Betting the Rainbow (Harmony) (3 page)

She was torn between screaming and cussing, neither of which she ever did, but at the moment both seemed appropriate. Her mother was top on the list of people she never wanted to see again, and Austin Hawk was climbing straight toward her. Picking between a crazy neighbor and an angry mother wouldn’t be easy.

Five minutes later the blurry image of her mother’s old car washed from the rain. Dallas Logan was sitting inside, the engine running as if she were simply stopped at a light and not stuck hip-deep in mud.

Austin Hawk drove around her, rocking Ronny so hard she bumped against his shoulder before she could get a firm grip. He didn’t seem to notice. For the second time they’d touched and it didn’t affect him at all.

Hawk jumped out, untied a rope hanging beside a first-aid kit in the back, and began locking it onto the car’s back bumper.

When he stood, mud covered his face, but green eyes stared straight at Ronny. “Can you drive to pull her out when I give the word?”

She forced herself to move without looking back at her mother. Crawling over to the driver’s seat, she fastened her seat belt. “What’s the word?” Ronny yelled back at the mud monster standing by her mother’s car.

“What the hell does it matter? How about ‘go’?”

“Stop yelling at me, Mr. Hawk.” Ronny couldn’t believe she was picking a fight with the only man who might help her. No one else was likely to come along in this rain, and if they couldn’t get the car out of the mud, she’d have to take her mother back to the cabin.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw the stranger open her mother’s car door. “If you’ll get out and walk,” he ordered, “we’ll try to get you back to the main road, lady.”

“I’m not getting out in the rain,” Dallas shouted. “I don’t weigh that much. Push and pull with me in the car.” She leaned her head out a few inches. “Is that my daughter in that funny little cart? Where’d she get something as dumb as that thing?”

“Nope,” Austin answered. “It’s not her. I heard your daughter is dead.” His hand closed around her upper arm. “Let me give you a hand, Mrs. Logan.”

“I’m not getting my hair—” She gave up talking as the rain hit her face.

Dallas squealed louder than any wild pig as Austin pulled her out and away from the car, but he never let go. Hawk obviously wasn’t a man who gave folks much time to think about his orders.

“Stand back out of the way or you’ll get covered in mud,” he said to the dripping, chubby woman. “Just walk behind us once we start moving, and we’ll be back to the road in no time. Stay in the car’s ruts and don’t wander off. If you get lost, I’ll never find you in this rain and I’ll be too tired to try.”

“Well, I never,” Dallas yelled back, but then she began to follow his directions.

Reaching into her car, he shifted to neutral and went to the front end, now planted bumper-deep in mud. “Go!” His shoulder shoved against the hood.

Ronny gunned the engine as the heavy tires chewed into the road. It was slow going, but with Austin’s pushing and her pulling they made it to the road. He had the rope off and the door open to Dallas’s car when she finally tromped up behind them.

“The rain’s getting worse; you might want to head for home.” Austin stood beside her car, blocking any view Dallas might want of Ronny.

For once Dallas didn’t argue. She climbed into the mud-covered seat and drove away.

Austin walked over to the driver’s side of the mule. He looked like a mud man from an old horror film.

“Do I look as bad as you?” Ronny asked as she moved over to the passenger side. “If I do, it’s no wonder my mother didn’t recognize me.”

He pulled a mud-covered willow branch from her hair. “You look just fine. Want to drive into town for dinner since we’re already on the main road?”

“Not on your life, but thanks for the offer. I wouldn’t feel right without my shoes.” She glanced down Rainbow Lane as the taillights of her mother’s car disappeared. A dread came over her. This wouldn’t be the last time Dallas stormed the walls she’d built.

Ronny looked back at her neighbor and fought down a laugh at just how ridiculous they both looked. If they walked into the diner downtown, old Cass probably wouldn’t even recognize her. “Thanks for helping me out, Mr. Hawk.”

“Just Hawk, or Austin.” His request sounded more like an order.

“All right. Thanks, Austin.” She smiled, wondering if she should consider his progress.

He headed back down toward the lake at a slower pace than the one he’d climbed with. “What choice did I have? If I hadn’t hiked through the trees to your place, I would have never gotten her back to the road and then she’d have had to stay with me.” He patted the little metal mule. “This thing came in handy. I plan on getting one the next time I’m in town.”

Ronny leaned back. “I just hope she doesn’t come back.”

