Moving into the house he made some fresh coffee, pulled out some hamburger patties, a tomato, some cheese and lettuce, and put a pan on the stove, throwing in a pat of butter. He wasn’t a cook, but simple things he could manage, and they generally tasted pretty good.
He’d finished eating and had cleaned up, and was sitting in front of the television when he heard the heavy rain begin. Sheet lightening set a fleeting glow through his window, and he was about to walk across and stare out at the storm when his phone rang. It was Cathy.
“Hey, where are you?”
“I’m still at my parent’s house. The skies literally opened up just as I was about to leave.”
“It’s startin’ here too. How did it go at dinner?”
“Great, mom is really excited about meeting you. Are you ready for your new name?”
“I dunno, am I?”
“Connor Marsden.”
“What the hell?”
“It’s a name I knew would impress her.”
“Connor Marsden, huh, I’d never have thought of anything remotely like that. Al Jones would be more my speed.”
“That’s funny,” she laughed. “You more a Connor Marsden than you realize.”
“If you say so,” he chuckled, still staring out his window. “I’m thinkin’ I might make a run to the barn.”
“Now? You’re kidding?”
“I usually go over there in this kinda weather, and part of it may be leased, but it’s still my barn, and my horses are there.”
“What about Joe?”
“He’ll be hunkered down in his trailer. I should go, I always check on things when there’s a storm.”
“But it’s not five minutes away anymore!”
“This is true, but I’m gonna be worried if I don’t go. I left the bedroom in the upstairs loft like it was, so I’ll stay there the night. Save me comin’ back up.”
“Will you please call me when you get there?”
“I will, and I promise Moon Doggie and Cinnamon will be the first horses I check.”
“Thanks, Scott. When are you leaving?”
“Soon. I’ll call you in about twenty minutes, maybe twenty-five if the weather’s real bad.”
“What do you mean, if? It is.”
“Okay, twenty-five minutes then. Love you, sugar.”
“I love you too. Please be careful.”
“Always am.”
Ending the call, he trotted up the stairs, stuffed a duffle bag with a change of clothes, donned his heavy-weather parka, and making sure everything was secure, he headed back down and checked the first floor. The wind was blasting, the rain was torrential, but his SUV was a four-wheel drive, and he’d driven through such storms many times. The car was only a few steps outside his front door, but he had to labor through the tempest to reach it.
“My next project is an attached garage,” he grunted as he pulled off his wet parka and threw it on the passenger seat.
Starting slowly down the gravel driveway, his powerful headlights lighting the way, he made it to the road, and breathing a little easier, he turned right and started towards the barn. There were no other vehicles in sight, but that was no surprise. Though the area was relatively close to town, there were only a few developed properties with homes.
As he continued slowly on, the drive was taking longer than he’d anticipated, and he knew Cathy would be worried, so he increased his speed. A second after he did he heard a fierce crackling sound, and for a brief minute a blinding light filled his car. Glancing in his rearview mirror he saw a large branch break from a tree, and fall on to the road where he’d been just moments before.
“Holy crap! This is gettin’ hairy,” he muttered, pushing his foot on the accelerator even harder. “I sure hope the horses are doin’ okay.”
The barn finally came into view, and a minute later, grateful that he’d arrived safely, he turned into the driveway. The wind was swirling around the trees, debris was littered everywhere, and he saw one of his garbage cans flying through one of the paddocks.
“Dammit, Todd, why didn’t you bring them in,” he growled. “I’ll bet I’ve lost ‘em all.”
Pulling his car as close to the barn as he could, he put on his parka, picked up his bag, and after struggling to get out and close the car door, he pushed through the weather and rolled back the barn door just enough to slip through. Standing for a minute to catch his breath, he retrieved his phone from his bag and called Cathy.
“Are you okay?” she asked urgently. “I was starting to worry.”
“I’ve gotta admit it was a wild ride, but I made it.”
“Thank God. How is it there?”
