Chapter Six

Nick

The unceasing rain made Nick wonder if his prayers for divine intervention had been granted. The flooding roads would be a good excuse to avoid Charlotte and Laura. The streams around Colter Canyon overflowed their banks. Streets turned into muddy, impassable swathes. The heavy rainfall, combined with strong winds, toppled several big oaks. Fortunately, his house and barns were spared.

Other ranchers in the area weren’t so lucky. The neighbor’s barn suffered damage when a tree toppled on the roof. Few people in Colter Canyon owned heavy draft horses, but Nick had bought a pair the year before. The gentle giants interested him, and he kept them more as pets than work horses. After he hitched them to the buckboard, he spent the morning lending a hand to his neighbors.

Midday, word came from town that the train track from Sutton Falls had been washed out. An alert townsperson noticed the damage and rode down the line to flag down the train. A tragedy had been avoided, but the train was stranded, two miles from town.

Nick finished helping the neighbor and turned his team toward the stranded train. The horses could navigate the sodden roads far more easily than any other horses in Colter Canyon. He was the first wagon to arrive. A small crowd huddled around a fire, trying to keep warm. It was no longer raining, but the overcast afternoon held a biting chill.

The group was comprised mostly of cowboys and ranch folk, but there was one passenger who clearly stood out. A woman. The only one. Nick noticed her from a distance and kept his attention on her as he approached. She stood apart from the group with a young boy at her side. Her hair was a flame of golden red, a stark contrast with her muddy surroundings.

The woman had to be passing through Colter Canyon, heading west to California, maybe. He stopped the horses and climbed down from the wagon. A few of the cowboys greeted him by name.

“I can take about twenty. Fifteen if you’re taking saddles and trunks. Another wagon will be along later.”

He turned away from the men and walked over to the woman, stopping a few feet away. She regarded him warily. The boy regarded him with the same cautious expression.

“I can take you to Colter Canyon,” he said. “And your son too. We’ll load you and your trunks first off.”

Her scent lifted on the breeze and hit him. She bit her lip nervously and her response lit a flare of irritation inside him. She doubted him. He was here to help, and she expected that he might want something untoward. A woman like her shouldn’t be traveling alone. She was too lovely.

“You’re going to take the other passengers as well?”

“I’ll set you apart from the men. You can sit on the bench with me, if you like. Your son can too.”

“I’ll just wait. We’re first-class passengers. The railroad is bound to send another wagon for us.”

Nick shook his head. “Maybe, but might not be till tomorrow.”

She eyed him with a fair degree of skepticism. The boy gave him the same once-over.

“I don’t care if you’re first class, or last class. I’m not leaving without you.”

Behind him the train chuffed, and the whistle blew. The conductor stood on the platform, cupped his hand to his mouth. “Train’s going back to Sutton Falls for the night. The railroad will put the lot of you up in town. Or you can see if the wagons will get you to town.”

One by one the men returned to the train. None of them wanted to take their chances of getting stranded with the wagon. They waved and thanked Nick. As they returned to the train, the men’s mood was markedly more jovial than when he’d arrived. All of them most likely imagined a night of carousing in town on the railroad’s nickel.

“Is that what you want?” Nick tilted his head towards the train. “To go back?”

She looked flustered. “I-I didn’t hear what he said.”

“He’s going to put the engine in reverse and go back up the line to Sutton Falls. But I don’t think you want to go there.”

He damn sure didn’t want her back on that train with a bunch of cowboys bent on stirring up as much trouble as they possibly could. They’d probably be passing a bottle around before the engine even began moving.

She shook her head. “I need to go to Colter Canyon.”

“Someone expecting you today?”

“Not exactly.”

A grip of satisfaction wrapped around him. It was a primitive notion that made him imagine for one brief moment that she was his and she traveled to Colter Canyon for him. What was a pretty girl like her coming to Colter Canyon for? To work as a teacher perhaps. To visit family. He’d like to know, but he could see the guarded look in her eyes. She didn’t trust him one bit.

Which was too bad, because she was coming with him whether she liked it or not. The boy, at least, didn’t look at him with fear. The boy just regarded him with curiosity. Every so often his gaze would wander to the team and study them for a long moment, a smile tugging at his lips.

“All right then,” she said primly. “I’ll go with you.”

She talked to him like she was Queen of Sheba and he were her lowly subject. He wanted to explain that he wasn’t paid to pick up stranded train passengers. He was doing this out of the kindness of his heart and the balance of kindness in his heart wasn’t much on the best of days. She was burning through it pretty quick.

He growled as he walked past her. A few moments later he had both trunks on the buckboard.

She walked over, picking her way through the muddy pasture, lifting her skirts a few inches to clear the puddles.

“That dress is already ruined, sweetheart.”

She ignored him, keeping her attention on the ground. A light mist began to fall.

“Would you like me to carry you, so we can get to Colter Canyon? You know… someday soon.”

There was no response from her as she continued taking small, deliberate steps, stopping every so often to study the ground to pick the best path. Finally, she got to the wagon with the boy just a few steps behind. The boy wore a cap, but a few strands of hair poked out. He had the same red hair, although his looked like a rat had chewed the ends. They looked alike with the same coloring, but the boy wore such pitifully ragged clothing, while she was dressed like a duchess.

When she got to the wagon, she stopped and lifted her gaze to meet his. Standing just a pace away, he realized how slight she was. She stood a head shorter than him, at least, but what captured his attention more than anything was the way she looked at him. Her blue eyes were filled with surprise and dismay and even a glimmer of fear. She probably wondered about the scar, he thought with irritation.

“I don’t know your name,” she said softly.

He offered his hand. “Nick Travis.”

She set her hand in his. The feel of her delicate, feminine hand sent a surge of savage lust through him. Her eyes widened, and he wished he knew what was going through her mind.

“Cora,” she said softly. “Cora Singleton.” She tugged her hand free. “And this is Justin.”

The boy nodded, but shoved his hands in his pockets. The boy wasn’t a talker, which was fine with Nick.

“Let me help you up to the seat, Cora.” His voice sounded gruff even to his own ear. She flinched when he grasped her waist, but didn’t recoil from his touch. She was small and delicate, and he lifted her with ease. He set her on the seat and let go of her reluctantly. Her scent, and uncommon beauty, worked on him in a way he didn’t care for. Cora was going to be a problem if he didn’t get her to town and get rid of her soon.

The boy clambered up beside Cora. When Nick hoisted himself up he glanced at his passengers.

“All set?”

The boy nodded, but Cora didn’t even acknowledge the question. Instead she looked around, taking in the drenched lands. He released the brake and snapped the reins, the horses strained in their harnesses to pull the wagon from the muck.