He patted her knee, making her almost jump out of the seat. “Don’t worry. I predict a few trees falling right now up by the entrance to what once was your road. She couldn’t have made it down in that car anyway, but she might make it halfway before she figures that out. A couple of downed trees will make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Thanks.” She glanced over but still couldn’t see his face. He’d pushed the hood back, showing hair the same color as the mud, but he was far too dirty for her to see anything but his mouth and green eyes.

Ronny stared at his strong muddy jaw and watched his lips twitch slightly into a smile.
Kissable lips
, she thought. If she had to ID him in a lineup, she’d say simply that he had kissable lips.

Chapter 5

HAWK HOUSE

A
WET TWILIGHT MOVED ACROSS THE LAKE IN TIE-DYED SHADES
of orange and red as Austin drove Ronny home. He tried to think of something to say, wanting to talk to her but realizing he was too out of practice.

Finally, when they rounded his place and hit the uneven banks of the lake, he asked, “Want to go for a swim and wash some of this mud off?”

“I would, but it’s lightning. Isn’t there some kind of rule about never going swimming during a storm?”

She watched the trees, never looking directly at him, and he guessed she faced few people directly. She was probably one of those mousy people who thought if she didn’t look at anyone, then no one saw her.

“What if I said I know a place we’ll be safe even in a storm?” His leg and shoulder were hurting. He needed the water. “I’ll show you where it is, and then you can decide if you’re up for a swim.”

He drove around a bend where land jutted out, making a natural barrier between their two shorelines. Willows had grown huge in the sheltered spot, with ten-foot-long branches touching the water. “My grandfather used to claim this was the best fishing spot on the lake. Not that he’d know. I never remember eating fish while we visited the old guy.”

Cutting the engine, he stepped out into ankle-deep water. Without looking at her, he pulled the low branches apart like a curtain. The hundred-year-old trees had created a chamber completely hidden, with lake water for a floor and solid green for walls and roof. Lightning flashed and blinked in reflection like diamonds spotting across still water.

“Welcome to my secret swimming hole.”

Austin waded into the hidden spot, tossing his rain slicker and shirt toward the shore as he disappeared. The branches brushed back into place, offering one last glance of her still huddled in the ATV.

She’d come, or she’d drive the few hundred feet back to her cabin. Either way, he wouldn’t have long to wait.

Ronny’s laughter drifted through the branches separating them. “My mother would have a fit. Swimming with a stranger. She’d never live down the shame.”

He walked toward the center, relaxing back, letting the water wash over his shoulders. “I could go get her if you like. Or, if you’re brave enough, you could come in alone. I won’t tell her if you don’t.”

To his surprise, he saw the branches open and she waded in. Her raincoat had vanished and the thin white shirt hid little in the twilight glow. Her body was slender, but rounded out in the right places.

He had to remind himself to breathe. She seemed far more vision than real. When she was five feet away from him, she lowered into the water, disappearing for a moment. When she broke the surface, her short hair was slicked back and her face glowed moonlight white.

She was the first woman he’d seen, really seen, in years. Ronny Logan left him speechless. Beautiful, stoic, like a marble statue coming alive. The strange thing was, he had a feeling the lady had no idea just how breathtaking she was.

“The fish will nibble on me,” she whispered as she waved her hand across the top of the water as if playing a liquid piano.

“I don’t think they much care for humans.”

“Are you sure there are no snakes?”

“I’ve never seen any around here, but there are turtles. Whatever you do, don’t wiggle your toes.” Slowly he moved toward her, fearing with each step that she might vanish. “This is a magic place, Ronny. No one can see you here. No one can find you. You can let down your guard and relax.”

“What makes you think I need to relax?”

Austin didn’t answer. He didn’t know how he knew, he just knew. Fellow loners recognize each other. They spot members of their tribe in airports and the back of almost-empty bars. They take the last seat. The dark corner. The back row. Something about the way they turn away from people, even as they talk, always let him know he’d encountered another like himself. Something would flash in their glance that said they never looked too deep inside people.

She moved now in the water, her eyes closed, embracing the gentle current. He was almost close enough to touch her. The last of the day’s light had faded, and all he saw was her silhouette. She dipped her head again and shook her hair under the water. When she swung up, she arched her back and sent water and mud plopping all around her.

He did the same, scrubbing the last of the mud away.

When he came up, she was floating on the water, her creamy blouse and trousers drifting like a feather. He reached his hand out and gently cupped the back of her head. “Relax, Ronny, just relax. There is no past here or future to worry about. Just drift. I’ll keep your head above water.”

She spread her arms out and did as he’d suggested.

