Hard Rain. B.J. Daniels

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      “He might have had to do something about it,” Charlie said, and looked down at the corpse. “While JD Hamilton’s presidential race is obviously history, Maggie turning up now seems like the worst possible time for his son, Senator Buckmaster Hamilton.”

      Frank nodded. “On top of that, I’m worried about what Flannigan McTavish will do when he finds out. There was no love lost between him and the Hamiltons even before the rumors started about Maggie and JD.”

      * * *

      “HARPER, YOU SHOULD go home,” Brody said, needing her to leave so he could get back to the ranch. It wouldn’t take long before everyone in the county had heard about the woman’s body being found. He needed to reach his family before that happened and yet he was hesitant to leave Harper.

      The two had led their horses back to the spot where he’d been mending the fence. Neither had said much on the walk.

      Brody felt sick to his stomach. Had he not known whose body it was the moment he saw it... He struggled now with the implications and what this was going to do to his own family.

      Harper pocketed her cell phone after making a call. Standing next to her horse, reins in hand, she still didn’t move.

      He could see how hard this had been on her and she didn’t have a clue how much worse it was going to get. He swore under his breath thinking of the kiss earlier, back when he thought the two of them had a chance.

      Harper’s wide blue eyes shimmered. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.” Her voice broke. This had been a shock for her. But it was going to be more of a shock when she found out who’s remains they’d found.

      “Did you reach your father?” he asked, wondering how the senator was going to take the news.

      “It went to voice mail. He’s really busy right now. He’s in DC so there isn’t anything he could do anyway.” Her eyes welled with tears. “My morning started off so good, and then you scared the life out of me jerking me off my horse like that, and then my horse ran away and then—”

      “You do realize that if I hadn’t mistakenly rescued you, you would have ridden right past me—until your horse caught a whiff of that back there and bucked you off onto your perfect little...backside. Now, please let’s just go home.”

      “I wasn’t blaming you.” He saw her swallow and fight tears as she swung up into her saddle. She looked so beautiful sitting up there, chin up, head thrown back so her mane of windblown blond hair tumbled down her slim back. The sun kissed her face, making him ache inside at the memory of his mouth on hers.

      As desperate as he was to get to the ranch, Brody couldn’t help but see the vulnerable young woman under the Hamilton girl facade. He thought it must be hell being one of the Hamilton Girls, as they were called. And now, with her father running for president, it had to be even worse. The pressure was really on the Hamilton sisters to be perfect.

      When he thought of the girl she’d been, it always made him smile. He’d fallen in love with that girl. He had surprised himself when he’d told the adult Harper Hamilton that he had been waiting for her to grow up. That was exactly what he’d been doing, he realized. It had always been Harper he’d wanted. And now this.

      “I called the ranch. There’s no one there,” she said, her voice breaking again. “The staff must be off or running errands.”

      He understood now her hesitation. She didn’t want to go home, because there was no one there for her. He felt a piece of his heart break. He’d always thought she had everything and right now she didn’t have the one thing she needed most. He had both his father and uncle. He’d known all his life he could depend on them when he needed them. Now they would need him.

      “There must be someone you can call. One of your sisters? Or your mother.” He hated that he couldn’t stay with her, but right now, he had to get to his father and uncle.

      Harper pulled out her phone again. Brody tried not to listen to the phone call to her mother as he gathered up his tools and loaded them into his saddlebags. He felt badly since her mother hadn’t been her first choice. But then, the woman was almost a stranger to Harper.

      As Harper finished her call and pocketed her phone again, he saw her expression. Like him, she was having second thoughts about her going to her mother. As much as he needed to get home... “Look, if you don’t want to—”

      “No, it’s fine. She’s staying at one of the houses on the ranch. I can go by horseback.”

      “You’re sure you don’t want to call one of your sisters?” he asked. “Not that I’m butting in or bossing you.”

      She smiled at that. “I think it just comes naturally to you. Just as it comes naturally to me to rebel when someone treats me like a child.”

      “We’ve both agreed you’re a grown woman,” he said. Their gazes met, the attraction flashing like ground lightning between them. “You should get to your mother’s, then.” His head and heart ached with even the thought of what this was going to do to his family. He couldn’t think about what it would do to Harper and her family. Not right now.

      As if she hadn’t heard him, she looked back at the hillside where they’d found the body. “I know it’s silly since I’ve lived on this ranch from the time I was born and I’ve never been afraid of anything, but I feel...”

      “Spooked,” he said, and nodded as he glanced back toward the hillside in the distance before turning to her. That was only one of the emotions ripping through him right now.

      “I’ve always thought I was pretty strong and could handle most anything.”

      “You are.” He’d never seen her this vulnerable. A part of him wanted to protect her, but there was no protecting her from this.

      “I’m sorry how this day turned out for you,” he added, remembering that she’d said the reason she was screaming was because she had been in such a great mood. It was that free spirit in her that he’d seen when she was a kid that had endeared her to him.

      Now he wanted to wrap her in his arms and tell her that everything was going to be all right. That he would help her get through this. But it would have been a lie. This was going to tear them apart before they even got the chance to be together.

      “If you want, I could ride—”

      “No,” she said with a shake of her head. “I’m fine. My mother’s isn’t far from here.” She started to rein her horse around to leave but stopped. “You know you did rescue me, Brody. Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here.”

      He said nothing around the lump in his throat as he tipped his hat and watched her ride west. Just let her go. But it was the last thing he wanted to do. Unfortunately, he had no choice now. He looked back at the pine-covered hillside where the authorities were now loading the remains, and quickly turned away.

      * * *

      “WHO WAS THAT you were with?” Sarah Johnson Hamilton asked her daughter as she glanced out the window. On the phone, Harper hadn’t told her mother about what had happened earlier. She’d just asked if Sarah was СКАЧАТЬ