Page 42

He moved toward the sound of her voice, feeling his way along the base of the cliff until he bumped into something soft.

Her small hand shot out and captured his arm, dropping down to clasp his hand.

“Are you all right?” He touched her face in the darkness, only a silhouette of her image visible and the whites of her eyes glowing pale gray in the inky blackness of the cliff’s shadow. A flash of lightning illuminated her face, highlighting wide, brown eyes and tan skin.

“I’m fine. I was more concerned about you.” She leaned her cheek into his palm briefly and then straightened. “They’ll be back in a minute when they figure out we ditched the horses.”

Reed glanced around at the impenetrable face of the cliffs. The wind blew so hard, he bent double under the pressure. “If this storm gets any worse, they won’t be worried so much about us.” A quick glance at the clouds lit by lightning confirmed his worse fears. The green tinge and swirling tails dipping toward the ground meant something to be feared more than rustlers. A tornado.

Mona tugged at his hand. “Come on. I know a place to hide.”

* * *

MONA INCHED ALONGthe base of the cliff. Brief flashes of lightning lit her path to the cliff caves she had explored with Catalina and Jesse when they were younger. If she was where she thought she was, there were caves close by.

Rocks, small tree limbs and other debris flew through the air, tossed about by the raging storm. Just as she was beginning to think she had the wrong place, the first pellets of hail rained down on her shoulders and a black gaping maw opened up in the side of the bluff.

The cave!

Mona ducked into the entrance as the sky broke open. Rain fell in sheets, interspersed with pea-size hail, growing as large as marbles.

Reed crowded in behind her, the overhang of the cliff sheltering them from the worst the storm had to offer.

When the wind drove the rain and hail into the cave’s opening, Reed wrapped his arms around her and hauled her deeper into the dark interior.

Her skin and clothes soaked through by the rain, Mona shivered. “Think there are any animals in here with us?” The words came out between the chattering of her teeth.

“If there were, we’d have heard them by now.” He stood still in the darkness, his hands resting lightly on her arms.

Surrounded by inky blackness, Mona thanked her Texas stars she was with Reed. His strength made her feel as if the storm and the rustlers couldn’t touch her here. Then he dropped his hold on her arms and the cold enveloped her like an icy shroud.

With every flash of lightning, Reed moved a little farther away, searching the cave’s interior. “Looks safe enough for now. Maybe the storm will thwart the rustlers and they’ll give up and go home.”

“Preferably, without my cattle.”

For a few short minutes, neither spoke until Reed broke the silence. “Why didn’t you want me to tell the sheriff you were pregnant?”

Mona sucked in a breath and let it out. After her run-in with the sheriff, she knew Reed would ask her sooner or later about her reluctance to spill the news. But why here? Why now, when so much had happened? “I have my reasons.”

“If you go to town much longer, someone is bound to notice.”

“Then I won’t go to town.”

“What about when you deliver?”

“That’ll be in Amarillo.”

“If you make it there in time.” His fingers found her in the dark, curling around her arms. “What if you need to call 911?”

“I won’t.” She’d rather cross her legs for a hundred miles than allow the news of her child’s birth be announced over the local dispatcher’s radio. Her life and that of her baby could be at risk if a certain person were to find out the owner of Rancho Linda was expecting.

“What about when you bring the baby home?” Reed asked. “How will you explain it then?”

“I’ll say I adopted it.” She turned away, knowing her secret would get out, but refusing to cross that bridge until she had to.

A chill coursed across her skin. Now that she could slow down and get a grasp on the situation, the shock of being shot at sank in along with the worry of keeping her baby’s lineage a secret. Her shivers intensified to body-racking tremors. “I c-c-can’t s-stop sh-shaking.”

Reed folded her into his arms and held her close, rubbing his hands up and down her back. “You’re soaked to the skin.” He tugged her chambray shirt up high enough that he could place his warm hands against the cold skin of her lower back. Heat radiated from that point outward.