow. That was easy.
The conversation was stilted all the way back to town. When he pulled through the Dairy Queen and ordered, she relaxed a little. Five minutes later, when he parked in the empty museum parking lot, she smiled.
I remember this place. Theres a seating area overlooking the canyon.
Our table is waiting. No crowds. Only the wind and ants.
She laughed as he handed her two root-beer floats while he got the burgers and they headed toward the picnic area.
Within a few minutes, they were talking like old friends. She told him stories of being in the air force after college, and he told her about wild car chases and arrests that hed only heard about.
They figured out that they graduated from high school the same year, but she seemed to have had hundreds more adventures than he had. Shed traveled the world and been in combat once when shed flown a rescue mission. Hed traveled Texas and had pulled his service weapon once in two years.
Both shared stories of being the tallest in every class picture and the problems they both had dating.
In the end, when he drove her back to the Kirkland Ranch, Fifth felt like hed made a friend.
Maybe theyd work together again sometime. Maybe shed call him the next time she visited her relatives, but he saw no sparks between them when she said goodbye.
As always, he was in the friend category.
The only problem was, this time he wasnt sure he wanted to be.
CHAPTER NINE
Crossroads
RABBIT DIDNT COME back for two nights, but Yancy went to his barn and worked late. Hed planned the stairs to be his next project, but found himself looking for excuses not to work on it. Finally, on the third night, as he cut the wood for the rails for the staircase, his mind drifted repeatedly to how shed felt in his arms.
She was small, but after holding her, he had no doubt that she was a woman fully developed. He liked the way she felt and the way she smelled, but most of all, he liked the way she wasnt afraid of him. She trusted him. Maybe not totally, but enough to build hope on.
He worked. Hed wait.
When he heard the creak of the door, he dropped his tools and turned toward the sound. She blew in with the first raindrops from a midnight storm.
She met his eyes briefly, and then she was running toward him as if she had missed him as dearly as hed missed her.
He opened his arms and caught her as she jumped. For a while he just held her, feeling her body shake slightly. At first he thought it might be from the cold, but then he realized she was crying.
Backing up a few feet, Yancy leaned against a sawhorse so he wouldnt seem so tall. Her face moved between his throat and shoulder and he felt her tears as they soaked through his shirt.
His shy little rabbit was hurting. He patted her back lightly, wishing he could take her sadness away.
A hundred questions came to mind, but he remembered their one rule. Hed have to wait for answers. All that mattered now was that she was safe here in his arms.
He kissed the top of her head and moved his hands comfortingly across her back.
She snuggled against him and cried softly as though her gentle heart was breaking.
Are you hurt? he finally whispered.
Shaking her head, she pulled away enough to look at him. Promise me youll never tell anyone about me. No matter what happens, no one must ever know Im here. Ive vanished, you see, and Im not ready to go back. For the first time ever, Im living my own life. If this time ended, Im not sure I could bear it.
I promise. Whom would he tell? Yancy thought. No one would even know to ask. Besides, hed sound nuts telling anyone hed spent all these nights woodworking with a woman he called Rabbit but hadnt asked who she was or where she came from. Ill keep your secret, if it will keep you safe. He pushed a tear off her cheek. Id do anything to help you.
She leaned against him and finally stopped crying. Thanks, she whispered as she kissed his lips feather light.
He returned the kiss. Just a touch, not an advance. Her lip trembled slightly, but she didnt move away.
He held her, loving the nearness of her, wanting to help, needing to know what was wrong, but afraid to ask more. For now, it was enough that she was safe and unhurt. It didnt matter what she was running fromonly that she was running to him.
He brushed what felt like dried paint from her temple. You been working in someone elses workshop, Rabbit?
No. I was just playing around with oils today. I tried to mix the colors to match the sky at dawn, but I couldnt get it right.
So, you paint. He held his breath, fearing shed think his statement was a question.
Not much, she answered. Not lately.
Maybe Ill give you a chance to do it again. He smiled at her. I found an old rocking chair at a yard sale. It needs work, but I could repair the broken pieces of wood and you could paint it red.
She nodded. Id like that. Ive always wanted to paint a rocker. She fought down a giggle but he saw her smile.
The sound of a car passing on the road fifty yards away made her jump, but she didnt leave his arms. When they heard the car pull off the road and head toward them, Yancy held her tighter. He could hear rocks crunching and winter-dead weeds snapping as the tires moved down the rut of a path to the house that no one ever used.
A beam of light flashed through a crack in the door.
They were about to have a visitor and there was no way out except through the barn doors. Yancy felt her panic as he moved his hand across her back trying to comfort her.
He knew she wanted to run, but from the sounds outside, the car couldnt be more than five feet from the barn door.
Without hesitation, Yancy picked her up. With one step onto his toolbox and another on the table, he was high enough to lift her into the loft. Get back behind the boards and dont move.
But
Go, Rabbit. Ill stand guard. No matter what happens, dont come out.
She scrambled up. A car door opened somewhere outside. Yancy jumped from the table and ran the few feet to the loft ladder. He swung it down and shoved it beneath the table, where it blended with a pile of loose boards and scraps of materials hed planned to trash.
As he picked up his hammer, he moved so that he faced the door, the table now between him and whoever might be showing up at this hour.
A car door slammed and footsteps sounded, coming closer, making no effort to be silent.
Yancy raised his hammer. If trouble stepped in through the barn doors, he could throw the tool and have another pulled from the wall behind him before the stranger could react. If someone were coming for the woman in the loft, theyd have to get past him first.
The door creaked and cold air rushed in as if the barn were inhaling.