“Just get down here,” Jonah ordered, reaching up even higher. “We’ll settle up later.” His shoulders were beginning to ache. “You sure you don’t want me climbing up there to get you?” he offered, watching Maggie’s painfully slow descent.
“I’m sure!” she snapped, irritated that it was taking her so incredibly long to reach him.
It certainly hadn’t felt as if it had taken her this long to climb up into the tree. But then, at the time, she’d been propelled by a dire sense of urgency. Maggie had been convinced that the floodwaters would just keep rising to the point that she would be in danger of being swept away.
Mercifully, they had receded and even though the rain kept falling, it didn’t do so with anywhere near the intensity that the weather bureau had initially promised.
If it had, all of Texas would have been submerged by now, Maggie thought, inching her way down. And then she managed to reach the man who had come to her rescue.
“Sorry,” Maggie apologized just as she finally reached Jonah’s arms. “I really didn’t mean to yell at you.”
“Did you yell?” he asked, feigning ignorance. “I didn’t notice.”
Having succeeded in lowering her into the saddle, Jonah shifted so that he could position himself right behind Maggie.
Seated snugly, he closed his arms around her as he took hold of the reins again.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
“Other than feeling stupid and having my pride wounded because I had to be rescued out of a tree? No,” Maggie answered.
Taking a moment longer to remain under the tree and somewhat out of the direct path of the storm, Jonah considered her answer.
“Could have been worse,” he told her.
Maggie found that she had to rouse herself in order to keep focused. Right now, she was losing herself in the warm feeling generated by having this hero’s arms wrapped around her.
“How?” she asked, her voice sounding almost hoarse. She coughed, clearing her throat.
“You could have not known how to climb a tree,” Jonah answered. He began to urge Cody to start heading away from the tree. The rain was just not letting up. “It looks like the floodwaters rushed through here before they receded back to a decent level.”
“They did,” she told him. “That’s why I was up in the tree. I lost track of time,” she ruefully admitted. “Do you have any idea how long I was up there?” Maggie asked.
“A long time,” Jonah deadpanned. “Your sister and Donovan just had their first baby a week ago. It was a boy,” he told her with a totally straight face, although she couldn’t turn around to see it. “They named him Jonah, after me.”
That was when Maggie laughed. “You know, you had me going there for a second,” she told him.
“Oh?” he asked innocently. He kept his head down, talking close to her ear so that she could hear him. “What gave me away?”
“Because after what we’ve just been through,” she told him, almost shouting so that he could hear her and not have the wind whip her words away, “Bellamy wouldn’t have gotten married without me there. Really,” she asked more seriously, “how long have I been out here?”
He thought back to what Rae Lemmon had said to him. “By my best estimation, probably close to twenty-four hours.”
That made sense, Maggie thought. “That would explain why I feel like I’m starving,” she said. And then she ventured another look up at the sky. She almost wished she hadn’t. “It looks like it’s going to rain harder,” she reported in dismay.
Without his hat to shield him, Jonah quickly glanced up and then looked down again. “That would be my guess,” he concurred.
She looked straight ahead and had no idea where they were going. She could hardly make out anything. The rain was obliterating everything around them.
“Are we going to get back to town in time?” she asked him anxiously.
That was easy enough for him to answer. “Nope, afraid not,” Jonah replied simply.
That startled Maggie enough for her to attempt to twist around to get a better look at him. She nearly wound up sliding off the horse.
Jonah immediately tightened his arms around her again. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to make any sudden moves when you’re riding double in the middle of a storm?”
“Never had a need for anyone to point that out before,” Maggie answered, feeling exasperated again. “If we’re not headed to town, then where are we going?”
“Well, we definitely need shelter so we’re going to the closest place I know of—if it’s still standing,” he qualified. He hadn’t checked on it since Hurricane Brooke had paid the area this unexpected visit.
He could feel Maggie growing antsy. “My place,” he told her. “It’s a one-room cabin, but right now, it’s probably our best bet if we want to wait out this newest wave of Hurricane Brooke,” he said.
As he answered her question, Jonah shifted ever so slightly so that he could pull the ends of his slicker apart. The second he did that, Jonah carefully tucked the two sides around the woman sitting directly in front of him.
“It’s not much,” he granted, “but at least it’ll give you some protection against this rain.”
“I’m already soaked,” she told him. “But thank you,” she added in a politer tone. Then, turning her face toward him—carefully this time so she wouldn’t slid off—Maggie added, “And thank you for coming out to look for me.”
“Hey, no big deal.” Jonah shrugged off her thanks. “As it turns out, I just happened to be in the neighborhood,” he cracked.
Maggie knew the man behind her had said something, but because the wind had increased, whipping his voice away, she hadn’t been able to hear him. “What?” she practically yelled.
Jonah started to repeat what he’d said, then gave up. Instead, he just shrugged. “Never mind.”
