âIf itâs any comfort to you, there should be a hot meal ready when we get to the ranch house.â
Rachelâs empty stomach growled at the mention of food, but her thoughts had already darted to another matter. Hot food meant there would be someone waiting at the ranchâa wife, most likely, since Luke didnât strike her as the sort of man who would hire a cook. And if there was a wife, there could be children as wellâbeautiful children, she imagined, with fierce obsidian eyes like their fatherâs. No wonder Luke was so protective of his own. No wonder he was so determined to stay and fight off all comers.
Where she gripped his belt, she felt his sinewy body shift against her hand. His aura surrounded her, setting off a shimmer of heat, as if his fingertips had brushed her bare skin. The leathery, masculine aroma, which had lain dormant in her nostrils, suddenly stirred, triggering a jolt of awareness. It had been there all along, she realized, this slumbering sense of his maleness. Why now, of all times, did it have to wake up and kick her like a mule, leaving her warm and damp and tingling?
Was it because sheâd just surmised that he was married and therefore forbidden? Ridiculous, Rachel told herself. She had branded Luke Vincente as forbidden from the moment she found out he was a sheep man. It made no difference whether he wasmarried or not. Nothing had happened between them. Nothing would happen. The whole idea was unthinkable.
Laden with the smell of rain, a chilly wind whipped Rachelâs hair across her face. By now the sun was gone. Inky clouds, back-lit by flashes of sheet lightning, rumbled across the twilight sky. The sheep flowed through the hollows like patches of fog, their bells clanging eerily in the darkness. There was little need for the dogs to hurry them now. The urgency to reach home before the storm broke was driving them all.
Lukeâs tense silence had begun to gnaw at Rachelâs nerves. âAre these all the sheep you have?â she asked, forcing herself to make conversation.
He sighed, sounding drained. âThere are just under a thousand head in all, so youâre only seeing about a third of them. I donât usually run so many of them together. After what happened today, you wonât have to ask why. But weâreâ¦shorthanded now. There wasnât much choice.â
The catch in his voice was barely perceptible, but the impact of the emotion behind it struck Rachel like a slap. Whatever was happening here, she sensed, she had barely glimpsed the surface of it. The truth was larger and uglier than she had ever imagined.
âWhen I was growing up, I loved the open range,â she said, thinking aloud. âEven as a little girl, I could ride for miles, go anywhere I wished, and feel perfectly safe. This was a happy place, Luke Vincenteâ¦before the trouble with sheep men started.â
A bolt of lightning flashed across the indigo sky. As thunder cracked behind them, she felt Lukeâs muscles harden beneath his damp shirt. âYouâre not a little girl anymore, Rachel,â he said. âIf you donât like whatâs happened here, you can go back East and make a life for yourself. Marry well. Have a family, and keep that happy place in your memory. As long as you donât come back here, it will never change.â
The bitterness in his voice stung her. âI donât intend to go back East,â Rachel answered crisply. âThe ranch is part mine. Itâs my home, and Iâve returned to stay.â
Luke made a derisive sound under his breath. âWhat about that fancy eastern schooling you mentioned? Why waste so much expense and trouble if all you want to do is come back here and be a cow-girl?â
âI studied painting and sculpture,â she said, ignoring his sardonic undertone. âThree of my paintings are already in a gallery, and the owner is interested in doing a show
Iraq Veterans Against the War, Aaron Glantz