At the Rancher's Request
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Sara Orwig
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HarlequinOne
Mike Calhoun frowned, glancing briefly at the small mirror that allowed him to see Scotty in the backseat. Assured his almost-three-year-old son was okay, Mike peered ahead as sheets of gray rain swept against his truck. With the truck wipers maxed, he guessed visibility was less than fifty yards. He hadn’t passed a car or seen any sign of life for the past half hour. To his relief he spotted a small light shining on a sign and he turned, thankful to have reached the shelter of the only gas station between the closest town and his West Texas ranch.
He slowed to stop beneath the extended roof covering eight pumps. Ed had locked up and gone home and Mike didn’t blame him. On a stormy Saturday night in the last week of January, Ed wouldn’t have had much business anyway.
“We’re stopping, Scotty,” he said, turning to his son while he left the motor running and the car lights switched on so they would not be in complete darkness. “If we wait, the rain will let up and driving conditions will be better,” he said as he unfastened his son’s seat belt.
Solemnly, Scotty looked at him. “Can we cross the bridge?”
Smiling, Mike tousled Scotty’s black curls. “My little worrier,” Mike said. “I think so, Scotty. If we can’t cross the north bridge in the front, I’ll drive around to the west. It’ll take longer, but we can get home. Don’t worry. This downpour will slack off soon. It can’t rain this hard all night.”
Twin specks of light emerged from the rain and grew bigger as a car approached. “Here comes someone else. It may be someone from our ranch.”
When the car pulled into the lane next to Mike, smoke poured from beneath the hood. The driver passed the pumps, stopping beyond them, still sheltered by the roof.
The driver’s door opened and someone in a parka stepped out and shook the hood away, revealing a woman with a long blond braid.
“This isn’t anyone we know. Scotty, stay in the car while I see if she needs help.” Mike lowered the front window so Scotty could hear him easily. He cut the car engine. “The lady has car trouble.”
Pocketing his car keys, Mike stepped out and closed his door. “Hi, I’m Mike Calhoun. Can I help you?” he asked, looking at a blonde with big blue eyes.
Frowning slightly, she walked around her car. “Thank you. I’m Savannah Grayson. I do need help. I don’t know what’s wrong with my car. I was so scared it would break down while I was on the highway. It’s been clattering and smoke was coming out from beneath the hood. Thank heavens I saw your car in this station. It was like getting tossed a lifeline in a stormy ocean.” She looked past him. “You have a little boy in your truck. I shouldn’t take your time.”
Mike looked at Scotty and waved even though only a few yards separated them. Smiling, Scotty waved back. “He’ll be fine for a bit.”
“I don’t know what the trouble is—”
“Whoa,” Mike said, seeing a flickering orange flame curl from beneath the hood. He stepped to his truck, retrieved his fire extinguisher and opened the hood of her car. As flames shot out, Savannah gasped. He held up the extinguisher and in seconds white foam doused the fire.
“I’m sorry, but this car isn’t going anywhere until a mechanic works on it,” Mike said, bending over the smoldering engine. “Are you visiting someone around here?” he asked when he straightened. He was certain she didn’t live in the area or he would know her.
“No, I’m just passing through. I’m on my way to California from Arkansas. I don’t know anyone here. I guess this place is locked up for the night.” She frowned again as she looked at the dark station.
“When the rain lets up, I can drive you back to Verity where there’s a good hotel. I’ll call Ed who owns this gas station and tell him you’re leaving your car here for the weekend. It’ll be Monday before anyone can look at your car. In the meantime, I’ll take you back to Verity and you can get a hotel room.”
“Thank you,” she said, giving him another faint smile.
“Let’s go sit with my son Scotty until this rain lets up. This is a whopper of a storm. We’ve had a long dry spell, so now we’re getting the rain all at once to make up for it. This is supposed to change to snow later tonight.”
As she nodded, Mike opened the truck door.
Sliding into the truck on the passenger side, she turned to smile at Scotty. “Hi.”
“Hi,” he replied, staring at her.
Mike turned to her. “Savannah, this is Scotty. Scotty, this is Ms. Grayson.”
“Hi, Ms. Grayson,” he said.
Mike closed her door. He walked around to sit behind the steering wheel while she shed her parka and smoothed the oversize navy sweatshirt she wore. The interior of his truck had cooled with the window lowered, so Mike turned on the engine, the heater and defrost. Lights from the dash gave a soft glow in the car.
