Page 41 of Mountain Rescue
“Yes. Let’s have some lunch.”
Chapter Twelve
“Guess it’s just you and me, Bella Boo,” Rachel said after Dallas left to meet up with Noah. He’d wanted her to go with him, but she needed some time by herself. Bella walked to the front door and stared at it.
“You miss him, huh?” As much as Rachel wanted some alone time, she missed him, too. “He’ll be back in a little while. What should we do?” He’d made her promise that she’d stay inside with the door locked, so she couldn’t go for a run. Bummer that. She did some of her best thinking when she ran.
That Dallas had a gun on him really bothered her. She’d tried to hide how much, but it had hit home how dangerous her situation was. It wasn’t the gun itself that bothered her as much as the reminder that she’d brought danger to her friends.
Maybe she should let the police or even better, the FBI, hide her away somewhere. Bella sighed, then padded to the sofa and peered at her with her sad brown eyes. Rachel patted the cushion. “Why don’t you come up here and snuggle with me.”
Bella gave another doggy sigh, sounding as if Rachel was a poor substitute for her favorite man, then jumped onto the sofa. Rachel combed her fingers through the dog’s soft fur. “Hey, pretty girl. What do you want to talk about? Dallas, huh?”
She pulled Bella’s legs over her lap. “There. That’s better. So, if we’re going to talk about your best guy, I have a question. Should I stick to the no-kissing rule or not?” Bella didn’t seem to have an opinion.
If she dropped the rule, they wouldn’t stop at just kissing. Not that she would want to stop. It was that having an affair wasn’t her. But how many times in her life would she get a chance to meet someone like Dallas?
She wasn’t worried about risking her heart. They both had lives they’d return to in different parts of the country. She’d go home with some great memories with an honest-to-God SEAL cowboy in the starring role.
Carpe diem,right?
Now, if only Dallas was here so she could jump his bones before she talked herself out of it. Since he wasn’t, and she was bored, she turned on the TV, flipped through the channels, and stopped at seeing the movieArsenic and Old Lace.
“This movie’s hilarious,” she told Bella. “Let’s watch it.” Never mind she’d seen it a dozen times, at least it would be something to do.
“Now what, Bella?” she said when the movie was over. What she really needed was a run and she couldn’t even do that. The dog had fallen asleep during the movie, and she opened her eyes, yawned, then closed them again. “Humph. You’re a lousy conversationalist.” Maybe she should find something to make for dinner.
When she was halfway to the kitchen, her phone rang, and her heart skipped a beat before she considered that Carter wouldn’t put through a call from Robert. Returning to the living room, she picked it up from the coffee table, breathing a sigh of relief at seeing Carter’s name on the screen.
“It makes me nervous when this phone rings,” she said.
“Just me, darlin’. Your grandmother’s a hoot.”
“I could have told you that, but you talked to her? She’s safe?”
“She’s in Montana and on the phone waiting to talk to you. She thinks I have a sexy voice and wanted me to send her a selfie without my shirt on.”
“Okay, that’s embarrassing.”
“Nah, she’s funny.”
She heard the amusement in his voice. “Just how long did you talk to my grandmother?”
“Oh, we’re besties now. I’m putting her through.”
“Rachel? Are you there?”
“I am. You’re in Montana now, right?” It was so good to hear her grandmother’s voice.
“Yes. It was so exciting, like being in a spy movie. That nice couple sneaked me out of the ranch in Wyoming in the back of a utility truck. Then when we were miles away, we switched cars to a black SUV, and would you believe we changed that car for a bread company van to sneak me into the dude ranch. This place is amazing, even better than the last ranch. And my goodness, the cowboys here are right off the cover of a romance book. Except they have their shirts on. Do you think they might take them off when—”
“Please don’t ask them to take their shirts off. I mean it, June.”
“Aw, you’re no fun. I was thinking you should come here so I don’t have to worry about you. We could find you a smoking hot cowboy.”
She had one of those, thank you very much. “I’m fine. I’ve got a team of highly skilled men watching over me. Just promise to stay on the ranch until this is over, okay?”
“I promise. The lady who owns this dude ranch is beautiful, so I’m glad she’s married, or she’d be competition. Did you know she and her husband are on the cover of a romance novel?”
