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“Aren’t you going to sleep?”
“In a minute.”
She sat up. “It’s so dark and quiet, except for the crickets. It’s like I’m having a bad dream.”
Egan wrapped his arms around his knees. “Yeah.” If he closed his eyes, he could hear the shouts, the filthy cuss words, the goading and the ugly faces of evil. He’d thought he was tough, but he didn’t know tough until he had to stand toe-to-toe with hardened criminals.
“I feel so stupid,” she murmured.
“Why?” Her words brought him back from the abyss that always threatened to take him down.
“Because I’m a coward. I should have stayed on US 77 and I’d be home now, facing my past the way I was supposed to. The way I’d planned.”
“You have a past?” He couldn’t imagine what kind of a dire past a beautiful blonde could have.
“My parents spoiled me terribly.”
“Pardon me, but I don’t consider that a past.”
“If you’ll listen, I’ll tell you,” she snapped.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I love the way you say ma’am.”
“I say it like everybody else in Texas.”
“No, you say it with respect and I feel it.”
That threw him, so he just sat and stared at the blanket of twinkling stars and waited for her to speak.
“My mother was killed when I was seventeen.”
“I remember that. She was shot by gang members while walking to her car in a mall, right?”
“Yes. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time...all because of me.”
He knew he should stop with the questions. He didn’t want to get any more involved with her than he already was. But something in her voice prompted him to ask, “What did you have to do with it?”
She didn’t answer and the silence stretched. They kept looking at the beautiful night sky above them. Then her voice came, low and achy. “I haven’t told anyone this and I don’t know why I’m telling you. I just need to say the words—to hear them out loud.” She paused. “It happened on a Friday. There was a dance at my school on Saturday and I wanted this special dress that I’d seen. I begged and begged my mother to buy it, and she said no, that I had plenty of dresses.” A muffled sound followed the words and he knew Rachel was crying. He remained still, not making any movement because he had a feeling she didn’t want him to react. And he wasn’t comfortable with that type of emotion.
“She must’ve changed her mind because that’s what she was doing at the mall—buying my dress. The police gave it to me later and I threw it in the garbage. I killed...my mother.”
“Come on, you can’t possibly believe that.”
“She wouldn’t have been at that mall if I hadn’t continually kept asking for the dress.”
“But it was her choice to go.”
Rachel rested her chin on her knees. “My mother was the most loving person I’ve ever known, and she didn’t deserve to die like that. I just can’t forget it and I’ve tried. For twelve years I’ve been trying. I went to art school in Paris, hoping that would obliterate the guilt, but it didn’t. I longed for home and my mother. But she wasn’t there anymore.”
“I don’t know anything about your mother, but I’m almost positive she wouldn’t want you to live with the guilt.”
“I tell myself that all the time and it doesn’t make that ache go away.”
“Have you talked to someone in your family?”
The answer was a long time coming. “No. I wanted to tell my best friend, Angie, and my brother, but I could never find the right words.”
Egan stared into the darkness and tried to find words of his own to help her. That blew his mind, because he didn’t want to help her. But there was something about her that just begged for protection. His mama had always told him he could never resist a person in need. Even when he considered them the enemy.
“You don’t have a past. You have a guilt complex, and the only way to get rid of it is to talk to your family, the ones who are close to you.” Judge Hollister’s name stuck in his craw and he couldn’t say it out loud.
“That’s what I finally decided to do. You probably know that my brother, Hardy, married Angie Wiznowski, and they have a new baby. I’m dying to see him and to meet their older daughter, Erin, so I planned to come home and deal with all the guilt. And what did I do?” She slapped the top of her knee with her right hand. “At the last minute, I balked and stalled for time by taking the long way and getting lost. Now here I sit with a very nice stranger, wondering if maybe I’m losing my mind.”
“You’re not. Tomorrow we’ll make it to the ranch and you can call your family and talk and tell them how you’re feeling. I’m told talking works wonders.”
“Mmm. You don’t like to talk, do you?”
“Nope. It’s not my favorite thing.”
“Are you married?”
They were getting into personal territory and he certainly didn’t like that. Talking about himself was his least favorite subject. A coyote howled in the distance, diverting her attention.
“How close is that?” she asked, edging a little nearer to him.
“Not very.”
“You didn’t answer my question. Are you married?”
He gritted his teeth. She was one of those women who just wouldn’t let go. “No. I’m not married. If I was, I wouldn’t be spending the night in these woods.”
“Have you ever been married?”
“Ma’am, it’s time to get some rest.”
“Since you said that so nicely, I will.” She wrapped her arms around herself “It’s getting chilly.”
“You can use the duster. It’ll keep you warm.”
“I will not.” She shoved her right arm into a sleeve. “Now, do the same with your left.”
“What...”
“Remember, you said no complaining.”
He shoved his arm into the hole and it drew them together inside the duster. Maybe too close together. A flowery scent from her hair reached his nostrils, and he wanted to pull away, but there was nowhere to go.
“See, this way we both can stay warm,” she said, with a smile in her voice. “Now we just lie back and go to sleep.”
He grunted, but did as she’d instructed. It took a moment for them to get comfortable. They tried several positions, and finally, lying on their sides worked best. Her soft curves fitted nicely into his hardened body. It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman and the feeling was doing a familiar number on his senses. All he had to do was remember who she was and his mind cleared. For a second.
“Are you going to sleep with your hat on?”
“Is that a problem?”
“No.” She wiggled against him and that was a problem. “I just find it strange.”
“I spent a lot of time in these woods, and on one occasion I took off my hat and the next morning it was gone. A varmint had stolen it. A raccoon is probably wearing it now.”
“I like you, Egan Rebel.”