“The weather is absolutely horrendous,” he declared. “I’m gonna do my walk through now. I don’t hear any frantic bangin’ or whinnyin’, so I think we’re good…holy smokes, what was that?”
“What was what?”
“I just heard a crash…hold on. I’m gonna go check. Don’t hang up…”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Because of the raging storm, David and Marianne had suggested to Cathy that she stay the night, and she didn’t need to be asked twice. She had no desire to drive through the dreadful weather and risk the likelihood of finding a roadblock because her street had flooded yet again. With dinner over and the dishwasher loaded, she had headed up to her old bedroom to call Scott, while her parents had settled in the family room to watch a movie.
“Isn’t it nice to have our little girl back in the house?” Marianne said wistfully. “I do miss her.”
“She’d probably be around more often if you lightened up a bit,” David suggested. “You really do need to make more of an effort.”
“I know in my head you’re right, it’s my heart that gives me such a hard time, but I will. It’s going to be easier now that I know she’s met someone decent.”
David was about to make a comment when he heard Cathy racing down the stairs and calling his name. She sounded absolutely panic-stricken.
“What the blazes…?” he muttered, jumping to his feet, and with Marianne right behind him, he hurried out into the hall.
“Dad, dad, we have to go, right now, quick!”
“What are you talking about?” Marianne asked, frightened by her daughter’s unexplained hysteria.
“Take a breath,” David said calmly. “Slow down and tell me what’s wrong.”
“It’s Scott, I think he’s been hurt, quick, we have to hurry.”
“Scott? What’s he-?“
“Marianne, hush,” David said sharply. “Hurt how, where is he?”
“At the barn, hurry,” Cathy repeated, running towards the garage.
“What the heck is going on?” Marianne demanded.
“No time to explain, but I will,” David promised as he hurried after Cathy, then stopping, he turned and shouted, “Marianne, get my phone, it’s on the kitchen counter.”
“Okay,” she called back, “but you’re not leaving me behind, I’m coming with you!”
Dashing into the kitchen she snatched up his phone, then charged back down the hall, pausing fleetingly at the closet by the garage door to grab their raincoats. Running into the garage she saw they were already in her Range Rover, and bolting forward, she jumped into the back seat.
“You should stay here,” David declared.
“There’s no time to argue with her, dad,” Cathy said anxiously. “Please, just let’s go.”
The garage door had rolled up, and starting up the Rover, he placed it in four-wheel drive and headed out into the tempest.
“Should we call an ambulance?” he asked. “Do you know how badly he’s hurt?”
“He called me from the barn, and-“
“The barn!” David exclaimed. “Why was here at the barn this time of night, and in this weather?”
“That’s exactly why he went there. He was worried about the horses, and he was going to stay overnight.”
“Catherine, why did he call you?” her mother int
erjected. “I thought-“
“Mother, not now,” Cathy retorted. “Please, just be quiet.”
“Go on, Cathy,” David pressed, “finish telling me what happened.”
“He called to let me know he’d arrived safely, and there was this really loud noise, like a crashing sound, and he said he was going out to see what it was,” she explained, her voice becoming panicky. “I could hear the weather through the phone, then there was this weird crunching sound, I heard him yell, and that was it. I’m so scared, dad, I’m so scared.”
“It’ll be okay, honey. Have you tried calling him again?”
“I never ended the call, and neither did he. Listen,” she said, pulling out her phone. “All you can hear is the wind and rain. Dad, I don’t know what I’ll do if something’s happened to him. I’m so scared.”
“Wait…what was that?” her mother suddenly said.
“What was what?” Cathy asked.
“On the phone, listen, I hear something. Turn up the volume.”
Cathy did as she said, and seconds later, though it was faint, they could hear what sounded like someone groaning.
“It must be him,” Cathy exclaimed. “Scott? Scott?” she yelled into the phone, “hold on, we’re on our way, just hold on.”
