Absolutely. Susan waggled her brows, looking full of trouble. Maybe Ill get my hair done, too. Since Im getting dressed up, it wouldnt hurt to dazzle him.
Why bother? Im sure Mr. James Ashton has his pick of beautiful women, Misty teased.
You dont think hell take a second look at me. Is that it? Susan pretended to be offended.
He could be looking at me instead. Misty flicked her hair behind her shoulder. Maybe the billionaire likes blondes.
Susan and Misty laughed together, and Misty said goodbye. The outside door clicked shut as Julie snapped off the lights.
Ill be back in an hour to direct the caterers. Susan grabbed her coat and purse from the dark corner. Dont you worry about a thing. You just make sure your grandfather is here on time.
You can count on that. Thanks, Susan.
Dont mention it.
Together they turned off the rest of the lights and closed the doors behind them. The fat raindrops became a downpour the minute they stepped into the parking lot.
I hope this is just a temporary thing, Julie called over a sudden gust of wind. Id hate to have to row people across the parking lot.
Joke all you want, but itll all work out. Susan shouted to be heard over the drum of rain as she headed to her car. Drive safely.
You, too!
The sky let loose with a violent torrent of icy rain. Great. Just when she didnt think it could get worse She took off running. Gravel crunched at her feet and rain knifed through her thin jacket. She flung open her trucks door and collapsed on the seat. With hands stiff from the cold, she found her keys and started the engine.
Please, dont tell me its going to be like this all afternoon. She flicked the defroster on high, but only chilly air sputtered from the air vents.
Rain pinged on the roof and streamed down her windshield. She shivered and swiped a circle of fog from the glass. Tree branches swayed violently in the wind. Twin beams cut through the downpour as Susans car eased out of the parking lot and out of sight.
With her mind on the party, her grandfather and the billionaire showing up, Julie put her truck in gear and crept through the storm, keeping a close eye on the road.
It was good to finally meet you, Mr. Renton. Noah shook the older mans hand. He hadnt found any obvious reason not to trust the man.
There was an honest glint in Harolds eye, that was for sure, as he grabbed his battered Stetson and headed for the door.
Harold may appear to be kind and decent, but Noah had learned the hard way that people were not often what they appeared.
Ill look forward to seeing you at the party, son. Harold nodded in the way men from the country did, his drawl unassuming as he tugged open the door. Looks like the storm isnt about to let up. Hey, thats Helens car in the driveway. She must have just pulled up.
Wonderful! Nanna clasped her hands together, obviously overjoyed. Shes going to help me fix my hair. You drive safe, Harold, my love. Guess Ill be seeing you in a few hours.
I dont see how you can get much prettier, but Ill be lookin forward to it. Blushing, head down, the older man cleared his throat.
Noah blushed, too, realizing Nanna and Harold were waiting for him to leave so they could be alone. Well, he could take a hint. He headed for the living room to give the couple privacy.
Okay, so he sort of liked Harold. He was a well-preserved man, who spent his retirement running his ranch and seemed to love doing it. And the way Harold looked at Nannawell, it did look like true love.
Dont jump to conclusions, Noah warned himself, pacing the room, listening to the fire pop low in the grate and the bushes scraping against the windows.
Trying not to listen to the murmur of his grandmothers voice in the entry hall, Noah whipped out his handheld computer. The little electronic notebook was his life support, and somewhere in the files hed begun a list of everything he had to remember for today
There it was. He scrolled down the list. Flowers. Hed forgotten flowers for his grandmother.
There was plenty of time. Hed just take Nannas car and zip into town. It wasnt that far away. Hadnt Nanna shown him pictures of the bridal flowers shed selected? This town, as small as it was, had a florist shop.
Where are you going? Nanna demanded when she caught up with him in the kitchen. My friend Helen is here, and your sister will be by any second to help me get ready for the party. Are those my car keys?
If you let me borrow them, Ill bring you home a surprise.
All right, then, fine. Take my car, but you be careful, young man. My Chevy is older than you are, so show her some respect. And absolutely no speeding.
Im not a teenager, remember? He kissed her cheek. Ill be good. I promise.
He said hello to Nannas friend, pocketed the car keys and escaped out the back door while he had the chance.
