Lone Star Cinderella (10 page)

Her boot hit a slick spot, and she went down on one knee. Her knee struck a rock hard. She bit back a cry of pain.

Seth's grip tightened as he spun toward her. “Are you okay? Your pant leg is ripped—”

“I'm fine,” she called, speaking over the wind. “Go.”

He nodded and continued on. “Sorry to pull you along so fast, but this is not the place to be when rains this heavy are coming down.”

No joke.
Rivers of water were coursing down now. Her boots were sticking in the clay and water swirled around her feet as it rushed downward. They still had a good thirty feet to go, but it was the steepest, roughest
part of the incline, and looking at it, Melody's heart pounded with adrenaline and dread. If Seth wasn't holding her hand so tightly, there was no way she would be strong enough to fight the water and the slippery slope.

As if hearing her thoughts, he paused using a pine tree for balance and pulled her up into the shelter of his body. “We're not going to make it,” he said close to her ear. “C'mon. This way.” He started moving across the hill.

“Where are we going?” she called, grasping his hand with both of hers as he plowed forward. Even his sure-footed steps wobbled in the mud a time or two but he was able to keep himself from going down. She, on the other hand, went down several more times, and each time he pulled her up and pushed forward.

“There,” he said.

Melody saw a rock ledge in front of them with water pouring over the top of it like a waterfall. She wasn't sure what he'd been thinking bringing them this way. But he kept heading toward the water rather than away. When they were ten feet from it, he turned to look at her.

“We're going under that ledge. It's a rock surface behind there, and it'll be somewhat dry.”

Shivering, she nodded, game if he was. At the rock, he ducked down and pulled her through the side, which had a small veil of water compared to the mass that was churning over the front of the ledge.

He was right about it being dry once they were beneath the rock. Seth crouched down, then sat because there wasn't any standing room. She did the same. Only then did she take a deep breath.

“That was crazy!” she exclaimed, wiping her face with her hands. Seth took his hat off and shook it then wiped his own face, swept his hair back off his forehead and replaced his hat. His expression was dark in the shadows of the rock.

“It was stupid on my part. I knew there was a forty-percent chance of thundershowers. I should never have kept you out here so long.”

She was breathing hard. “It's not your fault.”

His scowl deepened. “Yeah. It is. We should have turned back an hour ago. Flash floods aren't anything to take lightly out here. You and I both know how deadly they can be.”

He was really upset. “Yes, but you knew your way around. You knew to come here. I would have seen this waterfall and never thought that it would be shelter. Have you been here before?”

“Yes, once when me, Cole and Wyatt were camping at the canyon, we got caught out here. Wyatt knew about this place because he'd stumbled across it when he'd been looking for a lost calf earlier that summer. We spent four hours sitting under here.”

“It sounds like it was a great adventure.”

His scowl eased up. “It was, looking back. But at the time we were bored out of our minds.”

She immediately imagined three teenage guys going stir-crazy. “What did y'all talk about?”

Seth gave her a look that was so boyishly cocky that she had to chuckle again.

“Oh, let's see, what do you think? Girls and treasure.”

She lifted a brow. “Of course. What else would three teenage guys talk about?”

He grunted and watched the curtain of water pouring over the ledge in front of him. She was so curious about him that she could hardly stand it. And she suddenly knew right then and there that this was the only place she wanted to be. It felt as if she and he were the only two people in the entire world. Nothing else mattered or could intrude on the time. Silly.

Melody wrapped her arms about herself and rubbed the water from her arms. “I can't believe how slippery the slope got,” she said, refocusing her thoughts.

“I know how treacherous it can get and just how quickly. I should never have chanced coming out here today.”

The disgust in his voice rang through the dim light in the overhang. “Hey, are you forgetting that I'm an adult? And as an adult I can make choices for myself. This is not your fault, and I won't have you blaming yourself. Besides, nothing has happened to us except we're wet.” She glanced down at her throbbing knee for the first time.

Seth's gaze moved to her ripped jeans. “You're bleeding.”

“I
t's not bad,” Melody protested, the minute she saw the blood on her fingertips. Compared to the throbbing, the blood was nothing.

“Let me have a look at that,” Seth said, carefully pushing aside the torn material. “Did you hit a rock?”

“Yes,” she said, watching as he pulled his shirttail from his jeans and ripped off the bottom and gently applied pressure to the small gash. She gasped.

“Sorry,” he said looking at her with sympathetic eyes. “I hate that you were walking when it was bleeding like this.”

“I didn't even realize it was bleeding until now. Oddly enough. I guess I was having a delayed reaction to the pain, too. But it's feeling better.” And it was. Seth bent closer to her knee and lifted the cloth. She shivered at the tenderness of his actions.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

“Just a little. But I'm okay. Really, I can do that. It's really not that bad.”

“I'll take care of it.”

Her thoughts were spinning crazily. More so when he suddenly ripped a longer piece from his shirttail then tied the pieces around her knee so that it held the makeshift bandage in place. It was so sweet that it almost undid her.

