Maybe I’ll just stay here for a minute, she thought, and she let her eyes drift closed, as the chill of the snow-covered ground, the metal truck, and the icy Wyoming wind surrounded her and pulled her deeper into unconsciousness.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
Reeves Durham slowed his step as he neared the end of the moving truck. He’d seen it pull up a couple of hours ago when he’d come in off the farm from making sure his goats were warm enough. He’d showered to warm himself up, and then he’d picked up the loaf of cinnamon chip bread he’d bought at the bakery that morning.
Despite his bitter feelings for whoever had purchased this place, he could be a good neighbor and come welcome them to this stretch of the highway. After all, there was no neighborhood, no HOA, no winding streets with kids playing on both sides. This patch of Coral Canyon barely sat within city limits and had farms anywhere from two acres to twenty. His was eleven now, and he’d been hoping to make it sixteen with the acquisition of this property.
He’d even put in an offer that had been accepted, and then hours after he’d celebrated with his root-beer-for-one, his real estate agent had called and said that another offer had come in better than his—all cash. The Beasleys had left town six months ago, and he’d been trying to get the property since. They wanted it done, and he had contingencies that the new buyer didn’t, and they’d decided to go with her.
Even now, Reeves had to swallow hard to get the lump in his throat to go down. He gripped the loaf of bread harder in his gloved hands, glad he’d grabbed the hat with the ear flaps instead of his cowboy hat, as the snowstorm had really come on quickly and in full force.
His eyes caught sight of the open garage door, and that made him come to a stop completely. “What’s going on?” he wondered aloud, as no person in their right mind would leave their garage door open when it faced west, and this wicked wind could howl straight into it.
His eyes dropped to the ground, where he found a black garbage bag had been discarded and then covered with about a half-inch of snow, which meant it had been lying there for probably twenty minutes.
Something screamed in his mind that he needed to check the property and anyone who might be here, as he knew there was no electricity in the house, and that meant no heat
Reeves took a few more steps, almost coming flush with the bag, before he saw the woman lying on her back on the ground. “No, no, no,” he said, everything in his life flashing before his eyes as he tossed the bread and dropped to his knees.
This couldn’t be happening, and yet, Reeves reached out and brushed the snow off her face and out of her hair. She looked completely white, or maybe she was simply that pale to begin with, and he paused for a moment with this angel in the snow in front of him. Then he flew into high gear, yelling, “Hey, can you hear me? Wake up!”
When the woman didn’t so much as flinch, Reeves gently reached up and tugged her leg down from where it had been caught on the ramp.
She moaned then, and relief sang through Reeves, though he knew he needed to get her inside quickly. He scooped her up in his arms the way he would a fallen, helpless animal, and turnedtoward the open garage. He’d been inside this house many times, and he knew the property well.
His mind blitzed from one thought to another, everything fromI bet I could call Betty at the electric company and get the heat turned ontoI know how to build a fire and where the firewood is.
“Come on,” he said to the woman, as he stepped as carefully as he could across the snow-covered ice of her driveway and into the garage. “Wake up for me now, angel. Tell me your name.”
The woman in his arms did not wake up. She did not tell him her name. Reeves grunted with every step through the garage, noting the couch in pieces there, and he entered a kitchen that looked exactly how he expected it to—like someone was moving in today.
The counters held boxes, and the dining area in front of the sliding glass doors stood empty.
Reeves looked toward the living room, praying with everything he had that this woman had somewhere soft he could lay her down, or she had a partner who could help him.
Neither came true, but he quick-stepped it in front of the fireplace, which was a huge, hulking stone structure that took up the entire six-foot wall in the living room and created a hallway that led back to the bedrooms. A few couch pillows had been tossed in front of the front window, and the room also held a coat rack, a heap of boxes, one of which he noticed had been labeledcoats.
“Praise Jesus,” he murmured, and he decided this was where he could get this angel warm.
He laid her on the carpet and had enough mental energy to note that it was new—a deep shade of brown, and probably the nicest stuff someone could buy in Coral Canyon. “Hang on for me,” he called to her. “If you could wake up, that would be great.”
He stepped over to the boxes and took off the top one. It felt light too, and he quickly reached in his back pocket and pulled out his pocket knife.
If only his daddy could see him now, he wouldn’t make fun of Reeves’ obsession with knives. He pushed away all thoughts of his father and focused on his task.
He sliced through the tape on the first box, whispering, “Please, please, please,” though surely that hurried prayer couldn’t change the contents inside. Fate and God rewarded him with the sight of a blanket. Reeves pulled it out to reveal two more.
He grabbed one of the couch pillows, a bright pink thing that saidYou Are Lovedon the front with a heart in a color he couldn’t even name—probably something like fuchsia, if he had to guess.
“All right,” he said, dropping to the woman’s side again. “I’m gonna get a fire built and we’re gonna get you warmed up.”
He hated the way his coat and boots were melting all over her new carpet, but her gear was too, as he had brought in plenty of snow with her. She wasn’t wearing gloves, and her hands shone a bright pink. At least it wasn’t black.
The temperature inside couldn’t be much more than out, though Reeves’ breath didn’t come out in a puff, so it was definitely warmer.
He unzipped the angel’s coat and flung it into the dining room, where the old linoleum floor had been replaced with a nice beige and brown tile that matched the carpet. This woman had some money.