His free hand stretched wide along her back and moved her gently. Every afternoon since she’d arrived, he’d stood at the side of her porch and watched her sleep, wondering what had happened to this beautiful woman to make her need isolation as dearly as he did.

Cloud shadows crossed over them, painting the night into shades of black. He knew when she opened her eyes she would panic in the total darkness.

“It’s all right. I’m here. I know the way out.” He slid his hand along her arm and took her hand.

She relaxed beside him. “I know that the world is invisible now, but it’s strange, I feel like we are too. Like even if we walked through the willow branches, no one would see us.”

“Sometimes I wish that were true.” He pulled her closer in the water until their arms brushed.

“Me too,” she answered.

He slowly led her toward the branches, closing all the world out. “If you were invisible, Ronny, what would you do?”

“Live,” she answered. “All my life I’ve been afraid to do anything: dance, act silly, run wild. I’ve always been afraid someone would notice me if I did.” She breathed in a long breath. “If I were invisible, I’d live life on my own terms. I’d run like a wild mustang and dance until I dropped. I’d gulp life in hungry bites so I could remember each moment I’d been totally awake for all the days I still breathe.”

“Me too,” he answered, thinking he’d been following orders for as long as he could remember. He might not be able to say things like she did, but he understood.

She laughed and swung her arm along the water. She was nervous even now, but her guard was melting away. “What would you do if no one would see? No one would judge. No one would know.”

“I’d kiss you.” The words were out before he thought. He couldn’t take them back. He wasn’t that good of a liar.

She stood still and silent for so long, he thought he must have frightened her. He had that effect on most folks. He’d given up trying to be friendly. No wonder every woman his buddies tried to set him up with ran. If he’d just turn green, he’d be the Hulk’s twin brother.

“If you kissed me,” she whispered so low he barely heard her, “and no one saw, then we could pretend it never happened. Once we cross out of this place we could both remember it as a thought in time like a dream or a fantasy.”

He wanted to ask why a lady like her would let someone she didn’t know kiss her, even in the darkness. There was something so fragile about her. But he couldn’t ask. He didn’t know her well enough to pry.

He turned toward her, gently brushing her shoulder with his hand, knowing he could never kiss her as gently as she deserved to be kissed. He didn’t even know how.

Slowly he moved closer until his lips touched her forehead. “When we leave here, this kiss never happened. You don’t need to feel like you have to wave at me and you won’t be angry about the kiss. We won’t owe the other anything, not even an explanation or apology. Fair enough?”

“Fair enough.” He felt her words brush against his throat. “Only one promise first.”

“What?” He wanted to swear. If she asked for a soft virgin kiss, he wasn’t sure he could hold back that much.

“Make me feel alive,” she said as she turned her face up. “I’ve been dead a long time.”

His arms lowered to her waist and he pulled her slowly against him while the water swirled around them as if pushing them together. Lowering his mouth, he tasted the cold skin of her cheek as the warmth of her entire body pressed against him.

When he brushed her lips, her mouth was open slightly, giving him all the invitation he needed. His mind told him to go slow, be gentle, but he couldn’t. He kissed her completely, taking both their breaths away.

She swayed against him in the water as he held her so close he felt her heart pound against his own. The need for her rolled over all other thought. There was no before or after this time. There was only now, only her.

He dug his fingers into her wet hair and held her as if for this moment she was his. When she wrapped her arms around his neck, he knew there would be no battle between them, no games, no conquering or surrender.

There would also be no forgetting. Both would remember this instant of being totally alive for the rest of their lives. Even if they never spoke again, they’d shared this one perfect moment. The tie would bind them forever.

Slowly, the kiss turned tender as she moved her hand over his heart. He might be only a shadow, but she was silently telling him that she saw him, the real him, and all the toughness he’d spent years caking on like armor didn’t frighten her.

He lifted her up and carried her to where the leaves brushed against them. If he didn’t let her go now, he wasn’t sure he’d be strong enough to ever turn away from her.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she touched his throat with her lips, then stepped through the curtain.

As if she were no more than a branch brushing against him and then gone, she wasn’t there. When he felt the chill from the water rushing around him and her no longer near, he took a step, wanting to run and catch her.

They didn’t need a moment, a kiss. They needed a night together. A week. A month. A lifetime.

But when he stepped out of the shelter of the willows, she was gone.

Austin stood in the gentle rain trying to hear her movements in the darkness. He didn’t know if he’d kept his promise. He didn’t know if he’d made her feel alive.

But she’d done just that for him. She’d brought him back from feeling nothing for so long.

And now, with her gone, she’d also made him feel something new. Loneliness.