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Exasperated, Meadow took the rope out of his hands. “Give that to me before I die of hypothermia out here along with that cow!”
With the rookie cowboy looking on, she formed a lasso, swung her arm in the perfect motion—and nailed the cow in a perfect toss.
When she turned to Colton, her head tilted to meet his gaze, she saw the glimmer of respect in his eyes.
Finally.
But as sure as she knew they were about to be caught in the worst storm of the decade, she knew the respect she saw in his eyes wasn’t going to last.
* * * * *
The heifer made her slow, ambling way through the pounding rain behind Meadow’s horse, attached by a long rope. With Colton taking up the rear, he had a direct view of her steeled spine.
So when she started to lean in her saddle and sway too much to one side, panic hit.
She was about to fall off.
“Stop!”
At his call, she at least had enough of her wits to bring the line to a halt. But by the time he dismounted and walked up to her, he saw why she was slanting in her saddle.
She was bone white, her lips blue from the cold. Her fingers had morphed into claws barely able to hold the reins.
“Goddammit. Why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t ride?” He reached up for her, and she slid slowly off into his arms.
He gathered her close. Christ, she was frozen to the bone. In his effort not to pay so much attention to her, he’d almost killed her.
Looking around the bleak landscape, he scanned the region. Lightning flashed, illuminating a few tall shrubs. With any luck, they might offer a windbreak from the raging storm. It never seemed to let up, howling and gusting with high winds that bent the trees.
He carried her to the shrubs and set her on the soggy earth. Then he took off his own coat, heavy and waterproof. Even though it was dark with rain, it was far better than the soaking wet blanket she had slung around her narrow shoulders. God, he could kick himself for failing her this way.
“I don’t want your coat—take it back. You’ll freeze!” Her lips hardly seemed to move when she spoke.
He shook his head, stripped the blanket off her and draped his coat around her instead.
“Oh god,” she murmured, huddling into the fabric that probably still held enough of his body heat to keep her alive.
But for how long? He’d never seen anything like this weather. Between the booms of thunder making the animals skittish and the cracks of lightning that could strike them dead in an instant, it was right up there with an air raid. For the past hour, he’d been on edge, clinging to his sanity while trying not to think about how Forest met his end.
He needed to make Meadow a shelter to weather the storm. At the slow pace they were going, they were never going to find that shortcut pass.
They had to settle in and make camp to stay alive.
“Stay right there,” he told her.
She blinked at him but said nothing. Another bad sign. He struck off into the darkness. The rain caused poor visibility. It was unlikely he’d actually find a place for them to shelter, but he had to try.
In seconds, he was drenched. Rivulets of icy water ran off his hat onto his shoulders. Meadow must be feeling a hundred times worse. She’d been wet for hours now.
He had to find a spot—anyplace to create a lean-to. Two trees would do for stretching the thin tarp he had rolled up in one of the packs.
He was just thinking that they’d have to make do with sitting close together with the tarp tossed over their heads, when he spotted a hump of rock jutting up from the landscape.
He moved swiftly to it for closer inspection. When he saw the dark opening and a few trees sprouting up around it, he fist-punched the air.
This was exactly what they needed to get them through a night in the elements. Whipping around, he ran the entire way to Meadow’s side. She hunched forward, her head bowed.
The sight made his heart pinch sharply.
