by Petrova, Em
Maybe I won’t tell him.
As this thought filtered into her mind, she knew it was a good idea. In fact it might be the best course of action to postpone revealing the news. She could almost hear him as he’d been yesterday, telling her the teams wouldn’t listen to her because of her sex. She knew he was wrong. She spent a lot of time in the field and the men respected her.
Thinking of their workers conjured images of her hunky man. She hadn’t seen Abe in two days and her body felt the loss. Tendrils of need wrapped around her limbs and buried deep in her core, adding an ache of desire. They’d made plans together tonight, and when she finally got him alone…
She sank her teeth into her lower lip. Yeah, Abe was in trouble. He simply couldn’t put off a woman in love for two days without dire consequences.
Part of the reason she’d stayed away was the new greenhorn, Levi Black. She’d been surprised to learn Abe’d offered his couch to the new guy.
Visions of her first meeting with that rugged bit of man meat spiraled through her head. Between Abe’s tall, thickly muscled body and Levi’s brooding bad-boy appearance, she found herself in a bad state of need. Of course she shouldn’t think of the new guy this way but it was impossible to deny her physical reaction to him.
Fresh cream flooded her panties and her nipples bunched up tight.
Upon meeting Levi, she had rolled her tongue back into her mouth and managed to hold a civilized conversation with him. After all, she wasn’t going after him—every throb of her heart had Abe’s name attached to it. But there was no way to avoid looking. He was just that hot.
Muscles that could only come from good genetics and hard labor rippled over his body, from his broad shoulders to the hard bulges of his calves above his work boots. His solemn expression and overgrown hair lent him an air of danger, but the pained spark in his eyes told her that he’d been hurt. That glint tugged at her heartstrings.
Abe was every bit as gorgeous as Levi, though more clean-cut. His dark-brown eyes didn’t have green specks like Levi’s, but their depths spoke to her soul. His rugged features and full mouth drove her insane. But his heart of gold did more for her than his head-turning looks or his roped muscles.
The phone trilled and she jerked from her musings. She snapped it up and answered in her business voice, not the voice Abe brought out of her in bed—the voice he called her “vixen voice”.
A shiver ran through her and she checked it as her father’s words funneled into her ear.
“Get your ass down here—”
“Daddy, what’s wrong?”
“Trapped. Now hurry, Chapel girl, I’m caught in a bad way!”
Adrenaline hit her. Her heart flipped, tripped and sped out of control. Her fingers tingled and she leapt to her feet, sending the chair gliding across the floor. It crashed into a file cabinet but she ignored it. “Where are you?”
She snatched up the handheld radio that would put her in immediate contact with a dozen men in the forests who could possibly reach him before she or medical personnel arrived.
Her father’s voice came to her, thin and reedy. “Half mile up…the clear-cut at Abernathy Spring. You know where I’m at, darlin’?”
She choked on the endearment he rarely used. God, what if she lost him? He was right—she wasn’t ready to take over Blue Jay and, as always, there was so much left unsaid between them.
“I know. I’m getting help right now. Stay on the phone with me.” She held the phone away and practically screamed into the radio, “Jay’s in trouble. Any man near Abernathy Springs step on the gas! Half mile up the clear-cut.”
Instantly, male voices flooded the room, responding to her plea. Her bones turned to water and she leaned heavily against the thick wooden desk. Her hand shook as she brought the phone back to her ear.
“They’re coming, Dad.”
His breathing was labored. She envisioned the worst—a fallen tree across his broken body, pinning him to the earth.
“All right. I’m not going anywhere.”
The office door burst open and a flash of plaid appeared in the doorway. She looked up and was faced with a broad male chest and pecs straining against a Blue Jay Forestry t-shirt. She let her gaze travel farther north to find the new guy attached to that body. Levi.
He knuckled a lock of warm brown hair from his eyes and gave her a stare that riveted her leather boots to the floor. “Where’s he at? I got the call, but missed the details.”
