Betting the Rainbow (Harmony) (7 page)

“I wasn’t running from you before.” He had lowered his voice too. “I was running from me. But that never works.”

Ronny lifted her hand to cup his unshaven face. She knew him so well, this man she didn’t know at all. She understood him. Somehow, as different as they were, they’d walked the same path.

His gaze bore into her. “I didn’t want anything to happen to you, Ronny. It may not sound like it, but I like having you here.”

She was so close she could feel his words on her cold, damp face.

“Do me a favor, Ronny.” His request sounded more like an order. “Don’t go out in that damn blue boat when a storm’s coming in.”

“All right, but you have to promise to stop yelling at me.”

“I’ll try”—the hint of a smile lifted his lips—“but I was born yelling and never bothered to stop. In my line of work it was a necessary skill.”

He took a step toward her. “And before you go on about it, I’m glad you didn’t drown in the lake. I don’t think I would have been happy about that.”

“Are you ever happy, Austin?” She somehow doubted it.

“Stop asking questions.”

An order again
, she thought, but he was now so near she had other things on her mind besides asking questions.

She wasn’t sure which one of them closed the distance between them, but in a heartbeat she was being crushed against the hard, wet wall of his chest.

For a moment he just held her as if needing to know she was solid. Real. Alive. Then his mouth lowered to hers.

His kiss was wild, nothing like the long slow one they’d shared in the water. She was lost to all else. A tidal wave of feelings surrounded her. There was no time to think, only to react. She tugged his raincoat open, wanting to feel the warmth of this cold man against her heart.

He dug his hands into her hair and kissed her as if it were the last kiss he was allowed for this lifetime.

She melted into him, loving that someone, if only for a moment, might need her so dearly. Maybe it was the storm, or the night, but she didn’t want to let go.

Without breaking the kiss, he lifted her up and moved inside, bumping the lantern she still carried hard against the side of the cabin door as he stepped out of the rain and into the shadows of her place.

When he set her feet down she backed away, afraid more of the way she felt than of him. Her cabin seemed so much smaller with him standing in the middle of it.

“I’ll get you a towel,” she whispered, already running into the bathroom.

When she returned, he’d tugged off his raincoat and soaked shirt. Both seemed to have lost the power of speech. What they’d shared seemed foreign to each. No words would explain it away.

He nodded his thanks as he took the towel.

She hung up his shirt and coat. He lit a fire in the old fireplace tucked in the corner of the room that served as living room, study, and kitchen. The furnishings were old overstuffed leather pieces that appeared almost boulderlike in the shadows.

When he stood, she watched the firelight dance across the scars on his shoulders and arms. The muscles beneath looked powerful, but the skin was twisted and discolored in spots. Burns, she thought, deep burns.

“Do the scars bother you?” His voice seemed as rough as the damaged skin. “I’ve had them long enough now that I don’t notice them.”

“No,” she lied. It bothered her greatly that he must have been through a great deal of pain, but she knew by his tone that he didn’t want to talk about it. He was a man foreign to comfort or pity, and he allowed none now.

“I’ll leave as soon as the rain lets up a little. When I saw you were all right, I decided to wait out the downpour on your porch. I wasn’t expecting you to come out and find me.”

She wasn’t sure whether his words left her disappointed or relieved. Maybe both. “Want some coffee?”

He wrapped the towel around his neck, absently covering most of the scars. “It’s bound to be better than the coffee I made this morning.”

“I hope so,” she said, then smiled as if she’d let the words slip. “I’ve heard tell of cowhands who made their coffee with an old sock, but I’d never tasted it before.”

Her teasing broke the tension and they both relaxed a little.

He looked around her cabin, claiming he’d never been in the place, while she made them coffee. “Kieran and I probably would have explored in here when we were kids, but the locks were too strong to pick.”

When she set the tray down by the fire, a real coffee cake that she’d made from a boxed mix rested beside two matching mugs. He folded the throw she’d wrapped in back on the couch and offered her it as a seat, then sat beside her on the floor.

