Cowboy Who Came For Christmas. Lenora Worth
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Название: Cowboy Who Came For Christmas
Автор: Lenora Worth
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Короткие любовные романы
Серия: Mills & Boon Superromance
isbn: 9781474045544
isbn:
“I’ll keep watch between the two of you,” he said on a decisive note. And in the meantime, he’d try to decipher who was telling the truth and who wasn’t.
“You two gonna stand by that fire all night or are you gonna walk a feeble old woman home?”
“Coming,” Sophia called.
He watched as she wrapped her bright blue scarf around her neck and tucked it into her coat. “Oh, she also has a dog that usually tags along with her. She won’t let him out too long in this weather, so he didn’t come over here with her tonight.”
“He mighta bit you,” Bettye added. “Only he can’t see and he can’t really hear good. A lot like me, I reckon.”
“But he protects you,” Sophia said on an empathetic breath.
Bettye nodded. “Bandit’s his name. He can still bark warnings.”
“Good.” Adan took that comment as a personal warning to him. Or maybe to anyone in hiding around here.
He mulled it over and then put on his own coat and opened the door. The storm was full-blown now. Fat white flakes danced around under the porch light like bits of lost lace. The soft sound of snow hitting the woods didn’t bring him any peace. It was a bitter, unforgiving night.
And it didn’t help that a man who’d long ago given up on any decency might be somewhere out in those woods. If he was, he probably wouldn’t survive for long. And like a dangerous animal, he’d turn on anyone who encountered him or tried to stop him.
They all stood on the porch while Bettye got her bearings.
“I shoulda marked the way,” she said, squinting into the night, her flashlight beam hitting dark tree trunks and thick hedges. “I guess we’ll find our way if we hold on to each other. That’s what my Walter used to say to me. Too bad it didn’t work out for us.”
“We’ll make sure we get you home,” Sophia replied. She leaned close to Adan. “She says that no matter the weather.”
Adan took Bettye’s flashlight, pain throbbing in his temples. “Let me lead and y’all hold to each other and follow.” He waited for them to huddle behind and then turned to search them with the light. “Just shout the directions to me as we go.”
“What are you doing?” Sophia asked with a frown.
“Looking for frying pans and shotguns,” he replied.
Bettye let out a hoot of laughter. “It’s gonna be a good Christmas this year. I just know it.”
SOPHIA HUGGED BETTYE and petted her big hound dog. “Bandit, take good care of Bettye for me, okay?”
The chocolate-colored hunting dog whimpered a reply and then pushed his nose against Bettye’s worn overcoat.
Bettye nodded and kissed Sophia on the cheek. “You’ll be all right, sugar pie.” She sent Adan a stern glance. “I don’t know a thing about a criminal on the loose around here, Mr. Ranger-Man. But this girl means the world to me and she’s been a friend to me since she moved up here a few years ago. Be kind to her.”
“We’d better get back inside,” Sophia said before Adan could form a reply.
Bettye meant well, but she could take care of herself. This man showing up had confused and surprised Sophia even though she should have known someone would find her sooner or later.
“I’ll check on you in the morning,” she told Bettye.
The older woman stood silent and waved, a knowing smile beaming on her withered face. “I’ll be right here, honey.”
Adan said good-night to Bettye, then followed Sophia, his hand on her elbow making her too aware of the fact that he would be in her tiny cabin all night. And making her all too aware that his presence did make her feel safe in spite of her fears.
She didn’t need him or anyone else taking care of her, though. She’d been on her own for so long she wouldn’t know what being taken care of might mean...and she wasn’t even sure she deserved anyone’s attention or concern. She turned and hurried off the porch before Bettye could add any more information.
“Keep your porch light on,” Adan called to Bettye. “Just in case.”
Bettye chuckled and nodded. “I’ll do that, Mr. Ranger-Man.”
Then she shut the door and turned off the light.
As they shuffled through the ankle-deep snow, he turned to Sophia. “So who else lives on this mountain besides two stubborn women?”
Sophia didn’t want to trust this man, but even though he hadn’t charged in on a white horse, she could tell he was one of the good guys. She wished she could ask him who he was looking for, but if she showed too much interest he’d see the truth in her eyes. But she could be honest with him about Crescent Mountain.
“This spot was named by a trapper who traveled the summit of the hills and decided he’d walked in a curve that made him think of a crescent moon. That somehow stuck and so this curved hillside became Crescent Mountain.”
Adan had studied several maps of the area. “It circles west of the lower White River. I can see how it got that name.”
“Yes, and it also has a reputation for being a kind of retreat since it’s so near a big national forest. Few people know about our little community. We’re pretty self-sufficient. We take turns going down the mountain to town for supplies and groceries and if someone is in need, we either take care of them or get them help at the regional medical center about forty miles from here.”
Adan didn’t respond. Maybe he thought she was issuing him a warning. Good. He needed to back off and leave her alone. She’d only give him as much information as she thought he needed.
They followed the beam of his flashlight and stayed on the path, retracing their earlier footsteps. When they reached Sophia’s yard, he moved the light over the path and out into the nearby woods. The eerie yellow glow shined brightly against the stark ghostly white curling around the trees, making Sophia feel as if shrouded fingers were reaching for her.
Sophia shuddered, the cold wet wind piercing her skin. How could anyone survive out here tonight? The temperatures had dipped well below freezing.
“We don’t normally get snow this heavy,” she said, glad to have a warm place to stay. “A rare winter storm right here before Christmas.”
She was about to go inside when she thought she saw a moving shadow just past Adan’s beaming light. He must have seen it, too. He stopped, held up the light again. Then he walked toward the encroaching woods and held the light up and out.
Nothing but trees and snow. The blanketed woods held no sounds except that of the occasional dripping of snow off drooping branches.
Sophia didn’t want to think about who might be out in those dark woods. She’d escaped СКАЧАТЬ