Page 35 of The Cowboy's Unlikely Love

“If I wait much longer, the meat could spoil. I won’t have that.” His field-dressing knife set was in his backpack, as he’d planned to use it back at the barn if Taylor shot a deer. He pulled it out now and stuck the sheath in his back pocket. He also took out a coil of cotton rope, slipping it over his shoulder. With a grin, he called, “Wish me luck!”

The ground was already awash with water as he climbed down the ladder in the wildly gusting wind and rain. He half slid, half walked down the incline to the feed plot and jogged through the muddy water to the buck. It was a nice twelve-pointer, and Colt was glad that Taylor had had the opportunity to bring it down. It lay on its side with rivulets of muddy water running around it. He dragged it ten feet away, out of the water pool, to begin working on it.

Rain nearly blinded him as he knelt, holding the back leg out of the way with his knee, and started at the rectum, carefully slitting the belly open to above the rib cage. His knife razor-sharp, he began at the sternum and ripped the rib cage in two. Then came several swipes to release the diaphragm and a quick slash to cut the windpipe, and he could finally pull the whole gut package out the back. Even through the rain, the strong, sharp smell of warm intestines hit him. The whole process had taken less than five minutes.

Moments later, he had the carcass strung up in a nearby mesquite tree where it could hang as long as necessary.

Mud sucked at his boots as he jogged back toward the blind. Thunder crashed and lightning struck not far off in the distance. Thank God he’d made sure that all his blinds were grounded. He made it up the incline on all fours through the pounding rain and scraped off what mud he could from his boots on the bottom rung of the ladder before he climbed up.

Taylor opened the door, holding the knob with both hands against the wind. “Get in. I’ve got this.”

He crawled through the door, and she slammed it shut behind him, then began swiping at her clothes and the rain that had been flung in on her.

He took off his muddy boots and set them by the door. The temperature must have dropped another ten degrees, for he was shivering now. He quickly unbuttoned his shirt and dropped it next to his boots. When he turned, he saw that she’d been watching him, her eyes wide and full of an emotion he recognized. He shivered—and it had nothing to do with the temperature. She was interested. Maybe, finally, it was time.

He slipped on his jacket and thought of taking off his jeans, but that would probably embarrass her.

Then she surprised him and said, “Why don’t you take off your Wranglers? They’re sopping wet.” A pink flush rose slowly up her neck, but she held his gaze bravely.

He nodded. “Good idea. Thanks.” As he unbuckled his belt, he said, “You should probably do the same.” He stopped what he was doing and went over and picked up the blanket. “You can wrap up in this, okay?”

She nodded and took it from him, walking over to the other side of the blind. He turned his back and stepped out of his jeans, exposing his black boxers. Doing that didn’t embarrass him, but he worried that it would make her uncomfortable. He could still hear her rustling around, so he kept his back turned.

In a moment she said, “I’m decent now. You can turn around.”

He smiled and went over to sit against the wall again.

The blanket wrapped snugly around her waist, she joined him. The wind and rain continued to howl outside the blind, not showing the least inclination to slow down. “Damn!” He reached for his shirt, having realized that his phone had been in his pocket since they’d arrived.

Like his shirt, it was sopping wet—and dead. “Hell!”He took off the back of the phone and removed the battery, drying everything off with the corner of the blanket.

He grimaced. “I can’t get through to my dad. The only thing that can get us out of here tonight is the tractor.” Sunset was due around five-thirty, but it was already dark outside because of the heavy cloud cover and rain.

“I left my phone back at the house in my purse. I meant to bring it, but I guess I just forgot.” She smiled ruefully. “I was too excited about coming out here to hunt.”

“The phone can’t be all that wet. It’s not like it was dunked in water.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, it kind of is. Look at that rain out there.”

He sighed. “You’re right. Damn it, I thought this rain would let up. I thought we could get out. I haven’t seen it rain like this in I don’t know how long.”

She squeezed his hand. “You’ve done the best you can. Don’t blame yourself. And like you said, this storm came in a lot earlier than forecast.”

He leaned his head back against the wall, considering the implications of the phone situation. If he couldn’t call out, they would be there all night. His father had no idea which blind he’d taken Taylor to—and besides, his dad knew that Colt could handle whatever came up. He wouldn’t come looking for them until the rain let up in the morning.

“Taylor—”

“I know. We’re here for the duration.” She visibly shivered. “It’s going to be a chilly night.”

“You’re right. We’ll be spending the night here.” He squeezed her hand. “But we’re going to be just fine. We’ve got the blanket, and we can share body heat; that is, if you don’t mind.”

Her eyes widened, and she bit her lip. “It makes sense. I agree, we’ll be fine.”

“First things first. Let’s get something in our bellies.” He spread out his offerings on the floor. “Ladies first. Pick two. We’ll need the calories to stay warm.”

She took a granola bar and then opened the bag of trail mix.

He opened two bottles of water and tucked into a granola bar, later sharing the trail mix with her. By then it was pitch dark in the blind. He heard her move, and then the blanket settled over his legs.

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