Don’t like me. Please don’t like me!
“Go to sleep.”
“Call me ma’am.”
“Go to sleep.”
“I will if...”
“Go to sleep...ma’am.”
She laughed, a tingly sound that warmed parts of his heart that had been cold for a long time. He immediately shut out the sound and the feeling.
After a moment, he heard her easy breathing and knew she had fallen asleep. It was a long time before he could succumb to the tiredness of his mind and his body. He had to have the most rotten luck in the world. How ironic was it that he would rescue the judge-from-hell’s daughter? His beautiful daughter.
This had to be one of the worst days of Egan’s life.
* * *
RACHEL WOKE UP to aches and pains, yet felt oddly relaxed. She turned her head and found Egan staring at her with those beautiful eyes. A masculine, woodsy scent reached her and her stomach curled into a pleasant knot. With his hat still on his head, he gave ruggedly handsome a new meaning. The lines of his face were pronounced, his growth of beard arousing, his nose straight and his mouth a sexy slash, begging to be touched and experienced. She licked her lips, wanting that pleasure.
“You’re awake,” he said.
“Yeah,” she murmured.
He already had his arm out of the duster and now sat up. She felt a bereavement she couldn’t explain. She wondered what he would say if she invited him to touch her, to hold her, to... What was wrong with her? Her mind was straying into dangerous territory. She wasn’t that type of woman. But looking at Egan Rebel, she wanted to be.
With one swift movement, he was on his feet. She, on the other hand, was a little slower. Dawn was breaking over the valley below and she stood for a moment to gaze at the beauty of God’s creation. It was as if God had kissed the night into submission and now the sun could show its glory. It did, in beautiful rays of yellow, a breathtaking scene. She wished she had a canvas to paint it, but she would keep it in her memory for later. Just as she would the man standing beside her.
“I’m going to get some water,” he said.
She reached for her purse and pulled out a small sketch pad she kept.
“What are you doing?”
“I want to sketch this scene so I can paint it later.”
Egan shook his head and disappeared into the woods.
Rachel sat cross-legged with the sketch pad on her lap. She drew broad strokes. The scene before her faded and Egan’s face appeared. The strong lines, longish hair, hat, the shape of his eyes and that steadfast, masculine demeanor. It was all there with each stroke. She stared at it for a moment and then tucked the pad back into her purse. No matter what happened, she would have a memory of this unforgettable man.
Seeing her hairbrush in the purse, she pulled it out and attempted to work the tangles from her hair. A sound caught her attention and she turned her head. She froze. Fear leaped into her throat. Wild-looking dogs stood near the edge of the woods, baring their teeth and growling. A bearded man stood behind them with a rifle.
Rachel tried to get to her feet, but her shaky legs wouldn’t comply. Before she could process the situation, the man said something to the dogs and they charged toward her.
Oh my God!
She scrambled to her feet, trying to run, but the dogs were upon her. “Egan! Egan!” she screamed.
* * *
EGAN DROPPED THE CANTEEN and ran, the rifle in his hand. The scene before him chilled his blood. A dog was on Rachel, ferociously trying to reach her throat. She beat at it with a hairbrush, foiling its attempts. Two more dogs tore at her clothes. Another joined the attack. Rachel kicked and screamed, the sound disrupting the peace and quiet with spine-tingling terror.
He raised his rifle and fired. One dog went down. He fired again and another rolled to the side. A dog leaped up at the sound and Egan fired once more. The animal fell backward and rolled down the hill.
The dog on Rachel wouldn’t let go of its prey, and was too close to her for Egan to shoot without a guarantee he wouldn’t hit her. Running forward, he pulled the knife from the scabbard on his waist, then stabbed until the dog released her and lay motionless.
Rachel cowered there, covered in blood, the hairbrush clutched in her bloody hand. “It’s okay,” Egan told her. “I’m here.”
“There’s...more,” she gasped.
He raised his head and saw Izzy McCray and two more dogs about twenty yards away. Egan’s gun lay on the grass and he immediately reached for it.
“You killed my dogs, you bastard!” Izzy screamed.
“You’re next!” Egan shouted back. He fired over Izzy’s head and he and the dogs retreated into the woods.
Rachel shook from head to toe and her teeth were chattering. Egan pried the brush from her hand and threw it on the ground. Seeing the green sweater, he reached for it. With a sleeve, he wiped blood from her face and her throat. “Calm down,” he cooed, as if to a child. “I’m not going to let anything else happen to you. Take a deep breath. Take another.”
“E-gan,” she cried, and tears rolled from her eyes.
He dabbed blood from the scratches on her face and neck. Luckily, they didn’t look deep. “Come on, we have to get out of here. That crazy fool might be waiting in the woods.”
Rachel shook violently. Egan grabbed the duster and wrapped it around her. Then he looped her purse over his shoulder and lifted her into his arms. The rifle lay on the ground and he bent for it. Walking into the woods to where he’d dropped the canteen, he squatted and reached for it, while resting the rifle against his leg. He screwed off the top with his thumb and forefinger and put the canteen to her lips.
“Drink.”
She raised her hands and he saw how bloody and scratched they were. His gut tightened at what had been done to her. He should never have left her. Damn!
After she finished, he screwed the top back on and let the canteen rest on her chest. Holding her close, he got to his feet with the rifle in hand and then took off into the woods, trying to walk as fast as he could.
“Where are we going?” She laid her head against him, her blond hair matted with blood.
“My great-great-great-grandparents settled on Yaupon Creek and their cabin is still there. I try to keep it up. It has a bed and the bare necessities, but you can rest and I can clean your wounds. The only problem is it’s taking us farther from the ranch, but I think you need medical attention more right now.”
