Midnight Thunder

As if he understood that the matter was settled, Ringo curled up on the seat and closed his eyes.

That kind of trust was rare in this world. Cade hadn’t experienced it often. He could count on one hand the people who trusted him like that—Herb, Rosie, Damon, Finn, Douglas. Not Lexi.

If Ringo was offering him that level of trust, he’d be a fool not to take it and be grateful. He’d also be very careful not to betray it. He knew what abandonment felt like, and he wouldn’t wish that on any creature.

Lexi might think he’d abandoned her, but he’d been very careful not to make promises he couldn’t keep. That’s what he told himself whenever guilty memories of her anger and her tears plagued him. She’d had expectations he couldn’t meet. According to Lexi, some things were just understood. Not in his world. He was a guy who spelled everything out, and he’d never, ever said he’d marry her.

The Bar Z was only a forty-five-minute drive from the Circle T. About halfway there, Cade’s cell phone rang. He pulled it off its holder on the dash, expecting a call from his buddy or maybe from Douglas.

Instead he stared in disbelief at the name on the screen. Lexi Simmons. Damned spooky, as if she’d tuned in to his thoughts and picked up the phone.

But he didn’t believe in mental telepathy, and he knew she wouldn’t call because she’d magically tapped into his brain waves. He had a bad feeling that he wouldn’t like what he was about to hear. Heart racing, he answered while looking for a place to pull over.

“Cade?” She sounded the same, and her musical voice hurt his heart in ways it hadn’t hurt in years. “Can you talk?”

“In a minute.” He sounded out of breath and hated that. But he was having trouble breathing. Lexi. Dear God. “I’m driving and hauling a horse behind me. Let me get off the road.”

“Okay. I’ll wait.”

He set the phone back in its holder and eased to the shoulder so he wouldn’t jostle Hematite. Then he grabbed the phone again. “I’m here. What’s up?”

“It’s Rosie. She... Herb took her to Sheridan Memorial.”

He felt dizzy. “Why? What happened?”

“We won’t know until they do some tests, so we shouldn’t jump to conclusions, but—”

“Damn it, Lexi! What’s wrong with her?”

“She might... She might have had a heart attack.”

“No. Oh, no.” Panic gripped him. “She can’t. She’s too young. She can’t have a heart attack. She—”

“Maybe it’s not that. But Herb’s scared. He asked me to come and take care of things here.”

“Did he ask you to call me?”

“No. I’m doing that on my own. I thought you should know.”

“Damn right I should know! I’m a little north of Colorado Springs right now. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

“Can you do that? Where were you going before I called?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m changing my plans.”

“But you’re hauling a horse.”

“And the ranch has a barn.”

“True.” She hesitated. “So you’re alone?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

He couldn’t help smiling. He knew that tone. She hadn’t liked his answer. “I have a cat.”

“Oh!”

“Yeah, he came along for the ride. Are there any barn cats at the ranch?”

“Not right now.”

“Dogs?”

“No, no dogs, either.”

“That’s just as well, then. Did you call Damon and Finn?”

“I don’t have their numbers.”

So she only had his. She’d kept it in her phone for five years. He shouldn’t read too much into that, but he already was. “I’ll call them. And if you hear anything more about Mom, call me. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Good. That’s good.” She hung up.

He wondered how she’d meant that and if she’d be glad to see him. The thought of seeing her made him nervous, but now that he had no choice in the matter, he discovered that he wanted to. His mental picture was five years old, so she’d probably look different.

Her hazel eyes would be the same, but guaranteed her hair would have changed. Women tended to do that, and she’d complained about her natural color. He liked the warm brown, but she might have dyed it or cut it.

When he’d talked to his foster mother on Christmas Eve, she’d said Lexi had broken up with her latest boyfriend. And now Rosie was in the hospital. How could he be thinking of Lexi and their screwed-up relationship when the mother of his heart was lying in a hospital bed?

First he called his buddy at the Bar Z to say he wouldn’t be arriving, after all. Then he used the conference-call function on his phone to contact Damon and Finn. He didn’t want to waste time repeating the news.

Eventually he got them both on the line. “Listen, I don’t have time to talk, but Lexi called from the ranch and Mom’s in the hospital with a possible heart attack. I’m driving up there now. I want both of you to get there as soon as you can arrange it.”

“Absolutely,” Damon said. “I’ll text you once I have a plane ticket.”

“Me, too.” Finn sounded scared. “Is she gonna be okay?”

“Yes.” Cade’s jaw firmed. “She has to be.”

2 (#ulink_e555d4aa-c815-534a-9990-712d5aa87205)

LEXI DISCONNECTED THE PHONE, put on her denim jacket and walked straight out to the barn to prepare a stall for Cade’s horse. Forking straw onto the floor and hay into the feed trough was the kind of physical labor she needed. Even so, she couldn’t seem to stop shaking.

He’d sounded the same...but different. Older and maybe a little tired. She wondered where he’d been going with that horse at ten o’clock at night. And his cat.

Everything about the situation suggested that he’d been on the move, leaving one place to start afresh. Whatever his plans had been, he’d changed them immediately when he’d heard about Rosie, and that was gratifying. And endearing.