“I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here,” Savannah said. “Probably driven it out into the rain, opened the hood and then ran. I suppose the rain would have put out the fire.”
Mike laughed. “Guess it is a good thing I was here. Where in Arkansas are you from?” he asked, looking into big eyes that were the deep blue of a summer sky.
“Little Rock,” she replied.
The first hailstone caught their attention. In seconds another struck, then hail began hurtling at the car and ground.
“Thank goodness we’re sheltered and I’m not still out on the highway,” Savannah said.
“Those are big hailstones. I’m glad we’re both here.” He took a few minutes to call Ed about her car, then pocketed his phone. “All set for Monday morning,” he told Savannah. “Why don’t you take what you need from your car and then lock it. You can leave the key in the drop box on the station door.”
“This is nice of you. I hate for you to have to drive back to Verity.”
“I don’t mind,” he answered. Hailstones fell harder, faster, bouncing when they hit the pavement. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.
“Damn. We’re having a bad storm. Excuse me a minute. I want to check at the ranch.” He called his foreman, explaining he was waiting out the storm at Ed’s station. After a lengthy report from Ray on how things were faring, Mike said he’d check back in later.
He slipped his phone into his pocket. “I don’t live far from here. We’re not going to get back into Verity tonight because the river is flooding and we’d need to cross a bridge to get into town. Also, the temperature is dropping. If it keeps up, this will turn to sleet and roads can get slick in the blink of an eye.”
“Seems I’ve gone from bad to worse,” she said, gazing at the rain.
“Savannah, you’re welcome to come back to my ranch with me. You can get a character reference from the sheriff of Verity. I have his phone number—he’s my relative. Or if you want to check in with someone who’s not a relative of mine, I can give you my banker’s or lawyer’s number. I just don’t want you to worry about coming home with us.”
She laughed. “Mercy. That’s a lot of references.”
“I’m calling the sheriff now and you can talk to him.”
“Please, you don’t need to call. I think your best reference is sitting in the backseat.”
Startled, Mike looked up to see a twinkle in her blue eyes. “Scotty?”
She turned to Scotty. “Scotty, can I trust your daddy?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She smiled at Mike, an enticing smile that revealed even white teeth and made the evening seem suddenly better. “I think you’ve given me enough assurances that I’ll be safe to go with you. You don’t need to call the sheriff. Do you need to call your wife and tell her you’re bringing a guest home?”
Mike felt a clutch to his insides. No one had asked about Elise in a long time, but it still hurt when he was questioned. “I’m a widower.”
“I’m sorry,” she said instantly.
“Thanks. I think the hail has let up slightly. Let’s get things out of your car and get going while we can. Scotty, just sit tight. I’m going to help Ms. Grayson move some of her bags to our car.”
“Yes, sir,” Scotty replied.
In minutes they had moved suitcases, a laptop, two backpacks and a box. As soon as she locked her car and dropped the keys in the drop box, they climbed into his truck and he drove back onto the state highway. She glanced back at her car.
“Your car will be okay there.”
“I wasn’t worried. It’s an older car with a burned, damaged engine and I don’t think anyone would want it. And thanks so much for your help,” she added. “I hope I don’t crowd you. I can sleep anywhere—sofa, floor, anything works.”
He smiled. “You won’t have to sleep on the floor. I have plenty of room.”
They became quiet while Mike concentrated on his driving. The rain was still heavy, but not the downpour it had been, which improved visibility.
Almost an hour later as they neared the turn for the front gate, Mike called his foreman again on a hands-free phone in his truck. When he ended the brief call, he glanced in the mirror at his son. Big brown eyes gazed back at him.
“Scotty, we’ll need to go around the creek to get home. But don’t worry because I promise we’ll get home.”
Scotty smiled and nodded, and Mike glanced at Savannah. “My foreman drove to the creek that crosses the ranch. We can’t get there the usual way from this road. I have to take a longer route.”
“Whatever is necessary. Anything beats staying alone in my burned car in the rain all night,” she said, smiling. “I’m just thankful to have a roof over my head tonight and be where people are.”
The downpour suddenly thickened, sheets of rain sweeping over the vehicle again and then hailstones began bouncing off his truck.
“Dammit,” Mike said softly, glancing quickly in the mirror and seeing Scotty’s eyes wide and frightened.
“Daddy, I don’t like this.”