She was relieved when he withdrew his touch, hoping that with the absence of it she would stop thinking about how totally attracted to him she was. It was a short-lived relief when he slid next to her and draped his arm across her shoulders.

“Is that better?”

She nodded numbly and gave him a smile. “This isn't exactly the way I thought treasure hunting would be.”

He chuckled and gave her a gentle squeeze. “It has been eventful.”

“But not in the right way,” she sighed.

“Hey, a guy could take that as an insult. Here you are stranded with me like this and saying very unflattering things about me.”

“I didn't mean it that way. I—” she faltered at the twinkle in his eyes looking at her “—I'm liking this part of the search, actually.” Had she really said that? He looked as surprised by it as she was. She'd meant every word, but to have voiced it…Well, that was an entirely new ball game for her.

“Listen to you. That's the spunky woman I like.”

“I can't believe I said that.”

He smoothed a rogue strand of hair from her forehead with his fingertips. “
I
can. Don't forget, I was there the day you told me you weren't leaving my property and practically waved your lease in my face.”

“I did not,” she gasped, elbowing him.

He chuckled and cocked a brow. “I beg to differ.”

Melody's breath caught looking at Seth. His teasing eyes darkened suddenly, and she knew he was thinking about kissing her. She swallowed hard, and felt sick—it was a good sick but it was sick nonetheless. This wasn't happening to her. Handsome men didn't look twice at her. They didn't notice her. To have Seth suddenly showing her what she was missing…she looked away from him. It was too hard to bear thinking that soon he would snap out of this, this feel-sorry-for-the-bookworm mode and he'd walk away. Only she knew that if he kissed her he would walk away with her heart and she would be shattered.

Her lip trembled as she watched the water pouring over the ledge, and suddenly she felt trapped behind the illusion that this was real. “I think the rain is slowing,” she said. She needed to get out of there.

He didn't say anything for a moment, and she could feel his gaze on her, but she couldn't look at him. If she did, she'd probably throw herself at him—which would be kind of hard since she was already practically in his embrace.

“Melody,” his voice melted through the shadows harmonizing with the last sounds of rain and cascading water.

She shook her head and refused to turn back. She was fighting for her life here. Couldn't he see that?

His arm loosened and after a second slid away from her. Relief and regret washed over her.

“Why do you hide from that part of yourself?”

His soft words lingered on the air. “Why do you insist on trying to make me into something I'm not?”

“That's a lie, and you know it.”

At his cutting words she glared at him. “How dare you. You don't know me, Seth Turner. You don't know me at all.”

“I'm beginning to think it's the other way around.”

“What does that mean?”

“I'm not so sure you know yourself. You've got all this spirit inside of you and yet you hide it. When you do let it out, it's more rebellious than anything because you keep it so bottled up…or maybe it has to do with your brother.”

That did it. She scrambled across the tight space so that she was sitting across from him. She refused to have even his elbow touching her.

“Look at you. Mention this guy and you immediately tie up in knots.”

“Not true.”

“Why don't you use some of that against your brother and what he's doing to your life?”

Why was he doing this? She looked away. The last thing she wanted to do was argue about her lack of backbone where Ty was concerned. But at least she wasn't thinking about kissing Seth any longer. What a cop-out on her part. It was a new all-time low for her, hiding behind her problem with Ty to protect her childish heart.

“Do you think you're doing him any favors enabling him like this?”

“No,” she snapped, angry at herself as much she was at him.

“Then what is it?”

She glared at him. “I—I try to be firm. You just don't understand.”

“No. I think I understand completely. He works you
until he wears you down. I can understand that. He sees what I've seen of you all this time. Up until you told me you weren't leaving the coach house the other day, I had no idea there was any kind of spunk in you. Imagine my surprise to find out that beneath that shy exterior there is a woman to be reckoned with.”

She gave a harsh laugh. “Hardly. I only stood up to you because I just couldn't give up on something I cared so much about.”

“Yeah, so I figured that out. So why don't you show your brother the same kind of heart and stop enabling him?”

Every ounce of oxygen seemed to evaporate. She had to struggle to draw in her next breath. “It's complicated.”

She stared at the water and willed it to stop.

“Try me. I'm a smart guy. I bet I can get it.”

The man was pushing like a freight train, and she just didn't get why he was doing it. “Because my mother begged me to help him. Her last words to me before she died was that I help him. It's hard thinking about going against her last wish.”

He dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling. “That has to be rough on you,” he said at last.

She nodded, blinking at the unexpected and unwanted threat of tears. She'd never told anyone that.

“You can't do it. You can't use that as an excuse,” he said gently. “You mentioned before that your parents were in debt because of all the money they put out for his treatments. Is that what your mother was asking you to do to yourself? Surely you see that you can't do that. Is that why you at least tried to cut him off?”

