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She was down the steps, with her car parked only a few feet away, when one of those strong hands grabbed her arm, preventing her departure.
“Stop, Miss Hibbets. It isn’t safe!”
Automatically she wrenched her arm from his hold. When, only seconds later, she touched the door handle, she knew she’d won.
As she did, she heard a large crash. Keeping her hand on the door, she looked over her shoulder to see Mr. Graybow lying in the snow at the bottom of the steps. He wasn’t moving. Holding her breath, she leaned slightly toward him. “Are you okay?”
His only answer was a groan.
“Mr. Graybow, I’m not going to fall for any of your tricks. You might as well get up.”
He muttered something and tried to stand up, then fell back again with an even louder moan.
“Mr. Graybow?” Was the man a total klutz? First he burned his hand and now he fell down the stairs. And what was she supposed to do about it?
“I can’t— I might’ve broken something,” the man gasped.
That she could believe. It hurt to even look at his lean, muscular leg bent at an odd angle.
“Is there anyone I can call for help?”
“B-bunkhouse,” he muttered, his voice shaking, either from pain or the wet snow beginning to cover him.
Though she could dimly make out another building with a light burning, she decided the easiest way to summon help would be to use her car horn. Opening the door, she slid beneath the wheel, ignoring the temptation to drive away from this nightmare. Grateful for the Girl Scouts of her youth, she tapped out SOS.
Though it only took a couple of minutes for a response, they were the longest two minutes of her life. A distant door was slammed open and she finally heard the welcome sound of voices and footsteps.
“What the hell’s goin’ on?” one of the men shouted as he reached the area lit by the porch light.
Leslie was standing by her car door. She stepped forward. “Mr. Graybow fell. I think he’s broken his leg.”
“Ma’am,” the man said, tipping his hat even as he went down on one knee by his employer.
“Boss? You break a leg?”
“I don’t—damn,” Graybow said and then gasped. “The thing hurts like hell.”
“Curly, go get the four-wheeler,” the man said to one of the cowboys. “It’s about all that will get through tonight.”
A man, supposedly Curly, ran away, and the other man turned his attention to Leslie. “Ma’am, would you go get some blankets from the house? Maybe a sleepin’ bag, too, and a pillow.”
She started to explain that she wouldn’t know where to look, but the man bent back toward his boss, assuming she would follow his orders. With a shrug, she stepped carefully over the injured man and climbed the steps to open the front door.
Two pairs of brown eyes stared at her from the bottom of the stairs. “Leslie!” Justin cried, leaping up and running to wrap his arms around her legs. “You didn’t go.”
Gareth followed his brother and Leslie found it impossible to move. “Boys, I need your help. Your father fell, and I need to find some blankets to keep him warm.”
Gareth ran off to find the items she’d mentioned, but Justin stayed by her side.
“Is Daddy hurt bad?”
She knelt down beside him. “The ranch hands have come to help him. I’m sure he’ll be all right as soon as we get him warm.”
Justin took her hand and led her after Gareth. With the boys’ expert guidance, it only took a couple of minutes to round up the items. The boys followed her to the door, but she made them stay inside in spite of their protests.
The Jeep pulled up just as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Here. I found everything.”
The cowboy ignored her as he gestured for the other men to help him lift Graybow.
“Shouldn’t you splint the leg before you move him?” she asked, concerned in spite of herself.
“Lady, we got to get him out of this blizzard!”
She covered her ears when Doug Graybow gave a mangled cry of pain as he was moved. Fortunately for him, he passed out before they got him into the vehicle.
His cry brought both boys tumbling down the steps, their footed pajamas immediately wet from the snow. “Daddy?” they cried, terror in their voices.
Leslie turned and scooped both of them into her arms and lifted them back to the porch. “Your dad is going to be fine. It just hurt when they moved him.”
“Daddy don’t never complain when he’s hurt,” Gareth assured her.
Leslie could believe that statement. He seemed like the kind of male who could never admit a weakness. Look at how he had refused to listen to her offer because he was embarrassed at not having money for a housekeeper.
“Excuse me, ma’am, but who are you?” the cowboy who seemed to be in charge asked.
“Leslie cooked us dinner,” Justin assured him.
“I—” Leslie began, sure he would demand more of an explanation.
“Oh, a friend. Well, could you stay with the boys? It’ll take two of us to get him to town, and the other two will have to carry on in the morning, so if you don’t mind—” He turned as another moan came from the truck. “Okay?”
Without waiting for her agreement, he leapt down several steps and slid behind the wheel of the truck.
“Wait! I—”
But in seconds the Jeep had completely disappeared in the falling snow, abandoning her to care for two little boys she scarcely knew.
Chapter Three
“You’ll stay with us, won’t you, Leslie?” Justin’s eyes as well as his voice pleaded with her. But it was the look on his face that decided her.
“Yes, of course I will,” she said, “and the first thing we have to do is get the two of you out of those wet pajamas. Inside, at once.”
Her mind was filled with all kinds of questions, but they were never asked. Instead, she put the boys in a steaming tub of water and went downstairs to make hot chocolate.
An hour later, she finally tucked the boys in their beds, sitting with them until they drifted off to sleep. Though they’d tried to show their bravery, she’d seen through their pretense and had wanted to reassure them. In spite of their mischief about the phone call, they were still little children.
Then she gathered the wet pajamas and found the laundry room downstairs. Rather than just wash those two items, she did a full load from the big pile of laundry that almost covered the entire floor.
