Beware the Ranger

by Debra Holt

  “Now what?” Her chin leveled in coolly defiant compliance.

  “Now we get you both out of here.”

  “Both?” Angie had been watching in rapt attention to the scene. Hearing her name had brought her to attention.

  Amazing. Kaitlyn marveled as Clay Morgan turned his attention to Angie and flashed the all-too-familiar half-smile/half-grin upon the woman. The woman’s response was typical—hook, line and sinker under the man’s charm. Kaitlyn felt something else—a sharp pang in the midsection—jealousy? Ridiculous! It had to be the heat getting to her, and she meant the heat from the sun, not any generated by the man in front of her. At least, that was what she told herself as she tried to rein in all the mixed emotions tumbling around in her.

  Clay’s smiled widened. “Yes, Miss Lord, I’m afraid you’ll be going with us. Unless you’d prefer to make different arrangements?”

  “Oh no,” Angie said, smiling way too brightly. “I wouldn’t miss this trip.”

  Clay’s lips twitched. “Glad to hear it. I hope you won’t find it too much of an inconvenience. I promise to do my best to see to that.”

  Angie sidled closer.

  Could Angie be any more obvious? Kaitlyn crossed her arms at the simpering look on her friend’s face as the woman moved to stand much too close to the man.

  Angie offered him her hand and he took it. “Well, I think someone should introduce us first. You evidently know my name, but who do I have the pleasure of meeting?”

  They both looked pointedly at Kaitlyn. She did not budge.

  “I’m Captain Clay Morgan of the Texas Rangers, ma’am.” All this said with that smile and a touch of his fingers to the brim of his hat. “I’m very pleased to meet you.”

  Yes, they teach them that move at birth. Kaitlyn had just seen Angie fall for it.

  Angie’s eyes widened with surprise. “A real Texas Ranger? Now that does make this trip worthwhile. Kaitlyn never told me she knew a ranger.” Angie threw a questioning glare in her friend’s direction. “But I can hardly wait to hear more about…”

  “Are we going to stand around all day? I thought we needed to be on our way in the interest of time?” Kaitlyn sounded like a spoiled child, even to her own ears, but she didn’t care.

  She was reaching the limits of her reserve. A thunder cloud could not have a darker mood than she did at that moment. What a fine mess they’d landed in when she had tried to keep them far away from the area.

  Clay gave her just a momentary look before releasing Angie’s hand. He turned to the others who had been waiting patiently not showing any interest other than professional behavior in anticipation of their next instructions.

  “Trooper Williams, please take the ladies’ luggage to the helicopter and Trooper Reed… Miss Russell will give you her keys.”

  “I really can’t leave this car behind,” Kaitlyn quickly spoke up. “We can drive to wherever it is you plan to take us. We’ll simply follow you.” The thought of going anywhere with the man was insane enough, but the thought of being in such a confined space as that helicopter wasn’t something she wanted to experience. Besides, the car could be her means of escape. She would not be totally at his mercy. She just needed to buy more time to gain control of the situation in her mind.

  “The trooper will take good care of it. Your car will arrive in due course tomorrow.” His tone brooked no further argument from anyone.

  Turning away from him, Kaitlyn bit back the retort she really wanted to say, which involved telling him just where he could stick that idea. Instead, she threw open the car’s door and, reaching into the backseat, she set about retrieving her small bag and other personal items which she did not want to leave behind. Angie did the same.

  “Mind explaining just what the heck is going on around here? And what is it with this hunk that has come to find you? What’s between you two?” Angie whispered across to her, even though they were both out of earshot of the others.

  Kaitlyn kept her attention on the task before her. “My grandmother is having some health issues and wants to see me. She couldn’t reach me so, she sent that man to find me.” She ground out. “And there is nothing between us. So drop it.”

  “Really?” Angie spoke with thinly veiled skepticism, stepping away from the car and shutting the door. She gave her friend a knowing smile over the hood of the vehicle. “Now when have I ever passed up a good mystery? Forget what I said about this being a boring trip. I think Texas is really beginning to grow on me.” Angie moved to join the man as he gave final instructions to the trooper.

