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“It wasn’t my fault. I slid backward.” She was growing exasperated with his know-it-all attitude. Wiping one hand on her ruined skirt she held it out to her would-be rescuer. He made no move to help lift her the rest of the way. She stared up at him. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Well, aren’t you going to give me a hand?” She hoped he didn’t remember that stale old joke and literally applaud her predicament.
“You said you’re not hurt. I’m glad. The way I see it, you got here all by yourself—in spite of the worst storm we’ve had this season—so you must be the independent type. Why should you need me for anything?”
Sara struggled to her feet to face the man eye to eye. She was disappointed to find she’d have had to stand on a box to avoid literally looking up to him. Clearly, she needed to do something to alleviate his annoyance. Perhaps if she introduced herself…
“I’m Sara Stone.” She shielded her face from the downpour with both hands and tried to smile. “Who are you?” For a few uneasy moments she thought he might refuse to tell her.
“Adam Callahan,” he finally said.
“I could use some help with my car, Adam. Please?”
He glanced past her shoulder to eye the stranded vehicle with disdain. “Do I look like I have a tow truck?”
That did it. Sara was through trying to be polite. She was drenched and freezing. There was a fair chance Eric would drive up and accost her at any moment. And the new laptop computer she had finally decided to buy was likely to be ruined if she didn’t get back in the car soon.
“If you could just help me push the stupid car, I’ll gladly go away.” She had to shout to be heard above the noise of wind and rain.
“It’s much too dangerous to drive anywhere while the roads and creeks are flooded.”
She made a disgusted face. “So, what do you recommend I do?” Noting the perplexity in Adam’s expression she couldn’t help grinning. “Besides, take a flying leap, I mean.”
He glanced over at the muddy, blue hatchback. “Looks to me like you almost did that, already.”
“I know.” Wide-eyed, she suddenly realized how close she had come to sliding into the rain-swollen gully. “I’ve never driven on anything but smooth pavement before.”
“I don’t doubt that.”
Sara watched him study the car’s hazardous position. “Can we push it?”
“Sure.” He shot her a cynical look. “You put your water wings on, get behind it, and push while I steer.”
“Very funny.” She faced him with her hands on her hips, keeping her stance wide for better balance due to the rising wind. She sure wished she’d worn something more suitable for stomping around in mud and water.
Adam turned away, ignoring her. He scanned the nearby underbrush, then broke a long, bare limb off a fallen tree. Swinging it around he gave Sara a momentary start until he placed it under the stuck rear bumper of her car and got into position to lift with his shoulder.
“You go over to the other side. Open that door so you can get a good hold and push from there,” he ordered.
“My camping gear will get rained on.”
“If it isn’t waterproof you got cheated when you bought it. Do you want my help, or not?”
“I do, I do.” She pressed her hands and inside shoulder to the door frame. “Okay. Ready when you are.”
“Now!” he shouted.
Sara held her breath and strained with all her might.
The tree limb snapped with a loud crack. Adam yelled and his hood fell back. Sara jumped away. She could finally see the dark, thick hair and chiseled features he’d had hidden beneath the yellow slicker. She could also see he’d given up his attempt to help.
“It’s no use,” he shouted. “We can’t do it by hand.”
“Okay. Now what?”
“How should I know? If I had a brain in my head I’d leave you here and go home where it’s warm and dry. But I can’t do that, can I?”
For the first time since they had met, Sara thought beyond the immediate present. If Adam wasn’t going to leave her, then he must intend to keep her with him. That presented a whole new set of problems. Was it safe to go anywhere with a man she’d known for only a few minutes? Could she trust him?
“Go ahead. Leave me here.” Sara put on a brave front. “I’ll just wait till the storm passes.”
“And then what? In case you haven’t noticed, that old wreck of yours is axle-deep in mud.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I have a sleeping bag and plenty of provisions.”
“Where?”
“In the back seat and under the hatchback.”
“How do you propose to reach them without falling off the cliff?”
“Well, I…”
Adam scowled at her. “I thought so. I suppose you’d better come with me then. My conscience won’t let me leave you here. Come on. I’ll take you to my place.”