He didn’t think she heard that, either. Right now, it felt as if the wind was scattering his words to the four corners of the earth before they could be heard.
Leaning in over the woman he was holding tightly against his chest, afraid she would slide off if he loosened his grip even just a little bit, Jonah raised his voice and yelled, “We’ll talk later.”
She nodded, not bothering to try to answer him.
Maggie kept her face forward, searching the area for a sign of something that resembled a building or anywhere that they could take shelter until this latest onslaught of rain finally passed. There was nothing.
She had never felt this dismally wet and cold—and hungry—before.
Finally, just as she was about to give up all hope, she thought she could make out what looked to be a small cabin up ahead. For a second she fought the impulse to turn around and ask her white knight if what she saw was indeed his cabin. But considering the fact that her words would probably be lost before he even had a chance to hear them, Maggie decided that it would be in her best interest to just be patient and see if this was the actual final destination.
At this point, Maggie was grateful for any place that could keep them even moderately dry. She wasn’t picky.
When they came to a stop, Maggie saw that they were right in front of the cabin. Up close, it looked less rustic and more modern, but as long as it kept them dry, that was all that mattered.
Maggie could feel her white knight dismounting. She was right—this was their destination. At least until the storm had passed.
Holding on to Cody’s reins, Jonah faced her, waiting. “Need any help dismounting?” he offered.
She looked at him as if she debated whether or not to be offended.
“I’m Texas born and bred, so no,” she replied. The next second, she got off the horse as gracefully as possible. But when her feet hit the ground, she found that her legs were a lot less sturdy than she’d thought. The honest truth was they were downright wo
bbly, and she almost sank straight down to the ground.
And she would have if he hadn’t caught both her arms in an attempt to steady her.
“Careful,” Jonah cautioned.
Embarrassed, Maggie murmured a stricken, “Sorry about that.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. You spent a day up a tree. You’re lucky you still remember how to walk,” Jonah told her.
She took one tentative step only to find that her legs still insisted on buckling rather than supporting her.
“Not so sure I do,” she admitted.
There was a part of him that couldn’t believe he was actually holding Maggie Reeves like this, the way he had once dreamed of doing. Usually, dreams had a way of not measuring up to long-cherished expectations. However, in this case, holding Maggie Reeves against him was everything he had thought it would be—and more.
Her heart was doing a glorious, uninhibited dance in her chest and just for one wild moment, Maggie thought that Jonah was going to kiss her.
She could feel her breath all but backing up in her throat, held perfectly still by sheer anticipation. She wasn’t sure but she thought she might have even leaned in a little to offer him a better target.
And then nature interfered.
Again.
“The wind’s picking up again,” Jonah told her, pulling his head back. “We’d better get inside before it gets any worse.”
Maggie nodded, knowing that he was right and that in all likelihood, the weather had just stopped her from making a huge mistake.
She told herself that she was relieved but wasn’t altogether sure if she was.
Chapter 3
In contrast with the chaos that was going on directly outside, the moment that Maggie walked into the cabin, she was struck by its strong, clean lines. There were no unnecessary extras visible anywhere, nothing personal that pointed to the man who lived here whenever he was in town. It could have been a rustic hotel room waiting for someone to come and inhabit it. And at least for now, it had been spared by both the hurricane and the ensuing flood that had come in its wake.
If there was any detraction at all, it was that very little light came into the cabin.
“I don’t suppose the lights are working,” Maggie said. To test her theory, she hit the switch by the door. Nothing happened when she did. “Apparently not,” Maggie said with a resigned sigh.
Jonah looked up at the living area’s vaulted ceiling. “At least the roof is intact and not leaking,” he told her.
“There is that,” she agreed with a smile as she glanced up.
Jonah made his way over to the gray flagstone fireplace. “I’ll get a fire going. That should warm us up a little.” He turned toward Maggie. His eyes slid up and down the woman and for the first time since he’d finally managed to locate her, he realized that she was drenched and dripping. “Why don’t you go look in the bedroom closet and see if you can find something to change into?”
Almost self-consciously, Maggie glanced down at herself. There was a pool of water forming on the wooden floor just around her feet. She looked up again.
“What about you?” she asked.
“I’ll change my clothes, too. But first I have to go back out and put Cody up for the time being.” He could see she was about to ask him where he planned to put the horse. There was no barn on the premises. “The shed behind the house is still up.”
“That’s a piece of luck,” she remarked.
“Yeah,” he agreed with a laugh. “Otherwise, I’d have to bring Cody in here with us.” He saw the surprised look on Maggie’s face. The way he saw it, he wasn’t suggesting anything that unusual. “I can’t take a chance on losing our only means of transportation. Otherwise, we’ll be stranded.”
Made sense, she thought. “Need any help?”
Jonah sat back on his heels and watched as the bits of paper he had tucked in between the firewood began to burn. The flames spread, greedily consuming the wood that was all around them.
