Page 39 of Texas-Sized Secrets

On the verge of bawling her eyes out, she pushed her hair out of her eyes and stared straight ahead, focusing on the single streetlight illuminating the sheriff’s office parking lot.Let me hold on until we get away from Parker Lee.

The wind blew against the side of the pickup in blustering gusts. Reed’s fingers turned white with the amount of strength he used to keep the vehicle on the road.

Half a mile out of town, Mona said, “Pull over.”

One look at her and Reed slowed to a halt on the wide shoulder.

Mona jumped down from the truck and bent double, emptying the meager contents of her stomach on the Texas prairie grass, pushed over by the wind.

A hand gathered her hair up behind her and out of the way. Another reached around her shoulders and held her until she was completely empty.

Lightning illuminated the sky, thunder booming with every strike. “We can’t stay out here for long,” Reed shouted over the roar of the wind. “This is tornado weather.”

When she could stand straight again, she looked up into Reed’s eyes, tears streaming from her own. “Thank you for coming.”

“I wouldn’t let you stay there.” He smiled, and dabbed at her eyes with a crisp white handkerchief. “Come on. Let’s get you out of this storm.”

She let him help her back into the truck, where she laid her head back against the seat and drifted in and out of sleep, the rocking motion of the truck being buffeted by the wind more comforting than frightening.

When they arrived in front of the house, Jesse ran out onto the porch, flinching when a flash of lightning lit the darkened sky. “The cattle are moving!”

All remnants of sleep vanished with a spurt of adrenaline and Mona dropped to the ground, running. She ducked into her bedroom and emerged minutes later wearing jeans and a soft blue, cotton shirt, tugging socks and boots onto her bare feet.

Reed was first to the computer. A blinking dot moved across the screen in a steady motion. With a few quick clicks, Reed brought up the next cow’s number and it too was moving in the same direction, northeast toward the Palo Duro Canyon and, from what he could tell, on the outside border of Rancho Linda. Rough country for a vehicle.

A brilliant flash lit the window, followed closely by an earsplitting bang, and the lights blinked and then extinguished inside the house. The computer screen faded to black in a few short seconds.

“Damn.” She fumbled inside a desk drawer for matches, lighting the scented candle on the shelf above the dark monitor. “How can we follow them without the computer?”

The soft candle glow encased Reed in warm light. “Jesse and I will ride out.”

“The terrain out there is too rough for trucks and we only have one four-wheeler. There’s a gravel road near the canyon, but to get to it would take an hour by road. It’ll only take thirty minutes by horseback,” Mona said. “Let’s go.”

With one step to the side, Reed blocked her exit. “You’re not going anywhere. You’ve already been through enough.”

Mona bristled. “I’m the boss, in case you haven’t heard.”

Reed glanced over his shoulder at Jesse, hovering in the doorway. “Saddle up our horses and grab a rifle.”

Once Jesse left the house, Reed reached out, gripped Mona’s arms and shook her gently. “Be reasonable.”

“I have to go, Reed. That’s my livelihood out there. They’re threatening my property. I’m being as reasonable as I possibly can.”

“And you’d risk your baby?”

For a moment Mona couldn’t say anything, she’d never considered losing the child. She’d had the crazy notion she could ride, fence and ranch up to the day she delivered. An image of her at nine months along trying to climb onto a horse found its way into her mind and the ridiculousness made her mouth quirk. But the thought of someone making off with her herd made her hackles rise. “Okay, I’ll take it easy, but I’m going. I’ll even let you carry the gun. I haven’t had much luck with the law and guns lately.”

“I’d rather you stayed here.”

She wiggled, trying to get free. “You’re just like the rest of the men who want to run my life for me.”

He refused to let her go, increasing the pressure on her arms until her chest bumped up against his. “No. I think you—of all the women and men I’ve ever known—you can handle ranching better than any of them.”

“You’re just saying that to get me to stay.” She squirmed, the movement only aggravating her awareness of him standing so close their thighs touched. Her body was on fire, not with anger but desire. And that scared her more than a pit full of diamondback rattlesnakes.

“No, I’m not just saying that to get you to stay, but if it helps, good. You have to start thinking about yourself and your baby.” He wrapped her in his arms.

Mona told herself she couldn’t breathe because of how tightly he held her, but the truth was, her breathing was short and shallow because of her reaction to his body against hers. He made her body burn. “Why do you care?”

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