“What are you doing here?”
Her question seemed to confuse him. He shook his head. “Abe sent me to the garage after a wrench and some bolts. I heard the call on the radio in there and ran up as fast as I could. What’s going on?”
The urgency in his voice ripped through the fine shreds of her self-control. She burst into tears.
In two clomping steps, he was with her, a muscled arm weaving around her waist and bringing with it the scents she loved in Abe—pine and sawdust and clean, hardworking male.
“An accident.” Suddenly, she realized her father was still on the phone. She jerked it up to her ear again. “Dad, you there?”
“Yeah, honey, I can hear the four-wheelers coming.”
“Sit tight, I’m on my way too.” She switched off the phone, tossed it to the desk and turned to Levi. “Drive me.”
He gave a hard nod and swept her out the door. Together they ran to Abe’s truck. He tore open the passenger door for her and lifted her in. She landed on the leather seat with a bounce and twisted to watch him jump behind the wheel.
“You think he’s okay?”
Levi’s face was grim. “I don’t know. I don’t know what happened.”
“Me either! Oh God.” She buried her face in her hands and wished more than anything Abe was at her side. But having Levi there was the next best thing. Though he and Abe had only worked together for a couple of days, she already thought of them as friends. Abe never would have invited Levi to share his home if he didn’t trust and genuinely like him. And Abe never judged a person wrong.
Levi’s knuckles whitened on the gearshift as he slammed the truck into reverse, roaring out of the driveway and down the gravel road leading to Abernathy Springs. “Sweetheart, I’m sure he’ll be okay. There are men with him now. Hold tight. The fact that he called was a good sign.”
She raised her face and peered at him through the wet spikes of her lashes. “You think?”
“Yeah.” His jaw muscle fluttered. What did that tick mean? He was lying? He shot her a glance and a hum of awareness lifted in her body at his nearness. Everything about him, from the tense lines of his forearms to his steel-toed boots to the way his green plaid shirt clung to his bulging shoulders drew her in. So much like Abe, and yet with a twist. Levi was harder, edgier. His blazing hazel eyes and the firm set of his lips spoke of hidden pain.
With a catch in her chest, she realized he was staring at her. Dear God, there were olive-green starbursts around the centers of his eyes.
Focus, Chapel. The last thing you need right now are green starbursts, even if they are intriguing.
“I don’t know what happened to Dad. He just called and said he was trapped.” She swallowed against the tears that threatened to choke her again. “He went up to the top of the spring to check on the rigging.”
Levi made a low sound in his throat. “What?” she asked, panic rising.
“I don’t like the sound of that. Rigging can be tricky. Why was he alone?”
Because he’s a hardheaded ass. Actually, no employee of Blue Jay thought anything of the boss working alone. He had forty-five years of experience under his belt. Who would question his decision to go without backup?
Abe would. And now Levi.
Chapel folded her fingers into fists to keep them from shaking and jiggled on the edge of her seat. “You’re new to the area. Do you know where you’re going?”
“Not exactly.”
She pointed to a logging road he should take. “Two hundred yards up this road,
you’ll see another veering to the left. Take that.”
He shot her a glance from the corner of one smoldering eye. “You grew up here?” “Of course. I’ve never been anywhere else, besides a few road trips to places like
Niagara Falls when I was a kid. Daddy and I only travel to the next job site.” Too late she realized the way her words sounded—slightly bitter. She hurried to rectify it. “Not that I wanted to travel really. Foreign countries don’t interest me, and I think you can see I’m not a city girl.” She stared at her high leather boots with the rubbery soles that were good for walking in rough terrain and snow and were a barrier between the gross things men did in the woods.
She stole a look at Levi, focusing on his lower lip where he’d keep a chew of tobacco. Seeing he didn’t have one only added to his allure.
Again he gazed at her sidelong. The truck bumped along. “The turn’s right there.”
“Ah.” He whipped the big truck onto the rutted, soggy road. Ahead, they spotted a four-wheeler racing toward the top of the hill.