And the man didn’t need a housekeeper? Ha!
Next, she returned to the kitchen and tidied up the dirty dishes from their late snack. She put the last clean cup on the shelf and closed the cabinet.
Now what? A wave of exhaustion hit her and she realized it was almost eleven o’clock. Well, eleven o’clock Kansas City time. The time her body was used to. Obviously Mr. Graybow was not going to return tonight, so she might as well make herself comfortable.
The only other room with sheets on the bed was the master bedroom. She supposed she could locate some linen and make up one of the other beds, but she was too tired. After all, she’d driven all the way from Kansas early that morning. Not to mention she’d met the charming Mr. D. Graybow, cooked his dinner, argued and been left in charge of his twins.
She stared at the big bed. It would serve him right if she slept in his bed! Visions of Goldilocks danced through her mind. But Mr. Graybow wasn’t going to get home until tomorrow sometime. So what harm could there be?
She was going to make herself comfortable and he could just lump it if he didn’t like it. Filled with righteous indignation, she marched toward the big bed.
She even went so far as to wear one of his T-shirts to sleep. She’d have it washed and put back before he ever returned.
With a sigh, she slid into his big bed and pulled the covers up to her nose. Well, Leslie Hibbets, she said to herself, you wanted to be connected to someone, to find some excitement. She smiled. Mission accomplished.
“GOOD MORNING, Mr. Graybow,” a cheery voice said, piercing the fog that surrounded him.
Doug slowly moved his head toward the sound, but he had difficulty lifting his eyelids.
“How are you feeling this morning?”
He struggled to hold on to his temper. Since he felt as though he’d been hit by a truck, he thought the sunshiny voice was highly inappropriate. “Terrible,” he muttered.
“Can you open your eyes?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Please try. The doctor will be here soon.”
What little patience he had suddenly disappeared. “You can tell the doctor—”
“Careful, Doug,” a male voice interrupted. “You’ll embarrass my nurse.”
Some of his tension disappeared as Doug recognized an old friend’s voice. “Jim, what happened?”
“Open your eyes and I’ll tell you.”
With monumental effort, Doug managed that task and then quickly shut them again as the bright lights brought pain surging through his head.
“The lights,” he protested faintly.
“Madge, turn off the overhead lights until his eyes adjust a little.”
Doug heard the click of a light switch and he tried again. This time he gradually got his eyes open and focused on Jim Kelsey, the doctor in Riverside. “What happened?”
“I’m not real clear. Moss and Curly brought you in a little before midnight, said you fell down your front steps and broke your leg. There’s also the matter of a slight concussion.”
“Damn. I remember now. That blasted woman!”
“Woman? Is your social life picking up?”
“Yeah, thanks to Ben and Will.”
“What do they have to do with it?”
“They put an ad in the paper to get me a wife. I’ve been advertising for a housekeeper for a month with no response. They thought they’d improve on my offer.”
The doctor laughed. “Get any responses?”
Doug could feel his face reddening. “Some you wouldn’t believe. Then, last night, this woman turns up on my doorstep. Came all the way from Kansas, expecting me to marry her, I guess.” A sudden thought made him frown and increased the pain in his head. “Did she come into town with me last night?”
“I only saw Moss and Curly. They slept here at the hospital ‘cause of the storm.”
“Damn! I bet she’s still at the ranch with the boys. Where’s Moss?” he demanded, rising as if to get out of the bed.
“Hold it, Doug. You’re not going anywhere. I’ll find Moss and Curly for you, but you need to stay here until tomorrow.”
“Jim, if that woman is out there with my kids, I’m going back this morning, if I have to crawl to get there. You don’t understand what these women are like. They’re desperate!”
The doctor frowned and reached for Doug’s wrist to take his pulse. Then he pushed the button to summon the nurse. “Madge,” he ordered when she appeared, “go find Curly and Moss and have them come here.”
Again Doug struggled to get up.
“Doug, you can’t get out of bed. We haven’t set your leg because of the swelling.”
Doug gave his physician a pained smile. “Well, Doc, I reckon I’d better find a way of getting around because there are some things that just can’t wait.”
The doctor smiled, as if enjoying himself. “That’s why Madge left that bedpan handy. If you hurry, you can take care of business before company arrives.”
Doug glared at him.
“BOSS, I STILL THINK this is crazy. The lady seemed nice last night. I’m sure the boys are fine.” Moss was following in the tracks of the snowplow down the snowy road to the ranch.
“One of the boys said she cooked dinner last night,” Curly added helpfully.
“Just hurry,” Doug ordered through gritted teeth. He didn’t feel like making conversation. His leg was in a temporary brace and he’d had to be carried to the truck. Jim had thrown in a pair of crutches at the last minute but had warned him to use them only for trips to the bathroom. At least he hadn’t offered a bedpan again.
In four or five days, Doug would have to return so they could put his leg in a cast. Until then he had to stay in bed. Great! Now, one of his cowboys would have to play nurse-maid, and they’d be two men shorter than they already were.
It was all that woman’s fault. Things had been going along just fine until she arrived. Honesty forced him to rephrase that statement. They’d been surviving until she arrived. They could’ve used a housekeeper, of course, but he’d just about given up on that plan.
“Who was that lady? The one you’re so worried about,” Moss asked, checking in the rearview mirror for his boss’s response.
“Uh, she’s a visitor.”
“Mighty pretty,” Curly said, turning to grin over his shoulder.
