A heartbeat of silence fell. “Oh, my God.”
“Can you get word to Josh? His life could be in danger.”
“I’ll find him, don’t worry.”
“Have him call me as soon as he gets the message.”
“I will. I’ve got to go!” Tory hung up and quickly phoned Mrs. Thompson. “Clara, I’ve got an emergency. I need you to come and sit with Ivy.”
“Of course. I can be there in five minutes.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“What is it, Tory?”
“Josh is in danger. I have to go.” The call ended. She ran into the living room. “Ivy, honey, I need to find Josh. Mrs. Thompson is coming over. Come out to the barn while I saddle Rosebud.”
“It’s raining, Mama.”
“Not that hard.” She tugged the little girl out the front door and they ran to the barn. Only a smattering of rain was falling, but it was sure to get worse. Tory finished saddling the sorrel just as Clara Thompson drove up and got out of the car.
Tory led the horse up to Clara. “Hold Rosebud for a second. I have to get something.”
Standing under the covered porch, Mrs. Thompson held the horse’s reins while Tory ran back to the trailer, down the hall to her bedroom. After he’d found out she knew how to shoot, Josh had insisted she take his .38 revolver and the portable gun safe and keep them next to her bed.
She unlocked the safe and grabbed the holstered revolver, took a belt out of the drawer, slid the holster onto the belt, and strapped it around her waist. Couldn’t stop a smile as she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror looking like Annie Oakley. Her life had surely changed.
But the FBI had just phoned. She wasn’t taking any chances.
Hurrying back to the main house, she took the reins from Clara and swung up on the little mare’s back.
“Be careful,” Clara Thompson said.
“I will. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Nudging Rosebud into a trot, then a gallop, she headed for the gate that led into the big, open pasture and the woods and ponds beyond.
There was a lot of land out there, but much of it was wide-open country. Sooner or later, she would spot Josh or he would spot her. The thought occurred that if she could find him, so could the man who was hunting him.
Tory urged the mare faster. Josh could be in very grave danger.
She wasn’t coming home until she found him.
* * *
Josh rose from the wooden bench he’d been sitting on beneath the covered porch of the dilapidated old cabin. He’d been there awhile, staring out at the muddy river. During the hours he’d been there, the wind had picked up and so had the rain, but it had slowed to a stop now. It was time to go home.
He swung back up on Thor and headed out, took the main trail, the fastest, most direct route back. The restlessness he’d been feeling had passed. The storm seemed to have cleared his head, leaving his mind razor-sharp, everything in perfect focus.
He’d been thinking of Tory ever since he’d left the house. Victoria Bradford was everything he had ever wanted in a woman. She was smart, beautiful, and sexy, and her desires stood up to his own. He hadn’t wanted another woman since the day she’d driven up in front of his house.
Tory was strong and brave and loyal. He would cut out his heart before he would let anything happen to her or Ivy.
His heart. That, he’d discovered, had been the source of his troubles all along. He’d fought it, tried to ignore it, tried to deny it, but the straight truth was, he had lost his heart to Tory Bradford.
He was in love with her. The day she drove up in front of his barn was the luckiest day of his life.
At thirty-one, he hadn’t planned on having a family—at least not for a few more years. But sometimes good things came along when you least expected them. As Linc had said, sometimes you had to make adjustments.
Josh found himself smiling. He wanted Tory with him. He wanted to marry her.
