Texas Tender

by Leigh Greenwood

  Idalou’s heart nearly stopped when she realized what he intended. She gestured frantically to him to go back. It would be better to wait and hope the water went down instead of continuing to rise. The muscles in her arms screamed from the strain of holding onto the fence, but she was young and strong.

  Will ignored her warning and continued coming toward her. A tree or a stray log could strike the rope, ripping it out of Will’s hands. Idalou watched helplessly as he was repeatedly thrown against the rope and had to struggle to hold on. Still he waded on with the water now up to his waist. Once, he had to lift the rope high over his head to keep it from getting tangled in the branches of a small tree. The current knocked him off his feet. Idalou held her breath until he regained his footing and once again was headed toward her.

  The man was crazy. What good would it do anybody if they both drowned? Carl was the only one who would miss her. The entire town of Dunmore would go into mourning if anything happened to Will. She was tempted to yell at him to go back, but he had already come more than halfway. Besides, even though she didn’t know how they could possibly make it to safety, she wanted the chance to try. Anything was better than a lonely death marooned atop a corral fence.

  “How is the fence holding up?” Will called when he got close enough to be heard over the noise of the water.

  “I think it’ll be okay as long as nothing hits it.” Fortunately, the corral wasn’t close to the center of the floodwaters and most of the debris from the dam had already floated downstream.

  “Take off your skirt,” he called. “It’ll catch the current. It’s like an umbrella catching the wind.”

  She knew what he said was true, but the thought of coming out of the water with nothing to preserve her modesty but a thin chemise made transparent by the water was paralyzing.

  “Your blouse, too.”

  When Will finally covered the last few feet and grabbed for the fence only inches away from her, it didn’t matter that his hair was in his face or that bits of leaves and other detritus stuck to his shoulders. He was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen. That he was insane enough to take such a risk for her made him that much more beautiful.

  “I’ll hold you while you take off your clothes,” Will said.

  Without waiting for her assent, Will wedged himself between two poles leaving his arms free to encircle her waist. Idalou knew this was no time to be thinking of such things, but she was acutely aware of his arms pushing up against her breasts. Forcing herself to concentrate, she struggled to unfasten her skirt and pass it under her feet. Much to her shock, she lost it altogether and it floated away in the swirling waters. Her blouse followed.

  Idalou was suddenly acutely aware that she was nearly naked in the arms of a man who was practically a stranger, but who in a few short days had become a major factor in her life. There was no way to shield the fullness of her breasts or the shape of her lower limbs from his gaze or from contact with his body. Yet the enforced intimacy of this moment seemed to bring them closer, to remove some of the needless restraint between them.

  At the same time, she had a lump in her throat that Will hadn’t hesitated to risk his life to rescue her. No one had ever risked half as much for her.

  “I’m going to turn my back to the current.” Will appeared to be far more in control of himself than she was. “Stay behind me with your arms locked around my waist. The current will push you up against me. You’ll be safe as long as you don’t let go.”

  Idalou had to force herself to leave the safety of the fence. Will didn’t move until she passed her arms around his chest. She could barely reach around him to lock her fingers together. She’d had no idea Will’s chest was so large. Even though she was fighting for her life, Idalou couldn’t be completely oblivious to the fact that she had her arms around a man. She’d seen a man bare to the waist only a few times and then only at a distance. She was equally aware that only a thin piece of fabric separated her from him. Just thinking about it made her dangerously weak.

  Forcing all thoughts of Will’s nearness out of her mind, she concentrated on keeping her footing. The water was still rising, and the current was getting more turbulent as debris from upstream caught and lodged in the trees, creating swirling currents that more than once swept her off her feet. She was certain that if Will hadn’t been upstream from the rope and therefore leaning into it, he’d have lost his hold and they’d both have been swept away.

  As it was, their lives depended on the staunchness of a fence post and the strength of Will’s horse. She cast more than one apprehensive glance toward shore, but the horse held steady against the fearsome pull of the current. She was relieved when she saw Carl ride up. He attached a rope between his saddle and the saddle on Will’s horse. Then he backed his horse up until the strain on the rope was shared between the two horses.

  Idalou had hardly taken a deep breath when she felt the rope jerk so violently, Will nearly lost his hold on it.

  “Something has hit the corral fence and knocked it loose,” Will said. “It’s pulling us downstream.”

  The current that had been pressing them against the rope now pushed them hard downstream. Pulled off her feet, Idalou clung desperately to Will. She knew she’d be swept to her death if she lost her hold on him. Miraculously, Will had managed to keep his balance despite being whipped about by the current, but she wasn’t sure how long he could stay upright.

  “Back the horses!” Will shouted and gestured.

  Carl understood despite the roar of the water, and they were gradually pulled away from the most dangerous current. If they could just hold on to the rope, they would be pulled to safety. Even though her feet could now reach bottom, she could only stumble along behind Will, her feet bumping into his. The muscles in her arms and fingers screamed from the strain of holding on to Will, but she blocked out the pain and concentrated on trying to get her feet under her. Her weight pulling on him made it even more difficult for Will to stay upright.