Sara didn’t move. She insisted she wasn’t afraid. Not really. She just couldn’t make up her mind whether or not it was a good idea to go with him. The safest choice was to continue to decline his neighborly offer, no matter how innocent it was.
He wiped his wet face with a quick pass of one strong hand and pushed his hair off his forehead. “Well?”
“I’m not going with you.”
“Fine. In that case, I think you should know one thing. These hills are riddled with limestone caves. Every once in a while, when the soil gets waterlogged like it is now, the ceiling of one of the caves collapses.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Adam eyed the contents of her car. “Have you got a tour book in there?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Look it up. There’s a big one in southern Missouri. Grand Gulf, I think they call it. A cave roof fell in and created such an impressive canyon they made a state park out of it.”
Sara had been analyzing him as he spoke, trying to accurately judge his truthfulness. After being fooled so completely by Eric, she no longer trusted her intuition. Still…“You’re not kidding, are you?”
“Nope.” He held out his hand. “Well?”
She hesitated, changing her mind repeatedly. Should she? Shouldn’t she? The idea of being warm and dry certainly sounded appealing, even if she was forced to listen to more of the man’s unwarranted criticism while in his company.
Adam shook his head in disgust as another bolt of lightning struck across the wooded valley. “That was too close. I’m not going to stand here and beg while we both freeze to death or become toast.” He reached down and grabbed her wrist.
Sara gasped. “Hey! What…?”
“I’m taking you home with me, lady, and if you scream or pitch a fit I’m going to let go and leave you right here. I’ll be happy to forget my idiotic dog ever led me to you. Got that?”
“Perfectly.” She made a successful grab for the strap of her pack, lurching and stumbling along behind Adam.
The man had a valid point. It was pretty stupid to just stand there and argue. When he’d had time to calm down she’d tell him exactly what she thought of his high-handed tactics.
But I’ll do it politely, if it’s still raining, she added, shivering. Being warm and dry sounded wonderful. She wasn’t about to risk being pitched out into the storm again because she was too outspoken.
Chapter Two (#ulink_df47a9c6-3f07-59be-bcb1-0bbc091eacb3)
“Watching history on television does not prepare a person for this,” Sara shouted. “How in the world did the women cope in long skirts back then?”
“They probably didn’t go brush-busting in the first place.” He lifted her feet off the ground as he pulled her up behind him on a rocky ledge. “We aren’t taking the usual trail. It’s too far that way. The sooner I get out of this blasted weather the better I’ll like it.”
“How much farther is it?” She was breathless.
“Just up this hill and through the little valley beyond.”
Sara didn’t want him to let go of her wrist because she was afraid she might not be able to keep up without help. The ground beneath her ruined sandals was slippery. She’d lost her footing repeatedly. She’d barked her shins and torn her skirt on brambles and briars. Not to mention almost winding up impaled by a deadly-looking tree with thousands of three-inch-long thorns!
“What happened to your dog?” she asked.
“Knowing Samson, he’s bringing up the rear to make sure we both get home okay.”
“Good. I’d hate to have anything bad happen to an animal that likes me so much.”
Adam gave a hard tug and pulled her up beside him. They were balanced on a narrow rock ledge beneath the canopy of a gigantic oak. The leaves didn’t stop all the rain but they did offer a slight respite from the wind-driven torrent.
“Yeah. I don’t understand that,” he said, scowling. “He’s supposed to treat his family like a flock of sheep and be really leery of outsiders.”
“Guess he could tell I was friendly.” Sara looked up into her companion’s deep-blue eyes and wondered for an unguarded instant if she was crazy to have placed all her trust in the rugged-looking, taciturn stranger.
Sensing her uneasiness, Adam softened his expression. “Look, lady. I promise I won’t hurt you. I really am trying to keep you out of danger and get us both back inside before we catch pneumonia.”
“I know.” She gave him a sweet, trusting smile. “If I had to get stuck anywhere, I’m glad it was on your road.”
His approachable countenance faded. His eyes darkened to the color of the foreboding sky. “I wish I could agree with you.”
Sara wasn’t sure exactly what kind of home she had expected Adam’s to be. Certainly not anything as tiny as the cabin to which he led her.
