Autumn Promises (8 page)

This wasn’t good. How off course had she gotten?

E
van knew he should probably leave buttoning the place up to Seth Stewart, so he tried to get his mind off the ranching operation. Instead, he checked both the house and the cabin and called Anna to make sure she and Tomas had everything they needed at their little house in case the snow turned into a full-fledged blizzard. The start of the snowfall had brought him to the realization that he’d spent too many years building the Circle A into what it was, to be able to just step aside while Jackson was away. But he didn’t want to look as if he were circumventing his son’s orders, just in case Jackson had been in touch with Seth. So Evan wandered down to the barn.

Everything looked fine as he walked around the buildings and corrals. Then he strolled into the main barn and the conversation he found there stopped him in his tracks.

Seth stared down at old Tomas, a worried frown on his face. “Tomas, you should have said something before this,” the foreman admonished the horse wrangler.

“But she say she will not be out long time. I thought she come back. Then the horse is still gone when I finished with the other jobs you say I should do. I tell her she should not go. She say snow is pretty.”

“Well, doesn’t this beat all? Stupid easterners!”

Now Evan’s heart froze in his chest. He’d have sworn time actually stopped. “Mind telling me which stupid easterner you’re talking about?” he asked, but he knew already. Xandra was still in Greeley. Cris certainly wasn’t an easterner and would know better than to ride out into the teeth of a Colorado snowstorm.

“Your guest, Meg Taggert, Mr. Alton,” Seth said. “Apparently she rode out over an hour ago. Tomas—”

“I heard what Tomas said. Meg’s not stupid, Stewart,” Evan snapped. “She just isn’t used to our erratic weather. No one from Pennsylvania would think this could have blown up the way it did. Yesterday was picnic weather.”

Evan grabbed his gear, unlatched Apple Boy’s stall and started saddling his surefooted quarter horse. “I’ll go after her. Get some of the other men mounted up. You better get on over to your place
and batten down the hatches. Did you see which way she headed, Tomas?”

“East.”

Evan looked over the saddle at the old wrangler. “Please tell me she was at least dressed warm. Hat? Gloves? Heavy coat?”

Tomas nodded. Evan pulled the saddle’s cinch tight around Apple Boy’s girth and slid the halter back onto the horse’s neck. He put his bridle on, then unbuckled the halter and tossed it to Tomas.

“Take a pickup home with you and watch for us, would you, Tomas? When you see us ride in, pull the truck into the corral outside the door. That way I can get her up to the house and warmed up and you can unsaddle and take care of the animals and put them up for the night.”

“I will be watching, Señor Evan. I am sorry. She promise she only go for small while.”

“It’s okay. Seth,” he said as he pulled a walkie-talkie off the shelf and unplugged it from its charger. “I’ll head due east. Fan the men out on either side of me in case she’s off course. Whoever finds her should alert the others. Let Cris know what’s up, but tell her if Jackson calls, not to tell him about this. I don’t want him trying to get back here in this weather. He’s where he ought to be and he doesn’t need a new worry.”

“Will do, Mr. Alton,” Seth said. “I’m sorry this happened.”

He shook his head. “No more your fault than Tomas’s. Don’t give it another thought. If you knew Meg the way I do, you’d know she’s probably calling herself worse than stupid right now. She’s pretty headstrong, but I guess she’s had to be.”

And that’s one of the problems with her life, he added silently as he mounted. He didn’t think she ever let herself lean on anyone, count on anyone. In the midst of family she was effectively alone. Even with their son, she seemed to feel it was her job to comfort him, but Evan didn’t think she would turn to Jackson if she needed him. Was that the legacy of Wade Jackson, because he’d left her alone and expecting his child?

Evan didn’t think so.

He blamed her father. Meg’s life choices and dreams had strayed outside the parameters the man had drawn up for his daughter and she’d found herself cut off from everyone she’d held dear. Her father might have been a Christian, but he’d been a worse father than Evan had been. And thirty years later the woman she’d become was still afraid to lean on anyone—trust anyone.

Evan rode east at a fast trot with the snow already accumulating in sizable amounts. He couldn’t track her, so he did the only thing he could do. He covered ground quickly and he prayed. Or tried to. Unfortunately, fear seemed to have him by the throat and his
conscience kept enumerating all the ways he’d been a fool about her.

First he’d alienated her right off the bat when they’d met. Then he’d continued taking his past out on her and assigning the worst possible motives to everything she said or did. She’d had to force him to see her for who she was. And after that, he’d still nearly failed their son by staying away from the hospital when Jackson needed him. Finally, when he’d had a chance to change and further their relationship, he’d retreated like a coward. He should have kissed her again right there on the balcony. It should have been a long slow kiss that would have told her exactly how he felt about her.

