Rachel's Rescuer

“You’ll have to,” he stated, pointing them toward the porch and silently damning his luck. The sky had darkened to near black, and fat snowflakes whirled in the wind with the dust. “In thirty minutes, nobody’ll be able to get to the county road.”

And he was stuck with a woman and a kid for God knew how long.

Rachel Harris didn’t know if her legs would carry her to the house. She could feel the man’s eyes on her, and she knew he didn’t trust her. She couldn’t blame him. In the same situation, she would react the same way. She had to be careful. Suspicious people asked questions. Questions she couldn’t answer. Not if she wanted to keep Cody safe.

Blinking at the lights shining brightly inside the house, she entered the kitchen.

“Coffee?” the cowboy asked and pulled out two chairs from a large table.

Uncertainty gnawed at her, but she nodded and took the seat he offered. Daring a glance at the scowling man who crossed the roomy kitchen with long, bold strides, Rachel’s breath caught. Outside, the light had grown too dim to notice much by the time she’d realized he was there, and she had been too scared after that to pay much attention. But now that she could see him, if only from the back, she wished she had jumped in the car and taken off, flat tire and all.

A good six feet plus tall, Lucas Callahan resembled the devil himself. Beneath his black hat, thick dark hair curled against a deeply tanned neck and touched the collar of his matching black shirt. From the back, he looked formidable. From the front, she guessed he’d be frightening. The expanse of his shoulders was broad enough to lean on and feel safe, but didn’t look in the least bit inviting. Narrow-hipped and long-legged, he reminded her of a piece of onyx. Hard. Cold.

“Thank you,” she whispered, when he set a cup of coffee before her. After breathing in the comforting aroma, she offered a grateful smile. She hadn’t had any coffee since yesterday morning, and she craved it. But she had less than forty dollars, and she hadn’t wanted to spend even a little on a selfish cup of coffee. She’d counted on Jenny being home. Disappointment brought the walls of desperation closing in on her. In her twenty-seven years, she had felt many things. This bordered on the worst.

Lucas set a glass of milk in front of Cody, then turned back to a row of cabinets and rummaged through them. With a soft grunt of what must have been satisfaction, he tossed a half-empty package of cookies onto the table.

“Better not eat all of them. They may have to last a few days.”

Cody looked at Rachel, who answered the question in his eyes with a smile. He took one cookie, eating it slowly and carefully, as if it were something strange and exotic.

Rachel watched him, her love for her son overcoming her fear. He’d been so good, never once complaining about being stuck in the car for days on end. They had even slept in it for the past two nights, so they wouldn’t risk running out of money. But instead of making it to her childhood friend’s the way she had planned, here she was, sitting in the comfy but unfamiliar kitchen of a strange man. After seeing the friendly familiarity between him and the sheriff, her instincts told her she and her son were probably safe. Hadn’t it been the sheriff who had suggested she stay? She wasn’t scared, but she was certainly aware of the man across the room. And she couldn’t explain it.

Wrapping her hands around the hot cup in front of her, she looked up. “Do you know when Jenny and Pete will be back?”

He didn’t look at her. “Last I heard, they might be gone for a month.”

“A month!” Her heart sank to her toes. That meant another two weeks. Her cash wouldn’t last more than a day or two at the most, and she couldn’t risk using her credit cards. They were too easy to trace when someone had the means to do it. And Steven’s parents did. Somehow, she would have to find a place to stay until Jenny returned. But when would she be able to leave?

She dared another look at Lucas Callahan. He wore his hat pulled so low over his face, she couldn’t be sure where his attention was focused, but the distinct burning in her cheeks narrowed her guess. He hadn’t moved since he’d tossed the package of cookies, except to lean back against the counter, plant one big, booted foot over the other, and cross his arms on his chest. The stance only made him look more unapproachable. So why did she feel drawn to him?

Rachel turned her focus back to her coffee and gathered her strength. “We can drive to Great Falls, as soon as the tire is repaired. How long do you think the storm will last? Is there a chance we can leave tonight?”

“Doubt it,” Lucas answered. “Depends on how much snow we get and how hard the wind blows. If it keeps up, it’ll be a few days before you can get out of here.”

Her heart sank deeper, and she couldn’t help but notice the howl of that wind beyond the quiet of the snug room. A shiver went through her, and she told herself it was caused by the eerie sound, not by the fact that she could feel a pair of eyes boring into her. She hadn’t seen those eyes in the light yet, but she felt certain they would be cold, like the owner. Why was he so unfriendly? So…hostile? Most people were wary of strangers, but didn’t he realize she hadn’t chosen to be stranded?

“Before it gets any worse, I’d better get your car moved so it doesn’t get buried. Anything you need from it?”

She thought of the four suitcases and the boxes in the trunk containing everything they hadn’t had to leave behind. If he saw those, he would know for sure this wasn’t a pleasure trip for a short visit to a friend. He might not press for answers, at least not right away, but he would soon. Luckily, she had kept one small bag handy.

“There’s a backpack behind the seat,” she answered. “And Cody’s coat. Some blankets, too. The keys are in the ignition.”

