Marrying the Cowboy. Trish Milburn

      Chapter Two

      It took three tries, but Elissa’s call to India finally went through.

      “Are you all okay?”

      “Yeah,” India said. “Ginny is a bit shaken, but she’s curled up with Liam now. He’s reading her a story to try to get her back to sleep.”

      “What about Skyler and Logan?”

      “They’re fine. They just had rain and a little wind out at the ranch. You and Verona?”

      “Tree through the window. At least that’s all I could see in the dark. But Pete’s house is gone.”

      “Lot of damage?”

      “No, I mean it’s gone as in completely gone.”

      India gasped. “Is he okay?”

      “Yeah, I just dropped him off at work. His truck is gone, too. And his cruiser is doing a headstand in my front yard.”

      “I have a feeling this is all going to look so much worse in the morning.”

      “Yeah. Listen, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. The road’s a mess, and I need both hands.” She didn’t tell her friend where she was headed because India would probably spout the same speech Pete had. But the nursery was a huge part of her life. She wasn’t about to sleep until she’d seen with her own eyes that it was intact.

      “Okay, be careful.”

      Five minutes later, Elissa wondered about the wisdom of her decision to drive out to the nursery. She dodged downed limbs and drooping power lines. When a gust of wind shook the SUV, she realized she didn’t even know if she might be in the crosshairs of another storm. She clicked on the radio and listened to weather and damage reports as she maneuvered through the mess the tornado had left in its wake.

      Her heart started hammering well before she reached the nursery, when she came upon the shattered remains of a large cobalt-colored planter in the middle of the road. She tried to drive around the shards, but she’d be lucky if she didn’t end up stranded out here with a flat tire.

      She crept through the obstacle course of detritus, some of which she recognized and some that had obviously come from nearby homes. Leaves were plastered against strips of pink insulation. A soaked cardboard box was wrapped around what looked like half of a dining room chair.

      India was right. This was all going to look ten times worse in the light of day.

      The closer she got to the nursery, the more nervous she became. Her heart hammered against her rib cage, and she kept telling herself over and over that everything would be okay. She hit her brakes when she saw the Paradise Garden Nursery sign twisted and hanging by one corner.

      “No.” She drove the rest of the way and pulled into the parking area, letting her headlights sweep across her life’s work.

      Tears pooled in her eyes as she saw the front of the building. It looked as if someone had run into it with a bulldozer.

      She turned off the car but left the lights on. When she stepped outside, a light rain began to fall. Biting her bottom lip, she walked slowly forward, stepping over broken shards of pottery and twisted metal. The building wasn’t completely wiped from the face of the map, but she wasn’t going to be open for business any time soon.

      She stopped walking and simply stood in the rain, hoping that with each blink of her eyes the scene would change. But it didn’t.

      The sound of a vehicle approaching was followed by another set of lights joining hers. A car door opened and closed.

      “Elissa?”

      Even at the familiar sound of Pete’s voice, she couldn’t pull her gaze away from the building.

      Pete stepped up beside her. “You shouldn’t be out here now. There’s another storm heading this way.”

      “Tell me I’m not seeing this.”

      He exhaled. “I’m sorry, Lis.” After a few more seconds, Pete wrapped his arm around her shoulders and steered her toward her vehicle. “I really need for you to go home. I can’t have you wandering around out here in the dark, exposed. There’s nothing you can do now anyway.”

      His words finally sank in, and she realized he could have just as easily been speaking about himself.

      “I’m sorry, Pete. I know this is nothing like losing your home.”

      He opened her driver’s-side door and gripped the top edge. “This isn’t nothing.” He gave her a sad little smile, knowing just how much this nursery meant to her. “There’s time enough for both of us to face reality in the morning. But right now you need to get home safely and I’ve got to get back to work.”

      She nodded. “Be careful.”

      A growing sense of numbness took hold of Elissa as she made her way back home. None of what had happened tonight seemed real, more like a scene from a disaster movie. The next thing she knew, Godzilla was going to step out of the darkness to stomp on what was left of Blue Falls. But as soon as she drove down her street and saw again the empty spot where Pete’s house should be, the horrible reality finally sank in.

      She got out of the car to find her aunt waiting for her in the doorway into the house.

      “Where have you been? I tried calling, but I couldn’t get through.”

      “The lines are probably overloaded.” When Elissa entered the kitchen, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it.

      “What is it? Is Pete okay?”

      “He’s fine.” She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “But that’s more than I can say for the nursery.”

      “You went out there?”

      “I had to know.” She met her aunt’s eyes and forced her own not to fill with tears again. “It took a big hit.”

      Verona stepped forward and pulled Elissa into her arms. “I’m so sorry, honey. But we’ll get through this. We’re alive. That’s all that matters right now.”

      Elissa knew she was right, that she should be thankful. She was, especially when she thought about how easily Pete could have died tonight, that there still might be people out there who had died or been injured. But that still didn’t erase the pain of seeing her nursery in shambles.

      Wrung out, Elissa made her way back to bed. But even as tired as she was, she couldn’t sleep. Instead, she listened to the patter of the gentle rain and waited for daylight. Even though she knew the light might show her even more damage, at least she’d be able to tackle it. Sitting around waiting and not doing anything was so not her way. It was torture.

      She heard a distant rumble of thunder once, but the worst of the weather seemed to have moved on, like a bully who’d thrown a punch and left his victim on the ground holding his bloody nose.

      Sirens echoed every now and then through the night, and she wondered what Pete and the rest of the deputies were finding. Once again, Pete was managing to do his job while his personal life fell apart. It made her feel selfish for focusing so much on the nursery, even though she couldn’t help how she felt. That place was her livelihood, her life, her dream come true.

      And now she faced having to clean up the mess and start all over. Sudden exhaustion pressed down on her, and she closed her eyes and begged for the release of sleep.

      * * *

      PETE FELT LIKE crying when he stepped into the barn at R & J Stables and saw Frankie turn to look at him. But then, it’d been that kind of day. He crossed the distance between them to rub his horse between the ears.

      “Hey, boy. Looks like you and I both got lucky, huh?”

      Frankie