Raleigh And The Rancher (Wranglers & Lace #3)

by Laura Anthony

  She had to shut down her feelings and do it now while she still possessed enough strength to resist his overwhelming temptation. She simply could not afford to put Dan’s life in jeopardy by loving him.

  “Raleigh?” His fingers slowed, but continued to caress her bare skin.

  She squirmed from his touch, agony ripping through her.

  “Stop!” she cried, pushing against Dan’s chest and heaving with all her might. He tumbled to one side. Sitting upright, she fumbled to fix her bra and close the buttons on her dress.

  Dan sucked in ragged gasps of air. “What’s wrong?” he asked, instantly attuned to her acute distress.

  What had she done? She’d been such a fool to let things go this far!

  At that very moment the porch light at the big house flashed on. Raleigh frowned. Pete should have been asleep by now. When the front door slammed, instant fear shot through her.

  Pete came running down the steps, stumbling in his haste.

  Suspecting the worst, she leapt from the back of the trailer. She knew a crisis when she saw it.

  “Raleigh?” Dan rolled out behind her.

  Flying at a dead run, she met Pete in the middle of the exercise yard. The older man’s hands trembled violently, his weathered face blanched deathly pale.

  “What is it Pete? What’s wrong?” She grabbed his shoulders, shook him.

  “Come quick,” he finally managed.

  “What’s wrong!” she shouted.

  “It’s Caleb. He’s real sick. Oh, Raleigh, I think he might be dying!”

  Chapter Eight

  Raleigh clutched a hand to her heart. She tore across the yard, heading for the house, Pete and Dan at her heels.

  “Caleb!” she cried, pushing through the front door and spying her little brother doubled over on Dan’s sofa.

  Kneeling beside him, she gathered him into her arms and rested his head on her shoulders. She brushed a copper-colored strand of hair from his eyes.

  “What’s wrong, honey?”

  “Sis,” he whispered. “I hurt so bad.” Trying to be brave, he blinked back a tear, his bottom lip quivering.

  “Where does it hurt?” She felt blood rush to her head, her temples pounded. Dizziness assailed her. She swayed beneath his weight, struggled to remain calm.

  “Here.” Caleb clutched the right side of his lower abdomen.

  “He’s got to be taken to the hospital,” Dan broke in, grabbing his hat off the peg by the door and slamming it onto his head. “Immediately.”

  Dazed, her mind numb with terror, she nodded.

  Bending over, Dan scooped Caleb from Raleigh’s arms and started out the front door. Temporary paralysis rendered her actionless. Like a helpless bystander, she watched Dan take her only surviving family member away from her. Oh, dear God, she couldn’t lose Caleb. Not him, too.

  “Raleigh.” Dan called to her from the open door. “Come on.” Jumping to her feet, she grabbed an afghan from the back of the sofa and ran after them.

  “Should I come?” Pete asked, his face twisted with worry.

  “Stay here and look after the place,” Dan commanded, stalking purposefully toward his truck.

  Why, oh, why, had she gone on that damnable hayride? Raleigh thought. If she’d stayed home with her brother where she’d belonged, she would have been there for him when he’d needed her most. But she’d been in the back of the tractor-trailer rig making love to Daniel McClintock.

  Self-loathing swelled inside her. She blamed herself for everything. Had she been insane? She’d known better than to let Dan get close to her. Look what had happened the minute she’d started to care for him!

  “Raleigh, open the door,” Dan said patiently. His arm muscles bulged from the effort of holding her husky, fourteen-year-old brother aloft.

  Caleb moaned. Raleigh wrenched open the door and stood back while Dan rested Caleb inside. She scooted in beside her brother and Dan took the wheel.

  “What were you doing at Dan’s house?” Raleigh asked Caleb. Looking down, she was appalled to find she’d buttoned her dress incorrectly. She quickly redid the buttons, hoping Caleb hadn’t noticed.

  “I wanted to play video games,” he whispered, pressing a hand to his abdomen. “But I felt too bad.”

  “Why didn’t you tell Fay?”

  “I didn’t want to bother her. I thought it would go away. So I waited for you to come back from the hayride.”

