Page 62 of Her Cowboy Baby Daddy
Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe when the wind had started, he’d packed up and headed home like a sane person, because storms in these mountains could get intense.
Or maybe he was in a tent, riding it out.
Or maybe his tent had blown away, like hers and Bella’s had.
Whatever, it wasn’t her concern.
Hayley went back into the house and smoothed a hand over her hair, which had started twisting into knots during the brief time she’d been on the porch.
The thought of Spence out in the storm was killing her. She went to the window, staring at her pale reflection. The thought of him admitting that he’d fallen for her, only for her to figuratively slap him backward, also killed her a little. She hadn’t let herself think about it, had done her best to push the thoughts aside time and again, but all day, even while working with Henry, she’d felt it. Felt the sorrow and frustration and, well, anger at the man for putting forth something that threatened her well-thought-out plans.
He was falling for her.
She’d fallen for him.
Could there be a happy ever after?
What have you learned from watching your mother?
“You’re not Reba.” She spoke the words to herself, as if saying them aloud gave the message more credence.
You don’t know that. How many successful relationships have you had?
Nothing like a small voice raining on one’s parade.
But she wasn’t like her mother in that regard. She wanted to live quietly on her ranch and she wanted a child, neither of which had been enough for Reba. She was like her father in those respects, happy staying in one place and being a responsible, loving parent.
But unlike her father, she didn’t want to live her life alone.
Hayley started back down the hall to her bedroom, then stopped as the lights flickered. They went out, then came back on again. She stayed frozen in place for a few seconds, waiting to see what the power would decide to do, then started toward her room again, her stride purposeful. She pulled her jeans off the chair where she’d laid them a few hours before, then grabbed her hoodie off the seat and shrugged into it.
Less than a minute later, she was in her truck. As she started the engine, the pole light next to the barn went out. Sometimes she wondered why she ever bothered paying the electric bill.
She let out a sigh that stopped abruptly when another branch, much smaller than the first, but a branch all the same, came down from the old cottonwood next to the house.
This was not a night to be camping alone by a lake. This was a night very much like the one when she and Bella had lost their tent, only it hadn’t rained that night. Big splats started pummeling the windshield just before a blast of lightning split the dark sky.
Hayley started the wipers and leaned over the steering wheel, squinting into the darkness that followed the lightning. All sensible deer should be nestled down for the night, but one never knew.
She turned onto the road leading to Minnow Lake, which she was almost certain Henry had said was the place where Spence was camping. Damn, but she hoped she’d heard correctly. The dirt road became slippery as the rain pounded the earth, forming rivulets that streamed over the packed dirt.
She drove slowly, jumping at each lightning bolt and the explosions of thunder, wondering if she was on a fool’s mission. So what if she was? So what if she got to the lake and discovered that Spence had gone home like any sane person would have? Except for that hiking in thing. If he’d hiked in, he’d have to hike out unless his family had rescued him.
Had they? There was no cell service, so he hadn’t sent an SOS, and Spence wasn’t the kind to do that anyway.
He was probably sheltering in his tent, riding out the storm.
No. She didn’t feel foolish checking on him. Riding to the rescue like she had in high school. Only this time, there’d be no talk of him owing her.
She shifted into a lower gear as she began descending the hill before the lake, the rain coming down so hard that the wipers couldn’t keep up. As soon as she let out the clutch, she realized her mistake. The backend of her truck started sliding sideways, then the left-rear wheel caught in the deep ditch and pulled the truck sideways. Hayley fought the wheel, but the mud was too slick, and she lost the battle with water and gravity. The truck lurched to a stop broadside in the road, the rear wheels sunk in the ditch.
She revved the engine, doing her best to blast out of the predicament she was in. Mud flew, rain pounded the windshield, the truck didn’t budge. Slowly, Hayley brought her forehead to rest against the steering wheel.
So much for Hayley to the rescue.
Chapter Eleven
Spence propped himselfup on his elbows after becoming aware of the light outside the tent, which was fluttering around him like something alive.