He sipped the hot coffee and ate half the loaf before he spoke. “If the rain keeps up, any chance you got something for supper? I don’t remember eating today.”

“Sure, soup, sandwiches, cookies, fruit salad. I could warm up a pasta casserole or a potpie if you like. I’m well stocked thanks to a friend in town.”

He took another piece of cake. “That sounds great.”

“Which one?”

“All the above. I’ve been living on power bars for a week. Last time I was at Buffalo’s Bar for a meal, I ate three baskets of wings while listening to the music. Would have ordered another, but folks were starting to stare at me as if waiting for me to explode.”

Ronny studied him, trying to figure out if he was kidding or not. It was hard to tell.

She remembered the Biggs boys back a year ago when she cooked for them. If it didn’t crawl off the table fast, they ate it. “I’ll warm it all up.”

“I’ll help,” he offered, sounding more like he thought it was something he was supposed to say than that he was willing to actually be helpful.

She nodded, unable to lie and tell him to stay where he was. With Austin, ten feet away seemed far too close.

As she’d expected, in the small kitchen area he was mostly in the way, bumping into her every time he turned around, but she told herself she didn’t mind. It was nice to have company for a change. The first few brushes surprised her, but she soon grew used to his nearness, as he did hers.

At least when he was around, she could feel like she was alive, and that seemed a step up from how she’d felt all day.

They cooked and ate in comfortable conversation. Nothing personal. The weather. The rain. The lake. The weather. At one point she wondered if either of them was really listening to the other. But they had to continue or the silence would be too great between them.

He even pulled his shirt on as they sat down at the table, claiming it was dry enough to wear. They both knew it wasn’t.

Slowly, like muscles unknotting in warm water, they began to relax and really talk to each other. To her surprise, they had the world in common. He’d been most of the places she’d traveled. He explained that most of the time, when he got leave, he traveled instead of coming home. Only she had the feeling he’d seen the bars and military posts and she’d seen the museums and cathedrals.

When he helped her with the dishes, she felt comfortable enough to say, “We probably need to talk about that kiss earlier.”

“What about it?” His words seemed suddenly guarded.

She turned away from him. “It was nice, real nice, but I don’t think it should happen again. You see, I’m not ready. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t grab me again, or hold me like you did, or kiss me like that. If we’re to be friends, I’ll have to draw a few lines. I’m not the kind of woman who’s usually kissed like that.”

“What was wrong? The grabbing, the holding, or the kissing?” He looked like he was having trouble defining words. He was an organized man who couldn’t seem to make the feelings he had for her fit into his life.

“I’m not sure.” Maybe she shouldn’t have brought it up. The kiss was just something that happened. They’d reacted to the moment. The storm, or the fear that she’d drown, or the need to be alive. But she wasn’t going to mention any of that or he might give her another multiple-choice question.

“Maybe we should do it again so you could make up your mind.”

“Probably not a good idea.” An accidental kiss and a planned one would be two different things, yet she couldn’t bring herself to say no.

He moved behind her and placed his hands lightly on her shoulders. “Whatever you want, Ronny. If friendship’s what you want, then that’s what we’ll have. I’m not much good at it. Only have one friend, and that’s Kieran. We talk every six months or so whether we need to or not.” He bumped his chin against her hair. “If being friends is the only offer on the table, I’ll try my best.”

She smiled, relieved that they’d dropped the whole kissing talk.

As he turned her to face him, he asked, “Only I need to know what it is you’re not ready for. You seem a woman fully grown and able to know her own mind.”

He leaned closer.

Curiosity kept her from stepping away. They’d talked about no grabbing, or holding, or kissing, so she had no idea what he planned.

She felt his breath first, warm against her throat.

“Ronny,” he whispered as she closed her eyes, breathing in the fresh smell of him. Rain. The fireplace. Him. “What do you want, Ronny? What do you really want?”

His mouth slid along her throat to her ear. “You’re a liar, pretty lady, if you say we shouldn’t be this close. You are a woman who should be kissed like I kissed you. Just like that or harder, and more often.”

