A Randall Hero

A Randall Hero
Judy Christenberry

When John Randall swerved to avoid a broken-down car on a deserted Wyoming back road, the cowboy never dreamed he'd find a beautiful woman inside.But like a knight without his steed, the rancher came to her rescue. She was, after all, alone…and about to give birth. Lucy Horton was on the run. After an attack on her unborn child, she'd had no choice but to seek refuge in the tiny town of Rawhide.But now her baby was making an unscheduled appearance and her handsome hero wouldn't leave her side. Lucy had no choice but to accept his help, his shelter, his strong shoulder. But when John offered more than that, how could she accept, when her heart wasn't hers to give?

A Randall Hero

Judy Christenberry

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter One

John Randall regretted the past few hours.

A trip to see an old college buddy appear in a rodeo had turned into a marathon when his friend lassoed him into a steak dinner and a few beers.

Every time John had tried to leave, his friend announced he had one more story to tell their companions about their college escapades.

Now he was finally on the road home—two hours late and a hundred miles from home. And the last seventy of them were on the two-lane road that led to Rawhide.

When he left the main road, he settled in for a relaxed drive. At ten o’clock he didn’t expect to run into much traffic. But about ten miles down the road, he rounded a curve and suddenly jammed on his brakes. A car was stopped in the lane, no lights on. No leeway existed on the narrow country road and John knew he’d have to risk running his truck onto the rocky, tree-lined shoulder or crash into the stopped car in front of him.

He twisted his steering wheel to the right…and prayed for the best.

His truck hit a boulder beside the road and his axle snapped when he landed on lower ground. He knew it before the truck had stopped moving. He spoke words his mother would have raised her eyebrows at, but he felt sure those words were justified.

He got out of his truck and climbed up to the road, angry now that someone had left their car on the road. Even if it had broken down, the least they could’ve done was push it to the side. He’d assumed no one was in the car, but when he knocked on the glass to be sure, a head popped up.

He thanked God he’d avoided the vehicle. “Can you roll down the window a little?”

The woman did so.

“Are you broken down?”

“Y-yes.”

“Then why didn’t you move your car off the road?”

“I—I can’t.”

His eyes followed her hand as she patted her stomach, and he realized she was pregnant.

Very pregnant.

“We’ve got to get you out of your car before another vehicle comes along and hits it.”

“I don’t think I can walk.”

“Come on, I’ll help you.”

“Where will I go?”

“To my truck for the moment. I’ll call for help after I get you safe and your car off the road.”

“You have a cell phone?”

“Yeah.” He tried to open her door. “Can you unlock your door?”

“Yes.”

He got her door open and helped her out. Then he half dragged and half helped her into his truck down below.

“Just stay put while I see what I can do about your car. Do you know what’s wrong with it?”

“I don’t know, but it started hissing and smoke started coming out of the hood.”

“Okay. I’ll see if I can push it on to the shoulder. I’ll be back in just a minute.” At least he would if he didn’t get run over on the pitch-dark road. Fortunately, he didn’t expect a lot of cars at that time of night.

Changing the gear to neutral, he pushed the car to the side of the road. There wasn’t that much space, but it would give anyone coming around the curve some room to maneuver.