“Marianne, call 911,” David said urgently. “Tell them there’s been at accident at Sampson Boarding Stables on Youngstown Road.”
“Scott, Scott,” Cathy kept yelling. “Scott, can you hear me?”
“Hush just a minute, honey,” her father said, “your mother needs to talk to the emergency operator.”
As David drove through the horrendous weather, though his outward appearance was calm, he was anything but. The night was pitch black, debris was flying through the air, and he believed the threat of a tornado was very real. He could barely see twenty feet ahead of him, and he thought it would be a miracle if they made it to the barn at all. He knew emergency vehicles would be out on the streets patrolling, and he was praying there was both an ambulance and a police car in the area.
“Okay,” Marianne announced, ending her call to 911, “since I didn’t know what kind of accident it was, they’re sending an ambulance and some kind of rescue truck.”
“It’ll be from the fire department,” David remarked. “Is this the street, Cathy?”
“Yes, this is it, turn right and it’s the first driveway on the left. You’ll see the barn and the indoor arena. Go to the left at the end of the driveway. Scott always parks his car next to the barn door there.”
“Holy crap, what’s happened here?” David muttered. “Look at the trees, their branches.”
“Oh, Lord, I’m so worried,” Cathy whimpered. “Please let him be all right, please let the horses be all right.”
“It looks like a twister touched down,” Marianne muttered. “Now I’m scared too.”
Though his heart was racing and he was desperate to reach Scott, David forced himself to drive slowly over the mess. They’d be no use to anyone if they got caught up in tree limbs. As they reached the end of the driveway and veered left, they caught sight of Scott’s SUV in the Rover’s powerful headlights, and to their horror, as they approached, they saw a huge branch sticking out of the windshield.
“Oh, my God,” Cathy breathed. “Please…please…don’t let Scott be in his car.”
“That was probably the noise he heard,” David said, hoping he was right.
“Hurry, dad, go faster.”
“We’ll be there in a minute, honey, just hold on.”
But she couldn’t. The car was moving slowly enough that she reached to open the door and jump out, but her father grabbed her arm and stopped her.
“WAIT! You can’t help him if you get hurt yourself,” he said sternly. “Stay right where you are.”
In the back seat, listening to her husband and daughter, though she was mortified by the thunderstorm causing the carnage around her, Marianne was trying to grasp exactly what was happening. Why was Cathy so freaked out about Scott Sampson? She claimed she was dating a man called Connor Marsden. She was bringing him to the dinner on Saturday night, and she certainly wouldn’t be doing that unless it was more than just a passing attraction.
I saw them together with my own eyes, and it was obvious they really liked each other. Why are we driving through the storm from hell to rescue Scott Sampson, and why did Scott Sampson call her to tell her he was at the barn safely? And what about you, David? You didn’t seem surprised at all that Cathy had heard from him? What the heck is going on?
But her pondering was interrupted when the car came to a stop next to Scott’s SUV.
“Cathy, there’s a flashlight in the glove compartment,” David said urgently. “Grab it and take it with you. I’ll leave the headlights on as well.”
“Here are your jackets,” Marian said quickly, handing them over. “Please be careful. I’ll be worried sick sitting here.”
“Okay, Cathy,” David said solemnly, as they finished putting on their coats, “are you ready?”
“Of course, let’s go.”
She struggled to open the car door against the horrendous wind and rain, then once outside, she pushed forward, waving the flashlight on the ground in front of her. She spotted Scott almost immediately.
“DAD! OVER HERE!” she shouted, her voice barely audible through the storm.
The fierce wind swirled as she dropped to the ground, but Scott was laying between his car and the wall of the barn. It offered some shelter, and she began wiping the dirt from his face, desperately hoping he’d open his eyes.
“It’s okay, we’re here,” she muttered, her salty tears mixing with the rain that had splattered her face, and holding her breath, her body trembling, she placed her fingers against his neck searching for a pulse. When she felt the soft throbbing, she let out a choked sob.