Before she answered, he brushed her mouth lightly with his and whispered again, “You, Ronny, should always be kissed with a passion that takes your breath away and almost knocks us both down. You may not be sure what you want, but you are hungry to find out. How about we explore just what it is you want?”

His words against her slightly bruised lips almost buckled her knees.

She opened her mouth to protest and his kiss captured her. Without another word he took control, kissing her like no one had ever kissed her before. With a fire that warmed her to her toes. With passion sweeping over them both. With a hunger that surprised her. His words might have been playful, but there was no playing in the depth of need he showed.

She felt light-headed and her insides ached with a need she couldn’t explain. She wasn’t sure she even liked this moody man with his angry outbursts and his broken life. Only this wasn’t about like, or love. What he offered her was about need.

And need was all she felt firing off in her veins like dynamite. When her body shook with the force of the blast, he pulled her closer as if he felt it also and the only way either would survive would be if they stayed together, close together.

When he finally broke the kiss she realized he wasn’t holding her. His arms were at his sides and her fingers had knotted into his shirt. She’d been the one holding tightly to him. He hadn’t stolen a kiss, she’d demanded it.

For a few breaths they stood so near, their bodies melted into each other. The world around them seemed to settle back into place.

He kissed her nose. “We’ll have this discussion again anytime you like.” He pried her fingers off his shirt. “It’s been really nice talking to you, but I have to go.” His laughter was deep and loving as he teased. “It’s stopped raining and the game warden will be waiting for me.”

While she stood by the fire trying to piece together what had happened, Austin put on his raincoat and opened the door. “Thanks for supper.” He hesitated, his back to her. “I’m real glad you didn’t drown.”

Then he was gone, vanishing into the blackness outside her little cabin.

She walked to the door and looked for him, wondering how he could be so calm after what had just happened between them. When his gaze had met hers after his last kiss, she knew the truth. He wasn’t calm. He was fighting to keep it together the same as she was.

She didn’t know when, but he’d come for her, and when he did she wouldn’t turn away.

After closing the door, she walked into her bedroom and collapsed on the bed without bothering to take off her clothes.

Only one fact made any sense.

She wanted him. All the reasons for why she shouldn’t or couldn’t didn’t matter. Ronny Logan, who’d been afraid to ever want anything in her whole life, wanted her crazy neighbor.

What was totally embarrassing was that he knew it.

Chapter 12

TRUMAN FARM

R
EAGAN ROSE AT DAWN.
B
Y THE TIME SHE MADE IT DOWNSTAIRS
, the coffee was ready. She poured a mug and walked across to what she still called “the barn” even though it was far more. Her business, Truman Orchard, shipped apples to a dozen states and jellies to forty independent grocers.

Walking past machinery and loading docks, she flipped on lights as she stepped into her office.

She’d been back for four days and hadn’t stopped working. On a farm there was always something to do to make it better, but there was nothing she could do about Noah. He’d have to find his way back. Until then, she’d work and wait.

At this rate she’d keel over from exhaustion before she turned twenty-four.

As they had every day since she’d been home from Las Vegas, the memories flooded back as she worked alone on the books.

The night Noah had looked in her direction and not seen her waiting at the gate had almost broken her heart. She’d stayed the entire rodeo, fighting down tears, but he’d never walked past the gate again.

The overly made-up blonde, Candy Lee, had invited Reagan to join her and her Johnny for a drink. He hadn’t won his event, but he’d made a good ride, so Johnny seemed in good spirits.

Candy Lee said she felt like slow dancing and suggested the Lucky Sevens bar downtown. Johnny went along with the idea. In fact, if Candy Lee unbuttoned one more button, he’d probably go along with robbing the first bank they passed.

Reagan remembered that she’d ridden in the front of the cab and talked to the driver while the couple got friendly in the backseat. When they reached the lights of the Strip, Reagan paid the cabdriver and helped pull the couple apart.

The bar proved to be round two for them, plus liquor. They didn’t bother to talk to her, their mouths were too busy. But Reagan was glad to have someone to be with, even if they were pretty much ignoring her. She watched every tall man who came through the door, looking for Noah.