The house sat at the edge of an apparently large clearing. The farthest perimeters were obscured by continuing rain. Square and made of stacked logs, his home looked like something straight out of a history book. Except for electric lighting and, she fervently hoped, indoor plumbing.
Adam led the way onto the porch, shook himself free of his slicker and stamped the loose mud off his boots. He turned to look down at Sara as if just now realizing who and what he had dragged home.
“Looks cozy.” She managed a fairly convincing smile even though her teeth were chattering.
“It is—for one person.” He paused at the door.
Sara understood his reluctance to invite her in, given her disgusting, filthy condition. “Is there any way I can get the mud washed off my back before we go inside? I don’t want to dirty your nice cabin.”
Adam’s expression was cynical. “I’m a bachelor. What makes you think the house is any cleaner than you are?”
“Well, I…” She knew she was blushing but there was no way to stop. In spite of the man’s contentious attitudes and mercurial moods she kind of liked him. Which meant that his teasing affected her more than it normally would have.
He took her by the shoulders and turned her around, checking the parts of her clothing she could only assume were as ghastly as they felt.
“You’ll do,” Adam said. “Rain washed the worst of it off. By the time we both get clean and dry the place will be a mess, anyway. Come on.” He opened the door and ushered her inside, giving her a cautious but firm shove between the shoulder blades.
Sara felt Samson try to scoot through the door beside her. Only Adam’s presence of mind and stem command kept the sopping-wet dog from joining them. “No. Out!”
“Can’t he come in, too?”
“You and I will dry him off later. After we get ourselves taken care of.” Adam paused and frowned. “That is, providing I can come up with enough towels.”
Hugging her pack to her chest, Sara scanned the narrow, rectangular room. The place looked more like a hunting or fishing lodge than it did a house. There was a half-full dog dish the size of grandma’s Dutch oven tucked beside a long-legged, antique gas stove in the kitchen area. Next to the food sat a water bowl nearly as big.
The remainder of the room seemed to be centered around a coal-black, wood-burning behemoth. It sat on abbreviated legs, silently radiating heat and looking just like a pudgy oil drum with cast-ron decorations.
Sara hesitated. The place smelled very masculine. Oh, not like old socks or anything. Just different. As if a man, this man, had made it his private den. Clearly, the cabin was his special sanctuary. And she was an intruder.
“Really, I…” Embarrassed, Sara hung back close to the door. She didn’t want to impose any more than she already had. Yet what choice was there? All her camping gear and clothing, except what she carried in the one small pack, was back at the car, inaccessible. If she were in her companion’s shoes she would gladly offer shelter and assistance, so why did it bother her so much to accept the same from him?
Adam had removed his boots and was stoking the wood stove, oblivious to her uneasiness. “Slip off your shoes and leave them on the rug there by the door.” He flipped open the cast iron door with a noisy clank and poked the dying embers with a stick. “I’ll take care of them later.”
Sara suddenly felt his gaze settle on her, warming her far more than the stove. She tensed. “What? What is it? Did I do something wrong?”
Grumbling, Adam looked away. “No. Just hurry up, will you? I’d like to get out of my wet clothes.”
Her eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
“There’s only one bathroom. I don’t intend for us to share it, okay?” He gestured with a tilt of his head. “Over there. Through that door. And don’t use up all the hot water.”
Sara giggled softly. “The bathroom is inside, isn’t it? I mean, you’re not going to tell me I have to walk across the yard and back?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course it’s inside.” One corner of his mouth lifted in a lopsided smile, then quickly resumed its usual moody position. “I have a generator for the electricity to pump the water, too, so you won’t have to go fetch it from the well in a bucket.”
“Oh, good.”
“I thought you’d appreciate that.” The wry smile threatened to reappear. “There are towels in the cabinet under the sink, I think. If not, that means I didn’t remember to do the laundry and we’re both up the creek.”
“Please,” Sara said, “don’t mention creeks or rivers or anything else pertaining to water. I don’t think I’ve ever been this wet.”
“Stick around these hills long enough and you’ll get used to it,” he told her. “Locals say, if you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes and it’ll change. It’s kind of a standing joke.”
“I can believe that.” She was eyeing the bathroom door. “Um, I do have one other request, if you don’t mind.”
