Betting the Rainbow (Harmony)

by Thomas, Jodi

  In the shadows, with town only fifty yards away, she felt like she wasn’t truly in the world. The man who had little to say could talk about poker easily, only they both knew he was making love to her not with his words, but with the way he said them.

  They might not have kissed, but they’d begun the game all lovers play, only this time for her the stakes might be too high. With all the boys in the backseats of cars and the one-night stands, she’d never risked her heart. This time might be different.

  She was falling hard for a man who wouldn’t be in town long enough to carry out all the promises he was making with his touch.

  Dusti had never played hard to get. In fact, she had no problem being the first to make a move, but this time she hesitated. She needed him and if she let things move too far, too fast, she might lose him. The smart thing to do was play along until the poker game was played, and then they’d finish the other game they both wanted to play.

  Only not kissing him was pure torture when every bone in her body wanted to jump on top of him.

  Finally, when a sheriff’s office patrol car circled through the parking lot, they knew it was time to go.

  She drove him back to where he’d parked his car, and he climbed out without touching her again.

  “Tomorrow?” she said before he closed the door.

  “I’ll check on Austin and then be over.”

  “Good.”

  Neither said good night. As she drove away, Dusti tried to concentrate on the rules he’d told her, but his hand sliding along her side was all that she could remember clearly.

  At this rate she wouldn’t be able to play Crazy Eights by next Friday night.

  Then, as she pulled the pickup beside the house, she realized something. Maybe he was already playing her. Maybe his plan was to turn her on to the point where she couldn’t concentrate.

  With a frustrated sigh, she realized he was succeeding. In fact, she was helping him along. If she didn’t watch it, she’d be Play-Doh by Friday night.

  Chapter 20

  HARMONY COUNTY HOSPITAL

  DAWN PAINTED THE EASTERN HORIZON OUTSIDE HIS WINDOW when Austin finally managed to open his eyes. He felt like someone had super-glued his eyelids together. He had a headache that pounded so hard he feared it might fracture his skull, and his left leg throbbed with each heartbeat.

  Wild guess, but this wasn’t going to be a good day.

  The night had been rough; he woke up a few times and remembered talking to Kieran once and the doctor for a while. He’d even thought that Ronny had washed the blood off his hands.

  At some point he’d stayed alert long enough to piece together everything that had happened. The pigs heading straight toward him, the shot that hit his leg, the operation to remove lead. He remembered the doctor telling him he’d been lucky. If the bullet had been an inch over, he’d have bled out before help got there.

  Somehow he didn’t feel very lucky. If the bullet had been four inches to the left it would have hit the tree. Now that sounded lucky.

  Each time he’d lost the struggle with pain, they’d give him more medicine, and the darkness pulled him back to his dreams as the world slipped away. Horrible nightmares he had to fight his way out of again and again. He’d gone back and forth so many times, at one point he couldn’t remember which was real and which was nightmare.

  Finally, it was morning and the dull pain told him he’d landed in reality.

  He turned slightly and saw Ronny sleeping in the chair by his bed. She had on sweatpants with dried dirt stuck in several spots. Her top was a different color green than her pants and her shoes must have washed up on some shore before she put them on.

  “Hey,” he said, just loud enough to wake her. “Which one of us was hit by a truck last night?”

  She stretched and smiled at him.

  Austin forgot about his headache. “Dear God, I love waking up and seeing you first thing. Even dressed like you swam over, you’re downright adorable, Ronny. I’ve never met a woman who settles my world like you do.”

  He reached for her and felt the straps around his arms and feet. Nothing new. He’d felt them before when he’d come to in hospitals. Restrained for his own good. So he wouldn’t fall out of bed or tear his IV out. So he wouldn’t fight his way out of one of his nightmares.

  Austin kept his voice calm as he asked, “Any chance you could untie me and we could take a shower together?”

  She scrubbed her head, making her hair fly in every direction before settling back into curls around her face. “The nurse tied you down last night when you kept thrashing around.” She hesitated, then added, “I don’t know if they’ll untie you, but I could ask.”

  He saw a bruise just below her eye. “Did I do that?”

  Ronny touched her cheek as if she could brush the proof away. “You didn’t mean to. You were just having a nightmare.”

  He didn’t bother to ask about what. His nightmares were all the same. He was trapped. Fire surrounded him. He could smell his own flesh burning. He needed to get out, but he couldn’t find his team.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, realizing just how much he meant it.

  She stood. “It doesn’t matter. I’m glad I was here last night. I’m not sure the nurse could have handled you alone.”

  Austin closed his eyes, not wanting to think about what he’d done. They’d tied him down at night when he’d been burned. That was one reason he’d walked away from rehab. He didn’t want to be tied down like an animal again.

  “Tell the nurse to unbuckle me, would you?” He wouldn’t have blamed her if she refused. “It’s all right. I’m wide awake now.”

  Ronny nodded and left.

  A few minutes later a nurse followed her back into the room. Cautiously, he released the leather first around Austin’s hands and then his feet. “The doc will be in soon. You’re scheduled to go home today, Mr. Hawk. Do you need a pain pill for the trip home?”