  Guilt’s vicious claws tore into her. She looked over at Dan, and saw that his lips were flattened into a grim line. If only she hadn’t succumbed to his charms and had stayed behind in the house with Caleb. He shifted the pickup into reverse and rocketed out of the driveway, spewing gravel.

  “It hurts,” Caleb whimpered, and drew a sharp breath.

  “Shh...don’t talk.”

  What would she do if something happened to Caleb? Panic dashed through her at the awful thought. Her mouth went dry. No. She refused to consider that possibility. Nothing was going to happen to him. He would be fine. She had to believe that.

  “You hanging in there?” Dan glanced over at her. Although she laid part of the blame at his feet, she was glad to have him here, on her side.

  She nodded. Caleb’s head flopped back and she braced him against her shoulder. He felt so hot.

  “I’m tired,” her brother mumbled, and put out his tongue to moisten his lips.

  Dan trod on the accelerator and belatedly turned on the headlights. “Hang in there, kid,” he soothed.

  “I can’t seem to get enough air.” Caleb sighed.

  Raleigh rolled down the window. “Lean your head over this way and take some deep breaths.”

  “You always know what to do, sis.”

  No, not always, she thought, shooting another look in Dan’s direction. If she’d known what she was doing, she would have left the ranch the very first time Daniel McClintock had kissed her.

  Dan turned off the graveled road, guided the truck onto the entrance ramp and hit the highway. The nearest hospital was in Abilene, twenty miles away. It might as well be two hundred, Raleigh thought dismally.

  Perspiration lay thick on her brother’s upper lip. Raleigh smoothed the moisture away with her sleeve. Dan drove faster. The pickup shimmied in response. Raleigh hoped they’d meet a police cruiser, but no such luck.

  The lights of Abilene sparkled in the distance, a welcoming beacon. So close and yet so far. What would happen if Caleb didn’t make it in time? Raleigh shook her head. She couldn’t afford the luxury of negative thoughts. If she gave in to that horrible conclusion, she would break down completely and Caleb was depending on her.

  “Everything is going to be all right,” Dan told her, as if reading her thoughts. “Caleb will be just fine.” His commanding tone reassured her.

  Raleigh’s chest tightened with emotions. It had been so long since she’d had someone to lean on. She clutched Caleb to her and held on.

  After what felt like an eternity, they roared into town, Dan skillfully steering the speeding pickup down the main thoroughfare and onward to the hospital.

  Screeching to a stop outside the emergency doors, Dan threw the truck into park. “I’ll be right back with some help,” he said.

  Raleigh watched him disappear through the door marked Emergency Entrance in red neon. She gently nudged her brother. “Caleb, honey, we’re here.”

  Dan returned in record time, with a nurse pushing a wheelchair. He wrenched open the passenger-side door and together they helped Caleb from the pickup.

  Doubling over, Caleb grasped his lower abdomen and groaned. The sound sent chills of horror pulsing down Raleigh’s spine. Only Dan’s comforting arm wrapped securely around her shoulders kept her from collapsing in despair.

  The nurse eased Caleb down into the wheelchair and whisked him inside.

  “I’m going to move the truck to the visitor parking lot,” Dan told her. “I’ll be right back. Will you be okay?”

  Raleigh nodded silently, took a deep brea
th and hurried to catch up with the nurse and Caleb.

  The nurse took Caleb behind swinging double doors that announced Patients And Staff Only. Ignoring the sign, Raleigh pushed through the doors to find herself stopped by a tall man in a security officer’s uniform. Around her, the emergency room writhed with activity.

  Doctors and nurses scurried to and fro. The smell of antiseptic, blood and soap clung pervasively to the sterile white walls. Stainless-steel equipment glistened beneath the powerful lights. She heard buzzes, beeps, the strangled cry of frantic voices.

  Ugly memories assailed her—memories of the other awful times she’d spent at the same hospital with Pa. Dizziness, nausea washed over her in waves.

  “Miss?” The security officer addressed her.

  Raleigh frowned at him. “Where’s my brother?”