  Finally, Carl had backed the horses up so far that the outward lip of an eddy swept Will and Idalou toward the edge of the flood. The water swirled so rapidly, Idalou found herself running to keep from falling down. Suddenly the water was only up to her knees. Though her legs were shaky, she managed to stand. Carl left the horses and rushed forward to take her hand as she and Will staggered out of the water and stumbled onto dry ground.

  Will dropped to his knees, then fell forward on the ground, his chest heaving, his limbs shaking. Only Carl’s support kept Idalou from falling. Giving in, she sank down, then flopped back against the earth.

  She lay still, her eyes closed and her mind blank, as her body labored to recover from its exhaustion. The heat of the sun pierced her soaked clothes to warm her body and gradually help release the tension in her arms and shoulders. Gradually the pain eased and she began to breathe more deeply. Opening her eyes, she was struck by the irony of a sunny, nearly cloudless day serving as the backdrop of a flood that had destroyed her ranch and nearly taken her life. The noise of the torrent began to abate. The water behind the dam was nearly gone. In a short while the stream would be back within its normal banks.

  Left behind would be the destruction of everything her family had worked to build since they’d come to Texas.

  “When the tree hit the corral fence, I thought you were goners,” Carl said.

  He had finished pulling Will’s rope out of the water and laid it on the ground to dry. Idalou could only imagine his horror at seeing his sister in the middle of floodwaters and being afraid she was about to die. If their roles had been reversed, she wasn’t sure she would have been able to act as quickly and intelligently as Carl. Will was right. Carl had grown up.

  “What caused the dam to break?” Carl asked.

  “It didn’t break.” Idalou sat up and shaded her eyes so she could see her brother. “Somebody blew it up.”

  “That’s impossible,” Carl said.

  “I heard the explosion,” Idalou said.
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  Will sat up. “I thought the dam looked too well built to collapse on its own.”

  “Why would anybody do that?” Carl asked.

  “Jordan wants our ranch,” Idalou said. “Now that Will has paid off the loan, he has to think of another way to drive us out.”

  “I know what you think of him, and I know he’s taken advantage of us in the past, but he wouldn’t do anything like that,” Carl declared. “You could have been killed.”

  “We both could have been killed,” Idalou pointed out.

  “Weren’t you both supposed to be out looking for the bull?” Will asked Idalou.

  “Yes, but spending every minute in the saddle had put me way behind in my chores. I hadn’t even taken up the eggs in two days.”

  Carl looked toward where the chicken coop had been. “You won’t have to worry about that any longer.”

  “I expect whoever blew up the dam chose this time because he believed both of you would be away from the ranch,” Will said. “He wanted to destroy the ranch but not hurt either of you.”

  “In that case, I’m certain Jordan is behind it,” Idalou said.

  “I don’t believe he did it,” Carl insisted.

  “Then who else could it have been?” his sister asked.

  “Frank Sonnenberg wants the Double-L, too,” Carl reminded her.

  “He hasn’t put any pressure on me,” Idalou said. “He just said he’d top Jordan’s offer and left it at that.”

  “He’s not rich enough to do that,” Carl said.

  “Is there anything you can do to stop Jordan?” Idalou asked Will.

  “Not unless I can prove he’s responsible for blowing up the dam.”

  “He’s a hard businessman, but he’s not evil,” Carl insisted.

  Idalou hadn’t thought so either, but there was no getting around the fact that someone had blown up the dam.

  “I’ll question both men,” Will said. “In the meantime, we have to find a place for you and your sister to stay.”

  “I’m not leaving the ranch,” Carl said. “The moment rustlers hear there’s nobody here, they’ll clean us out.”

  “Where will you sleep?” Idalou asked.

  “I’ve got my bedroll,” Carl said.

  “But you don’t have any food or clothes. Everything we owned was in the house.”

  The tops of the stones that had served as the foundation for their house were barely visible above the receding water. One of the joists had been shattered, the twisted pieces protruding from the water. Everything else had vanished.

  “I can buy food.”

  “With what? The little money we had was in the house.”

  “You don’t have any money in the bank?” Will asked.

  Idalou shook her head.

  “That’s not a problem. I’ll lend you what you need.”

  “I can’t accept that,” Idalou said.

  “Since I paid off the loan, you can think of me as owning the ranch,” Will said. “If that’s the case, you’re working for me. That means I have to pay you wages.”

  Idalou knew this was all wrong, but she was too tired and too upset to think. Once she had time to recover from the shock of what had happened, she’d figure out something.

  “None of us will own anything if the cows disappear,” Carl pointed out.

  Will got to his feet. “Then we’d better be going. The sooner we get your sister settled, the sooner we can decide what to do about the ranch.”

  Idalou stared at the area that had once contained the buildings making up their home. Everything was gone, swept away by the flood. They might not be ready to admit it, but there was no ranch to save. Will held out his hand. She took it and got to her feet. Only then did she remember she’d lost her clothes, that she was standing up in her chemise.

  “I can’t go into town like this,” she said, more horrified at being exposed to Will than that anyone in town would see her.