  “No,” Austin said, rubbing his wrists as if the binding had been handcuffs and not soft restraints. “I’ll take any antibiotics I need to, but I don’t want painkillers.”

  The nurse looked over at Ronny for confirmation.

  When she nodded, he left.

  Austin laughed. “Looks like you’re responsible for me. That’s what happens when you spend the night with a nut job—you have to take him home and care for him.”

  “You’re not a nut job.”

  “I have nightmares that would send people running from the theater if they made them into a movie. I apparently beat up beautiful ladies in my sleep. That bruise proves it.” He looked away, not wanting to see her feeling sorry for him. Hell, he’d had all the “feeling sorry” that he could handle in this lifetime.

  Ronny moved closer and put her cool hands on either side of his face. “Look at me,” she said.

  He did what she said, not because it was an order, but because he wanted to study her one last time before she said good-bye.

  “What happened to me,” she started, without turning his head loose, “was an accident. Nothing more. You didn’t hit me. I just got in the way of your nightmare.”

  “I have them every night,” he admitted, even though he’d lied to the doctors at the fort and said they were rare.

  “Then I’m not sleeping anywhere near you.” Without hesitation she lowered her mouth to his and kissed him hard and quick. “Does that settle the point?”

  When she pulled away, he smiled, trying to figure out this woman before him. “So I guess this means you’re not taking me home with you?”

  “No. If they let you out today, I’ll call Kieran. He said he’d help you get back to your place, and the Delaneys said they’d check on you twice a day till the doc says you’re fine. Abby says she can change your bandage and check to make sure the wound is healing properly. I offered to deliver meals until you�
��re getting around.”

  “You guys think you’ve got it all figured out.” He lifted his hand to cup her face and ran his thumb lightly over the bruise. Part of him wanted to say he was sorry one more time, but he knew she’d have none of it.

  “It’s either put up with us or you move in with the Joneses. The farmer and his wife offered to house you until you’re well.”

  “No way.” His thumb brushed across her lips. “The last thing I want to do is see those boys again.” Her lips were still moist. “Did you just kiss me, or was that just something I wanted you to do so badly I thought it happened?”

  She smiled. “I kissed you. I’ve been thinking about it all night. Your body’s solid as a rock all over, but you have the most kissable lips I’ve ever seen.”

  “So, you did spend the night with me? And apparently felt my body . . . all over.”

  She nodded. “I told the nurse that I was family. They even let me stay when they checked the wound on your leg. I guess you could say I’ve seen quite a lot of you lately.”

  “Wouldn’t want to return the viewing, would you? Take off that sweatshirt and I think it might help with my healing. Better than any therapy.” Even drugged up and hurting, he wanted her.

  A noise from the hallway drew their attention. The nurse’s tone sounded frustrated. “I told you, ma’am, you cannot come into this wing. Visitors are limited to family only.”

  “I don’t want to see any patient, you idiot!” the woman yelled. “I’m here to see my daughter. Far as she’s fallen into no telling what kind of sin, it’s still my duty to help her.”

  Austin thought he recognized the voice. Dark rainy night. Bossy lady who was stuck in the mud. Dallas Logan had to be in the hallway and heading this way.

  He turned to confirm his suspicions with Ronny, but Ronny had disappeared. The space between his bed and the window was empty.

  “You can’t come in here,” the nurse ordered.

  “Who’s going to stop me? You?”

  The door bumped open and an angry ball of a woman barreled through.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” the nurse shouted over her head. “I’ll go get my supervisor.” He looked like he thought a five-foot tumbleweed would be easier to corral than Dallas Logan on a mission.

  “That’s all right. Let her in,” Austin said, sounding more tired than worried. If he couldn’t see Ronny in the room, neither could she.

  Dallas might be hell on wheels, but compared to his nightmares she was a walk in the park. “How can I help you, Mrs. Logan? Your car stuck in the mud again?”

  She marched over to his bed and glared at him. “What’s wrong with you? You haven’t got anything catching, have you?”

  “Nope. A pig shot me.”

  Without missing a beat, Dallas continued at full speed. “I have it as a fact that my daughter was here with you last night. My friend said she was dressed like a homeless person and begging money at the emergency room door. She’s obviously lost her mind, and I’m here to do my duty and take her home. The girl obviously needs someone taking charge of her care.”

  Austin shifted, trying to ease the pain in his leg. After settling, he pulled back up the sheet that had slipped down a few inches. He’d need all his strength to deal with Dallas. It would have helped if he’d been dressed and could stand over the lady, or better yet have twin Colts strapped to his waist.

  “Your daughter was in her right mind when I saw her last. She’s an adult. If she needs your help, she’ll ask for it.”

  “Oh, you know more than a mother does, do you? No one in town even knows who you are, living out on the lake with the squirrels and frogs. Folks say all the way back to your grandfather that Hawks have never been friendly. Sounds like to me there may be a whole nest of crazies out on that little lake, and my daughter has fallen into hard times if she’s out there with you and those wild Delaney girls.”

  Austin opened his mouth to argue, but he wasn’t sure where to start.