The defroster in her pickup couldnt keep up with the fog. Julie swiped at the windshield with the cuff of her jacket sleeve, watching the endless curtain of gray rain that obscured the road ahead. What was that up ahead? She squinted to make out the faintest red glow flashing in the thick gray mists. Taillights. Someone was in trouble.
Julie braked, easing to a stop in the road behind an old sedan. She hit her flasher as thunder cracked overhead. Her pulse kicked high and fast in fear, and she reached for her purse, feeling for her cell phone.
There was no sign of anyone anywhere. Maybe the driver was hurt. Maybe
A movement in the shadows caught her attention. The tall, broad-shouldered form became a man, rain drenched and awesome, as the lightning cracked behind him, zagging like a crooked finger from the sky to the top of a nearby knoll.
What was he doing out there? Didnt he know it was dangerous?
As thunder clapped, Julie bolted into the storm, ignoring the cut of ice through her jacket and the sting of rain on her face. Hey! Get back in your car
Lightning splintered the sky the same second the man turned. The earth began to shake like a hundred earthquakes beneath her feet. As the thunder boomed like cannon fire, Julie saw it all in an instant. The bright streak of light overhead, the man leaping toward her and the spark of fire as a tree beside the road flashed with flames.
All she could feel was the steel-hard impact of his shoulder, the dizzying spin of rain as it knifed from the sky and the drum of cattle racing by. She hit the muddy earth with a breath-stealing thud.
Pain rocketed through her body and her head smacked on the rocky earth. The mans hand curled around the back of her head, cushioning the shock. Fighting for air, she was only dimly aware of the lightning and thunder, the cold and wet. The mans face was a blur as he crouched over her. A tree limb crashed to the ground at her side. Fire licked at the leaves, even as the rain made the flames smoke and die.
Are you all right? he asked in a voice as deep as night, as powerful as the storm.
She gasped for air but couldnt draw it into her lungs. Fighting panic, she knew she wasnt hurt seriously. All she had to do was relax
Youve had the wind knocked out of you. Youre going to be fine. The rumble of his voice was comforting as he lifted her from the ground and leaned her against his chest.
What a strong chest it was, too. Sitting up, Julie felt a little better. Cold air rushed in as her lungs began to relax.
Thankful, she breathed in and out. She felt nauseated, but she wasnt going to be sick. Icy rain stung her face, the wind buffeted her and thunder hurt her ears.
Wed better get you inside your truck. He took her hand, helping her to her feet. Youll be warm there. I dont want you to drive, just sit and get your bearings, okay?
Her toe caught the edge of pavement and she stumbled. His iron-strong hand curled around her elbow, catching her before she could fall. I can make it.
Good. Id help you, but I think someone is in trouble. Thats why I got out of my car. He let go of her hand. Youll be all right?
Whos in trouble? What did you see?
All I know is that theres a horse with an empty saddle in that field. I was going to take a look when you pulled up.
Ill come with you.
I dont think thats a good idea. Lightning flashed the same moment thunder pealed. Its dangerous. I want you safe in your truck so I can go help whos in trouble.
Safe? Well, youd be safer if you stayed in your car, too.
Im a risk taker, he told her. A dangerous sort of guy. I dont need safety.
Thunder rattled the ground beneath her feet and seemed to shake her very bones, but it didnt distract her from the mans dazzling grin.
Dangerous? Oh, yes. He was handsome and confident and a complete stranger. There would be time later to ask who he was and where he was from. Right now someone might be in trouble. She scanned the field. Where did you see the horse?
There. He gestured toward the far rise as lightning singed the air around them.
Julie could barely make out the bay pony in the downpour. I know that horse. That horse wouldnt run off and leave his rider.
She took off at a run as the rain turned to hard balls of hail. Ice struck her like boxers gloves as she raced across the field and over a knoll to the creek below rapidly swelling with runoff. The bay wheeled with fear as lightning and thunder resounded across the sky.
Hailey! Julie called, snaring hold of the geldings reins. She couldnt make out anything in the gray and white storm.
There. He spotted the child first, a small dark shadow on the other side of the creek. That waters rising fast.