  Will picked up his shirt from where he’d dropped it and handed it to her. “Put this on. It’s not much, but it’ll protect your modesty.”

  “What about you?” she asked as she reached gratefully for the shirt.

  “I still have my vest,” Will said with a sly grin. “That ought to keep me from completely scandalizing the women of Dunmore.”

  “It’s more likely to give them dreams that’ll have them groaning in their sleep,” Carl said, unable to contain a laugh.

  “You’re disgraceful,” Idalou said, caught between her own embarrassment and being forced to acknowledge the incredible sight that was Will’s bare chest. It was impossible to believe that a man as lazy as Will claimed to be would have a chest and shoulders like that. No wonder he’d been able to hold on to the rope despite the force of the current. His chest and shoulders jutted from a narrow waist. His skin was alive with the movement of powerful muscles whenever he lifted his arms or twisted his body. The muscles in his abdomen rippled. Idalou had never guessed that his loose clothes concealed a body that had the power to ignite such heat in her.

  “Just willing to face the truth.” Carl’s grin disappeared, to be replaced by an angry scowl. “When I find out who blew up that dam, I’m going to break his neck.”

  “That’s my job,” Will said. “You might as well give me a chance to earn my salary.”

  Idalou had been certain that by the time she’d traveled the five miles to town, she would have a solution to all the difficulties facing her. She was wrong. The closer they came to Dunmore, the more divergent her thoughts became, until she couldn’t make any decisions at all. Fortunately, Will and Carl made them for her. Every time she attempted to insert her opinion into the discussion, she’d remember that her modesty was protected only by Will’s shirt. That realization so unnerved her that she was incapable of doing anything beyond trying to come up with a way to get herself inside the hotel without a single citizen in Dunmore seeing her.

  Of course that was impossible. At first, people would be too shocked at the news about the dam to comment on her mode of dress. But after the excitement of the destruction of the dam began to subside, they would remember that she’d been only half dressed. That she’d been wearing Will’s shirt would make the incident memorable and the subject of gossip for as long as either of them stayed in Dunmore.

  “I don’t mean to desert you,” Carl said to his sister, “but I want to get to the store and back to the ranch as fast as possible.”

  “I can take care of your sister,” Will said. “Just tell Andy to charge everything to me.”

  “I can take care of myself,” Idalou insisted.

  “Don’t be a dope,” Carl said to his sister. “You don’t have any clothes, any money, or any place to stay. Let Will take care of all that. We can figure out how to repay him later.”

  Idalou had already reached that conclusion, but she didn’t like hearing it stated. She agreed that the hotel was the logical choice, but staying there meant she’d have no privacy at all.

  “Once you have a room, I’ll see about getting you some clothes. What shops do you like?” Will asked.

  “Ella Huffman’s store is the only one with made-up clothes,” Idalou said, “but I can’t afford anything she has.”

  “We can afford at least one dress,” Will said. “That will give you time to get something made.”

  Will clearly didn’t have any idea how long it took to put together a woman’s dress, but maybe she could get one of the housewives to run up something quick and simple that she could afford.

  As they approached town, Will and Carl rode close on either side of her. Still, she knew that wouldn’t be an effective shield once they reached Main Street.

  “Let’s ride down the alley,” Will said. “Idalou can stay in my office until I make arrangements for her room in the hotel. Then we can take her there.”

  “I’d prefer to wait until after dark,” Idalou said.

  “Once people hear that your home was destroyed, they’ll be too sympathetic to worry about wha
t you’re wearing.”

  Will didn’t understand that to be seen in his company was the same as shouting to every female in town that something was going on between them.

  “Maybe we ought to go to the dress shop first,” Will said. “That way no one will have any reason to comment on what you’re wearing.”

  Idalou would have suggested the same thing, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask Will to spend money buying her clothes.

  Maybe it was the heat or the fact that it was mid-afternoon and everyone was a little sleepy after lunch, but they passed only three people as they rode down the alley. None of the three gave them more than a glance or spoke except to greet the sheriff. They arrived at the back of the dress shop and dismounted.

  “Wait here while I go inside,” Will said.

  “I can’t go in there,” Idalou said when Will was out of earshot.

  “Why not?” Carl asked.

  “I forgot that Junie Mae works with her aunt.”

  “For God’s sake, Lou, can’t you forget that Webb was sweet on her?”

  “How would you feel if Mara was sweet on Van?”

  “She’s sweet on Will, and I get along just fine with him.”

  “That’s because he isn’t sweet on her.”

  “For all you know, Webb wasn’t sweet on Junie Mae, just tired of you blaming his father for everything. Everybody knows she turned to Van soon enough after Webb died.”

  That had made Idalou even more angry at Junie Mae. It was bad enough that she’d stolen Webb from her. It was unforgivable that she couldn’t stay faithful to his memory for even a week. “I don’t care. I don’t want to—”

  The back door to the store opened and Will stepped out. “Ella Huffman is at lunch, but Junie Mae says she’ll be glad to take care of you.”

  If she had had any place to go, Idalou would have turned and ridden away. The idea of letting Junie Mae help her choose a dress while Will watched was almost more than she could contemplate.