By midnight, Johnny was drunk and Candy Lee giggled even when he burped. Reagan said good-bye, lifted her backpack over one shoulder, and walked down to the Golden Nugget. She figured she looked more like a runaway than a businesswoman. Not even the panhandlers asked her for money.

One good thing about Las Vegas, it never closed. She played penny slots for a while, then ate breakfast and watched the people. After living in a town where she knew almost everyone, it seemed strange to watch hundreds of people go by and not see a face she knew.

About four the crowd changed. Gone were the sightseers and the partiers. In the hours before dawn, all that were left were the hard-core gamblers, the druggies and drunks, and the hookers. Reagan felt like she’d flipped the brightly colored beast over and was looking at the scarred, dirty underbelly. If a gambler or drunk wasn’t depressed yet, he would be by this time of morning.

At five, she strapped her backpack back on again and caught a cab to the airport. She decided she’d rather wait outside the airport than see anymore. By dawn, she was heading home.

She slept until Dallas, then got a large coffee to wait out the two hours for a flight to Amarillo. The romantic weekend had been a total bust. She’d seen Noah, but he hadn’t seen her. She’d thought they’d laugh and make love, then order pizza delivered to the hotel and talk until dawn. He’d ask about everyone back home and she’d want to know the details of every rodeo. But that didn’t happen.

She’d called every hotel he’d ever mentioned staying at and a few he hadn’t mentioned.

No Noah.

He’d told her once that he always stayed in good hotels where desk clerks didn’t give out room numbers because he liked using his own name.

She’d tried everything to get into the contestants’ parking, but short of breaking in at gunpoint, she saw no way. He hadn’t been at the bar where Candy Lee thought he would be, so wherever Noah went after the rodeo, he was probably sleeping late and not even aware she’d searched for him.

The only good thing she knew for a fact was that he hadn’t been hurt. He’d had the best time on his ride, pushing him up in the rankings. She only wished she’d been there to celebrate with him. He hadn’t even looked at the crowd when he’d walked out after his ride. His head had been down as if he’d lost, and half the crowd wasn’t on their feet cheering. The wide grin and one hand reaching for the heavens were gone; Noah seemed to be only doing a job.

Reagan closed her eyes and smiled, remembering how they used to celebrate with a warm root beer and a bag of Oreos. He’d be talking and driving through the night toward home and she’d have her feet on the dashboard tapping with the song on the radio. Once they’d stopped for a malt and almost gotten in a fight with the locals. Big Biggs was just a thug then and joined their side of the fight just for the hell of it.

As she waited in the crowded DFW airport, Reagan forced herself to stay awake. If she fell asleep at the gate, no one would wake her up until closing time, and she’d miss her flight.

Checking her phone, she found two missed calls since she’d turned it off at six. She didn’t recognize the number, but since she’d agreed to host the poker game for charity, people were always calling.

Another reason she’d wanted to get away from home for a few days. Hosting a game was turning into a part-time job.

Reagan called the number and someone who sounded more asleep than awake growled a hello.

“This is Reagan Truman. You call—”

“Just a minute. I’ll get him.” The voice still didn’t sound friendly.

A moment later Noah’s voice came through loud and clear. “Rea. Is this you? I’m sorry I’m calling so early but I wanted you to know I won last night.”

She almost yelled that she knew. “That’s great.”

“Yeah, I lost my phone again so I borrowed a friend’s who crashed here last night. This win could mean big money, Rea.”

“Where are you, Noah?”

“I’m at the Hampton in Vegas, as always. It’s quieter than any of the hotels with casinos.” He lowered his voice. “You don’t sound so good, Rea. Did I wake you? Are you sick or something?”

“No.” She managed to keep from saying that she knew he was lying. “I just didn’t get much sleep last night.” She’d called the Hampton twice last night and asked to be put through to Noah McAllen’s room. She’d gotten the same answer both times. No one under that name was staying with them.

“Not me.” He laughed. “I must be getting old or something. I was in bed by midnight. A horse danced on my hat last night, so I thought I’d go shopping this morning. Wish you were here.”

