Page 4 of In Bed with the Rancher

“You can’t use it out here, anyway.” For a moment she was quiet. “I think it’s time we get introduced. I’m Ava Carter.”

“I’m glad to meet you, Ava Carter,” he said in a somber tone of voice.

They rode in silence and she wondered why he didn’t introduce himself. When she glanced at him, he had such a worried expression on his face, she put her foot on the brake and turned to him. “What’s wrong?”

“You don’t know me at all, yet you know something is wrong.”

She nodded. “You look concerned. Should I be worried about your identity?”

Shaking his head, he answered, “Well, yes and no, I don’t think so. But that’s just a feeling I have, because the problem is—” he hesitated only a moment as he stared at her “—I can’t tell you my name. I don’t know it. I can’t remember who I am or where I’m from.”

Two

She stared at him. “Maybe we should turn around and try to get to a hospital.”

She grabbed her phone. “I’ll try again to get through.” But after a moment she put it away. “I can’t get any reception. We’re out of range.” She debated what to do. He would get better professional care in a hospital, but she was certain the roads would already be closed. Sheets of rain still swept over them and wind shook her pickup. “I feel sure by now the roads to the nearest hospital are closed. Even if we could go back, Persimmon doesn’t have a hospital.”

“Does it have a doctor?”

“They have a vet and people go to him. But my close neighbor is a nurse. That sounds like the best we can do.”

“Sounds good to me. Let’s go to your cabin...unless you’re concerned about my identity. I don’t think I’m dangerous.”

She looked into his dark brown eyes and he gazed back at her. She couldn’t understand her reasoning, but she felt okay about him. She hoped her judgment was sound. But then again, she didn’t really have much choice. She wasn’t going to leave him out in this storm to survive on his own.

Her gaze drifted over him, noticing again his expensive watch. His boots were covered with mud, but she could see part of them, as well as his belt, which looked hand-tooled and expensive. All meaningless as far as judging his character, however.

She shook her head and smiled. “I don’t think so, either, although I trust you for reasons I don’t understand. It’s just that I feel a connection with you. Do you know what state you’re in?”

“Texas. I saw the tag on your pickup so we can’t make any judgments from that answer.”

“Maybe not, but you gave me an honest answer. Do you know where you live?”

He frowned briefly and then shook his head. “Nothing comes to me. I have glimmers of things, but I don’t know if they’re from real life, television or friends of mine. I’m at a loss. I don’t recall my parents, my friends, or where I live. Or what commitments I have.”

“We’ll assume you have some kind of family—parents, siblings.”

“I don’t have a wedding ring,” he said as he looked down at his left hand. Then he turned his gaze back to her, shaking his head. “If my phone and wallet with all my info were in my pickup and it went into that stream, there’s no telling if it’ll be found, or by whom. Or maybe they fell out of my pockets when I slid down that slope. In all that mud and the rain, they may never be found.”

He looked dazed and dejected, and thoroughly confused, and she felt the need to bolster him. “We’ll deal with that later. Right now, let’s talk.” When he looked at her quizzically, she added, “You’ve had a head injury so you need to stay awake, and one way for me to know you’re awake is for you to talk.”

“We can both talk,” he said. “Are you a rancher? Or in a rancher’s family?” he asked her.

“No to both. I’m an occupational therapist and I have my own home-care business in Dallas. I provide caregivers. It’s busy and sometimes I want to get away. I have someone who works for me who can take over when I come stay at my cabin. I did own a ranch that I inherited from my grandfather. I sold it to Gerald Roan, who lives on it. His wife, Molly, is the nurse I mentioned. I kept five acres—it’s where my cabin is. I have three horses and a few head of cattle that Gerald takes care of. I wanted a cabin away from Dallas where it’s quiet, in the great outdoors and there’s a horse I can ride and a place to ride it.”

She turned on the gravel road, slowing to a crawl. “Here’s our private road.” The road was rough and the rain was still a blinding downpour.

“This is a roundabout way to get home, but we only cross one creek and it has a strong bridge that hopefully will be above water. I’ve only seen it underwater once before, but this is a bad storm.”

While she concentrated on her driving, he was silent. Night was approaching and she wanted to get to her cabin and out of the downpour before dark. With the storm it would get dark earlier than usual. After a few minutes, she stopped to try her phone again.

“There’s a stretch here of fairly open country that’s the highest point in the area, where I can sometimes get service. I want to try again to contact Gerald. He’s got a four-story house on a hill, so that gives him a higher place to send and receive messages. At least his equipment works better than at my place, where I can’t get any reception at all in this kind of weather.”

She tried calling Gerald but got nowhere. Then she tried texting him. “Also, I’ll try to text the sheriff in Persimmon to let him know about you in case he gets a missing-person’s report.” In minutes she shook her head. “I can’t get through to the sheriff. I don’t know if it’s the distance or the direction or what. I did send a text to my neighbor and it went through, I think, but he hasn’t answered.” She was suddenly tense about going home with a stranger who didn’t know his own identity. Worse, if the bridge was underwater, they would be trapped outside for a night in the car. She didn’t want to think about that one at all.

In minutes, she got a text in return and Gerald offered to come stay if she was concerned and asked about the man’s identity.

She sent another brief text to Gerald that the stranger had received a blow to his head and he couldn’t remember his identity. Also, she relayed that his wallet and phone were missing.

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