Page 1 of Rainwater

Chapter

One

J ennifer Horn stood her ground, daring Jay Butler to hit her.

The sun-drenched parking lot sweltered in the late-morning heat, ripples of hot hazy vapor rising from the black asphalt like steam from an overheated kettle.

The wind blew swirling dust around the lot, rattling the leaves on the trees with a dry papery sound.

A crowd had formed to watch the quarrel between the two prominent Silver Creek citizens. Jay’s angry voice rose in pitch and the people watching stirred nervously as he raised his hand to slap her. She could almost feel the sting from the anticipated slap. Backing down hadn’t even occurred to her.

Her eyes shifted to Tucker who stood behind his father, his eyes bleak and filled with dread.

The boy’s body was rigid and ready to spring forward.

Jennifer implored him with her eyes to stay put.

If he interfered, Jay’s wrath would be turned solely on him and she couldn’t bear that.

Her eyes slid to the nervously shifting crowd.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

A hand came out of nowhere to clasp Jay Butler’s wrist, and a solid barrier stood between her and Jay, eclipsing the sun. The stranger towered over her, and Jennifer noted that his deep husky voice was soft with menace.

The anxiety that had churned in her stomach when Jay raised his hand slowly disappeared.

And when the stranger moved sideways, bringing Jay with him, she stared up, searching out his eyes.

Her father had told that she could always gauge a man by his eyes, but this one wore mirrored sunglasses, his eyes concealed.

He had on a black Mexican-style hat with shiny silver conchos decorating the band.

Two thin chords were cinched tightly under his dark stubbled chin.

If it weren’t for his long, black hair and the missing gun belt that would look natural strapped to his lean hips and strong thigh, he would look like Clint Eastwood in High Plains Drifter.

He even stood like a gunslinger.

Her eyes traveled over the rest of him as he glared at Jay with threat that even she felt. With Jay’s wrist tightly manacled in the stranger’s powerful, black-gloved hand, Jennifer felt suddenly and unexplainably safe. Even the crowd behind her seemed to settle down at the stranger’s appearance.

As the standoff continued, Jennifer’s eyes roamed over him again. A tan mackintosh with a brown leather collar reached almost to dusty, scuffed black snakeskin boots complete with spurs.

A rodeo rider , she wondered silently. He wore a blue chamois shirt, the top three buttons undone, showing off his elegant tanned neck and the beginnings of a smooth chest. Black jeans clung to his body, revealing hard male strength, and she recognized the gold belt buckle for what it represented. Yeah. A rodeo rider.

“Get your hands off me, chief!” Jay snarled as he tried to jerk his wrist free.

Jennifer saw Tucker stiffen. His soft mouth pulled into a grimace, and she felt more sorry for the boy than she could ever show. She knew Tucker would never accept her sympathy. He was too proud.

She sighed softly and shook her head. “Jay, you’re such a jackass.”

The stranger smiled, a soft upturning of his mouth. He shot her a sidelong glance. “A woman with backbone?”

Seeing the two men together, she realized what a dandy Jay was compared to the plainly dressed stranger.

Jay’s blond hair was curly and short. He was as fair as the stranger was dark, and he looked soft compared to this tall man.

Whereas Jay was stocky and heavyset, the stranger was cool, lean and sleek like a panther.

Jay wore brand-new blue jeans that had never seen a day’s work and a flashy red cowboy shirt with black piping.

A gold bracelet sat on one wrist while the glint from a gold watch could be seen on the other. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.

The only jewelry the stranger had on was a small gold hoop in his ear with a little dangling golden feather and a watch with a turquoise band.

There was something so honest about his appearance, she thought. A hardworking man without vanity who dressed for comfort and ease of movement. No wolf in sheep’s clothing, just pure wolf.

As for Jay, he had more brazenness than brains.

Couldn’t Jay see the wild danger in this man? Couldn’t he feel the power emanating from him like the heat rising from the asphalt?

“You want to call the sheriff, ma’am?” The soft, husky drawl of the stranger’s voice was enticing, hypnotic. It flowed over her like warm honey.

She noticed that he never took his eyes off Jay.

“No. Let him go,” she finally responded, disgusted with Jay and his public display of temper.

The stranger didn’t just let Jay go. He shoved him away from her.

“Why don’t you go and pick on someone your own size, cowboy?” the stranger drawled as he squared his shoulders and placed his black-gloved hands on his hips. He slowly perused Jay, one hand moving to the stubble on his chin. “I reckon I’m too big and she’s too small.”

