Page 3 of What the Cowboy Wants
*
Rose was deepin thought as she drove away from Willow’s studio on the Weston Ranch.Molly, the Jack Russel mutt Laura Weston hadlenther was sitting beside her, clearly excited at being in the car.
“Willow’s paintings are something else,” she told Molly.
Molly barked as if she understood exactly what Rose was talking about.Smiling, Rose concentrated on the road in front of her.Willow had invited her a while ago to visit and see her paintings, and when she’d repeated the invitation last night at their weekly book club, Rose had accepted.
She was so glad she had, because she’d been blown away by Willow’s talent.Her friend’s paintings were of life on a Montana ranch.Willow was working on a series of paintings for an exhibition in December in Seattle.There were only a few paintings left in her studio, the others had already been packed up, waiting to be shipped.
One painting in particular of fog veiling a winter landscape nearly had Rose in tears, probably because it so perfectly echoed her present confused state of mind.
The tall brunette with the beautiful blue eyes was one of the women she’d met on the very first night she’d stumbled into Ellie Campbell’s yarn shop in Marietta, the small Montana town she now called home.
Since that dreadful day in the beginning of May nearly four months ago when she’d arrived in town, the same women had helped her, supported her, made sure she was fine every day and gently encouraged her to step back into real life again.
Willow, her mother and her two sisters-in law, Ellie and Laura, plus their other friends who had been in the shop on the night she had arrived in town, were all strangers then, people she’d never met before, but since the first moment they just stepped in and showered her with warmth and love.
She’d be forever grateful they had been the ones behind the door of the yarn shop on that cold and miserable night.Laura had even offered her house to Rose to stay in for as long as she wanted.As an added bonus, Laura had temporarily lent her Molly, a Jack Russel mutt who didn’t ask questions but was happy to cuddle whenever Rose had the need for comfort.
As much as she wanted to forget that awful day, she knew it was time to tell her friends what had happened.The sheriff in town, Dawson O’Dell, whom she’d met at Ellie’s house a few weeks ago had asked her politely to come and see him.
He’d received word that people were looking for her.It could only be Duncan Young, her ex, and Charlotte Peterson, her cousin.They were probably planning to humiliate her even further.She wasn’t quite ready to be found, though, but soon.
She’d been to see the sheriff but had asked him not to reveal her whereabouts to anyone, only to tell whoever asked about her that she was fine.
Days after she’d arrived in Marietta and gotten a new number, she’d texted her parents to let them know she was safe and that she would contact them soon.They’d probably heard about the whole humiliating experience from Charlotte anyway.As usual, they’d been understanding, making her feel even worse for the way she’d behaved toward them and her friends before that fateful night the whole make-believe world she’d created online had tumbled down around her.
The only other people from her previous life she’d communicated with since her arrival were the advertisers she’d worked with to inform them she was no longer on Instagram and wouldn’t be advertising anything again.She didn’t want stuff to be sent to her address, she’d had no idea how long she’d be away.
Her car suddenly slid, swerved to one side, and clutching the wheel, Rose tried to keep it on the road.As a city girl, driving on a dirt road didn’t come naturally.The road probably wasn’t that bad if you were driving a truck, but her convertible wasn’t really designed for roads like this.
It was nearly half past six, much later than she’d planned to stay, but they were in September already—the transition between summer and fall in Montana—and the sun only set at around eight at night these days.Temperatures were down and the days were already shorter.The day had been cloudy, though, and the light was fading fast.
As she took the next corner, some sort of animal was suddenly right there in the middle of the road near what looked like stables she’d seen earlier on her way to see Willow.
Gripping the steering wheel, she stepped on the brakes while putting out a hand to prevent Molly from falling.In the process she inadvertently turned the wheel, the car left the road and before she was able to get control over it again, it hit something.The impact threw her head against the window as the car came to a sudden stop.
“Ouch!”she cried out and touched her head.Blood.For a moment the earth tilted as she closed her eyes.This couldn’t be happening and on the Weston Ranch of all places.Gingerly, she pulled a tissue from her pocket to try and stop the flow of blood before she got out of the car.
Feeling a bit wobbly, she grabbed the door, inhaling deeply a few times as she pressed the tissue against her temple.Oh, my goodness, she couldn’t believe the amount of blood.Surely, it couldn’t be that big a cut?Barking, Molly also jumped out of the car.
*
While Cooper waskeeping an eye on Scarlet and his pets, his phone rang.It was his sister, Willow.He usually avoided answering phone calls, but Willow was as intuitive as he was and knew when there was trouble.She wouldn’t be calling him if it wasn’t important.
“Willow?”
“It’s Rose.”
For a millisecond, Cooper’s heart stopped but then he was striding toward the gate even before Willow had finished speaking.The dogs and Ebony followed him.As he ended the call, he closed the gate behind him.His eyes met Scarlett’s.“We’ll be back, okay?”
His decision to focus his energy and senses on animals rather than people had changed the moment he’d met Rose Dalton.
Molly, the Jack Russel mutt he’d given Laura, his oldest brother’s wife, came charging around the corner.She’d opted to stay with Rose when Laura had married his brother.When the dog saw him, she barked excitedly.
“Where is Rose?”Cooper asked.
Molly turned around and ran in the direction she came from, Cooper and the dogs on her heels.
