Do you take this rebel - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,73

his stomach churning. Why on earth wasn’t she back by now? He grabbed Jake’s phone and called his father.

“Is Cassie there?” he demanded when his father answered.

“Cassie? Why would she be here?”

“Jake thought she might be heading over there.”

“Maybe she just wised up and left you.”

Cole let that pass. The most important thing right now was finding Cassie.

“I’m going out to look for her,” he told his father. “If you give a damn about me or my son, you’ll help.”

“Well, of course I will,” his father said defensively. “The snow’s been coming down awhile now. No telling where she might be. Car could have run off the road.”

But when Cole went outside, Cassie’s car was parked behind the house where it always was. He checked the barn and saw that one of their horses was missing.

He looked up and realized Jake had followed him outside. He was shivering just inside the door of the barn.

“Is she gone?” Jake asked, looking as scared as Cole felt.

“She took one of the horses,” he said. “I’m sure she’s fine. She probably took shelter somewhere when the snow started.”

“Why wouldn’t she have turned around and come back?” Jake asked reasonably. “Or gone on to Grandpa’s?”

He hunkered down in front of Jake. “I don’t know, pal. I need you to do something for me, though. I want you to go inside and call nine-one-one. Tell the sheriff we need some help looking for your mom, okay? Can you do that?”

Jake nodded, his eyes wide.

“Then call your grandmother and ask her to come out here and stay with you.”

“I want to come with you,” Jake protested.

“No, this is more important. You can be the biggest help to your mom by calling the sheriff. Now scoot.”

With one last backward glance, Jake took off for the house. Cole saddled their second horse and rode off in the direction of the Double D. If it had had to snow today, why couldn’t it have been earlier so there would be clear hoofprints for him to follow? Instead he was forced to slow down and guess which way she might have gone.

The temperature had dropped dramatically just since he’d gotten home. If Cassie was out here, injured, she wouldn’t be able to last long. The sense of urgency doubled, even as his progress slowed.

“Come on, Cassie. Where are you? Help me. Give me some sign.”

The distant, distressed whinny of a horse finally drew his attention. His own mount’s ears pricked up.

“Is that Harley?” he murmured, and got a shake of a head and an answering whinny as a response. “Find him then. Let’s find Harley.”

The terrain had grown rockier and slicker. His frustration mounted right along with his anxiety. He had to find Cassie. He damn well didn’t intend to lose her like this.

With a sudden rush of understanding, he realized that he couldn’t lose her at all. What did the decision of a scared eighteen-year-old girl matter? If the decision of a twenty-eight-year-old woman was less understandable, even he could see that it had been driven by a fear just as deep-seated as the one she’d felt years before. Who was he to judge that?

All that mattered, all that had ever mattered, was that he loved her and she loved him. Nothing had ever changed that. They’d just lost their way for a while.

Now he had to find her and tell her that.

A heart-wrenching whinny of an animal in pain cut through the air, closer now, just over the rise, if he wasn’t mistaken. He crested the hill and spotted them, horse and woman, both down, both way too still.

“Don’t die, Cassie,” Cole pleaded as he leaped to the ground and knelt beside her. In its own show of concern his horse edged closer to its disabled stable mate. “Dear God, please don’t let her die.”

He checked her carefully for injuries. The only obvious one was her broken arm, but she’d been here a long time. Could it be there was a more serious problem? He debated the wisdom of moving her, but the chances of anyone else coming upon them here were slim and time was essential. She’d already been out in the bitter cold for way too long.

He bundled her in his jacket, then checked the injured horse. “I’ll get someone in here for you in no time,” he vowed, running his hand over the horse’s trembling flank. “You saved her life, you know. You told me how to find her. I’ll do everything in my power