by Cora Seton
Two more women stepped off the bus after the last of the girls had scrambled out. One was tall with sharp, hawk-like features, her dark eyes quickly taking in the scene. The other was shorter, older, her hair going gray and her round face, which Greg somehow knew was normally wreathed in smiles, was grim. These two had seen at a glance that something was horribly wrong. They conferred in rapid Spanish before the tall one clapped her hands twice and barked an order at the girls. They lined up immediately in front of the bus.
That was when the first woman, the one with the cameraman, turned around. Her gaze rested on Greg for only a moment before it slid to the girls, but that moment stopped his breath in his chest. The pain in her eyes pierced him. She’d laid a hand over her heart unconsciously, as if trying to hold in a riot of emotions struggling to break free. She was young. His age, he figured, or a year or two older. She’d heard what had happened up in Colina Blanca. Knew what the girls standing next to the bus didn’t—yet. That most of their families were probably gone—their homes destroyed—
Greg didn’t realize he was moving until he found himself by her side. He took her arm. Steadied her. “Tell them fast,” he said. “Make it clean.”
She swallowed. Opened her mouth. He could feel the tears in her, but she didn’t cry, her attention solely on the students. “Girls,” she said in Spanish. Her voice wavered, but she steadied it. “Girls, I have something hard to tell you. Last night in the rain a mudslide was loosed. Colina Blanca was in its path. Many people were hurt. Died. You are safe here and we will do everything we can to reunite you with your families, but you will have to be patient and very, very brave.”
Greg didn’t leave her side through all the long hours of that afternoon, evening, night and into the next morning as Renata Ludlow, as he learned she was named, helped Mayra and Gabriela, the tall and broad-faced women, respectively, keep the girls together, feed them, keep them warm and search through the chaos of the camp for their relatives. Renata worked tirelessly, never looking at him, focused single-mindedly on finding the girls’ parents, asking aid worker after aid worker if they’d seen any of the missing adults.
As a new day dawned, the truth sunk in. The twenty-three girls who made up the student body of the San Pedro School of Excellence were now orphans. Greg, who until 24 hours ago had little on his mind except catching a flight home to Oregon at the end of the semester in time for graduation in June, felt as if he’d donned some kind of robotic exoskeleton overnight, leaving him lumbering and unsure in his own body. It took him more than an hour to recognize that the feeling stemmed from a shift inside him: a restructuring of the framework of his mind.
No longer a carefree boy looking for an adventure, his aspirations had hardened overnight into something weightier. This was the work he wanted in the future—work that mattered. He wanted to accomplish things. Change things. Help people.
Something else—he wanted to share his life with a woman like Renata. Someone who could work so stoically, but who was so beloved by the girls of the San Pedro school that each of them had sought her out at one time or another during the long, dark hours of the night for consoling words and a shoulder to sob on. He’d known another woman like her once. A girl, rather, whose heart had healed all those who’d come in contact with it—those willing to be healed.
He’d let that girl down in the worst of ways and he was determined not to make the same mistake twice. A new protectiveness had taken hold of him. A desire to patrol the space around Renata and keep her safe while she tended and comforted the students she obviously cared for so much. He’d learned from listening to the people around them that she was from London, a recent film-school graduate here to do a documentary about the San Pedro school and the girls who attended it. He’d learned little else about Renata so far. Nothing at all from the woman herself, who kept moving, kept searching, refused to give up finding the girls’ missing parents.
And that was his problem in a nutshell. Because Greg was falling in love with Renata.
And she hadn’t even noticed he was there.
Click to read more of A SEAL’s Desire
The Cowboys of Chance Creek Series:
The Cowboy Inherits a Bride (Volume 0)
The Cowboy’s E-Mail Order Bride (Volume 1)
The Cowboy Wins a Bride (Volume 2)
The Cowboy Imports a Bride (Volume 3)
The Cowgirl Ropes a Billionaire (Volume 4)
The Sheriff Catches a Bride (Volume 5)
The Cowboy Lassos a Bride (Volume 6)
The Cowboy Rescues a Bride (Volume 7)
The Cowboy Earns a Bride (Volume 8)
The Cowboy’s Christmas Bride (Volume 9)
The Heroes of Chance Creek Series:
The Navy SEAL’s E-Mail Order Bride (Volume 1)
The Soldier’s E-Mail Order Bride (Volume 2)
The Marine’s E-Mail Order Bride (Volume 3)
The Navy SEAL’s Christmas Bride (Volume 4)
The Airman’s E-Mail Order Bride (Volume 5)
The SEALs of Chance Creek Series:
A SEAL’s Oath
A SEAL’s Vow
A SEAL’s Pledge
A SEAL’s Consent
A SEAL’s Purpose
A SEAL’s Resolve
A SEAL’s Devotion
A SEAL’s Desire
A SEAL’s Struggle
A SEAL’s Triumph
The Brides of Chance Creek Series:
Issued to the Bride One Navy SEAL
Issued to the Bride One Airman
Issued to the Bride One Sniper
Issued to the Bride One Marine
Issued to the Bride One Soldier
The Turners v. Coopers Series:
The Cowboy’s Secret Bride (Volume 1)
The Cowboy’s Outlaw Bride (Volume 2)
The Cowboy’s Hidden Bride (Volume 3)
The Cowboy’s Stolen Bride (Volume 4)
The Cowboy’s Forbidden Bride (Volume 5)
About the Author
With over one million books sold, NYT and USA Today bestselling author Cora Seton has created a world readers love in Chance Creek, Montana. She has twenty-eight novels and novellas currently set in her fictional town, with many more in the works. Like her characters, Cora loves cowboys, military heroes, country life, gardening, bike-riding, binge-watching Jane Austen movies, keeping up with the latest technology and indulging in old-fashioned pursuits. Visit www.coraseton.com to read about new releases, contests and other cool events!
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