Page 1 of The Texas Cowboy's Rescue

Chapter One

“Lordy, lordy, thatis onefinepilot... and I ain’t talking about his flying skills. If I ever need rescuing, please send him fast.” Britt Connors sank down in the chair in front of the computer screen. The nurses’ station on the third floor had a prime view of the elevators down the hallway. The papers in her hand forgotten, covert glances continued toward the tall figure in a red jumpsuit who stood waiting for an elevator to open.

“I think a lot of mouth-to-mouth might be needed for me.” Carrie, the nursing assistant, added her two cents into the conversation, glances moving in rotation between the notes in front of her to the male in red.

“When you two get finished crushing on that pilot, perhaps you could help the patient in 312 get out of bed and get ready for a trip down to X-ray, Nurse Connors? And Carrie, you have vitals to take before your shift ends.”

“Come on, Kenzie, spill it... you’ve worked with him in the tight confines in his helicopter. What’s he really like?” Britt spoke up, adding a wink to her question. She and Kenzie had known each other since grade school, so she could get away with speaking in such a familiar way to the charge nurse on certain occasions. “You’re the only female in this hospital... probably in the whole town... not having breathing problems when he comes on the floor. Eligible men are in short supply around here in case you haven’t noticed. And one that looks like him? He is one hot commodity.”

“Yes, I have worked with him. And it’s because I grew up and out of the stage of crushing on boys in my teens that I can behave like a responsible adult with work to do. I can tell you that he is a private person, and you won’t get much conversation from him. He takes care of his job.”

They shook their heads with reluctance. “He’s awfully quiet.”

“Believe me, he isn’t much for communicating with his fellow humans unless he must in the course of the job. His call name on the side of his chopper is appropriate... Lone Wolf. Therefore, I wouldn’t be wasting time on an arrogant flyboy type that is too important for mere mortals. End of that subject. Now let’s get moving so shift change can begin.”

Pulling away from the hospital parking lot an hour later, Kenzie left her window down and enjoyed the fresh air that was cooling from the heat of the day. She hoped it would air out the clutter in her brain left over from the conversation between her female staff concerning the pilot. She didn’t care for gossip and her staff knew that. There was a fine line she walked between being seen as a super-strict witch and still exhibiting that she was a human with emotions, just like all the others. And she had allowed her personal history to get the best of her for a moment with her last comments. Well, nothing she could do about it now.

But there was an extenuating circumstance when it came to the Lone Wolf. He reminded her far too much of someone else... the same aloof arrogance, appearing far above any other mortal. Almost to the point of condescension. He issued orders and others were to follow. And that all added up, along with his hot looks, to make him catnip to females. She had fallen once and that was more than enough. She knew her job and was good at it or she wouldn’t have been sought out for his team by the head of the trauma unit. She had agreed to try it on for three months. And the money was very good. It would certainly be worth ignoring the things about their pilot that irritated her. She was a single mom who intended that her daughter have every chance as she grew up.Suck it up.

The first step was deciding to leave the city and come back to Texas, back to the old ranch house where she and her sister had lived with their mother for most of their lives. A lot of elbow grease and a good part of her savings to that point had gotten it to a place that was home. That had been a good decision. And good decisions were all she was interested in making.

Five minutes later, Kenzie shifted gears from nurse to mom, and the hospital and a certain pilot were left behind. She pulled into her neighbor’s driveway and exited her car. On cue, Jackie came out onto the front porch of the house, a couple of glasses of iced tea in her hands. She handed one over to Kenzie at the top of the steps. Kenzie wasted no time in taking a long drink from it.

“This is why you are such an incredible neighbor and best friend. You know what I need after a long day like this one.”

“Iampretty perfect, aren’t I? Sit down and take a load off those loafers. You can spare a few moments to breathe.” She motioned Kenzie into the rocking chair across from the one she made herself comfortable in. Kenzie hesitated but a second and followed her hostess’s suggestion.

