Defiant (11 page)

Clint had hoped to make it into Dry Springs before the bad weather broke, but the storm front moved in faster than he’d expected. The lightning was powerful, and the rain was harsh. He’d managed to get his slicker on before the downpour started, but as powerful as the winds were, it offered little protection.

His mood was black as he spurred his horse to an even faster pace. He looked around for some kind of shelter, but saw nothing that would offer a haven from what he was sure was going to be a gully washer.

Another bolt of lightning lit up the heavens, and it was then that Clint topped the hill and saw the wrecked carriage below and what looked like a woman huddled against it. He had no idea how the woman had come to be out in the middle of nowhere, alone in the midst of a bad lightning storm, but he couldn’t just ride off and leave a helpless female alone in the wilds. From the looks of things, he realized she might have been injured in the accident. Clint rode down to the overturned vehicle, hoping the woman was all right.

Rachel was drenched and more than a little shaken by the accident and the fierce weather. She’d crouched down as low as she could under what little shelter the buggy offered, but it wasn’t doing much good. Rachel told herself that she was brave enough to wait out the storm and then walk to town on her own, if she had to. It might take her a while, but she kept telling herself she could do it. She was more afraid of the storm than of anything else, for she did have the gun with her. The thought made her smile, for even though the gun might help to keep her safe, it offered absolutely no protection from the wrath of Mother Nature.

“Are you all right?”

The sound of a man’s call so close by shocked Rachel. With the storm raging, she hadn’t heard anyone approach. Still, she was thrilled that someone had come upon her so soon.

“Yes! But I’m stranded!” she called over the roar of the wind.

Rachel peeked out from her partial haven to try to get a look at the man who’d come upon her. All she could make out in the downpour was a dark, cloaked figure on horseback, silhouetted against the storm-ravaged sky. At another time, she might have thought him ominous-looking, but at that moment he seemed a knight in shining armor.

“Come on!” the man offered. “Let me help you!”

Rachel didn’t need to be asked twice. Leaving what meager protection she had, she grabbed up the small bag she’d carried with her and ran toward her rescuer.

“Rachel?”

When she heard her name, she recognized Kane’s voice and looked up at him in amazement. “Kane? What are you doing out here?”

“Rescuing you, I think,” he told her as he reached down and held out his hand to her.

Rachel took it without hesitation and was amazed when, in one easy swing, he pulled her up behind him on the horse.

She couldn’t believe how strong he was to lift her up so easily. “I was glad to see you Saturday night, but I’m even more glad to see you now.”

“Hold on tight,” he directed.

“Don’t worry. I will,” she promised, linking her arms around his lean waist. Then she offered, “In case you didn’t know, there’s an abandoned shack about a mile to the north.”

“We’ll take shelter there until it lets up. There’s
no way we can make it to town right now. This is one ugly storm.”

Clint followed her directions, and they rode quickly through the pouring rain to the dilapidated building. He reined in and handed Rachel down before dismounting himself.

“This isn’t much,” he said. It was obvious the place hadn’t been lived in for a long time.

“It’s better than nothing.”

“You’re right about that,” he agreed.

Rachel ran up the broken-down steps to the cover of the small porch. She shoved open the rotting front door and went inside.

Clint spotted a decrepit lean-to around back and took his horse there so the animal could have some shelter from the storm. Carrying his rifle, bedroll, and saddlebags with him, he joined Rachel inside and closed the door behind him.

Clint set his belongings down on the floor before looking around. He hadn’t expected much more than a roof over their heads, so he wasn’t disappointed. The abandoned one-room house was dirty, and the roof was leaking in several places. Still, it could have been a lot worse. They could have still been outside.

A flash of lightning lit up the place, and it was then that Clint got his first good look at Rachel. She was standing across the small room from him, drenched and visibly shaking. Her dark hair was half unbound and hanging loose and wet about her shoulders, and her shirtwaist gown was
soaked. It was a modest garment, but now that it was soaking wet, it clung to her slender figure, outlining her very feminine curves. For a moment, he couldn’t look away, and then he forced himself to lower his eyes.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked again, going to her.

