Eden by the storm and floods.
“I know you qualify.” Jolene pointed an accusatory finger at Rocky in his makeshift pen. Her teasing was beneath him, judging by the way he continued scratching his mud-caked hide against one of the rails Nate had rigged between the metal posts that were still firmly anchored in the ground.
Jolene wasn’t worried that the coyote would be a threat to Rocky. The bull would make quick work of any creature that size who foolishly wandered into his pen. The barn cats were another matter, however. And Shasta, feisty and tough as he tried to be, would make a tasty-size morsel for a coyote hungry enough to venture up to the house and barn. Broody, the lab, wasn’t a fighter, but he’d be big enough to give any intruder a run for the money.
But whether they wound up predator or prey, Jolene didn’t want any of her little darlings to get hurt. Pursing her lips together, she gave a whistle. “Broody! Here, boy. Shasta!”
Their answering barks told her they were in the barn. The fact that they didn’t come running to her call told her that Nate was there, too. The dogs had been following him around all day, instantly switching loyalties to their new guest after a few commands in Nate’s no-nonsense voice and some rough and tumble games of fetch and wrestle.
Jolene sighed at the stab of loneliness that caught her by surprise.
Even the dogs had left her.
“Good grief, girl, get a grip.” She chastised herself at the fanciful notion, wishing her heart would take heed of her brain’s warning. She had to find a way to turn off those emotions and simply survive her and Nate’s remaining time together.
He was probably still up on the barn roof, patching the holes with sheets of plywood and temporarily waterproofing them with a tarp. Thankfully, her insurance and savings were intact. It was going to cost a small fortune to make the more permanent repairs that the house and ranch needed after Hurricane Damon had had his way. In the meantime, Nate had worked his very nice butt off making things livable again.
No, no, no, she cautioned herself. She couldn’t start thinking about Nate and the Double J and the future and staying.
“Find the dogs, Jolene.” She reminded herself she was looking for four-legged males, not the two-legged kind. “You’re here to find the dogs.”
Sliding through the opening between the barn doors, Jolene stepped inside and paused a moment to let her eyes adjust to the cool, shady interior. The pungent smells of hay and horses teased her nose and soothed her senses. She breathed in deeply, finding strength and serenity in the familiar scents.
Okay, she could do this. Jolene smiled, feeling a little less morose, a little more in control.
She whistled again. “Broody. Shasta.”
The two dogs came running from opposite corners of the barn. Shasta, the scrappy little fuzz mop with intelligent eyes and a stiff-legged gait, reached Jolene first. Broody, a big, tan pony of a dog loped behind him, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.
“There you are.” Jolene squatted down and petted each one thoroughly, earning adoring snuggles and happy woofs as she traded tummy rubs and ear scratches for renewed loyalty and affection. “Have you boys been busy? Come with Mama.”
Broody and Shasta trotted faithfully behind her as she hooked them up to the long leads that would secure them to the barn and give them access to food, water and a place to nap. They both agreed to a dog biscuit as a fair trade-off for limiting their running space.
Once the dogs were happily distracted, Jolene went in search of Nate. The footsteps and hammering on the roof two stories above her let her know exactly where she’d find him.
Dust and chips of wood and hay filtered down through the cracks in the roof and the loft overhead. She looked up to see fingers of sunlight shining in through a chink of roof. “Hmm. Mother Nature made me a skylight.”
Not that a hole in the roof over the section of the loft where she stored bales of hay was a practical thing. But there was something oddly romantic about a sun-warmed bed of hay in the secluded corner of the barn. It was like a small gift from Mother Nature after wreaking so much havoc in every other corner of the Double J.
A flash of shadow disrupted the celestial beauty of the light. That was Nate moving overhead.