“Did I say the wordperfect? I don’t recall that,” Kenzie kidded back, taking another sip. She began to shed the day’s traumas and headaches. The peace and quiet of the country setting was a balm. A few moments later, her head cocked at a listening angle. “Is that quiet I still hear? That can’t bode well. Not with your two and my one in the vicinity. Or did you finally sell them to the circus?”

“Believe it or not, they are in the backyard, with a bowl of popcorn and juice bottles, and doing some finger painting... I believe the subject is our goldfish posing for them in their bowl in the center of the picnic table.” Then she stopped. Her head cocked into mom-listening mode.

“They have been quiet for almost fifteen minutes, though.” Automatically, both mom radars had kicked in and they stood in tandem, relaxation and teas forgotten. Around the side of the house they went, and they found the picnic table with Jackie’s two children seated, munching away and intent on their fish masterpieces.

“Where’s Brooke?” Jackie asked. That brought a small shrug from her daughter, Ashton. Thomas looked up at his mother, then his eyes gave a swift glance skyward and he, too, returned to his endeavor. Kenzie got the message loud and clear. Looking at one of the two tall trees in the shaded yard, she saw a pair of small white sneakers, with bright-pink and green laces, dangling from a branch, while the rest of the body was concealed by the shield of thick green leaves. Kenzie shook her head as she moved forward, the grass keeping her footsteps quiet. She came to a halt below the branch that had sprouted the feet, bare legs now in view. Then there was a telltale giggle from above.

“Brookelynn Calhoun, what did we discuss about a certain little girl climbing a tree with no adult present?”

The leaves began to shake and Kenzie was about to speak again with firmer instructions when the pair of legs was replaced by her daughter’s grinning face as she had switched, legs draped over the concealed branch, and her head a few inches from Kenzie’s startled gaze.

“What did I just say?”

“A certain little girl shouldn’t climb without a grown-up here, but I’m not a little girl, Mama. I’m a circus monkey, like in the cartoon we watched!” She followed that statement with a fit of giggles.

Kenzie kept a straight face as best she could. She should be used to her daughter’s antics, but there was always a surprise or two lurking around the corner. She lifted her arms. “Get down here right now. Come on.” More leaves shook and a few ended up falling on the pair of them as the child made a semi-graceful plummet toward the ground, broken by Kenzie’s arms.

She soon ended up with her feet planted firmly on the ground. A few more errant leaves had managed to adorn the jet-black hair braided into two long ropes, with purple ribbons at their ends. A pair of large violet eyes rimmed by naturally dark lashes gazed up in impish innocence. It was an elfin face, adorning a small body, but also lending disarming capabilities when she chose to unleash her powers of persuasion on some unsuspecting new acquaintance. Kenzie had been well aware of her daughter’s persuasive powers since the moment she arrived in the world, casting that violet gaze on hers and locking her tiny fingers around her pinkie.

The message had been clear from the start.Hold tight, Mama. It’s going to be a wild ride.And every day had been an adventure for the last six years, soon to be seven. Brookelynn Sarafina Calhoun was one of a kind. And Kenzie was blessed to have been chosen to be her mother... even if she would probably be totally gray by the time she hit thirty-five, thanks to her daughter’s penchant for antigravity-defying exploits.

“It’s time to get this monkey home and feed her. Thank Ms. Jackie for being ringmaster today for a circus of monkeys.”

“Thank you, Ms. Jackie. It was really fun and the cookies were super. You need to teach my mom how to make them.” This came as a muffled hug slid around the woman’s waist.

“Your mom is the one who gave me that recipe, young lady.”

Brooke motioned with her finger for the woman to bend closer as she whispered. “But Mom makes the edges funny and brown, and they crunch. I like the way yours are nice and smooth and gooey. She might need your help.”

“And on that note,” said Brooke’s mom, the person needing cookie help, “we need to head home.”

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