Page 5 of In Bed with the Rancher

Gerald wrote that he would drop by and she sent her thanks. She regretted that Gerald had to go out in the storm, but felt better about taking in a stranger who said he didn’t remember anything about his identity and he didn’t have any ID. Judging from the knot on his head, she felt he was telling the truth, but she was glad Gerald would come meet him. She drove forward.

“So what did your neighbor have to say?” he asked her a few moments later.

“I told him about bringing you home with me and he wrote back that he’s coming by to meet you.”

She glanced at the stranger and he smiled—a smile that made her heart skip beats. Another unwanted reaction, now more than ever. She didn’t want to respond to any man right now, not when she was still getting over a broken heart, and definitely not one who had no memory of himself.

“It could make life easier temporarily if I take an assumed name just so you can get my attention or introduce me or whatever we have to do,” he said.

“Of course. You’re right. Pick a name you like.”

“Bill Smith is easy,” he said after a moment. “That sounds okay. It would be funny if it turned out to be my real name and that’s why it sounds okay,” he said and smiled again—another smile that made her heart skip a beat. She tried to ignore her reaction, but that wasn’t easy.

“Okay, Bill it is. That’s a good name,” she said. They started downhill and she kept her attention on the road. “There goes the last time I can hope to get a text through. I’ll always try if I need to send one, but from here on, I’m cut off from the world except for the people who live around me. Gerald and his family are close neighbors. The people who work for Gerald live on his property. Some of those people work for me, too.” Concern for keeping him awake took a back seat as they approached the creek she had to cross. As she drew close, she gasped and slowed to a crawl.

“That’s Blue Creek,” she said. “I’ve only seen it like this once before. It’s usually ankle-deep, but it’s a river now. The bridge is supposed to be well-built and the water isn’t totally over it yet,” she observed, watching waves splash against the bridge. “I’m going to try to cross it. Otherwise we’ll have to stay out here in my pickup all night. That’s not a good alternative.”

“If the bridge is as sturdy and well-built as you say, we should be able to cross without trouble.” He unfastened his seatbelt. “Unbuckle. You don’t want to be buckled in if the bridge collapses.”

She unbuckled her seatbelt and drove cautiously, praying the bridge would stand. Holding her breath, she started across.

“You’re doing fine,” he said. “Nothing is shaking and that’s a good sign. Not much farther,” he added as they inched across. “Doing good. Across!” he announced, turning to give her a high five as he flashed a big smile. “Good job.”

His irresistible smile sent a tingle to her toes while her heartbeat quickened. At the same time, every positive response she had to him stirred another instant negative response in a reminder that she should squelch any attraction she felt. She didn’t want to be tempted by a man who made her heart race by just a smile. Especially a man who couldn’t recall his own name.

The attraction felt more dangerous and a bigger threat to her well-being than the raging storm and rising water, which didn’t make sense to her, but was true just the same.

She drove a few feet away from the bridge and paused to buckle her seatbelt again while he fastened his. “We’re on this side now and there’s no going back. That bridge will be underwater in minutes,” she said. “Good news is we’re close to my cabin with no more creeks or rivers to cross. Bad news is, with no reception, if your family starts looking for you and puts your picture on television or social media, we’ll never know it until this storm is over and I can get to town or far enough back down the road.”

“We can’t do anything about that now.”

He was right. “In addition to the tornado threat, Gerald mentioned that the storm has intensified.”

As if to underscore her words about the storm, thunder boomed and a streak of lightning struck a tree, traveling down the trunk, splitting it in two and running a few feet along the ground as both parts of the tree crashed to earth. Knowing they needed to get to shelter, she continued driving.

They rode in silence until she turned on a paved drive. When she slowed in front of large black iron fencing, big gates swung open to let her enter. She glanced at him again. “You’re getting a black eye below that bump on your forehead. Actually, the bump has gone down.”

“That’s good.”

The gates closed behind her as she drove on. “Well, we made it to my place,” she said.

“Yes, we did. You might have saved my life today, you know,” he said in a solemn voice.

Startled, she glanced at him. “I think you would have survived if I hadn’t been driving past. You seem strong and healthy. You got up to the road without any difficulty.”

“I’m damn glad you came back to get me and I’m not out in this weather without a car or wallet or memory.” He dipped his head and looked out the window. “AC Ranch,” he said, reading.

“It’s not really a ranch any longer since I sold it. I kept the AC Ranch sign because Gerald didn’t care. He renamed his ranch Roan Ranch.”

Though the rain was still steady, the lightning and thunder had diminished. They followed the winding road that ran between mesquite, all leaning to the north because of the prevailing winds, and then a few stretches of open space.

After going around a curve, they topped a slight rise and she waved one hand. “You can’t see much for the rain, but there’s my cabin. If you can make it out, you can see there’s plenty of room for a guest.”

“What I can see is not exactly a little log cabin. How many bedrooms do you have?” he asked, sounding amused.

“Six bedrooms—three are suites—and seven bathrooms. I don’t have family now, but I do have friends and this is usually a relaxing getaway. There’s a gym, too. I’ll show you around.”

“You’re a long ways from a town. You take care of all this yourself?”

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