Rachel's Rescuer. Roxann Delaney
only available chair was to her right, at the end of the table. It was only natural to look in that direction when he moved to it. But not so natural for her heart to stop for a brief moment when their gazes met. Without his hat, she was able to see him clearly for the first time. Dark, nearly black eyes gazed into hers, leaving her breathless.
After a moment that seemed like an eternity, she ducked her head, and then watched him crumble a huge handful of crackers into his bowl. Cody, she noticed, watched, too, and then did the same to his own soup. Her son needed a male figure in his life. It had been two years since Steven’s death, and Cody didn’t remember much about his dad. Since then, she had been too busy earning a living to give much thought to Cody’s other needs, beyond keeping a roof over his head and food in his stomach. She spent every minute she could with him, though, being both mother and father. She would never let anyone take him from her, no matter how far or how long she had to run.
“I didn’t catch your name.”
At the sound of his voice, a ball of lead formed in her stomach. She couldn’t give him her name, but she couldn’t ignore the request either. Not when he’d opened his home to her and Cody.
“It’s Rachel.”
“Rachel what?” he asked, pinning her with those dark eyes.
“Rachel…Stevens,” she replied, using her husband’s first name for a last. Scolding herself for not thinking ahead, she stood and moved away from the table, her hands shaking. She hated lying, especially in front of Cody. Later she would explain to him why she’d done it. And explain it in a way that wouldn’t frighten him. She needed to stay on her toes if she wanted to keep them both safe.
Trouble, he’d told Ben earlier. Lucas groaned at the innocence of the word. Trouble didn’t even begin to describe what he was in for.
He could still hear her voice, floating down from the spare room upstairs where they were settling in for the night. Her name kept echoing through his mind like a soft whisper. And his body still hummed. It had been a while—a long while—since he’d reacted so swiftly to any woman. In fact, it was a long stretch to remember any time he had even come close.
He had ignored the first warning at the corral when he’d looked down into the eyes of an angel, blue as the wide Montana sky on a summer afternoon. After that moment, he hadn’t noticed the chill of the evening or the cold of the approaching storm.
In the light of the kitchen, he’d gotten a good look and knew she didn’t have the soft, full curves of the women who had once attracted his attention. In spite of the floppy sweatshirt, he could see she wasn’t hiding anything remotely voluptuous. He’d always had a soft spot for well-endowed women. The woman now making herself comfortable in one of the spare rooms didn’t possess that particular asset.
And still he hadn’t been able to stop looking at her.
“Hell,” he muttered, followed by a string of words that would make a sailor blush. He stepped into the ranch office and closed the door behind him. Walking to the window, he stared out into the stormy night, seeing nothing but the image of the woman temporarily sharing his home.
Hell, she isn’t even pretty. Not in the usual way. Not in the way that counted, the things men looked for in a woman. Her mouth was too wide, her nose was too short and her eyes were too…blue. Way too blue.
When the phone rang, interrupting thoughts he shouldn’t be thinking, he reached behind him and across the wide, antique desk to grab it. “Blue Sage,” he growled into the receiver.
“Somethin’ wrong there, Lucas?”
With the approaching storm, Lucas had expected to hear from his stepbrother, who lived in the foreman’s house several miles away. But he’d planned on it being a discussion of the extra chores they’d be doing because of the snow. Not about his uninvited guests.
Letting his frustration at the situation get the better of him, he grunted his displeasure. “You bet somethin’s wrong. I’ve got a woman and a boy stranded here. And there you are, enjoying yourself with your new bride.”
“Did you say a woman?”
“And her boy. About six years old. Don’t get any ideas. They don’t belong here. They’ll be nothin’ but trouble. A woman is nothin’ but…trouble, dammit.”
Harley’s heavy sigh echoed across the snowy miles. “You won’t let it go, will you?” When Lucas didn’t reply, he went on. “Not every woman out there is like Debra. That woman is probably nothin’ like Debra. Shoot, Terri is nothin’ like Deb—”
“Terri is different,” Lucas snapped, turning back to stare at the inky night, propping his foot on the window seat. “I don’t know how some worthless cowboy like you got yourself hooked up to that priceless female.” Regretting his harsh tone, he rubbed at the back of his neck and tried to relax. “When you’ve been married a while longer—”
“Yeah,” Harley chuckled, “she’ll take off at a dead run. Or give me a house full of kids. But it won’t hurt you to show a little compassion this once, Lucas. A couple of days until the storm blows on by and the roads clear. That boy and his mama don’t deserve to be tossed out just because some witch of a woman did you wrong eight years ago.”
Lucas didn’t want to hear any of it. It was over, long over. Reminders of Debra were one thing he’d managed to avoid. The pain she’d inflicted had gone away, and he’d been left with a hollow spot in its place that didn’t need filling.
“If I’d sent them on their way, like I should have—”
“They’d be stranded somewhere between here and Deerfork,” Harley interjected.
“And I suppose you expect me to play white knight and get them out of whatever trouble they’re in.”
“They’re in trouble?”
Lucas wished he’d kept his mouth shut. “She’s not the kind to ask for help. By the look of her, the woman has more stubborn in her than one of Zeke Chamber’s mules. I plan to stay out of it.”
“But if she needs help—”
“They’ll be gone in a few days. No reason to get involved. They can go on to Great Falls as soon as the roads are clear. Hell, I’ll even give her this number, if she runs into trouble. But other than that, I’m staying out of it.”
“I’ll ride over in the mornin’. I’d like to meet this lady.”
Getting Harley in the middle of this was the last thing Lucas wanted, but after fifteen years of friendship, he knew better than to tell him not to. Doing his best to sound unconcerned, he replied. “Suit yourself.”
“What’s she look like? Is she pretty?”
“I didn’t notice,” Lucas lied, quickly turning the subject to ranching chores. He wasn’t going to let his partner know just how much about his guest he had noticed or what the sound of her voice had done to him when she’d told him her name.
They briefly discussed the extra work the storm had caused, but all the while, Lucas listened to the sounds of movement above him. Rachel and her son were settling in, and it looked like it would be a long night for him.
She was trouble, all right.
Chapter Two
A wan light spread into the room as Rachel opened her eyes to greet another day. It took a moment for her to remember where she was and why she was there, but for the first time in months, she felt a small measure of peace. Edward and Phyllis Harris would have a hard time finding her here. They would, eventually, somehow, but at least for a few days she could rest and gather her strength.
Dressing quickly in the clothes she’d worn the day before, she crept down the stairs and into the kitchen. With as little noise as possible, she located a can of coffee and filled the coffeemaker.