And that brought up another question. Exactly how
did
he feel about her? Deep in thought, Evan rode on contemplating the feelings that had been building in him since that day. It felt good to finally acknowledge them but he really wished he’d come to this realization sooner.

Panic gripped him. What if something happened to her? Would his grief be less severe because he’d been unable to face the truth earlier? No.

And he’d learned his lesson.

When I find her and get her safely home, I’ll tell her how I feel, Lord. I promise. She might not feel anything for me, and she might not want a future that includes the two of us as a couple, but I owe it to her and myself to find out if either is possible.

But first he had to find her. So with no choice but to continue on amidst the stinging snow and chilling wind, he slogged ahead. Evan rode by instinct alone, praying for guidance and putting his faith in the Lord that He would direct the search. When the wind kicked up a notch and the snow began to fall even harder, Evan laid his heels into the horse’s sides and moved him into a faster gait.

Meg saw Evan burst out of the curtain of snow as if Apple Boy had taken wing. Her heart thundered in time to the big quarter horse’s canter. He looked larger than life. An icon of the Old West in a shearling jacket, with a Stetson pulled down low over his eyes.

“Meg!” he shouted over the howling of the wind when he pulled his horse to a stop next to her. “Are you all right?”

Meg shivered—not because of the cold but because of the intense look in his eyes. She nodded. “Tomas said it might snow. I thought it would be nice to ride in it. I didn’t expect anything like this.”

“Always remember this is Colorado, not Pennsylvania. Our weather makes yours look predictable!” He pointed to her right. “There’s a line shack due north of here. About a fifteen-minute ride. We can go there and wait it out. It’s fully stocked. We’d be fine until this lets up. Or we can head on in. It’s about half an hour. It’s up to you. How cold are you?”

Spending time stranded in an isolated line shack with Evan Alton just wasn’t an option. She wiggled her toes in her boots. She still had feeling. “I’m not that cold. Let’s just go home. I don’t want to cause Jack any more worry than he’s had already. I don’t want him finding out we’re both missing.”

He stared at her for a long moment, his expression grim and questioning at the same time. “I’m fine. Really,” she assured him.

Evan shrugged. “Okay. They’re your toes in jeopardy.” He pulled his walkie-talkie out of his pocket and told the other man on the search that he’d found her. “Let’s do it, then before this gets worse,” he suggested as he tucked the radio back into his coat pocket. Then he guided Apple Boy into a turn and started back the way he’d come, after waiting for Meg to catch up.

She hadn’t thought the weather
could
get worse, but within minutes it had begun snowing horizontally and the wind changed, buffeting them from the front. Evan pulled up immediately and reached for Glory’s reins. “Transfer into my saddle,” he told her. “I’ll be able to shelter you from the wind.”

Meg stared dumbly at him. Well, she guessed she had her answer about Evan’s feelings for her if he could so coolly invite her to sit that close. She relaxed, but only for a moment, because she realized she had enough unruly feelings of her own to cause a problem. “I’m fine here,” she lied.

He shook his head and pulled off the scarf he’d been about to tie over his face. “Then use this. You’ll have frostbite by the time we get in out of this if you don’t.”

“What about you?” she asked, and the answer was in his expression. He’d give up his scarf for her and ride with the wind and snow lashing his face. “Oh, no, you don’t. I’m the idiot who went riding in ‘a little snow.’ Hold on.”

He grinned in triumph, and before she could think about all the implications of her decision, Meg pulled her foot out of her stirrups and kicked her leg over Glory’s head. Evan took his foot out of his stirrup so she could step into it, then he grasped her arm to help her swing from her saddle into his. She threw her leg over Apple Boy’s rump, and in seconds she’d landed behind Evan in the roomy Western saddle.

Even in the subfreezing temperatures and through layers of winter clothing she could feel his warmth only inches away. Meg hadn’t realized she was so cold, and she longed to lean into him. Instead she held herself erect and stiff, uncomfortable being so close to him. Evan handed her Glory’s reins next, wanting her to tie them to the saddle. Her fingers were stiff, but she managed.

Determined to get no closer to him than absolutely necessary, Meg kept her hands behind her back. She held tight to the cantle, trying to balance on the thick leather that formed the back of the saddle. But then
Evan suddenly kicked Apple Boy into a fast trot, and Meg slipped forward with a jolt. She gave up then, circling Evan’s waist with her arms and settling into the saddle behind him. She rested her forehead in the center of his back and closed her eyes, inhaling his scent and his warmth.

Unbelievably, she fell asleep. But as she drifted off she wished he didn’t make her feel so safe.