  “I’m sorry, miss, you’ll have to wait outside.” Firmly, he grasped her elbow and directed her toward the door.

  “But you don’t understand,” Raleigh protested. “He’s the only family I’ve got left!” Her voice rose, high and shrill. Panic gnashed at her. They couldn’t throw her out. They just couldn’t. Caleb needed her.

  The security guard’s tone grew kind. “I know you’re upset, but I guarantee they’ll take good care of your brother. There’s a waiting room around the corner, and as soon as the doctors know something, they’ll come talk to you.”

  Raleigh toyed with an errant strand of hair sweeping down her neck, and plucked out a piece of straw. What else could she do?

  Resigned, she allowed the security officer to lead her to the waiting room. Knotting her hands into fists to keep them from trembling, she plopped down on a worn vinyl bench, leaned her head against the wall, and wished for Dan.

  Narrowing her eyes to slits, she stared with disinterest at the television mounted on the wall. Some late-night talk show host razzed a famous movie star. Raleigh sighed and tried not to think.

  Crossing her legs, then immediately uncrossing them again, she opened her eyes and picked up a dog-eared magazine lying on the cheap wooden coffee table that bore cigarette burns and suspicious dark stains. The stains reminded her of blood, and she shivered.

  Hospitals and their collection of wounded patients made Raleigh nervous. Focusing her eyes on the page before her, she tried to shut out the world around her.

  “How is he?”

  Raleigh looked up to see Dan. Relief flooded her.

  “I don’t know,” she answered him.

  Removing his hat, he sat down next to her. His stamina imbued her with strength, his mere presence braced her courage. “You holding up?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Miss Travers?”

  Raleigh turned to see a young man in a white lab coat, a black stethoscope dangling from his neck. She blinked. “Yes?”

  “Hi, I’m Dr. Gilford.” He extended his hand.

  Raleigh shot to her feet. The magazine fluttered from her lap and slid to the floor with a soft slithering sound. She clasped the doctor’s hand. “How is my brother?”

  “I’m afraid we’re going to have to take him in for an emergency appendectomy.”

  “Now? Tonight?”

  “Yes. Time is of the essence. We want to get to him before the appendix ruptures. But don’t worry, the procedure is very safe. We perform dozens each week.”

  Don’t worry. Placating words. Easy for the doctor to say, it wasn’t his brother. Soundlessly she nodded. They’d once told her not to worry about Pa, too.

  Dr. Gilford smiled kindly. “It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. The nurses are preparing him for surgery as we speak. Are you his legal guardian?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’ll have to register your brother and we’ll need you to sign these consent forms.” He extended a clipboard toward her. “And, by the way, do you have health insurance?”

  “No.” She took the clipboard and quickly perused the extensive sheet before signing it at the bottom.

  “You’ll have to go to the business office and make arrangements for payment, then,” Dr. Gilford said.

  “I’m paying the bill,” Dan asserted.

  “Well, that’s fine, just stop by the admitting desk.”

  “And where would that be?” Dan asked.

  “Wait,” Raleigh interrupted. “I can’t let you pay for Caleb’s bill.”

  “We’ll argue about this later,” Dan said firmly. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Following the doctor’s directions, Dan disappeared around the corner. Raleigh was supremely glad to have Dan here, but at the same time she longed to deny that emotion. She could handle this on her own. Caleb was her brother. She didn’t need Dan’s help. Didn’t need anybody except Caleb.

  “When can I see my brother?” she asked Dr. Gilford.

  “In a few minutes. They’ll wheel him by on the way to O.R.” He gave Raleigh an encouraging smile, then was gone, swallowed up by the imposing double doors separating her from Caleb.

  Clasping her hands together, Raleigh sat back down, grew restless, stood up and paced. An elderly woman sitting across the room smiled at her. Raleigh shook her head, unable to smile back.

  The doors swung open again and a stretcher popped through. Caleb lay on it, looking pale and frightened. The sight stabbed at her heart. Springing to his side, Raleigh grasped her brother’s hand as the nurse and an orderly pushed him down the hall.

  “How you doing, honey?”