Her heart flew into her throat. “Ohh, I don’t like this.”
His big hand came down on her thigh, warm and heavy and comforting. His fingers were long and masculine, the nails square and slightly grimy from his work. So much like Abe’s. Yet the way his pinky spread along her inner thigh ignited her in brand-new ways.
“It will be all right, Chapel.” His gritty tone worked into her psyche and she was able to regain a bit of precious control. The last thing she wanted to do was blub again.
He braked as they came into a small clearing where half a dozen vehicles and a smattering of ATVs were haphazardly parked. A knot of men gathered to the side. In a heartbeat, she’d jumped from the truck and was sprinting toward them.
She shoved a couple of men apart to get into the thick of it. “Dad!”
He lay on the ground, white as a February snow. His dark eyes bore into hers. The haze of pain she saw there almost made her cry out. Dropping to her knees, she gingerly laid her hand over his.
“What happened?”
“Rigging tore loose and when it swung, it brought down a branch.”
She spied the thick piece of wood that had battered her father. Obviously he’d become trapped beneath it. One of the men had cut the log in two. The fresh tang of sawdust burned her nose.
“Medics on the way. They said about ten minutes,” a heavy-equipment operator informed her.
“Hold on, Dad. Are you in pain?”
“Hell, yes, I am,” he grunted, as ornery as he’d ever been.
She released a huffing sigh and rocked back on her heels. If he was telling people off, he’d be fine.
“I want some water. Who has a thermos?” Her father’s gaze swept the faces hovering above him.
Levi stepped into the circle. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said as one man offered his drink.
Chapel’s gaze flew to Levi’s. His face was tight and expressionless in a way she’d never seen from him before. For a split second, she felt her heartstrings tug, drawn toward this mysterious man and some pain he obviously carried.
“If there’s internal bleeding, he shouldn’t drink. I hear the ambulance now.” With that, he gained his feet and exited the group of male bodies.
“He’s right, Dad. They’re coming.” She stroked her father’s fingers, thinking of Levi’s words. Internal bleeding. It was possible. Probable, in fact. Out here, fallen limbs killed.
What if she lost her only family member? With no siblings or extended family to speak of, she would be on her own. She and her father rarely saw eye-to-eye but they loved each other. Tears bulged against the roots of her lashes again and she held her eyes wide, struggling to keep them from falling.
She thought of the thousands of times he’d held her hand as they walked through the woods, having special talks about trees and animals. And on an exceptional occasion, he’d talk about her mother. His “dove” he called her. White-skinned and gentle.
Chapel’s tears slid over the rims of her eyes and splashed down her cheeks.
“Oh, none of that, Chapel girl. No little stick of wood is going to put me in the ground.”
She sniffed. “I know.”
At that moment, the ambulance rolled into the lot. She heard feet hit the ground and start toward the gathering around Jay. The men fell back to give the EMTs room.
Her senses reeled as she watched them assess her father and then prepare him to be moved. The loud calls over their radios and the sharp yips of the ambulance tore at her. Suddenly, it was too much. She was crying—really sobbing.
Levi’s scent encompassed her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her to her feet, turning her away from her father. Drawing from his strength, she allowed him to guide her off. He was every bit as virile as Abe and at that moment, she longed for someone to steady her.
“He’ll be okay, darlin’. They’ll give him the best care.” “If he dies I’ll be alone,” she blurted.
He stopped walking, gently gripping her upper arms and pivoting her to look at him. She tilted her face to his and their gazes connected. His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he stared down at her. Something dark passed behind his eyes that she didn’t understand, but seeing it made a warm spot blossom in her heart.
“You’ll never be alone, sweetheart.” “What if I was?”
He shook his head and a lock of hair tumbled into one eye. Her fingers twitched and she shoved them deep in her jeans pockets to keep from brushing his hair back. Her head spun. No, no, this wasn’t what she wanted. Abe was her love.