  Kaitlyn swept the vista around her—no hope in sight. No means of escape. Why had she come here to begin with? Thinking that the vastness of Texas could keep them far enough apart—right. How naive she had been. She should never have given in to Angie’s begging to see San Antonio. She wished to be anywhere but in this particular spot.

  “Ready?” His voice broke into her thoughts.

  Kaitlyn didn’t respond but chose to silently follow behind the pair. Angie was smiling and chatting as if she and the ranger were already old friends. And the lawman? He dared to place a helping hand at the woman’s elbow as she maneuvered over the loose gravel at the edge of the road. Since when did Angie need help walking? Kaitlyn made a mental note to either strangle her friend or just have a strong talk with her once they were alone. Of course, if Angie kept this up, then that would keep herself off his radar and away from having to speak more than was needed to him. Either way, Kaitlyn walked behind them as a condemned person going to the gallows.

  At the last minute, Kaitlyn managed to move ahead of Angie, taking a spot in the second row of seats of the craft. That left Angie the empty seat up front beside Clay. Kaitlyn congratulated herself on this maneuver until she looked up to see her action had been duly noted by the man, as evidenced by the amused set of his mouth. However, Clay said nothing as he made certain her door was secured before he took the pilot seat for himself. Thankfully, the headphones and the sound of the helicopter’s revving blades kept her from having to endure too much conversation.

  Minutes later, they were airborne and headed eastward. The fact he evidently was accomplished at piloting such a machine registered as another surprise. And the fact it belonged to him? That was a major development from the young deputy she’d known. It was just another surprising change over the years in a long list of them.

  Riding in helicopters was nothing new to Kaitlyn. They often came in handy in New York City, to avoid the gridlock of city streets with little time to be had between appointments and such. Besides, she remembered what the terrain looked like below them. She allowed her head to lean back against the cushioned headrest and closed her eyes, trying to not pay attention to the bits of conversation that filtered through the headsets from the pair in front. Angie was enjoying the ride and the view while he evidently used his charms to tell her all about Texas and what she was seeing beneath them.

  Kaitlyn quickly had her fill of it. Reaching up, she took off the headset and set it beside her. She wanted quiet and certainly not his voice in her head. With eyes closed, she wouldn’t have to look at him more than necessary. Although, once or twice, she had opened her eyes to check out where they might be and her gaze had passed over the back of his head and lingered longer than it should. Clay had tossed the hat he was wearing earlier onto the empty seat beside her and replaced it with a headset. This left his mahogany hair visible. She noted the longer length than when she last saw him; although, it still tended to curl up a bit at the top of the ears and just above his shirt collar in back. She wondered if it still felt as soft to the touch. Kaitlyn caught herself on that one and quickly closed her eyes again, feigning sleep. Thoughts like that would only lead to trouble. She didn’t care what this man’s hair felt like now. In fact, she wished he had gone bald!

  But he just wouldn’t stay in his place and out of her mind. A Texas Ranger—so he had made it. He had achieved his dream of becoming part of that elite group. Kaitlyn rememb
ered how he had often talked about his fervent hope to one day be considered good enough at his job in law enforcement to be chosen for such an honor. Well, she hoped he was happy… not.

  Kaitlyn focused on her grandmother and the news about her illness. Georgia Russell had always been the strongest, most self-assured person Kaitlyn had ever known. To think of her gran even ill for a moment was something foreign to Kaitlyn’s thoughts. It also made her anxious. The fact Georgia had obviously called Kaitlyn’s assistant and found out where she was told Kaitlyn that perhaps Gran was more nervous about these tests than she wanted to let on. The fact she sent Clay Morgan to find her was also a major mystery. Gran knew he was the reason she had never returned to her hometown. Instead, they had an understanding that Gran would come to her… meeting in New York or for holidays in Florida. Gran never pushed her on the subject. There were too many memories… too much pain where Clay Morgan was concerned. Kaitlyn had managed to keep that part of her life… her past… relegated to just that. She fought to keep it there and there it would stay.