The insult struck home and Jay puffed himself up like a peacock. “Why don’t you go to hell?” he said between clenched teeth.

“I’ve already been there.”

The smooth change of pitch in his voice caused Jennifer to wonder what the cryptic comment meant.

It sounded as if he had more to say. She could almost hear him finish the sentence, And I’ve never gotten out.

Well, after this confrontation he would be gone and she would never know.

She surprised herself by wanting to know, and the thought suddenly saddened her.

“Why don’t you mind your own business, chief?” Jay sneered the word as if it was distasteful to say. He stepped forward but halted at the imperceptible movement of the stranger’s body. He backed up, as though finally recognizing the danger he was in.

“I’m making it my business, cowboy, so you better back off.”

“Jay, come on,” Tucker said in a firm voice.

“Who the hell do you think you are, coming into my town and telling me what to do?” He violently brushed off the young boy’s hand.

Jennifer opened her mouth to tell Jay off, when the stranger put his hand on her arm. She was shocked at the heat of him even through the leather glove. “I don’t pay any mind to braying jackasses, ma’am.”

She had to concentrate on not laughing, but her twitching lips gave her away.

“Bitch,” Jay growled, lifting his hand to strike her.

With breathtaking speed the stranger reached out and grabbed Jay’s fingers, bending them back. A tiny amount of pressure had Jay on his knees in the dust.

With a soft threat in his voice, the stranger said, “Apologize to the lady.”

Jay’s eyes narrowed in pain and anger.

“Now!” the stranger ordered.

“Sorry,” Jay said tightly.

The stranger let him go, then turned his gaze to Tucker. “You all right, kid?”

Tucker’s head lifted and his nostrils flared.

For a long moment he stared at the tall, dark man with a look of wariness passing quickly through the chocolate-brown depths of his eyes, but Jennifer sensed he wasn’t afraid of the man.

It puzzled her, but before she could even think about the quiet exchange, Jay once again caught her attention.

He’d scrambled back to his feet. Eyeing the stranger with hatred, he rubbed his fingers, and then glared at Jennifer. “You’ll be sorry, Jennifer, you little bit—” He glanced back at the stranger who pulled his gaze from Tucker and lifted his dark eyebrows, just waiting.

“I already am,” she murmured shakily, rubbing her wrist where Jay’s hold had made the skin tender.

As if with a will of their own, her eyes lifted to the stranger’s and her blood seemed to slow and heat.

The lethal quality she’d sensed in him hadn’t diminished at all.

There was deep anger in this man, she thought.

An anger that went down to the soles of his boots and suggested he would like nothing better than to rearrange Jay’s face.

She also sensed that he was holding back because of her.

He intrigued her. Why would a man obviously not a citizen of Silver Creek, Texas, stand up for her?

No one else had come to her rescue because they were all afraid of Jay and his brothers.

Clovis, who was twenty-seven and the second oldest, was vicious and mean.

It was rumored he killed one of his own dogs when he brayed too loud one morning and wakened Clovis after a night of drunken brawling.

Jackson, at twenty-four, liked to say obscene things to women for their sheer shock effect.

Emmett, twenty-one, would do anything Jay told him to do, even hold down the owner of the feed store while Jay punched him until he agreed to a lower price on feed.

And there was talk that Stuart, the youngest at eighteen, had smashed a truck owner’s new vehicle just because it was better-looking than Emmett’s truck.

The Butlers were men who thought they were above the law and terrorized anyone who got in their way.

But not this man. He showed no fear of Jay at all. She had a feeling even if he knew about the dark rumors circulating about Jay, he still wouldn’t care.

“Take a hike, cowboy,” the man said. The menace in his voice was unmistakable and Jennifer felt an unaccountable thanks for the act of kindness he was showing a perfect stranger. She had no doubt that if he hadn’t stepped in, Jay would have slapped her.

Jay gave her one more vicious look, a wealth of dark promise in his eyes. Grabbing Tucker by his upper arm, he stalked away.

Jay’s departure seemed to cue the crowd that the excitement was over for the moment. Some of the onlookers began to leave.

The stranger turned toward Jennifer and pushed the hat off his head to hang by the joined cord. Pulling off his gloves, he tucked them into his belt just like a rodeo rider and raked his hands through his straight dark hair.

It gave Jennifer a moment to study his strong features, and she discovered that he was really easy on the eyes.