“Let me have that flashlight,” her father said, crouching down next to her.
“He’s alive,” she managed.
“Of course he is, and he’ll be just fine,” he replied, hoping his voice sounded reassuring. “Give me the flashlight.”
Handing it over to him, she took a deep breath and gathered her wits, then followed the beam as her father sent it down the length of Scott’s body. They saw a tree branch laying at an odd angle over his lower legs, then moving the light upwards, they found Scott’s jacket was torn at the shoulder and caked in blood. David reasoned that the branch had hit Scott’s upper body, knocked him down, then fallen on to his legs. Scott was lucky to be alive. If it had landed on his head it could have cracked his skull open.
“I’m going to try to move the log,” David said, handing Cathy the flashlight. “I can get under the end that’s up off the ground.”
“Yes, yes, I see,” she nodded.
“And I’m going to help you!”
David and Cathy darted their heads around, and to their absolute astonishment, Marianne was behind them wearing a bright yellow slicker.
“I forgot I had this stuff in the back. I keep it there for emergencies,” she shouted, holding up a pair of thick leather gloves.
“Brilliant!” David exclaimed, taking them from her, “but you go back and wait in the car.”
“No, I’m staying here to help! Is he all right? What can I do?”
“Dad, there are some heavy gloves just inside the barn door. I can wear those, and together-“
“Excellent, go and get them, quick. Okay, Marianne, you can shine the flashlight for us so we can see what we’re doing, and thanks,” he added, managing a smile.
“Hold on, Scott, hold on,” Cathy said, lowering her head against his. “I love you! You can’t leave me, you hear? Just hold on, I’ll be right back.”
Grateful Scott had parked so close to the barn door, staying bent over, she made her way to the narrow opening of the large sliding door, and as she entered she was shocked at how mellow it was inside the barn. The horses were quiet, and though the tempest was still raging, the sounds were muted. T
he odd calm settled her spirit, and she had the strongest feeling that everything was going to be all right, but her pause was fleeting. She picked up the gloves sitting on the shelf with all the other bits and pieces, and as she was about to leave, she noticed a hay hook. Grabbing it, she moved back outside, ducked down, and hurried forward through the torrent.
“I wish that ambulance would get here,” she muttered, kneeling down next to her father who had moved into position to shift the branch off Scott’s legs.
“I’m sure they’ll be here soon. What’s that you’ve got?”
“It’s a hay hook. I thought you could-“
“It’s perfect, absolutely perfect,” he declared, “and the log isn’t as heavy as I thought it would be.”
“So we can do it?”
“With that hook, and both of us, yes, we can. It has to be one swift movement. Up and over to the side. You grab it here, and I can use the hook under this narrow part.”
“Oh, yes, I see,” she said, shuffling around to get the best hold.
“On three, you ready?”
“Yes, dad, I’m ready.”
“One, two, three!”
It took some effort, but thanks to the hay hook there were no scary moments, and they were able to lift it off Scott and lay it at his side.
“I’ll be right back,” Cathy said abruptly, and before David could ask where she was going, she was on her way back to the barn.
“David,” Marianne called, “can you come up here?”
Crawling back to join her, he discovered she was cradling Scott’s head in her lap.
“He has a terrible gash on his head, look.”
“That explains why he’s down,” David remarked. “He’s a strong guy, he could have moved that log off his legs, but it knocked him out. Boy is he lucky. It must have grazed him. If it had hit him directly…”
“Where’s Catherine?” Marianne asked, flashing the light around.
“She took off back to the barn, I don’t…wait…there she is, she’s carrying something.”
“Waterproof horse blankets,” she declared breathlessly, kneeling down and laying one over Scott, doing her best to tuck it under his body. “I thought we could huddle under one like a tent, and hold it over him. Here, mom, I got a towel for his head.”
Her Forbidden Cowboy (Cowboys After Dark Book 12) Page 18