“Me too.” She couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her face.

“You sure you’re all right, Rea?”

“Just missing you,” she whispered.

“Me too,” he said. “I love you, you know that, don’t you?”

“I know.”

“While I’m out shopping, I’ll buy a phone and text you my new number.”

“All right.”

“I have to go. I promise I’ll be home soon as I can. One of these days I’ll climb off this merry-go-round and hang around long enough for you to get sick of me.”

“Someday,” she whispered.

She hung up without remembering if either of them said the final good-bye.

Reagan wasn’t sure how long she stared at the phone. Finally the last call for her flight shook her enough to make her jump. She tossed her coffee and ran to board. All she wanted to do was go home.

When she slid into her seat next to the window, she pulled her jacket over her and closed her eyes, wanting to dream about the days when she and Noah were best friends. When he’d teased her and made her laugh and never lied to her.

When she believed that he really loved her.

An hour later when the plane landed, Big Biggs was there waiting for her. He picked her up in his strong arms and gave her the hug she needed. In truth, she barely remembered calling him just before she’d silenced her phone. He was her one friend who never asked questions before standing on her side of any fight.

Reagan tried to smile, but he saw right through her pretend bravery. “What did that bum of a cowboy do to you this time? I swear I’ll knock that oatmeal he’s got for brains right out of his head this time.”

Now Reagan smiled. “He didn’t do anything, but thanks for the offer. I might remind you of your plan one day.”

“It’s been a standing offer for years, Reagan. In fact, you’re probably the only reason he’s alive today. Course, you’re the reason I want to kill him too. He’s never known what a treasure he’s had in you.”

She stood on her toes and kissed Big’s cheek. “I love you, Big.”

“I know. I’m downright adorable. My Ester tells me I should be the first human cloned; then there would be more me’s to go around.”

They walked toward his truck. “Where is Ester?”

“She pulled an all-night shift in the emergency room last night. I had some vacation coming so I’d already planned to take off today and cuddle in with her. When you called, she told me to come on over and get you so she could get a few hours’ sleep. I promised to wake her when I get home.”

“Got time to buy me breakfast before we head back?” she asked, knowing the answer.

“Sure. I’m starving. Only you’re buying. I’m saving my money for the game. My grandmother says every room in town is booked with poker players coming in. The ones staying at the bed-and-breakfast are already playing every night to practice. If Ester works another night shift, I might go over and get a little practice in too. Martha Q makes them play for toothpicks ’cause she swears she won’t allow nothing illegal to happen at Winter’s Inn.”

Reagan raised an eyebrow. She’d never thought of Martha Q as the “by the letter” type.

Big blushed. “The crazy owner told me she was too old to get arrested and have to use a toilet in front of jail guards.”

Reagan fought to get the image out of her mind. “I didn’t know you were a poker player, Big.”

“I’m not, but I plan to stay around eating barbecue and drinking beer while I watch all the fools I work with lose. A twenty-dollar buy-in will be worth the price. Half the men on my road crew think they’re born to gamble.”

Reagan climbed into his pickup and they stopped to eat at the first truck stop out of Amarillo. She told him about the trip and how it was all her fault. Big, as usual, didn’t believe a word she said and swore it was all Noah’s problem.

She didn’t tell Big about Noah saying he’d been at the Hampton when she’d checked and he hadn’t been registered.

When they started home, Big pulled an old blanket from behind his seat and she curled up against the window and went to sleep. The rocking of the truck, the warmth of the day, and the comfort of knowing she was safe let her relax into dreamless slumber.

The next morning Truman Orchard business took all her energy. Planning a fund-raiser is no easy job, but having a successful one was almost unheard of in the history of Harmony, and Reagan had to do it on top of all her normal workload.

A dozen people had offered to help, and all wanted to be kept informed on every detail. Around it all she had a business to run, and they’d be moving into their busy season soon.

Since the day she’d made it home, Reagan had tried not to think. Logic told her not to dwell on Noah’s deliberate lie. She just worked.