Part 1: No Regrets(Divine Creek Ranch 2)(6)

The flashing lights of a police car illuminated Eli’s face for a second and revealed the tanned beauty of his features, part Native American warrior and part enormous Viking. His eyebrows were drawn together in concern for her over his gray eyes.

He put his arms out, and Rachel reached for him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She pressed her face to his chest, and a sob shook her body. As the dam on her tears broke, he didn’t shush her, just let her cry.

The feel of his hard body supporting her did strange things to her chest. This was a place she had fantasized about being numerous times, but never under these circumstances. She held on tight and hid her face against his muscular chest as she sobbed. He rubbed her back and smoothed her hair. He felt so



Her Gentle Giant, Part 1: No Regrets

19

good, but she needed to get a grip before her tears got out of hand. There would be time enough for that later.

Rachel needed to find a place to store the things she’d saved, which a firefighter had been kind enough to help her move across the street. That was one of the nice things about living in a small town. She’d piled them in front of her apartment until the fire department had arrived and warned her not to go back in again. She’d have to call her insurance agent so she could file a claim on the renter’s insurance. Rachel tightened the grip on her emotions and wiped her face on the cuff of her robe, which probably made her sooty face even messier.

“Well, boys, it would appear I am temporarily homeless. I need to store my stuff somewhere until I can find a place to live. Any suggestions?” she asked matter-of-factly, standing there in her bathrobe, nightgown, and fuzzy slippers. The men went into action and gathered up her belongings in their arms.

“We can take your things to my place, Rachel,” Eli offered. “You can store them in my second bedroom and stay with me if you’d like. The other half of my duplex is vacant right now, and I could put a good word in for you.”

She looked skeptically at him.

“Honey, we could always take you out to your folks’ place,” Mike suggested. “You know they wouldn’t mind if you moved in until you got back on your feet.”

She shook her head decisively. “No, I’m not moving back home. I have some money saved and should be okay. I like having my independence. I know they wouldn’t mind, but I would.”

“You could stay with me and Rosa,” Mike said, searching for other options.

“No, it’s asking too much of Rosa. She has her hands full with the kids and her mom. Things are pretty crowded already. No offense, Mike.”

“None taken. I think it’s too crowded sometimes, too. What about Rogelio? You know he’d watch out for you.” Rogelio nodded but looked a little doubtful, and Rachel knew why.

“Rogelio would definitely look out for me, but I think that would be a bad idea. Christina would not understand, and I don’t want to mess things up between the new lovebirds. Plus, where would I put my stuff?” she asked.



20

Heather Rainier

Rogelio lived in a tiny travel trailer on twenty acres of land while he saved up money to build his own house. He’d only just begun dating Christina, and Rachel could tell that they were falling in love. She didn’t want to take a chance on screwing up that little romance. If anyone deserved happiness, Rogelio did.

“Then I guess you’re coming home with me, angel,” Eli said as she piled more stuff into his arms.

“All right. But are you going to behave?” she said, chuckling as she tried to look serious. She was so on a slippery slope there.

“I promise I’ll behave. But you don’t know what you’re missing,” Eli replied with his usual charming persistence.

The week after Angel Martinez and Ethan Grant were shot by Patricia Ramirez at The Dancing Pony, Eli asked her out on a date, with Mike and Rogelio’s permission, she found out later. Mike and Rogelio had known her since Rachel was a girl, having worked on her family’s cattle ranch as ranch hands for a time. She’d turned Eli down flat. When he asked her why, she said she didn’t know him well enough to go out with him.

A week later, Eli asked her out again, and again she turned him down for the same reason. He asked her out again the next week, and she said she knew him better and liked him but saw how the women threw themselves at him at the club. She told him flat out she was the very jealous type and would only make him unhappy with her territorial nature. Since then, she had told him she liked him as a friend, but that was the extent of their relationship. One thing about Eli she’d learned in the ensuing weeks—he was persistent. Her resistance to him had weakened dramatically last evening, but she still knew it was a bad idea. Good Rachel congratulated her for her wisdom while Bad Rachel thought she was being a chickenshit.