E
van let out a sigh when the lights of the compound came into view. He could have said his relief was due to the temperature, which had continued to fall, or the sky, which had dumped a good twelve inches already. Or even because he worried that Meg had been exposed to the elements for too long.

But what really had him swinging his leg over Apple Boy’s head and stepping out of the saddle as they rode into the barn minutes later was a need to put a little distance between himself and Meg. Having her so close during the ride had been a little piece of heaven and hell rolled into the same experience. Add that to the two tons of worry and fear he’d felt when Tomas told him Meg was out riding and you had a man ready to leap out of his skin, not just his saddle.

Once on the ground he pivoted quickly and
smacked the quarter horse on his rump, sending Apple Boy, with Meg still on his back, deep into the barn. Meg’s mount, still tied to Evan’s saddle, obediently followed. Evan knew there’d be plenty of time later for soul-searching, but now he fought the wind to close the big double doors, shutting out the elements. Then he brushed off his shoulders, dumped the snow off the wide brim of his hat and dragged his gloves off with his teeth.

“I’ll call the house and let them know we’re back,” he told Meg as he picked up the phone just inside the door. “She’s here with me, Cris. Run a hot bath for her, will you? We’ll be up there in a minute or two.”

Evan watched Meg try without success to get her foot in the stirrup. He hung up the phone, rushed to her side and took her foot, placing it gently into the stirrup.

“I guess I’m about done in,” she admitted. “I’m sorry to be such a bother. I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired.”

“You aren’t a bother.” He grinned up at her. “A greenhorn maybe, but never a bother. You too stiff to get down?”

“Me? Never,” she boasted, and stood in the saddle. In a split second she’d flipped her leg over Apple Boy’s back and had landed in front of him. But the grin slipped off her face when she kept going on her way to the floor.

“Whoa there,” he said with a chuckle in his voice, moving fast to loop his arms around her waist and keep her upright.

Evan looked down at her. Her blue eyes reminded him of twin sapphires as she gazed up at him in the dimly lit barn. He grinned and knocked some of the snow out of her hair and off her shoulders before it could melt. She looked adorable in her snow-covered ski hat with her cheeks rosy from the wind and her nose rivaling old Rudolph’s. Utterly desirable.

And really exhausted. Someone as petite as Meg wasn’t in any shape to face what he had on the ride out to find her. He loved her. There was no other explanation for the gut-wrenching panic he’d felt when he’d learned she’d ridden out alone.

He wanted desperately to kiss her, so he did. Her lips were cool to the touch, but warmed quickly. He breathed in her scent. She smelled of fresh air, snow and a hint of springtime from her delicate perfume. It was the kiss he should have given her earlier.

He lifted his head, pleased by her spellbound look. “Why did you do that?” she whispered.

He grinned. “Because I could and because I wanted to.” When she still looked confused, he added, “You figure it out, sweetheart.”

He understood now that what he needed to do was woo her. She could find a new way of life there with him at the Circle A but he had to show her. He also needed a careful plan—not rash action.

“Thank you for coming after me,” she said, her voice a bit raspy. “And please thank the others who were out in this looking for me, too. I’m so embarrassed. I’m not usually so foolish.”

So she was just going to ignore what was happening between them. “Don’t worry about it,” he told her, determined not to let her try to fool herself as well as him. “Now let’s get you up to the house.”

“But the horses—”

He nodded to the short man entering the barn through the corral door. “Tomas will see to them.”

“I left the pickup running, Señor Evan. Is she all warmed up?”

“Will be once I get her up to the house. Thanks, Tomas,” he said, and scooped Meg up into his arms. “Hold the door for me, will ya?”

“Evan Alton! Put me down!”

“Nope. You’ll just fall down again,” Evan told her as he walked toward the door and the waiting pickup. It was a relatively short walk to the house, but he’d walked it in snow like this and it wasn’t easy.

“Are you trying to humiliate me?”

“Nope. I’m trying to take care of you. ’Bout time someone did, don’t you think?” he asked, and deposited her on the front seat of the warm pickup. He closed the door, pleased to see an astonished expression on her face.

“What did you mean by that?” she asked when he climbed behind the wheel.

Evan shrugged, pulled out of the corral and drove up to the house. He didn’t answer until he was in the parking area near the house. “I’ve noticed you take care of everyone. Whenever I’ve heard of something going wrong at Laurel Glen, I hear about how you were there to ride to the emotional rescue. Who takes care of you, Meg? You endured your loss of Wade and then Jackson all those years ago and no one noticed, did they? I just thought you might like someone looking out for you for a change.”

She nodded, still stunned, either by the foreign concept of someone watching out for her or by his analysis of her life. She didn’t immediately protest, so maybe he’d come up with the right answers while riding out to find her. He might have hidden from life by becoming a loner, but she’d done the same thing by becoming all things to all people at Laurel Glen.