We can cross it. Julie saw the gelding was in good shape and uninjured, but too panicked to ride through the fast-moving current. She tied him quickly to a willow branch, so he wouldnt injure himself further. Hed be safe, for now.
Be careful, she shouted. The waters rising and its more dangerous than it looks.
The stranger was already at the steep bank. Stay here where its safe. Im going in.
No, wait! Julie called, running full out, but the effects of her earlier fall held her back. She wasnt up to one hundred percent. The currents fast
As if he didnt hear her or understand the danger, he plunged off the bank and disappeared beneath the muddy water coursing dark and deep.
Chapter Three
Knowing the flooded creek was powerful enough to knock a man down and keep him there, Julie grabbed the rope from the saddle and ran. She could feel her lungs strainingthey were still tightand air gasped in and out of her throat, but she pushed harder.
She wasnt about to let him drown.
The water pulled at her shoes as she secured the rope to a fence post. Her fingers felt clumsy as she tested the knot, but it held. The creek licked at the rope, sucking it out of her hands. She wrestled it back, held tight and leaped into the rising creek.
The shock of the water turned her skin to ice. Lightning flared so close she could feel the crackle in the air. Thunder crashed, rattling her very bones. Above the hammering hail, she heard the thin wail of a frightened child.
Its okay, Hailey, she called to the little girl, but the wind snatched her words and tore them apart.
Where is he? The current pushed like a bulldozer at her ankles, then her knees. Hed fallen in right here. Where was he? What if she couldnt find him? What if the current had swept him downstream? Lord, please help me find him.
Toss me the rope! a deep voice boomed above the roaring storm. I can get across, I know it.
Julie stumbled. Thank God! There he was, climbing out of the water onto a snagged stump in the middle of the creek. The powerful current buckled around him. He looked muddy, soaking wet and blood oozed from a cut on his forehead, but from where she stood, he looked invincible.
Since she wasnt a blue-ribbon roper for nothing, she tossed the line, watching it uncoil as it sailed through the air and into the mans outstretched hand.
Good throw! he shouted. Stay there where its safe.
One thing about this stranger was really starting to annoy her. He was bossy, and she wasnt staying anywhere. If Haileys hurt, youll need my help.
He glanced over his shoulder at her. Through the driving wind and thick hail, she could see surprise flash in his dark eyes.
Handsome guy. She didnt get the chance to think on that any further because the current knocked her feet out from under her. The rope held her as she kicked her way across the swollen creek. She surfaced just in time to see the big man kneel on the ground beside the fallen child.
Are you all right, little girl? His voice was kind, and it was amazing to watch how calm he was, how steady. Im Noah. Whats your name?
H-Hailey, the child sobbed.
Julie secured the rope and dropped to the girls other side. Hi, there, cutie. What are you doing out here in the storm?
Miss Renton! Hailey flew off the ground, burrowing into Julies middle. I wasnt supposed to be riding Bandit, but I didnt know it was gonna storm. Honest. He fell real hard. Is he hurt?
He looks perfectly fine to me. Julie soothed the little girl whod been in her kindergarten class two years ago.
Are you hurt anywhere, Hailey? The man Noahleaned close, dripping mud and creek water on Julies sleeve. Tell me what hurts.
She cried. My arm.
Sounds like its pretty bad. He leaned close, and even though hed been at the bottom of a creek, he smelled wonderfullike an expensive aftershave, spice and molasses rich. Let me take a look.
Are you a doctor? Hailey sniffled.
No, but I broke my wrist once, so I consider myself an authority. Noah gently cradled Haileys thin forearm and pushed her sleeve up over her elbow.
Ow, she cried again.
That could be a break. Look at the swelling. Noahs eyes met Julies and there was concern in them. It would be best if we can stabilize it.
Just what I was going to say. We can use small branches from one of the cottonwoods. Julie cradled the girl in her lap, protecting her from the wind and hail. Do you hurt anywhere else, Hailey?
Nope. She snuggled closer, whining a little in pain.
Good. Well get you home soon, I promise.
Here. Noah reappeared with two fairly straight branches, stout-looking enough to stabilize Haileys arm.
They worked together, as the wind strengthened and the temperature dipped. The hail turned to ice. Freezing wherever it fell, it turned the landscape to a white wintry world.