“Zane’s already taken us to visit Fire Weed Ranch, even though no one lives there now. I’ve met Ivy and Rhett. Trinity is Ivy’s chief bridesmaid and whenever they talk wedding plans, Zane and Rhett have secret and urgent men’s business to discuss in the games room.”
Ethan chuckled.
Bridie stared. Ethan might sit on his horse all loose-limbed and relaxed, a poster boy for reliability and self-control, but his laugh alluded to a different picture. Deep, sexy and husky, it spoke of passions tightly contained. Passions that accounted for the not-so-steady look she’d earlier glimpsed in his eyes.
Goosebumps rippled over her arms and she had a sudden urge to flee. This man was all kinds of dangerous. Gorgeous, compassionate and good dangerous. He was also the worst possible person she could be around at the moment. A kind word, or a gentle touch like he’d shown Molly, and she’d be undone. Her emotional floodgates would burst and there’d be no stemming the torrent of her sorrow. She didn’t need empathy, she needed to be left alone to grieve without an audience.
As for the hidden, untold depths he kept so firmly in check, instinct told her if she ever locked lips with him, there’d be no turning back. He’d be more than a match for her own spirit and passions.
She nudged Molly forward. If she could just make the treeline and hear the wind rustle through the pine needles and smell the scents of the forest, it would tide her over until Friday.
“Race you to the trees,” she said, even as Molly leapt into a lope.
She thought Ethan called her name but the sound was muffled by the wind as Molly galloped toward the trees that fringed the meadow.
Bridie’s thoughts pounded in time with the mustang’s hoof beats. Everything would be fine. She just had to hang in there. The two days with Ethan would pass and then she’d be in the mountains by herself.
Everything would work out.
A fat, wet drop splattered her hand, and then another, before the heavens opened.
Chapter Three
“Easy girl.”
Bridie slowed Molly to a walk but the mustang showed no nervousness at the sudden downpour. Despite the water darkening her coat, her ears remained forward and her steps sure on the slippery ground.
Movement flickered in the corner of Bridie’s eye, before Captain drew alongside her. Ethan’s shirt was plastered to his chest and water streamed from his Stetson. He pointed ahead and she nodded indicating she’d follow. Even though there’d been no flash of lightning or clap of thunder to scare the horses he was taking them somewhere to wait the rain out.
Bridie kept Molly close to Captain as they entered the treeline and then trekked single file through the slim trunks. The forest provided more shelter but the larger drops plummeting from the branches continued to drench her jeans and shirt. She shivered as a rivulet funneled between her breasts.
The trees thinned and then the landscape opened into a small clearing. Ethan continued toward a dark space beneath the brow of a ridge. She peered through the rain and realized it was a rock shelter. Without hesitation Molly followed Captain into the cavernous opening.
Ethan slid to the ground and using the side of his hand scraped excess water from Captain’s coat. Bridie dismounted and did the same thing to Molly. When the horses were settled, Ethan sat on a boulder. He removed his Stetson and tipped the water from its crown. The hat had kept his head dry and Bridie curled her fingers against the need to mess up his still perfect hair.
She wrung the water from her own hair, braided the damp strands and flicked the long braid over her shoulder. Ethan watched her, face inscrutable.
“What is this place?” she said, gazing around at the dark recess in which they sheltered.
“Cattle rustler’s cave.”
She fished in her wet jeans pocket and after two attempts maneuvered out her phone. “What a great name. If only the walls could talk, the stories they could tell.”
“They’d be colorful, that’s for sure.” Ethan inclined his head toward the rear of the cave. “Over the years Henry’s found old weapons and ammunition.”
Her back toward the horses, Bridie activated the flashlight on her phone and shone a beam of white light into the cave. She walked forward. “Where did he find them?”
Ethan chuckled and left his stone seat to stand beside her. “Nowhere you’ll be going today. We’re here to dry off and wait out the rain, not risk our necks climbing over rubble.”
Bridie took another step forward. Sheets of rain still blurred the landscape outside the cave. They could be there for a while. “I love exploring. Let’s take a look around.”
Ethan chuckled again but this time tension edged his laughter. “I’ve no doubt you like exploring but unluckily for you, right now I don’t. If we were to go deeper inside we’d need proper flashlights ...” He paused as a shiver shook her. “And warmer clothes.”