  When he raised his finger and pointed at her, Dallas took a step backward. “What are you wearing?” she asked.

  Her eyes rounded and he guessed the sheet must have slipped a few inches again.

  Austin looked down. Maybe he should have let the nurse last night dress him in a hospital gown. The sheet did little to hide the outline of his body. “A bandage,” he said calmly. “All I’m wearing is a bandage.”

  “You’re not even decent, sir. I’ve half a mind to turn you in as a pervert. Who knows how many people you’ve exposed yourself to besides my daughter.”

  The cavalry arrived: the nurse, the doctor, and a chubby security guard who looked like his nap had just been interrupted.

  “Arrest this man!” Dallas demanded. “He’s a pervert who exposed himself to my little girl! He almost showed his privates to me, and I’m sure he was about to hit me. Who knows what would have happened to my dignity if a naked man knocked me senseless?”

  For a moment, Austin started to explain, and then he realized everyone was moving around, protecting him, not Dallas.

  She tried to shove past them to confront him, but the nurse blocked her path.

  Austin fought the urge to lean over and look under the bed. Ronny had to still be in the room somewhere. She would have had to pass her mother to get out.

  Dr. Addison Turner had had enough. “Mrs. Logan, you are the one who’ll be arrested for harassing my patient. This man has just had surgery and this wing of the hospital does not allow visitors.”

  “Don’t you dare look at me that way. I’m not the one almost exposing myself, and I’m not the one who is crazy enough to think a pig shot me. This man needs to be locked up and kept away from my daughter. He’s probably on drugs. Looks like the type.”

  The security guy snaked his arm around Dallas’s left arm.

  She swung her huge purse like a weapon and hit him once before the nurse circled her other arm and held them both behind her while Dallas wiggled. Dallas was pinned to a moving torture rack, and she let everyone know that they were hurting her, smashing her purse, and embarrassing themselves by picking on a lady old enough to be their mother.

  The chubby security man said pleasantly, “Now, Dallas, we can walk you out or we can drag you out. Which would you prefer? Before you decide, I have to tell you that we dragged the last woman out by her feet and her dress slipped all the way to her neck before we got her to the parking lot.”

  “Well, I never!” she answered, holding her head high as they marched out with arms locked.

  Austin could hear her lecturing them, but thankfully her voice was receding as she was guided down the hallway.

  The doctor looked down at him. “You all right, Captain?”

  “I’m fine. Nice entertainment you got in this place, Doc.”

  She grinned and headed to the door. “I’ll be back with your release papers in an hour. Try not to get in any more trouble.”

  Suddenly, the room was quiet again. Austin took a long breath and smiled. Dallas Logan was a woman of conviction who saw herself on a mission. She might be running full speed ahead in the wrong direction, but at least she was moving, which was more than he could say for most people.

  “You can come out now,” he said.

  Ronny circled out of the bundle of extra curtain near the corner of his bed.

  “You know you’ll have to face her someday.” Austin took her hand gently, liking the feel of her skin on his.

  “I know. For the first year after I left home she wouldn’t even talk to me. Claimed I ran away from home, even if I was in my midtwenties. She made up terrible stories about me going wild. I’m not afraid of her. I just know there is no reasoning with a person who is never wrong in her own mind.”

  He saw the sadness in Ronny. The beautiful lady had experienced her share of trouble, and he didn’t want to add to it. “How about calling Kieran and
seeing about getting me back to the lake? Even with the wild hogs, I’ve got a feeling we’d be safer there.”

  “I agree. Uh . . . Captain?”

  “Another time, another life. The doc must have read my records. This wasn’t the first tumble I’ve taken or the first shot a doctor dug out of me.”

  “Lucky to be alive,” she said softly.

  “That’s what they tell me.” He didn’t add his thoughts about the jury still being out on that one. Maybe the lucky ones die young in glory.

  He guessed she didn’t have anything else to say. Truth was, neither of them was much on conversation. He learned more about her from listening to her talk to Dusti and Abby while he dealt cards than he probably would have ever learned on his own.

  He wasn’t good with people. He’d understood the army, but the outside world didn’t make sense to him most of the time.

  Austin guessed she was the same. They’d both traveled all over the world but could barely keep a conversation going. He did love watching her move, though. He’d always thought love was just a word that people said. Even now, watching her tidy up the room, he figured he felt more lust than anything else. Love wasn’t a word he’d probably ever use.

  Surely that wasn’t anything a lady like Ronny Logan would want from anyone, much less him. She seemed to treasure her silent life on the lake.

  Yet she’d kissed him.

  Chapter 21

  TRUMAN FARM

  REAGAN WALKED AROUND THE ORCHARD WITH UTAH TUCKED in a carrier that strapped around her. He was asleep, but still she talked to him as she wove among the tables.

  “My uncle Jeremiah would be worried about the poker players bothering the roots of the trees. He never liked folks coming onto the farm much. Except, of course, for Miss Pat Matheson. She could come over anytime she liked. He even built steps over the fence between the Matheson ranch and the back of the orchard.”

  Utah didn’t answer. He just kept sleeping.