“I—I think so.”

“What were you doing out here in the middle of this storm all by yourself?” He was surprised that her father would let her ride out alone.

She quickly told him about the trip to the Franklin ranch and her mother’s decision to stay on. “I was on my way home to let my father know when the storm came up real fast. The lightning spooked my horse. He bolted and wrecked the buggy. I unhitched him, because I thought I could ride him back to town, but then the lightning started up again and he got away from me.”

“You sure you’re not hurt?” His expression was concerned as he looked her over again.

“No, I’m just wet,” she said, finally relaxing a bit and managing a smile at him.

“There’s no way to avoid getting soaked in weather like this. It’s blowing so hard out there right now, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a twister come through.”

Worried by the prospect, Rachel went to look out one of the windows at the still raging storm. “It is nasty out there. Thank heaven you came along when you did. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“It was pure luck that I came across you.”

“It wasn’t luck.” She turned away from the window to look up at him. “You were the answer to my prayer.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I do. You rode up just when I had finished praying to be rescued.”

“I’ve never been the answer to anybody’s prayers before,” he said with a wry grin.

“Well, you were tonight. Your timing was perfect, and I’m almost beginning to think you might be my guardian angel, the way you keep showing up to help me whenever I’m in trouble.”

Rachel heard a terrible roaring sound outside and quickly looked out the window again. The wind was so fierce, the rain appeared to be blowing sideways.

“Why don’t you get over here away from that window? I don’t like the way that sounds,” Clint warned. He’d never been caught in a tornado, but he’d seen the damage they could do and knew they were deadly.

Rachel did as he suggested, coming back to stand in the middle of the darkened room. “I wonder how long this is going to last. My father will be getting worried. He’s expecting Mother and I to be home tonight.”

“The moment it lets up, we can head into town, but from the way things are looking right now, I don’t think that’s going to be anytime soon.”

“We might as well try to get comfortable while we wait it out,” Rachel suggested.

They took another look around the place. The only furnishings that had been left behind when the family moved on were two ramshackle straight-backed chairs and a broken-down bed frame with no mattress.

“I think it must have been a while since anyone lived here,” Clint said.

“Over two years,” she told him. “The family that owned the place belonged to our church. They fell on some real hard times and had to move on.”

“Too bad, but at least they left us something to sit on.” Clint dragged the chairs to a place in the room where there were no leaks.

Lightning lit up the room for a moment, and Rachel spotted a lamp on the floor near the foot of the bed. She hurried over to check it out.

“We’ve got a lamp!” she told Kane excitedly, but her mood quickly sobered. “Not that it’s going to do us any good. I don’t have any matches.”

“I do.” He went to his saddlebags and dug them out. “But does it have any oil?”

“A little. It should last us for a while.”

There was no telling how long it had been since the lamp had been used, but they didn’t care. What mattered was finally having some decent light in the cabin. They lit the lamp and put it on the shelf over the small fireplace. Knowing Clint had more matches, Rachel considered starting a fire, but after taking a look at the fireplace, she realized, that it had deteriorated too much to be of use.

She settled in, ready to wait out the storm. She had to admit to herself that if she had to be stranded with anyone, she was thrilled she was stranded with Kane. She studied him as he came to sit in the other chair.

“I told you my story. Now why were you out riding in weather like this?” Rachel asked.

“I had some business in Silver Pass I had to take care of, and I was on my way back to Dry Springs, too.” As he spoke, another powerful, roaring gust of wind and rain battered the building. He tensed, almost believing the cabin was going to be leveled.

Rachel couldn’t help herself. She started laughing as she listened to the driving rain. “I don’t think it’s very dry in Dry Springs right now.”

“I think you’re right,” Clint agreed, actually laughing out loud at her jest.

It was the first time she’d ever heard him laugh. It was a deep, mellow sound, and as her gaze went over him, she realized again just how attracted she was to him.

“You should laugh more often,” she said in a throaty voice.