They all ran to her with their problems. Leaned on her for moral support. Needed her advice and guidance. But from what he’d heard from Jack and Beth, no one ever made sure Meg had all she needed from life. She apparently thought she had a good life, but from where Evan was standing, all she had was a share of everyone else’s troubles and the frequent trips she took to get away from them.

Well, if he had anything to say about it, he’d be
that someone and life would be so good she wouldn’t feel the need to travel just to find a little peace. She could put down roots here on the Circle A, where Jack and Beth would raise their children and Cris and Jim would visit with theirs.

It wasn’t as if Colorado was devoid of culture or beauty, after all. Denver was a thriving city with a symphony, theater and museums. And she loved to ride. Where better than the Circle A for that? He’d even set up an equestrian course for her. It would all work out if Meg could get to the place he had.

If Meg could let go of the past.

Meg sank deeper into the steaming water. What a fiasco! She’d gone out for a ride to get away from Evan and had wound up sharing a saddle, his arms, a kiss and the front seat of a pickup. The saddle had been bad enough, but when he caught her during her plunge from the saddle to the ground, her heart had done some sort of bizarre gymnastic move inside her chest. She’d looked up in surprise when he’d pulled her into his arms, expecting to see annoyance.

That look in his eyes had been anything but annoyed. Then he’d kissed her. And it hadn’t been a quick peck the way this morning’s had been. This had been a slow, toe-curling kiss that was too long and too short at once. After that she’d have dared even the most sophisticated medical instrument to count the quickened beats of her heart.

She’d been wrong. Evan Alton was anything but indifferent to her. As inexperienced personally as she was with men, his reaction to her was now crystal clear.

She refused to even think about it. Or about how it had felt being swept up in his strong arms. Goodness!

She sank under the water. Maybe she could do as her onetime theater-in-the-round character had in
South Pacific.
Wash that man right out of her hair. She sat up abruptly. Nelly Forbush hadn’t succeeded in getting rid of Emile de Becque. And that had been fiction! What made her think she could do it in real life?

How could one person make her feel so many distinctly different emotions at once? Protected, afraid, wary, curious, cherished and endangered—they’d all filled her till she thought she would burst. It confused her and made her doubt the way she defined herself.

And she didn’t like it. Not one bit.

She’d come to Colorado to help Jack with his babies, not to have her world turned upside down by his father. She certainly hadn’t come to have her life and her family’s treatment of her questioned by the likes of Evan Alton.

“Oh,” she groaned. “If only he weren’t so handsome and so nice!”

If only she hadn’t promised Jack she’d stay to help until Beth was on her feet. If only she could leave
for home the minute Denver International had a flight out.

But she had promised to stay for a little while longer so she couldn’t leave.

She stood, grabbed the towel next to the big garden tub and got out of the cooling bath. First a nap. Then safety in numbers. It would be just fine. She was made of stern stuff.

“What do you mean, Crystal and Jim took the twins to see Beth?” Meg demanded of Evan three hours later. She’d slept for two hours, then spent the next one trying to decide what to wear down to dinner. It had to be the right outfit. Sophisticated and expensive looking enough to put Evan off, yet not so fancy as to alert Crystal and Jim that this was different from any other meal they’d shared.

She’d settled on a blue cashmere sweater dress with a mock turtleneck. She’d topped it off with a gold chain necklace and gold button earrings.

“Jack called and said he’d caught Beth crying because she misses the babies. Cris and Jim agreed to take them to see her.”

“But we’re in the middle of a blizzard!”

Evan laughed. “Come here,” he said, motioning to the French doors. He threw them open.

No cold blast of air invaded the room. The moonlight sparkled on the snow-covered pines that surrounded the stone patio and on the pasture beyond.

“And
that’s
Colorado,” he said with a laugh. “Blizzard conditions one hour and this the next. The roads are perfectly safe for a four-wheel-drive vehicle. The plows have been through already out on the main road and I plowed the main ranch road. We know how to handle this out here, Meg. Except on horseback when it’s still coming down, twenty-four inches doesn’t hardly slow us down.”

“Well. No, I suppose it doesn’t. I should see to dinner, I suppose.” She backed away and tried not to run for the kitchen. Taking a deep breath once she got there, she almost screamed when Evan spoke from just behind her, his hands on her shoulders.

“I made dinner while you were napping. It’s all set. Italian wedding soup, lasagna and a salad.”

She looked over at the table set for two. Candles. Pretty dishes. Interesting handblown goblets.

Oh, dear. It all looked so…romantic. This wasn’t good at all.