“It’ll quit in a minute, Scotty, and with every mile we’re getting closer to home.”
“Scotty,” Savannah said, rummaging in her purse and turning slightly to reach between the seats. “I keep a tiny flashlight in my purse. You take it. And look at this. It’s a compass—it shows you which direction you’re headed. See this letter. It’s a W. W means west. We’ll be much closer to your home when the needle points to—” She paused.
“N,” Mike said.
“N is for north,” Scotty replied.
“Very good, Scotty,” Savannah said. “How old is he?” she asked Mike.
“Yes. He’ll soon turn three and he’s with adults all the time. He knows about a compass.”
“Scotty, you can watch that compass to see which direction we’re going. You have a flashlight so you can see the letters.” As the hail increased, she raised her voice. “You’ll know when we turn that you’re closer to your home. Look here. I have a marble that was in my purse. I’ll hide it in one of my hands and you guess which one it’s in.”
Mike listened to Savannah play with Scotty. She had gotten his mind off the storm and he was looking at her hands, guessing about the marble. Mike wondered if she had younger siblings. He realized he had been gripping the steering wheel tightly and he relaxed. The hail receded, but the rain still came in pounding sheets over his truck, making driving hazardous.
While Scotty played with the flashlight, Savannah turned back around.
“Thanks,” Mike said.
“Sure. Kids are fun.”
“Do you have siblings?” Mike asked.
“Oh, yes. There are four of us and I’m the youngest. I have four little nieces and nephews, too. I like babies and children.”
Mike wanted to ask her more about herself, but he turned his attention back to his driving and they rode in silence while he concentrated on getting home.
* * *
It was almost another thirty minutes when Savannah saw a wide gate ahead with a high iron arch over the road and the letters MC in the center at the top. Rain still poured and the wipers were a constant swish. At a post near the gate Mike slowed to reach out to punch a code. When the gate swung open, he drove across a cattle guard, a silver grill of flat steel tubing with a slightly rougher surface than the road, and then the gate closed behind him.
“Your son is asleep,” Savannah whispered.
“I figured he would be. He’s had a busy day in town. And you don’t have to whisper, he’s out.”
“I don’t want to wake him.”
“It’s just as well he’s asleep because he’s a worrier and we have to cross a swollen creek. At the main entrance to my ranch, there’s a bridge, but it’s older, already underwater and less reliable. The bridge on this part of the creek is newer, higher and wider so we’ve always been able to get across.”
“You better,” she whispered. “You promised him.”
When Mike glanced at her, Savannah smiled.
“Kids have great trust,” he said with his attention back on the road.
“Not if it isn’t earned. You must have always come through for him.”
“I hope I always can. He knows there are some things beyond me,” Mike said.
“We’ll hope crossing this bridge tonight isn’t one of them.” Savannah was thankful to have found Mike and Scotty. Otherwise, she would have been on a deserted road in the storm for the rest of the night and maybe a lot longer and she wouldn’t have known where or when to get help. Thinking about it, she shivered and studied Mike’s profile. He had a wide-brimmed black hat squarely on his head. He was in a leather, fleece-lined parka with fur trim and wore jeans and boots. He looked as competent as he was proving to be. His son was an adorable miniature of his dad with black hair and dark brown eyes.
After a time she wondered how big Mike’s ranch was because it seemed as if they had been driving a long time since going through the gate.
“There it is,” Mike said as if he guessed her thoughts. She peered through the streaming rain and could see what looked like a river. Swollen with surging black water, it was bigger than any creek she had ever seen. Rushing water had spilled out of the banks earlier in the evening. Mike’s truck headlights revealed seven men in slickers getting out of two pickups on the other side of the raging creek.
“I’ll be damned,” he said quietly, frowning as he peered through his windshield. “I’ve never seen the creek this high. Not ever.”
Chilled again by apprehension, she looked as the rushing water spread out of creek banks and splashed across the bridge that was already underwater.
“The bridge is covered by the creek,” she said, her apprehension mounting swiftly. “Can we cross?”
“We’re going to,” Mike replied, stopping to phone his foreman. “Thanks for coming, Ray. I really appreciate all of you being here.” Mike paused to listen. “I think we’ll make it, but I’m glad you’re here. Thanks.” Mike put away his phone and she watched as the men turned lights on the raging creek.
