Rocky Mountain Hero. Audra Harders
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hang up the phone quick enough. He’ll have your truck fixed in no time, ma’am.”
Melanie faltered, the reality of her situation setting in. “Wait. I have to get to Montrose. I can’t just stop here.”
“You have a better plan?” Guessing he knew her answer, he turned and walked back to his pickup. “It’ll be tight, but the two of you can squeeze in the backseat of the cab.”
Her shoulders sagged as she grabbed her boots out of the rut and hobbled after him, the mud soaking through her socks and squishing between her toes. This wasn’t happening. All because of dead video game batteries and a washed-out road, her dreams of a new beginning for her and Jason were slipping away on a mud slick of their own.
Reaching down into the truck bed, he pulled out a blanket and handed it to her. “Here.”
He shrugged into a rain slicker while she wrapped the blanket over her shoulders and pulled the front ends together in her fists. Not pretty, but at least she’d protect the backseat from too much mud.
A squeal echoed from across the road. Jason had found an unscorched lodgepole pine, his shimmy already placing him halfway to the top. A few more branches up and he’d be eye to eye with a squirrel.
“Jason.” She waved her arm back and forth. “Come down so we can go.”
He slid down between the branches and, with a short leap, hit the ground. She snagged him as he tried to run past and pointed him toward the ranch truck. His mouth fell open. “What if someone steals my games out of Ol’ Blue?”
Gabe stepped up beside him and stared at the bright yellow pickup. With a smudged knuckle, he rubbed the bottom of his jaw. “Ol’ Blue?”
Melanie shifted her weight. A stone dug into her bare foot. Before she could answer, Jason brightened. “Mom bought it blue and had it painted, but the name kinda stuck.”
Gabe stared at the vehicle and then, tilted his head to view the slope it had slid down. A faint crease in his cheek appeared as he nodded in understanding. “I see. Stuck.”
Following his gaze, the meaning of his words hit home.
She was stuck. In the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by strangers. And no one to call for help.
She couldn’t even pay for repairs on her truck beyond a flat tire.
The exhilaration she’d awakened with that morning at the thought of creating a new and better life for her and Jason now sank away in the tracks of the old yellow truck leading to the bottom of the muddy slope. A sick lump settled in her stomach.
So close. She’d been so close to holding her dream.
Lord, what do you want from me?
Gabe stared out the window of the truck as Hank drove the dirt lane to the ranch house. Fence repairs demanded attention, the cattle were nowhere near sorted, and Zac waited for reports Gabe hadn’t finished. If his day unraveled any more, he’d be sitting down to dinner when the rooster crowed in the morning.
On top of that, the responsibility of the auction raced through his head. He glanced down at his watch and wiped the dirt off the dial. One-thirty. A chance he’d make it to town before Doc Hutchins left on his rounds hung by a slim thread. He shifted against the seat of the truck, pressing against the spot on his lower back where Melanie had caught him in her embrace. For a moment, the urge to wrap his arm around both of them and keep them safe had swept over him. How could a man prepare for a zinger like that?
How did he recover?
Gabe caught sight of Melanie in the rearview mirror, her eyes wide and cheeks stained with color beneath the dirt. Nerves danced in his shoulder at the memory of her soft arm pressed against him as they sat stuck in the rut beneath the truck. With his weight, he could have hurt her when his foot slipped and he’d tumbled down beside her. And then she’d asked if he was okay.
Elbow propped against the window, Gabe slumped his jaw against his knuckles. Wildfires, reduced stock and limited pasture—he’d thought he’d pretty much run the course of God’s plagues.
He’d thought wrong.
The truck turned the bend and broke out of the trees into the ranch compound. A yellow Labrador retriever barked as they pulled up in front of the house. Gabe opened his door and caught a handful of scruff as the dog barreled over him, planting muddy paws across his lap and flopping against Hank. Gabe nabbed the wagging tail before wet dog hair plastered the dashboard. “Fletcher, down.”
The dog tilted his head, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth in a pant. He pawed the wheel and a sharp blast of the horn filled the air. Gabe pointed at the ground. “Out.”
Fletcher scrambled back over his lap, launched off the seat and trotted toward the open door of the ranch office.
“Does he bite?” a small voice called from the back.
Gabe looked over at the boy with blond hair and blue eyes just like his mother’s. “Not unless you’re dinner.”
A smile broke out across the kid’s face. “Cool. I like dogs. Can I go play with him?”
“You bet, if—”
Jason shot through the open door faster than a squirrel after the last nut of the season. Melanie tried to catch him, but too late. “Jason, wait.”
Her brows drawn, she angled her chin toward the open door. As she puffed out a breath, the family resemblance between mother and son solidified in Gabe’s mind.
Hank laughed. “That boy has more energy than a coon-hound on scent.”
“He’s been cooped up for three hours in a truck.” Melanie clutched the blanket ends together.
“He’s a boy, ma’am.” Hank cut the engine and climbed out of the truck.
“Every inch of him, I’m afraid.” She dropped back against the seat.
Gabe unlatched the door and swung around. Melanie sat squinting into the sun, making her look more like a wistful little girl than the mom of a rambunctious boy. No woman had the right to look so feminine with mud streaked across her face and an army blanket clutched to her chin. He shoved his door wide. “Welcome to the Circle D.”
Angling out of his seat, he held the door open with his knee and offered a hand. Melanie pulled the edges of the blanket tighter. Gabe tugged the slicker over his head and tossed it in the back of the truck.
The kitchen door opened. “Gabe? Manny said someone had a wreck on the ridge?” His mom stepped out, cup and towel in her hand. Setting them down, she hurried across the yard to the truck. Her brows shot up as she gave him a quick once-over. “What happened to you?”
“Bad road.” Mud coated his back making him feel like a moth outgrowing his cocoon. He needed a shower. His guests probably wanted one, too.
“Hmm, mighty big puddle.” Grace Davidson trained her keen eyesight on the newcomers. “Anything serious?”
“Just a little dent. Nothing Manny can’t fix.”
Melanie snagged her foot on the edge of the blanket as she slid out of her seat. The rough wool tangled around her bare ankle, throwing her off balance. Gabe circled her waist with his arm and bent down to loose the fabric. Skin as soft as the belly of a newborn foal grazed his rough fingertips.
Melanie glared at him. She bit her lip and grabbed at the blanket edge beneath her foot. Her ear pressed against his jaw. “Meet Grace Davidson, my mother.”
“Welcome to the Circle D.” She tilted her head and gave Melanie a high brow. “Though by the looks of it, our welcome isn’t too warm.”
Fishing out from beneath the blanket, Melanie held out her hand. “Sorry to be a bother. Our truck had a little incident.”
The clang of steel fence panels from the loading corrals beside