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He only lived thirty minutes from town and twenty from the Coleville Ranch—not that he ever went to visit what had been his second home as a boy and teenager. He went into town for supplies every couple of weeks and rarely missed church on Sunday and dinner at mom’s afterward. His family came to see him on occasion and the Coleville twins hadn’t given up on him yet, probably hoping one of his sisters might be home from university and visiting. He might be a hermit and heartbroken, but at least he wasn’t a heathen.
“What’s your name, Miss?” he asked, letting himself take in her smooth tanned skin and beautiful features. That sprinkling of freckles across her nose and her pronounced cheekbones made her even more beautiful but also a tad-bit relatable. Not quite as much of a supermodel. In her tight running clothes, she looked more like a fitness model. A beat-up fitness model with rips in her clothing and smudges of dirt everywhere.
He winced. Some ice on that goose egg and an assessment of the rest of her body wouldn’t be out of line. Medical assessment. He couldn’t be checking out fit female bodies. Especially that of an odd stranger who’d dropped into his life and valley.
She stared at him, her lips pursed and her eyes filled with frustration. She blinked several times and shifted unsteadily.
Warning bells clanged in his head. The way she’d hit that tree. The lump on her head. The fear of some lady coming after her who would hurt him. Maybe she wasn’t a mentally unstable beauty. Maybe she had a bad head injury like he’d feared earlier. She was confident and well-spoken, so he’d assumed her brain was functioning properly.
“Do you know your name?” he asked, his voice soft, careful.
Her blue eyes got brighter, and he feared she’d cry, but she just shook her head, folded her arms across her chest, and said in a snotty, definitely East Coast voice, “You have not merited the right to my name, cowboy sir.”
“Okay,” he drawled, confused and maybe a little hurt. All he’d done was try to help her. “We need to find my phone and call for some help, or I can run you to town or wherever you’re staying in my truck, if you feel up to that. Since it might be rough finding my phone.” He gestured toward the deep blue mountain lake. It was only a couple hundred feet wide and long, but it was fifty feet deep in spots. Her throw had been impressive. Maybe she was a famous athlete and that was why she looked familiar.
“I … I don’t know where to go. All I know is she’ll find me. Wherever I go. She’ll find me.”
“I think you need to go to an emergency room, ma’am.”
“No.” She shook her head and blinked quickly. “Absolutely not. She’ll find me and she’ll hurt you.”
“Um … who is she?”
Her eyes gave that blank and scared stare. “The witch,” she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Of course. The witch. Oh, boy. He rubbed at the growth on his jaw. Picking up his hat, he dusted it off and plunked it back on his head. “If you absolutely won’t go to the emergency room, why don’t we get some ice on your head, let you wash up and get a drink of cold water. Then we’ll figure out where to take you. All right?”
She nodded, all prim and almost snotty again. Did she have multiple personalities, or was it all the head injury talking? Maybe somebody would be coming for her. That would be good. Was that somebody a boyfriend or husband? He glanced at her left hand. No ring. Happiness bubbled in his chest and he had to shove it away. It was no never mind of his if she was single.
He turned toward the house and she fell into step beside him, limping slightly. He stopped and looked down at a huge rip in her pant leg. A black and blue spot was already appearing on her right thigh.
“You all right?” He gently touched the skin next to the bruise.
She swatted his hand away. “Do not take liberties, Mr. Miller.”
“I wasn’t …” Cade shook his head. He couldn’t win. “I was worried about your leg.”
“It’s fine.” She looked defensive and scared. That made his heart soften toward her. She obviously didn’t know who she was, where she was, and she was afraid of some lady coming after her. The witch. She was trusting him to take care of her and not take advantage of her. He didn’t blame her for drawing boundaries.
Was she in danger? Maybe that was why she’d fallen. Somebody was chasing her. His hand automatically went to his pistol as he evaluated the mountainside trail she’d come from and then around his peaceful valley. Clear. He couldn’t see a person, an animal, or anything out of the ordinary. They could have been scared off when he came running.
He doubted she was in danger. No danger ever came to Coleville, and the only danger in his mountains were wolves, mountain lions, coyotes, rattlesnakes, and the occasional bear.
“Are you hurting anywhere?” he asked.
She touched the goose egg on her forehead and winced. “A little bit.”
“Your back or neck?”
“No.”
“Okay. Are you comfortable coming to my house and we’ll see if we can figure out how to help you get home? Without a phone.” He didn’t remind her she’d chucked his means of communication into the lake. He could email or message from his home computer. That was what he’d do.
He could also drive her down the rutted-out mountain road and to town. He’d let Sheriff Clint Coleville, the man himself, take care of her. The rest of the Coleville family were great, but except for giving Mama Millie hugs at church and Easton and Walker’s visits, he stayed away from them as well. Pain by association.
“Do I have a choice?” she asked.
He started to rile up, but then he realized her voice was an odd mixture of fear, pain, and teasing. “You sure do, little lady. You can saddle up one of my horses and hightail it out of here on your own.”