  Three sharp raps on the door, followed by a loud whisper. “Kat… Kat it’s me. Let me in.”

  She opened the door just a couple of inches to find his adorable grin beaming down at her as he lounged in the doorframe. Her heart did somersaults.

  “Clay! You know what will happen if Mrs. Turner finds you here. Go away, please! The curtain goes up in ten minutes.” She tried to shoo him away with her hand, but he wouldn’t budge. Instead, he placed two hands on either side of the door frame and leaned his head farther down with a conspiratorial wink. She felt the door behind her, her hand grasping the knob as she leaned back against it. They would both be in trouble if caught.

  “Relax, Kat.” He coaxed with a voice and smile like warm honey that always managed to have a strange effect on her senses.

  Her knees went weak, something that had been happening a lot lately around him. Kaitlyn was all of seventeen, almost eighteen in two days, a senior in high school, and he was the “older man”… twenty-two and ready to graduate from college. Clay Morgan worked as a reserve deputy for the county and was a good friend to her grandmother. That was how they met. He had made a call at the neighboring house one evening, and she had been sitting in the yard swing under a giant old pecan tree. Clay walked over to inquire about her grandmother’s latest bout with the flu. Small towns knew everything about a person. Kaitlyn had looked up into his golden eyes and drowned. It had indeed only taken a moment for Clayton James Morgan to claim her heart, mind, and soul.

  Her grandmother had scoffed at her. It was just a girl’s infatuation—soon to be replaced by yet another. Her friends had been in awe of the “older man,” so dashing and handsome.

  Clay had been warm and friendly but kept his distance. He had told her he was being respectful of the fact she was a young girl and he wanted nothing to harm her reputation in the small town. But Kaitlyn had been persistent. He had succumbed to her beauty and smiles, spending time in the yard swing on warm summer nights and taking her to the occasional movie or dinner. Yet always he behaved as a gentleman—much to her increasing regret. Kaitlyn wanted more from the man. Inexperienced as she was, there were things she wanted to experience and feel with him. If only he would let himself go…

  “I just wanted to come back here before the show and tell you good luck.”

  “No!” She whispered loudly. “Don’t say that. It’s bad luck.”

  He looked at her with a quizzical lift of his brow. “Good luck is bad luck?”

  Sometimes men could be so obtuse, he should… she began to smile, shaking her head at him.

  “You’re teasing me, Clay Morgan.”

  “And it’s so much fun to do it.” The devilish grin made her want to raise her hand and stroke the deep laugh lines beside that oh, so tempting mouth of his… a mouth that suddenly seemed so much closer than before. Was she daydreaming?

  His soft warm breath played across her cheek and nothing more could possibly matter but the fact she was drowning in his warm honey-colored eyes.

  “Break a leg, sweet Kat.” Then the most incredible thing happened. He kissed her—so softly she thought at first she was dreaming it. When she looked into his eyes next, nothing was ever to be the same.

  Chapter Three

  Kaitlyn stirred and the remembered dream scattered as the sound of a change in the whine of the engine brought her fully awake. It had been the whirring of the blades that had eventually lulled her into a light sleep. That had allowed the dream to come. She was glad of the interruption of the memories. Kaitlyn didn’t need, or want, to have any further remembrances of how she had once been such a gullible fool. She was far from that now. She had taken control of her life, and that was the way it was going to stay. The very moment they could escape from this bad dream, she and Angie would be on the road as fast as possible and she would leave Clay Morgan in the Texas dirt.

  Glancing at her watch, Kaitlyn saw they had been in the air for almost forty minutes. As she looked below, she was surprised to see how quickly the terrain had changed to sloping hills and valleys with a twisting river visible in the distance. The sun would be setting in another couple of hours. Just about to ask when they would be at their destination, there was an altitude change.

  “Tighten your seatbelts, ladies. We’ll be landing shortly.” Clay informed them.

