Rancher Rescue

His arms banded around her hips. Arms like his would be capable of handling anyone or anything they came across. He lifted her onto the saddle with no effort and then swung up behind her.

“I need to make sure you’re going to be around long enough to greet him. You let infection set in and that leg will be no use to you anymore.”

She didn’t argue. Fatigue weighted her limbs, drained her energy. If he could fix her leg, she could find Noah.

Taking the long way around didn’t unearth any clues about Noah’s whereabouts. The sky was darkening. Night would fall soon.

The house coming into view was a white two-story Colonial with a wraparound porch and dark green shutters. An impressive set of barns sat behind the house. There was a detached garage with a basketball hoop off to the side. This was a great place for kids.

Katherine hadn’t stopped once to realize this man probably had a family of his own. The image of him cradling a baby edged its way into her thoughts. The contrast between something so tiny and vulnerable against his bare steel chest brought shivers up her arms.

Did he have a son? His reaction to Noah’s age made more sense.

She prayed Noah would be home in bed before the sun vanished. Was he still panicked? Could he breathe? Did he have time before the next attack? Did she?

What would happen when the men came after her again if she couldn’t produce the file?

She shrugged off the ice trickling down her spine. Police would need a description of the attackers. She had to think. The last thing she remembered was being hauled through the woods. She ran so long her lungs burned. The next thing she knew, she was facedown in the dirt. The men had disappeared. She’d lost everything.

“Lean toward me. I’ll catch you.” Caleb stood next to the horse.

One of his calloused but gentle hands splayed on the small of her back. He carried her inside as if she weighed nothing and placed her on the sofa in the front room. He lifted her bloody leg to rest on top of the polished knotty-pine coffee table.

The smell of spices and food warming sent a rumble through her stomach. How long had she been dragged? She wouldn’t be able to eat, but how long could Noah go without food? Was he hungry?

“Margaret, grab my emergency bag,” Caleb shouted before turning to Katherine. “Margaret helps me out with cleaning and cooking. Keeps me and my boys fed.”

So he did have children. Katherine figured a place with this kind of space had to have little ones running around. Noah would have loved it here.

A round woman padded into the room. A salt-of-the-earth type with a kind face, she looked to be in her late fifties. Her expression dropped. “What happened?”

Caleb gave her a quick rundown before introducing them. “I’ll need clean towels, a bowl of warm water and something for Katherine to drink. Some of these gashes are deep.”

Margaret returned with supplies. “If anyone can find your nephew, it’s this man.”

Margaret’s sympathetic expression melted some of Katherine’s resolve. “Thank you.”

“You look like you’re in pain. Tell me where it hurts.”

“My head. Stomach.” Her hand pressed against her midsection to stave off another round of nausea. “But I’ll be fine.”

“Of course you will. You’re in good hands.” She set a cup of tea next to Katherine. “This’ll help.”

She thanked the housekeeper, smiled and took a sip. “Tastes good.”

“Would you mind grabbing the keys to my truck? Call the barn, too. I rode Dawn again. Ask Teddy to put her up for the night.” Caleb patted one of Katherine’s gashes with antibiotic ointment.

She gasped, biting back a scream. “Now that I’m okay, we’re going to find them ourselves, right?”

“I’m taking you to the E.R.”

“No.” Shaking her head made everything hurt that much worse. “I can’t leave. Your guys will find Noah and bring him here, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then the only reason I’d walk out that door is to help search for him. I won’t leave here without him. He needs me and his meds.”

She expected a fight but got a nod of agreement instead.

Caleb went back to work carefully blotting each gash without saying another word. Trying to distract herself from the pain, Katherine studied the room. The decor was simple. Substantial, hand-carved wood furniture surrounded the fireplace, which had a rust-colored star above the mantel. The cushions were soft. The place was more masculine than she figured it would be. There had to be a woman somewhere in the picture. A protective, gorgeous man like Caleb had to have a beautiful wife. And kids. She’d already envisioned him holding his child. She could easily see him with two or three more.

There was one problem. Nothing was out of place. She knew from spending the past week with Noah, kids left messes everywhere. “I hope your wife doesn’t get the wrong impression when she sees a strange woman on your sofa.”

Caleb didn’t look up. “I’m single.”

Had she met him under other circumstances, the admission would’ve caused a thousand tiny butterflies to flutter in her stomach. But now she could only think about Noah.

“Do you want to call Noah’s parents and let them know what’s going down?”

“No. There’s no one else. His mother died. I’m all he’s got.” The poor kid.

Her sister, Leann, had always been the reckless one. Everything had been fun and games and risk for her. Now she was gone and Noah was in trouble.

A hundred questions danced across Caleb’s intense brown eyes. To his credit, he didn’t ask any of them.

Katherine figured he deserved to know the truth. “She died in a climbing accident at Enchanted Rock a week ago. She was ‘bouldering,’ which apparently means you don’t use safety equipment. You’re supposed to have people spot you, but she didn’t.”

Caleb’s jaw did that tick thing again. She’d seen it before when he’d seemed upset and held his tongue. Did he have something he wanted to say now?

“Sorry for your loss. This must be devastating for you. What about Noah’s father?”

“She...the two of them...lived in Austin alone. She never told me who his father was. As far as I know, no one else has a clue, either. My sister may have been reckless with her actions but she could keep a secret.” Katherine wondered what else she didn’t know about Leann.

“Be easy enough to check out the birth certificate.”

A half-laughed, half-exacerbated sigh slipped out. “She put down George Clooney.”

If Caleb thought it funny, he didn’t laugh.

Katherine cleared her throat. “I doubt if the father knows about Noah. Leann never told anyone who she dated. Not even me. I never knew the names of her boyfriends. When she spoke about them, they all had movie-star nicknames.”

“There must’ve been a pattern to it.”

Katherine shrugged. “Never gave it much thought before. Figured it was just for fun.”

His reassuring nod comforted her.

“You two were close?”