She nodded, biting her lip when it started to tremble.
“But I feel like I've given up on him.” Guilt filled her. “No. The honest truth is that I don't just feel like I've given up on him but I
have.
Worse than that—after all the treatments he's been through and after all the prayers…I've given up that God is ever going to honor my and my parents' prayers.” She swallowed the lump in her throat as anger filled in behind the guilt. Her parents had been faithful to pray for Ty's deliverance from the addictions that plagued him, and they hadn't lived to see that deliverance. Even though they believed God would come through for them. “I tell myself I have to let him suffer the consequences of his actions. That all the money spent on him before was a waste because he didn't want to get free of the addictions. I tell myself all kinds of things, but when it comes down to letting my brother go hungry on the street with no shelter…I just can't do it. With or without the promise I made to my mom.”

“So you're going to give in and let him treat you like a doormat? You're going to let this be your life?”

“Don't you think I despise myself for weakening? I always come back to the realization that this is the way my life will always be and I should just get used to it.”

He tensed, his jaw set. “That's plain depressing.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Then say enough is enough and stop letting your mother's bad judgment call and your brother dictate your life.”

“I know you're right.” She did. “But I just get so tired.” She felt tired thinking about it now. “Can we talk about something different?” She looked away, knowing she was a coward, but it was easy for someone who hadn't lived with what she'd lived with to tell her how
to handle the situation. This was her life, and it wasn't as black and white as it appeared to others.

 

The community center was crowded as Melody walked in. She was comfortable here with her friends because they accepted her quietness without pushing her to step out of her box. Well, most of the time. There had been a few times when they'd urged her to date, but nothing had come of it and so they'd backed off. That had been a relief because she'd seen Norma Sue, Esther Mae and Adela zero in on someone and things just seemed to happen. Melody actually loved watching their antics. The matchmakers were pushy sometimes and subtle other times. There wasn't a person in Mule Hollow who didn't know that the three ladies were devoted to keeping their beloved little town alive and well for decades to come, and marrying off the cowboys who worked this cattle-rich area was their surefire way of getting it done.

Esther Mae was greeting everyone at the door. Melody smiled the minute she saw her. Esther loved hats but usually only wore them to church on Sunday mornings. Tonight, however, over her bright red hair she wore a wide-rimmed straw hat with a toy parrot perched on the hatband. The four-inch-tall bird was blindingly colorful as was Esther Mae's dress. “So what do you think?” she asked, twirling around so that the gauzy material flowed around her in a sea of florescent red, green and yellow.

“I love it,” Melody said in all honesty. Esther Mae was the most colorful person she'd ever known, and the outfit matched her personality to perfection.

“I did, too. I have to say that I was the cat's meow on that ship.”

“Cat's meow, my foot. You look like a hot air balloon!” Norma Sue barked. Marching over she engulfed Melody in a bear hug—which she was really good at, since she was an unapologetically robust woman. “You haven't gone off and married in the ten days we been gone, have you?”

“Now don't go and embarrass the girl,” Esther Mae chided.

“You're telling
me
how not to embarrass a body!” Norma gave Melody an exasperated frown. “You should have seen the way people scattered when Esther Mae came flitting around on deck. And with good cause after she tripped over the hem of her muumuu and took out the entire dessert buffet—”

“Ha! It wasn't my muumuu but your
foot
I tripped over.”

The room broke into chuckles as a mischievous grin spread across Norma Sue's face. Melody enjoyed their combative banter.

In contrast to her friends, Adela was dainty and soft-spoken with short white hair that framed her face and caused her topaz eyes to sparkle like jewels. She came through the crowd and gave Melody a gentle but sincere hug. “Hello, dear. It is so good to see you,” she said and then stepped back and gave her buddies a teasing look of reproach. “As all of you can tell, my dear friends had a wonderful time on the cruise. And they are both telling the truth in a manner of speaking. Yes, Esther Mae tripped over Norma Sue's foot and took out the dessert table. But in the process, they were such entertainment that the cruise line offered to hire them to come on other cruises as the secret entertainment.”

Esther Mae jabbed a hand on her hip. “We would
have been good, too. But a cruise ship just can't compare to Mule Hollow. Or my Hank.”

“Amen to that,” Norma Sue said. “We were ready to get home and get the Fourth of July celebration going. Lacy, hop on up there on that stage and tell us where we stand. We have as many out-of-town booth spaces rented out as last year?”

“We have a big turnout, Norma,” Lacy called, springing onto the stage. Her shaggy blond hair danced as she swung toward the group. This was a big event for Mule Hollow. And it was always packed with vendors who had learned that when Mule Hollow invited folks to come they came in droves. It was the first event Melody had attended when she got there. Though she hadn't been brave enough to do much, she had offered to work in the cotton candy booth. But even though she didn't toss a cow chip or race in the three-legged race or throw a ball at some poor cowboy in the dunking booth, it didn't mean she didn't enjoy herself. Because she did. It was great fun just watching everyone. Especially fun was when people climbed onto the mechanical bull. True, she had secretly wondered if it was as hard to stay on the bull as it looked. But to actually get out there and hop on that thing…oh, no, she would remain safely in the cotton candy booth.