  When they did finally return to the ground, it was in a small clearing. The rotors sent waves across the grass and caused the branches of the huge oak trees along the perimeter to sway. At first, it appeared they were alone in the middle of nowhere until a jeep came into view from the dark shade of the trees off to the right. Kaitlyn watched a thin, wiry jean-clad man, perhaps in his sixties, alight from the vehicle. He gave a wave of a welcoming hand, before pushing his cowboy hat farther down on his head.

  As the rotor blades slowed, the man ambled forward in a slightly bowlegged gait. Clay replaced his headset on the holder above the seat and stepped out, moving to greet the man and exchange a few words with him. With a nod of his head, the older cowboy moved to where the luggage was stored in the underside of the helicopter. Clay opened the door for Angie to step out, but Kaitlyn wasn’t going to give him a chance to do the same for her. She was ahead of him. Climbing out quickly to avoid any assistance from him, she focused her attention on surveying their location. She kept her distance and her attention away from the ranger as much as possible.

  “This is Seth Roberts, my ranch foreman and general right hand,” Clay stated by way of an introduction, as the man came forward with their bags under his arms.

  Seth set them down and offered a weathered yet firm handshake to the ladies, his blue eyes twinkling in a sun-dried face. “Howdy, very pleased to meet you both. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay here.”

  Kaitlyn very much doubted that, but she gave the man one of her award winning smiles anyway. After all, it wasn’t his fault they would all be stuck in this mess together.

  “My wife, Edie, is excited to beat the band to get to meet you, Miss Russell. She’s a big fan. We all are since we saw you perform on a trip to New York a while back. She’s got your rooms waiting for you up at the house.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Roberts. I look forward to meeting her, too. But we don’t plan to be a bother.”

  “Ma’am, you aren’t a bother, no sireee. It’s about time we have some more pretty scenery around here.” He cast a sidelong look at Clay, who stood a few feet away, arms crossed. “And the name is Seth, ma’am, we aren’t formal in these parts.”

  “I’m Kaitlyn, and this is Angie, agreed?” His smile was infectious and she couldn’t help but return it, until she looked up and caught Clay’s head turned in her direction, ever watching and waiting.

  Waiting for what? Perhaps another opportunity to make a fool of her? Her smile died as quickly as it had come.

  “Let’s get you both to the house.” Clay turned, leading the way to the jeep, taking the remaining cases from the helicopter with
him. He stowed them in the jeep as the women climbed in. This time, Kaitlyn and Angie both seated themselves in the back and Seth occupied the front passenger seat beside Clay. The firm set returned to Clay’s mouth as he turned the ignition key. He took one swift glance in the rearview mirror then placed the vehicle in gear and headed them back through the tree line onto a single lane, blacktop road. The jeep next crossed a stream, its crystal clear water rushing along with giant cypress trees lining its banks.

  Kaitlyn could tell they were climbing as they wound through the thickets of tall pecan and live oak trees. The air was cooling as evening approached. Once out of the tree line, they came to a halt on top of a hill and Clay switched off the engine.

  “What a lovely home!” Angie spoke in sincere appreciation as she took the hand Seth offered and stepped to the ground. Her eyes were intent upon the graceful lines of the two-story rock and cedar home. The last rays of the sun glinted off its numerous windows. “It’s so inviting. Is this yours?” She looked over at Clay who was already lifting the second suitcase from the back of the jeep.

  “Yes, it’s mine.”

  The reply was succinct. He kept his eyes, now sans-sunglasses, on the matter at hand. Grasping the last bag, he turned and proceeded to lead them up the walkway to the wide steps of the front porch.

  In a day of surprises, Kaitlyn wasn’t prepared for this one. She was once again instantly transported back to the past. She emerged from the jeep in slow motion, her eyes taking in the remembered details. A silver metal roof… so you can hear the sound of rain falling as you lay in bed; wide verandas upstairs and down with inviting porch swings big enough for two people to snuggle together on a gorgeous spring evening; bright red, pink, and purple geraniums in great stone pots dotted the steps and accompanying flower beds around the house… to welcome you home with a smile.