“They came earlier and strung ropes across the creek tied to trees on each side. If we go into the creek, I’ll get Scotty. You try to grab one of those ropes or anything else you can grab. Someone will come to help you. I don’t think that will happen, but if it does, we’ll have backup. If you go in, swim with the current, but try to angle toward the bank.”
“I hate to think about someone risking his life to come into the creek to get me. The water looks fierce. I don’t think I can swim in that.”
“It is fierce,” Mike said. “Just go with the current. The guys will get you. We can’t go back and we can’t stay out here all night. Thank heavens Scotty is asleep. Don’t worry until you have to because I expect the bridge to hold,” he said in a tone filled with so much confidence, her fear diminished. He lowered all the windows. “Sorry, but just in case we go in and the truck sinks, we can all get out easily. The pickup might just float because the current will carry it along.”
“I don’t care to think about the possibilities,” she said, staring at the creek.
Mike inched slowly across. Holding her breath and clutching the door handle until her knuckles were white, she watched waves splash over the bridge. They reached the other side and she let out her breath.
“You did it!” she exclaimed, looking at Mike who raised all the windows except his own. The men waved and slapped hands in high fives. One tall man in a hooded parka came to the truck.
“Thanks, Ray,” Mike said.
“Glad you made it across. We’re supposed to get sleet and later snow. I’m glad you’re back.”
“We’re thankful to be here. Ray, this is Ms. Grayson. She had car trouble and we left her car at Ed’s. She’ll stay here tonight.”
“Howdy, Ms. Grayson,” he said, bending down to look at her.
“Just call me Savannah, please.”
“Savannah, this is Ray Farndale, my foreman.”
“Thanks for waiting to help,” she said.
“Glad our help wasn’t needed. Mike, we’ll see you in the morning. We all better head home before it gets worse. If it keeps up, that bridge will be far enough under water no one can cross.”
“What about the animals? Do you guys need any help tonight?”
“Thanks, no. You get Scotty and Ms. Grayson out of the storm. We’re fine, so far. I’ll call if we need you. If the temperature drops the way they say it will, then tomorrow will bring a different set of problems.”
“I’ll join you in the morning because we’ll need every hand.” He raised his window as he drove past the other men and waved.
“Scotty slept right through that,” she said. “I have to say, I’m supremely glad the bridge held. You were very calm. You must not rattle easily.”
“It wouldn’t have helped for me to get worked up.” Mike smiled at her. “Let’s go home,” he said, the words wrapping around her with a reassurance that was comforting.
In minutes the first lights could be seen through the rain-covered windshield. One truck turned off and headed away. “Where is that pickup going?” she asked.
“Ray and a couple of guys are headed out to see about our livestock. The men all have phones and walkie-talkies so they can keep in touch.”
“And you like this ranch life?” she asked.
He smiled. “Yes, the good outweighs the bad. Everything has ups and downs. There is something new every day and constant challenges.”
“And you like that?” she repeated, shaking her head. “Good thing you can keep calm. I’d hate to be headed out in the blizzard in the dark.” She wondered about his rugged life that was so different from everything she knew. She looked into the darkness and shivered, thankful to be in a warm car.
They passed a large hangar. Farther along, Savannah could see lights from houses set back long distances from both sides of the road. Next, outbuildings came into view and then two large barns and corrals. In seconds the road divided, the remaining truck turned and headed away from them.
“The guys are going home or to the bunkhouse. Some of them have houses and families here.”
She rode in silence as they passed more outbuildings and an eight-bay garage. Beyond it was a fence and a sprawling three-story ranch house. Mike punched buttons on his phone and lights came on in the house. The drive circled beneath a porte cochere.
“I guess I won’t have to sleep on the floor,” she said, startled by the size of his home and outbuildings. She turned to him. “All this from raising cows?”
“All this from having ancestors who were the first cattle barons who settled here. Each generation has built on that. We’ve been fortunate. We still raise cattle.”
With a hiss the rain changed to sleet and Mike’s smile vanished as he swore quietly. “This we don’t need, but I’m thankful it held off until now.”
She nodded and looked up. He gazed into her blue eyes and she gazed back. The low dash lights bathed her face in a pink glow, revealing rosy cheeks, big blue eyes and smooth skin. As he looked into her wide eyes, he became aware of her as a woman. A current sparked and he saw her eyelids flutter at the same time he felt electricity ignite between them. Startled, he stared at her while his surprise held him immobile. He hadn’t been aware of another woman since losing Elise to cancer almost two years ago, a year after Scotty’s birth. Shocked by his reaction, Mike forgot how he was staring at Savannah. He looked away, turning to gaze at the rain.
