Riding the storm - By Julie Miller Page 0,45
in?”
She retreated a step to let him enter, but he grabbed the screen, braced his arm against the jamb and didn’t budge. Against a backdrop of charcoal gray sky and rain, he just stood there—a battered, bloodied warrior. Grim eyed and tight-lipped with fatigue and pain, he looked as if he’d barely escaped eight seconds of hell with a bull in the ring.
Jolene frowned. Besides the fact he was letting water blow into her foyer, she was annoyed with him for standing there and taking the beating from the wind and rain when he didn’t have to. “California…”
He nodded at her use of the nickname, as if he’d expected it. “The horses are bedded down, and as far as I can tell, everything’s secure. I saw that you have a spare room in the barn. I’m gonna bunk out there. I just wanted to make sure you were okay and tell you not to worry. I’ll check in with you later.”
She supposed the twisting movement of his lips in the middle of that five-o’clock shadow was supposed to be a reassuring smile. So he had had enough of her. He needed a break, some privacy. Or maybe he just didn’t want her to see him suffer.
The first reason was a blow to her feminine pride. The second was an insult to her as a human being. Neither was a good enough excuse for him to lie on a cot in the barn when there were three perfectly good beds and a sofa in her house.
Jolene propped a hand on her hip. “That’s ridiculous. There is plenty of space in this house. You can come in here and be warm and dry, and we’d never have to run into each other if that’s what you want.”
Nate narrowed his eyes. “I promised I wouldn’t let things get personal between us. Out by that arroyo—I kind of forgot.”
He was apologizing for something she’d been fantasizing about? Lordy, had she been on the wrong wavelength.
Jolene gripped the door and curled her toes into the growing puddle of water on the floor. “I guess…I forgot, too. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
Something in his eyes flickered, but then his face became a controlled mask once more. “So much has happened today, it feels like we’ve known each other a lot longer than we have. But it has only been one day. Your dad said you’ve been a widow for just a few months, and I’ve got some ghosts of my own, and we’re just supposed to be together to work. To save lives. And animals and cars and trucks and things,” he concluded with some of that deadpan humor.
But Jolene couldn’t bring herself to smile. She’d lived through enough goodbyes in her life to know one when she heard it, no matter how noble the excuse. “So you’re going to stay in the barn, in those wet, ratty clothes, with that gash on your shoulder. Now, is that because I’m in mourning and you think I can’t handle having a man around, or because my dad wouldn’t approve of us being together unless we’re working?”
He released the door, not listening to any argument. “I’m staying in the barn.”
Jolene stamped her foot as the screen door slammed. She shoved it back open. “Get in here.”
Nate slowly turned and came back up onto the porch, standing almost chest to chest with her. He looked deep into her eyes, asking her to read the seriousness of his intent. “I gave my word to your father that I would keep you safe. From everything. I gave my word to you. If I come in, I might not be able to keep those promises. And I don’t know if you’re ready for that. I don’t know if I am.”
The rain splashed her face as she stared at him. Was she missing something here? Would another, more experienced woman be able to interpret the subtext of what he was saying? Turning him away went against every nurturing instinct she possessed. It went against every womanly desire she felt.
For Jolene, it wasn’t that complicated a decision to make. The man needed her shelter; she needed his company.
She grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him inside.
She let him drip on her floor while she closed and locked both doors.
Then she wrapped her arms around his waist, mindful of his wounded shoulder and startled catch of breath. When his arms slowly folded around her back, she tucked her head beneath his