Stranded with the Rancher

“Elizabeth.” Dan’s voice was steady, firm and reassuring, talking her down from the ledge of fear she had climbed. “I’ll be right back.”

“Beth. I’m just Beth.” The words were hollow. She stared at the snow accumulating on the windshield. Flake upon flake piled up, like a smothering blanket, until she could barely see daylight through the glass.

“Beth.”

Turning, she met his gaze. Dan Gallagher had kind eyes.

“We’re going to be fine.” His lips curved into a gentle smile. “Okay?”

“Okay.” A single word to rest her future on.

“Here are the truck keys. If you absolutely have to, start the engine and run the heater. Keep the emergency brake on.”

“You said you’re coming right back.”

“That’s right.” He nodded, but continued talking. “I’ve got a first aid kit and crash cart supplies in the backseat in those two tackle boxes. The portable defibrillator is under the seat. There’s also emergency food and water in that red box. If you have to get out of the vehicle, stay away from the trees. We’re way too close to the ravine.”

“We could have gone into the ravine?”

“Those trees stopped us.”

Stunned, she was silent for a moment. “I’d prefer not to die today if you don’t mind.”

“I’ll try to remember that.” He stared deeply into her eyes as if searching for something. “Do you pray?” Dan asked.

“What?”

“Do you pray?”

“I used to,” Beth murmured.

“Now would be a good time to start again.” He tossed his Stetson in the backseat, turned up his collar and gently shut the door.

The truck jostled as he lowered the liftgate and slid the snowmobile off the flatbed. The engine roared to life and a moment later the snowmobile’s headlight illuminated the truck and moved past. Barely a second later he was gone; swallowed up by the swirling snow.

Beth closed her eyes and did what she always did when she was afraid. She began to count backward from one hundred, taking calming breaths.

He’ll be back.

Still the suffocating terror pressed in. That’s what your mother said. And she never came back.

“Eighty-eight. Eighty-seven.”

It had been a very long time since she had prayed. She’d spent her entire adult life focused on her goals, so she would never be in that place of desperation again. That vulnerable point, where God was her only hope.

Yet here she was in the middle of nowhere. Lost. Her shot at the job she’d been waiting her entire career for was slipping through her fingers, and a cowboy pharmacist was out there risking his life on her behalf.

“Sixty-four.”

How had everything spun out of her careful control?

Beth glanced around the truck cab. Exhaling, she watched a puff of breath appear like a small cloud, then evaporate.

Pray, Dan had said.

Did God even remember her?

Lord, this is Bethy Rogers. I really need Your help.

Chapter Two (#ulink_53abc8ad-ec63-53fc-aa91-6f33ab962647)

Beth exhaled. Her panicked breaths were accomplishing nothing more than creating a veil of condensation on the windshield. She wiped at the moisture with a gloved hand and then unbuttoned her wool coat. Then she checked her phone yet again.

Dan had been gone thirty minutes.

Her mind continued to race back and forth between worst-case scenarios.

When the CB gave a static squawk Beth glanced down at the black box mounted between the passenger and driver seats. Maybe she should try to call someone on the radio to send help. Who would she contact? Ben? No, she didn’t want Ben or Sara out here risking their lives.

Yet Dan Gallagher was. For her. Did he have family waiting for him?

Beth swallowed hard, considering the implications of her dogged decision to get to Gunbarrel.

Calm down.

Dan’s job is dealing with snow emergencies. He’ll be fine. He’ll be back soon.

Right?

She leaned against the seat and stared at the ceiling of the cab. “Please, Lord, keep Dan safe.”

Twice in one day she’d called upon the Lord. The realization stunned her. It had no doubt stunned Him, as well.

Moments later the distant rumble of a snowmobile engine broke the silence.

Apparently He was still listening.

She whispered a thank-you and shoved open the door of the truck.

The moment her booted foot pushed through the deep snow and made contact with the ground, she realized her error. Six inches of March snow covered a slick surface.

Her feet scissored back and forth in a crazed dance as she made a frantic attempt to gain traction on the slippery ground.

“Oomph.”

Beth landed unceremoniously on her left side. Who knew snow could hurt so much? She rolled to her back and lay there, regrouping, as the snowflakes continued to fall on her.

The hint of gas fumes tickled her nose a moment before Dan appeared. She barely knew the man, but as he towered above her, dressed all in black, with the helmet on and his goggles around his neck, she dared to release a small smile.