She glanced over her shoulder. “Lucky boy. He’s still asleep.”
“I’ll carry him in and come back to get your suitcases,” Mike said.
“Don’t worry about my things tonight. I’ll get the bag I need and the rest can wait until tomorrow. You take care of your son.”
“His nanny is away right now or she would come help. Her daughter has a new baby and Nell, Mrs. Lewis, has gone to help for a few weeks.”
“I’m in no rush,” Savannah said, slipping on a backpack and gathering her laptop, purse and a suitcase.
Mike unbuckled Scotty and picked him up, carrying his sleeping son in his arms.
“He’s a sound sleeper,” she whispered.
Mike smiled. “Thank heaven.” He opened the door and held it wide for her. She stepped inside and turned to hold the door out of his way while he carried Scotty inside and switched off an alarm.
“Scotty is growing up in a comfortable, beautiful home,” she said as they walked down a wide hall that held green plants, oil paintings of landscapes and Western scenes in ornate frames, Queen Anne chairs and tables along the walls. Doors opened onto rooms they passed, giving her a glimpse of a formal dining room with a massive table that had to seat twenty. She passed a library with ladders and an open beam ceiling.
“Mike, that’s an enormous library. Do you read constantly?”
He smiled and nodded. “It’s the family library. Many of the books are very old. Scotty has his own bookshelves in his room, so he doesn’t try to pull out valuable first editions from the family collection.”
“I don’t know how Scotty finds his way around this house.”
“This house seems large because it’s new to you. You’ll know your way around in no time.”
“Which means you think I’ll be snowed in for several days.”
“Don’t sound so glum. You didn’t mention having a deadline and we’ll find some way to pass the time.”
He smiled at her and she had to laugh. Was he flirting with her? She didn’t know him well enough to know. They branched off into the front hall with a sweeping staircase and she went upstairs beside Mike.
“This ranch is my whole life. My brothers have other interests, but my world is here. My sister is like me and has a ranch close by. I also have a house in Verity that I never use and a condo in Dallas that I’m rarely in. Do you live in town or in the country in Arkansas?”
“Definitely in town,” Savannah answered. “I don’t know anything about country living much less life on a Texas ranch.”
They walked down another wide hall. “My suite of rooms is at the end of this wing. Any of these bedrooms are empty along here. You might as well be closer so you don’t feel isolated. Scotty’s suite adjoins mine and his nanny has a suite adjoining his on the other side. Here’s where you can stay.” Mike entered a room and switched on a light. She looked at a sizable sitting room with a large-screen television, a wide glass desk, bookshelves along one wall, chairs and two sofas. The room had appealing turquoise-and-cream decor with a hardwood floor and thick area rugs. “There’s a bedroom beyond this room. If you need anything, just let me know. Make yourself comfortable. As soon as I get Scotty in bed I’ll come back and we can go have hot chocolate or a drink or whatever you would like.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
“See you in a few minutes,” he said.
She watched him walk out, his son in his arms. He looked like a typical cowboy, his black hat squarely on his head and his jeans hugging his long, slender legs. Boots gave an already tall man additional height. Once again she was thankful he had been at the station when she had turned in.
Glancing around the sitting room, she thought of the rooms they had passed. Mike was not an ordinary cowboy to afford a house such as this. She walked through the sitting room into a bedroom that was warm, pretty and welcoming with antique maple furniture, a four-poster bed, a rocking chair, another large television and a tall cheval glass. Savannah put her bags on her bed and sent a text, including a photo of her temporary room, to her mother to let her know where she was and why.
She freshened up, then changed into jeans, a blue sweater and her knee-high leather boots. Undoing her braid, she brushed her hair, which fell across her shoulders. She thought about the moment beneath the porte cochere before they stepped out of the truck when she had become aware of Mike as a desirable man. When she had looked into his dark eyes, she had been certain from his intense expression he had felt something. She shook her head. Attraction had no place in her life at this time and it had surprised her that she even had such a reaction for a brief moment, although Mike Calhoun was a good-looking man and his calm in the storm gave him added appeal.
No matter how attractive Mike was, after what she had just been through, she knew better than to go from one problem of the heart straight into another one.
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