Page 12 of Soldier Cowboy
After drying off, she crossed the hallway to her room, dressed in her pajamas, and crawled under the sheets for a nice long nap.
CHAPTER4
Jennifer slept, waking with a parched and dry throat. She still felt out of sorts after sleeping in a moving vehicle for several hours, never quite managing a deep REM sleep. She was now sleeping in a strange home in a new town. After rolling out of the bed, she padded into the kitchen. Finding the kitchen light, she switched it on. The refrigerator was bare, so she found a glass from the cupboard and filled it with tap water. She took a heavy gulp of fresh cold water and sighed.
All things considered she could definitely do far worse than staying in this little cabin. She’d think of it as a retreat. At least she’d brought along her camera so she wouldn’t go completely stir-crazy. Photography was her first dream, a dream she’d put aside so she could actually pay her bills.
Shaded only in the ambient light of the kitchen, the great room looked warm. Cozy. This place reminded her of the cabins from the trips her family used to take every year to the mountains, when her mother was still alive and commanded vacations. She could do this. When Dan gave up on her in a couple of weeks, she’d go home. It was Texas, so she expected some uncomfortable temperatures and heat but at least it wasn’t summertime. As soon as dawn broke, maybe she’d wander outside. Or at least look out the window to see something besides complete and utter blackness.
The front door handle jiggled as if someone on the other side was about to open the door.
Hadn’t Colton locked the door?
Why hadn’t he?
Was this one of those country things were no one bothered to lock their doors?
It wasn’t yet sunrise but approximately three a.m. according to the digital clock on the kitchen wall.Oh my God, what if Dan followed us here?She’d had her phone with her up until Nevada, after all. If he’d followed her there, and already had them in sight, he could have followed them all the way into Texas.Stupid, stupid, stupid.She should have left her tracker behind before she got to Nevada. He would have been lying in wait outside to break in at a time when Colton would be his most vulnerable. Now it wasn’t only her that would suffer. It was another good man who was only trying to help.
No, she was not imagining this. Someone opened the door.
This was real.
This was happening.
Her vocal cords constricted, and she could barely take in a breath, let alone yell.
“Colton,” she whispered. “Help.”
The door opened, and there was a man. Carrying a rifle. Pointing.
“What are you doing here?’ he shouted.
“Please don’t kill me!” she screamed, and hit the floor, curling into a fetal position.
Colton would hear her, hopefully, and come to her aid. Dan had found them. But wait. If it was Dan, why had he asked what she was doing here? He would know she was running from him, and he’d be pissed. He certainly wouldn’t sound as if he didn’trecognizeher.
Colton came barreling down the hallway at the sounds of her scream, gun in hand.
The rifle lowered and the other man stepped more clearly into the kitchen light.
And it wasn’t Dan.
“What the hell?” the man said.
Colton immediately lowered his gun and grabbed the man in a bear hug. She saw him reallysmilefor the first time.
And it was a hell of a show.
“Surprise.” Colton chuckled. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Thought you’d be asleep.”
“I could have shot you,” the man said. “Bonnie Lee is freaking out.”
“Thanks for not killing me.”
A moment later, Jennifer was still on the floor, hands over her ears, when both men hovered above her, twin brows furrowed. Definite lookalikes these two. Yes, thebrother.The man on the billboard. Of course.
When Jennifer kept staring at the weapons with what had to be wild-eyed terror, both men seemed to realize. They slowly laid their weapons down. Colton offered his hand and heaved her up. As if he quickly realized the state of her panic, he drew her into his arms. She clung to him, shaking. He felt like the only steady place for her right now, the only solid ground.