But her body yearned toward Levi.
“You won’t be alone. You have friends here. You have Abe.” His voice broke on Abe’s name. “Besides, being alone isn’t so bad.”
“How do you know?” she asked, already knowing the answer from the look on his face.
His jaw clenched and released. “Because I’m alone.”
***
Dammit, I should have been there! Abe slammed through the main hospital doors and strode toward the waiting room where he knew Chapel would be. Why had he sent Levi after the wrench and bolts? If he’d gone himself, he would have been there for his woman when the call came from her father. Hell, Abe would have been in the office with her, having bypassed the search for the tools.
He spotted her beautifully mussed hair and launched himself into the waiting room. Several of Jay’s friends from the company were huddled around her, and Levi was at her side.
Abe’s heart slammed the wall of his rib cage as if it were a wrecking ball. He jammed a hand through his hair. “Chapel.”
She leapt to her feet and was in his embrace in a flash, her tender body molding perfectly to his. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, lifting her onto tiptoe. “Oh baby, I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”
She shook her head against his chest and some of her hair caught in the zipper of his jacket. “You couldn’t have done anything.”
He pushed her back gently to see her. The sweet oval of her face was ravaged by tears, red and blotchy, and her eyes puffy. He made a sound in his chest and pulled her close again, one hand cradling the back of her head. “He’s in surgery?”
“Yes, his spleen was ruptured and on the way to the hospital, one of his ribs punctured a lung. They aren’t sure what else is going on inside his stubborn old body.” She gave a full-body shiver.
Abe dropped his lips to the crest of her cheek and caught a tear. Extreme protectiveness welled inside him. He’d always known she was a sensitive and caring woman, but now that he saw it firsthand, he wanted nothing more than to build a fortress around her so nothing harmful could ever seep in.
Levi appeared beside them. Abe placed a hand on his new friend’s shoulder. “Thanks for driving her.”
“Of course. I’m going to take off.”
“You heard the operations are down for the day, right?”
Levi nodded. His gaze flickered down to Chapel. She withdrew from Abe�
�s hold to catch Levi’s arm before he turned to leave.
“Hey.” Her throat produced a rough whisper.
He swung back around and fixed her in a stare that told Abe this man was also far from immune to Chapel’s vulnerabilities.
“You’re not alone either,” she said.
He swallowed hard and his throat clicked. After a long minute, Levi nodded and then turned to leave again.
Abe reeled Chapel back against his chest and she buried her face against his coat with a little tremor. He watched Levi lope off toward the exit, wondering what the hell that exchange was. He wasn’t alone either? Hell, she wasn’t alone. Never would be, as far as Abe was concerned.
He guided her to a chair and pulled her onto his lap. She curled around him instantly and he relaxed a bit. No need to get alpha, Abe. She’s still yours. But a feeling niggled in the back of his mind that a bond had been forged between Chapel and Levi during her time of despair. Abe didn’t know how he felt about that. On one hand, he was eternally grateful that Levi had been there to drive her to the site of the accident, and then to the hospital. On the flip side…well, he didn’t know what his emotions were on that front.
He tucked her against him securely and listened to her breathing grow slow and even. Life could change in a blink. What if that had been Chapel up there with her father on the ridge when the rigging let loose? What if it had been him? Damn, his primal instinct was to secure her with all haste—go against her father’s wishes and forget about the mountain of debt he didn’t want to start their lives with. Just elope.
Smoothing a palm down her spine, he knew he couldn’t do that. His logical mind told him he wasn’t going to lose her. But his heart recalled the look exchanged between her and Levi and suddenly he wasn’t so sure.
“Family of Jay Caldwell,” a nurse called from the doorway.
Chapel jerked in his arms and jumped up. “Here.” She scrubbed her hands over her tear-wet face. Abe watched her spine steel as she probably expected devastating news.
“Your father is out of surgery. He’s all patched up and is being moved now. The doctors believe he’ll make a full recovery.”