Her words sobered him. “Sometimes there’s not a lot to laugh about in life.”

“But sometimes there is,” she countered. “Like wondering what the odds were that we’d end up stranded in an abandoned shack together in the midst of this terrible storm.”

The moment Rachel said she was wondering what the odds were, Clint found himself smiling
at her. “You know, your father is a preacher. He wouldn’t approve of any kind of gambling, now would he?”

At that, Rachel grinned back at him. “You’re right, but if it meant he’d show up here right now to stage a protest, I’d be willing to risk it.”

They both liked the idea of her father doing just that.

“I don’t think he’s going to show up, though,” Clint said.

“I know. We’ll just have to wait for the storm to pass before we can head home.”

“And you don’t want to make any bets on how long it’s going to last?”

“No,” she answered with a grin.

Clint was entranced by her smile. He’d always known she was lovely, but there in the flickering lamplight, Rachel was absolutely beautiful. A part of him silently hoped the storm would last all night so they would have this time together, but the serious side of him warned against allowing himself to care for her. He was in Dry Springs for one reason only, and it wasn’t to court the preacher’s daughter.

Chapter Eleven

Rachel was uncomfortable as she sat there in her wet clothes, but there was nothing she could do about it. She consoled herself with the thought that they were lucky this hadn’t happened during the winter months. Just the thought of those cold temperatures made her shiver.

“Are you cold?” Clint asked, ready to offer her his slicker. It wasn’t much, but he thought it might help a little.

“I’ll be all right. I was just thinking about how bad this would be in the winter.”

“The good news is it’s not January. There’s no way we could get a fire going in the fireplace.” He could see the water dripping in the damaged chimney.

“Are you hungry?” Rachel asked, remembering the sweet roll her mother had given her for her trip. At the time, she’d thought she wouldn’t eat it until she got home, but now she was grateful for the sustenance. Her mother had baked the
rolls the night before and had taken them along as a treat for the Franklin family.

“I’ve got some hardtack,” Clint offered. He was hungry, but he’d been looking forward to getting a decent meal in town, not eating hardtack.

“What about a sweet roll?”

“You’ve got a sweet roll and you’re willing to share?”

“I’m my father’s daughter,” Rachel said. “And, yes, it’s right here.”

She got her bag, took out the sweet roll, and unwrapped it. She broke it in half, then handed him his portion. “Here.”

“Thanks.” He took a bite of the pastry, then said, “This is really good.”

“My mother baked it.”

“Tell her for me that it’s delicious.”

“One of these days you can tell her yourself.”

“I’ll do that.”

Rachel took a bite of her half of the sweet roll. They both fell silent as they enjoyed their “meal.”

“That was the best dinner I’ve had in a while. It was definitely better than my hardtack,” Clint told her.

“My mother is a wonderful cook,” Rachel agreed, getting up to take another look out the window.

It was almost completely dark outside now, and the roar of the storm continued unabated. She’d been concerned when they’d first taken refuge in the shack, but now that it was getting late, she
feared they really might not make it back to town that night.

“You look worried,” he said, watching her.

“What time do you think it is?”

“It’s probably close to eight-thirty.” Clint got up and went to stand by her side, where he gazed out at the sky. “The rain hasn’t let up much, but if you want to, we can ride out. It won’t be easy, but we can try to make it.”

“I wish we could,” Rachel told him, “but since it’s getting dark, I don’t think it’s safe. The terrain is rugged, and I’m sure there’s some flooding.”

She was very aware of Kane’s presence as he stood beside her. She looked up at him, taking in the broad, powerful width of his chest and shoulders, and the hard, lean line of his jaw, dark now with a day’s growth of beard. She was surprised when she found herself wondering what it would be like to kiss him. As she imagined it, excitement tingled through her.

Clint happened to glance down at her just then, and he went still as he saw the desire in her eyes. A hunger stirred deep within him, and he didn’t try to deny it. He reached out and drew her to him, then without saying a word, as a deep roll of thunder echoed across the countryside, he kissed her.