towels so tightly, trying to hold on to the memory, that her arms ached. She quickly shook herself and stuffed another towel around the windows. “Rocky’s fine. The horses, too.”
If she’d had the energy to spare, Jolene might have grinned as she looked outside to the steel pen between the tall white barn and the tractor shed. The brown and white Santa Gertrudis bull, who’d nearly gotten them killed back at the arroyo, chomped on a mouthful of processed feed as Nate limped across the yard, leading Sonny and Checker into the barn for a quick, well-de-served rubdown. Her two dogs, Broody and Shasta, tagged along behind them, barking all the way.
That arrogant son-of-a-cow stood there and watched the parade, as lazy and content as if they’d chased him the last half mile across the prairie to visit a spa instead of saving his life and steering him to shelter from the hurricane.
“Don’t worry, Lily. We’ll keep him here at the Double J until after the storm. You’re sure everyone’s all right where you are? Did you hear from Gabe?”
“Yes. He’s fine. He’s so excited about having a little girl. He’ll be staying at Mother’s until there’s an all-clear.” Jolene barely listened to Lily’s animated report. She was more focused on the dark-haired man whose knee was obviously giving him grief. The man who time and time again had put her needs and comforts before his own.
Jolene ached for his pain—the physical as well as the demons he tried to keep such a tight rein on. Someone needed to take care of Nate for a change. Tend his wounds inside and out.
Taking care of things was what Jolene did.
That stray puppy longing locked up her heart and made her yearn to fix his pain.
But that man? She cupped her tummy and felt something flutter, lower, beneath the baby. What could she really do for a man like Nate? A sexy, wounded, wise beyond his years man who stirred things inside her she’d never felt so intensely before?
She’d never been in love, not even with Joaquin. They’d been best friends and she cared deeply for him. But she’d never known this funny tightness around her heart before. She’d never felt flushed or excited just looking at a man—wondering what he’d say next, wondering when he’d touch her again. She’d never tasted passion before Nate Kellison had kissed her.
But she couldn’t be falling in love with him. Uh-uh. No way. She’d known him for less than a day.
When he disappeared inside the barn, she was reminded that he’d be leaving once Hurricane Damon was said and done. Gone. Not a part of her life.
Jolene nodded, agreeing with the little voice inside her head that had guided her for so many years. Nate’s just here to do his job. He has no reason to stay. Doctor his cuts and bruises if you want. Fill his stomach with good food. But send him on his way before he hurts you. Before you hurt yourself by caring for someone else who’s only going to leave.
“Send him on his way,” she whispered out loud. It would be the smart thing to do.
“What’s that?” Lily yawned, or maybe it was a post-partum sigh. But the sound matched Jolene’s somber mood. “Anyway, Amber is just so beautiful. So perfect. I wish I could reach Gabe again. I don’t want him to miss a moment with his little girl.”
“The phone lines must be down all over the place. I’m sure he’ll call in as soon as he can.”
“I hope so. What about you and Nate? Do you have the supplies you need to ride this one out?”
Jolene and Nate.
Don’t even go there.
“We’ll be just fine.” Static clogged the line again. The winds must be going after the cell towers now, interrupting relays and cutting service. “Listen, Lily. I have to hang up. I need to call Dad while I still can.”
“Thanks for everything, Jolene. I mean it. Everything.”
Jolene disconnected the call, punched in her father’s number and headed for the next window. Her home on the Double J was a true ranch house—a single-level, sprawling L-shaped stucco with four bedrooms and too many empty corners for one person to bang around in by herself.
Joaquin had been the only child of older parents who’d spent their lives building this place. He’d grown up working the ample spread and had inherited the rich cattle land upon his parents’ death. But as the cancer made Joaquin sick and the bills mounted up,