“No,” Jonah answered, rising once he was sure that the fire in the hearth wasn’t going to go out. “I got this covered. You just do what you need to do to get dry. The bedroom’s back there,” he added, pointing toward the rear of the cabin.
Not that it would have taken her an inordinate amount of time to find the room. The cabin consisted of the living area with a kitchenette on one side and a bedroom along with a three-quarter bath tucked directly behind the back of the fireplace.
Maggie looked after him uncertainly. “You sure you don’t mind my rummaging through your closet?” she asked just as he crossed back to the front door.
Jonah smiled, surprised that she was standing on ceremony, given the unusual situation they found themselves in. “There’re no skeletons in there if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Maggie flushed slightly. “It’s not that. I just thought that...”
Feeling awkward—after all, she didn’t know the man that well—her voice trailed off, letting him fill in the blanks for himself.
“And you won’t find anything in there to embarrass you—or me,” he assured her. Turning up the collar of the all-but-useless rain slicker, he put his hand on the doorknob, turning it. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Jonah promised.
The next second, he pulled open the door and stepped out into the gusting rain.
Maggie hurried over to the front window to watch Jonah for as long as she could before he disappeared around the side of the cabin. From what she could see, it didn’t look as if the hurricane was going to double back. With any luck, she thought, crossing her fingers, Brooke was done with them.
Now if the rain would just let up...
Backing away from the window, Maggie glanced down at the wooden floor she had just traversed. Her entire path was marked by drops of water.
“Time to stop leaving puddles,” she murmured. “Guess I’ll go see what he does have in his closet.”
She’d thought that maybe Jonah would have some items of clothing that an old girlfriend had left behind—or perhaps even a current one. The way she saw it, it was more than possible. A man who looked like Jonah Colton couldn’t be going through life unattached for long, she reasoned. He was the kind of man that women literally threw themselves at.
But all she could find in the lone closet as well as in the tall chest of drawers were his clothes. Debating, Maggie finally decided to borrow one of his flannel shirts, but there was no way in the world that she was going to put on a pair of his jeans. Jonah Colton had a good eight inches or more on her, not to mention about eighty or so pounds—if not more. Any of his jeans that she would have put on would have come parachuting down.
She listened for a moment to make sure Jonah hadn’t come back, but only silence met her ears. Moving quickly she stripped off her utterly soaked shirt and put on one of the button-down work shirts from the closet.
Just as she thought, it fit her like a tent. She tied the ends together to make it nominally shorter.
Even so, it was way too big for her. It felt roomy enough for two of her to fit into the shirt.
Maggie had just finished assessing herself in front of the freestanding large mirror when she heard the front door open and then close again. Holding her breath, she hurried out to make sure that the person she heard was Jonah and not someone who had stumbled upon the cabin while looking for some shelter from the storm.
She released her breath when she saw it was Jonah.
“Is your horse all tucked away and dry for the time being?” Maggie asked as she joined Jonah in the main room.
“For now.” His eyes swept over her. He did his best not to laugh. “I see you found something to wear—sort of,” he tagged on, his eyes sweeping over her. “And you kept on your jeans,” he realized. “Why?” Jonah asked, tossing off the rain slicker and heading for his bedroom.
�
��Well, decency is the first reason that comes to mind,” she answered. “You and I aren’t anywhere near the same size and while I can get away with sporting a pup tent as a shirt, there’s no way I could wear a pair of your jeans without constantly worrying that I was about to wind up executing a pratfall.”
“Point taken,” he answered, his voice floating in from the back where he had disappeared. “Wow,” he cried, “it feels good to peel off these wet clothes.” He seemed only half-aware that she was there.
He might only be half-aware of her but that definitely was not her problem, Maggie thought. To say the least, she was exceedingly aware of his presence. So much so that she was trying hard not to envision the way he looked right now, standing in his bedroom, bare chested and who knew what else was bare—trying to decide what to put on to replace his wet clothes.
“You know,” he said as he came out, startling her, “I do have a belt that I can lend you. It would help to keep my jeans up for you,” he offered.
She couldn’t help staring at his waist. Flat and muscular, her guess was that his belt would still be way too big to her.
“You might not have noticed,” she told him, “but I’m a lot smaller than you are.”
“Oh, I noticed, all right,” he assured her.
Jonah had become keenly aware of every single inch of Maggie years ago, long before this hurricane had hit. He’d noticed her when he had still been an ugly duckling and she had been a swan. And she was right. Her waist was way smaller than his. He thought of a solution.
“I have a length of rope you could use around here somewhere,” he said, looking about the living area.
“That’s okay,” she told him, waving away his suggestion. “They’re practically dry.”
“Liar,” he teased. But he wasn’t about to push this. Jonah rolled up his sleeves one at a time. “You said you were hungry.”
Her eyes were drawn to his muscular forearms, and she remembered the way his arms had felt around her. Belatedly, she realized that he was probably waiting for her to answer.
Colton 911: Cowboy's Rescue Page 3