He nodded and shoved away from the counter, his long strides taking him quickly past her to the door. “You won’t need the blankets. There’s plenty of extra bedrooms here. I’ll get a room fixed up for the two of you.”

“Thank you.” She kept her gaze averted. Something about him, when he walked by her, had her nerve endings tingling.

“It may be a while. I’ve got stock to check.” He put on his hat and shrugged into a heavy coat. For a moment, he hesitated. “Would you mind stirring that pot on the stove?”

“Of course not.” She stood and, as he hurried out the door, she lifted the tight-fitting lid, letting the aroma of the contents into the room. Dipping a long wooden spoon into the kettle, she inhaled. The scent warmed her heart. “Mmmm. Chicken soup.”

“Mom?”

She finished stirring and replaced the lid. “What is it, Cody?”

“When are we going to get to Jenny’s?”

“In a few days.” Rachel moved to where he sat at the table, his empty glass sitting amid a small scattering of cookie crumbs. She smoothed his dark hair and rubbed her hand along his neck, hoping to soothe the worry in his eyes. She didn’t want Cody looking over his shoulder the way she’d been forced to for the past six months. If only she had called Jenny to warn her they were coming. But they’d had to leave so quickly this time.

“Are we going to stay here until then?” he asked, his hazel eyes too wise for a six-year-old.

“We’ll find someplace else as soon as it clears up.” Somehow. But if the cowboy’s prediction of the weather proved correct, she didn’t have a choice. She and Cody would have to stay.

Knowing worry wouldn’t gain her anything, she set herself in motion, searching the cabinets for bowls and something to go with the soup.

A short time later, the door behind her swung open, banging into the wall and bringing in both a gust of snow-laden wind and Lucas. She jumped at the sound, but forced her attention to the display of food in front of her, ignoring the rough whisper of denim and the clomp of boots on the tile floor. She had to be dead tired, she told herself, to be unable to keep her curiosity at bay. And that’s all it was. Simple curiosity. But even that frightened her. Still, it didn’t stop her from glancing over her shoulder for another peek.

Whipping off his hat, he stomped his feet to rid his boots of their covering of snow and slapped his hat on his leg. “Doesn’t look too good out there.”

She hurried to fix a plate of crackers she had found, while he hung his coat and hat on a peg behind the door. Without another word, he approached the table and set her red nylon backpack and Cody’s coat on an empty chair.

Shoving aside her disappointment of the forecast, she found three bowls, filled them, and placed everything on the table. “I don’t know what else you planned to have.”

“That’s about it. Hope it’ll be enough for you two.”

“It’s fine.” She added a smile and sat down. “It smells delicious.”

The only available chair was to her right, at the end of the table. It was only natural to look in that direction when he moved to it. But not so natural for her heart to stop for a brief moment when their gazes met. Without his hat, she was able to see him clearly for the first time. Dark, nearly black eyes gazed into hers, leaving her breathless.

After a moment that seemed like an eternity, she ducked her head, and then watched him crumble a huge handful of crackers into his bowl. Cody, she noticed, watched, too, and then did the same to his own soup. Her son needed a male figure in his life. It had been two years since Steven’s death, and Cody didn’t remember much about his dad. Since then, she had been too busy earning a living to give much thought to Cody’s other needs, beyond keeping a roof over his head and food in his stomach. She spent every minute she could with him, though, being both mother and father. She would never let anyone take him from her, no matter how far or how long she had to run.

“I didn’t catch your name.”

At the sound of his voice, a ball of lead formed in her stomach. She couldn’t give him her name, but she couldn’t ignore the request either. Not when he’d opened his home to her and Cody.

“It’s Rachel.”

“Rachel what?” he asked, pinning her with those dark eyes.

“Rachel…Stevens,” she replied, using her husband’s first name for a last. Scolding herself for not thinking ahead, she stood and moved away from the table, her hands shaking. She hated lying, especially in front of Cody. Later she would explain to him why she’d done it. And explain it in a way that wouldn’t frighten him. She needed to stay on her toes if she wanted to keep them both safe.

Trouble, he’d told Ben earlier. Lucas groaned at the innocence of the word. Trouble didn’t even begin to describe what he was in for.

He could still hear her voice, floating down from the spare room upstairs where they were settling in for the night. Her name kept echoing through his mind like a soft whisper. And his body still hummed. It had been a while—a long while—since he’d reacted so swiftly to any woman. In fact, it was a long stretch to remember any time he had even come close.

He had ignored the first warning at the corral when he’d looked down into the eyes of an angel, blue as the wide Montana sky on a summer afternoon. After that moment, he hadn’t noticed the chill of the evening or the cold of the approaching storm.

In the light of the kitchen, he’d gotten a good look and knew she didn’t have the soft, full curves of the women who had once attracted his attention. In spite of the floppy sweatshirt, he could see she wasn’t hiding anything remotely voluptuous. He’d always had a soft spot for well-endowed women. The woman now making herself comfortable in one of the spare rooms didn’t possess that particular asset.