  “Okay,” he whispered. His lips were cracked and dry.

  “You’ll be fine,” Raleigh reassured him. She wanted to cry, to throw her head back and howl, but she knew from past experiences with death that the tears would not come. She’d been unable to cry for either of her parents or Jack. If only she could have cried, maybe then she would have felt cleansed, healed. But nature had denied her even that small release.

  “Everything’ll be all right, Raleigh,” Caleb said, trying to comfort her. “I’m not going to die.”

  “Excuse me, miss,” said the nurse. “You can wait right over there.” She pointed to another waiting area in the alcove next to the operating room.

  And then Caleb was gone, trundled through a similar set of double doors and out of Raleigh’s sight.

  Alone.

  How empty the word sounded, how awful it felt. Alone, she sat down in the waiting room, stared at the pale beige wall, and steeled herself against the avalanche of feelings spinning inside her. First, she felt guilt, then anxiety, then an overwhelming melancholy, and finally, her old standby, anger.

  She was mad at herself for having left Caleb to go on the hayride and she was mad at Daniel McClintock for coaxing her into it. Anger. An emotion more easily expressible than grief. She might not know how to cry, but she sure as heck knew how to get mad. Jumping to her feet, Raleigh viciously kicked a nearby chair.

  “Hey, what’s going on here?”

  Raleigh jerked her head up and found herself staring at Daniel McClintock.

  The cause of all her problems.

  He held his cowboy hat in his hands, worrying the brim with his fingers. “I made the arrangements for Caleb’s hospital bill.”

  “I’ll pay you back every penny,” she vowed.

  “You don’t owe me anything,” Dan interrupted. “Your ideas for the ranch will make enough money to cover the costs, and I set up monthly installments. So, I don’t want to hear any more about it.”

  “Caleb and I don’t take handouts,” she snapped, desperate to hide the pain and sorrow welling up inside her. She couldn’t let Dan discover the truth about her.

  “Simmer down,” Dan said. “Everything’s going to be all right.”

  “Ha,” she barked bitterly. No way could Dan empathize with the utter terror she felt at the thought of losing her little brother. He wouldn’t understand about Jack or why she believed herself jinxed—especially when it concerned her love life.

  “I care, Raleigh. Why are you so afraid to let anyone get close to you?”

>   Why? Because, except for Caleb, everyone she’d ever loved had died tragically. She could not allow herself to care for Dan and bring destruction upon his head.

  She folded her arms across her chest, felt her anger dissipate as she looked into Dan’s concerned eyes. He’d shown her nothing but kindness and she had repayed him with the sharp edge of her temper. Chagrined, Raleigh dropped her gaze. Dan deserved better.

  “Let’s sit down.” He inclined his head toward the bench. “I want to talk to you.”

  She settled into the seat and he eased down beside her. Laying his hat on the empty spot next to them, he steepled his fingers. “Do you know what I said to myself the minute I first saw you?”

  “No.”

  “I thought, now here’s a woman who could help me make my dreams come true.”

  “Did you?”

  “Yes, I did. I recognized your strengths. You’re one hell of a woman, Raleigh, but why do you fight so hard to hide your weaknesses? Everybody needs help sometimes.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Who are you lying to, me or yourself?”

  Raleigh stared down at her dusty boots, her wrinkled gingham dress. He was right. She longed to lean on him, to relinquish control and let him soothe her aching sorrow, but she didn’t dare risk the luxury of his sheltering arms.

  “Stop running away, and talk to me,” Dan insisted.

  “I’ve never run away from anything in my life!”

  “You’re kidding yourself. You might not run from hard work or responsibility, but you sure as hell run from personal involvement with people.”

  “People only hurt you in the end, why take the chance?” she said.

  “May I sit here and wait with you? Be your friend? I care about Caleb, too.”

  His question took her by surprise. She hadn’t expected him to settle for friendship.

  “I don’t know,” she told him truthfully. Even friends caused pain.

  She almost told him to leave, but the truth of the matter was, she wanted him to stay. Passing time alone in the forlorn waiting room, anticipating bad news, held little appeal.