“He kicked his way out of his stall, Seth, that new stallion! A couple of ranch horses, too!”
The wind’s intensity increasing, Seth judged from the ear-splitting thunder and flashing lightning that the storm was nearly upon them. “Get all hands to the barns to make sure none of the other horses escape! Go!”
Lucius’s reply lost to a fierce gust that half spun the old-timer around, Seth lowered his head against the buffeting wind and sprinted toward the barn where he kept Henry.
He heard the big bay whinnying nervously as soon as he ran inside, but Seth knew his horse had a steadier disposition than most. It took only a couple moments and he had him saddled and ready to go, no time for Seth to change out of his fancy duds into sturdier clothes. He kicked Henry into a gallop and rode straight out into a lashing downpour, hoping that Uncle Caleb’s prize stallion hadn’t run far.
He wasn’t worried about the ranch horses since they were familiar with the lay of the land. But that high-strung stallion—doggone it, Seth didn’t even want to think about him careening in the dark into a creek bed and breaking a leg! Hadn’t there been enough trouble for one night?
Kari immediately jumped to mind, Seth wishing he’d had time to go after her to pull her into his arms and kiss the anger right out of her.
He didn’t blame her at all for her reaction, the hurt in her lovely blue eyes hitting him like a blow. She had proclaimed earlier that she loved him, though, which gave him hope that she’d forgive him, maybe not right away but eventually. He had a whole lot of making up to do, but right now his job as foreman of Walker Creek Ranch was to find that scaredy-cat of a racehorse before it was too late.
* * *
“It’s been years since I’ve heard such wind!” Kari cried out at the top of the stairs to Sarah, wondering if the storm might even spawn a tornado.
She had witnessed one of those frightening funnels years ago as a child, her parents hustling her and her sisters and brother to the shelter built into the ground next to their house. By some miracle, the tornado had veered past their homestead, but other folks hadn’t been so fortunate. Oh, no, please not a tornado!
“Easy now, miss, like I told you, it’s best to stay busy to keep your mind off the storm,” Sarah said as calmly as if the windows weren’t rattling and a draft wasn’t whistling through the house. “Your father is finally asleep, thank goodness, but you’re the lady of the house and you’ve overnight guests to attend to. Why don’t you go tell them we’ve rooms prepared when they’re ready to retire? And tell the good reverend that his wife is already settled in, no need to be concerned about her. Miss Walker?”
Kari had turned to look downstairs, the sturdy front door actually bowing from a sudden fierce gust of wind. Dear God, Seth was out there somewhere!
She had been so upset when she’d rushed into the house, so deeply crushed, but the storm’s rising ferocity had made her run back to the nearest window to peer outside after him.
Distantly she’d sworn she saw Seth talking to a skinny ranch hand and then both men had bolted deeper into the darkness in different directions.
She had only to imagine the tasks that must be done to protect livestock and property during such a strong thunderstorm. Yet she hadn’t stood there long, Sarah appearing and insisting Kari accompany her upstairs to help her to get some rooms ready for their guests—
“Miss Walker! It’s not the wind you have to fear, but the rain causing flash floods that’ll rise up out of nowhere and carry you away, especially during a frog-strangler like this one. Now go tend to your guests, please!”
Grateful, actually, that Sarah was keeping her occupied, Kari nodded and hurried toward her father’s room at the end of the hall. She heard low voices beyond the door and took a moment to compose herself before she rapped gently and entered.
She wasn’t surprised to see Seth’s father sitting beside the bed, looking at his pocket watch as he held two fingers at Caleb’s wrist to check his pulse. Just as Sarah had said, her father appeared to be sleeping, Kari grateful, too, that he was no longer repeating her mother’s name over and over.
Reverend Thomas sat at the opposite side, his Bible opened upon his lap and his spectacles resting on his nose as he quietly read a passage. Molly at once rose from a chair placed at the foot of the bed and came to greet her.
“Is everything all right? You’ve been gone for quite a while.”
“I was helping Sarah prepare some rooms for you. Of course you and Dr. Davis will be staying overnight, won’t you? The storm’s so fierce.”
At Molly’s nod, Kari felt relief, but then she mentally braced herself for the question she sensed was coming next.
“Seth was so insistent to speak with you. I meant is everything all right between the two of you?”
Kari hesitated, realizing that Molly must know why he’d ridden off so abruptly, given how close mother and son appeared to be. Surely Seth had confided in her.
Did Kari dare tell her the truth? That she’d stormed into the house like a hoyden without granting Seth the forgiveness he’d asked for right before he’d disappeared into the darkness?
“Everything’s fine,” Kari murmured, suddenly feeling chastened in front of this good woman who had taken in a foundling years ago and given Seth a name, a home, and a mother’s love. “We didn’t have long to talk. The wind picked up and the thunder, and we could hear the frightened horses so he took off running—”
“Hopefully none of them broke out of their stalls. I hate to think of him riding out into the storm—no, no, we mustn’t jump to any conclusions, and Seth knows what he’s about, either way. Come and take my seat, Kari.”
Kari woodenly complied, her fingers suddenly ice cold as she thought of Seth braving the howling wind and dangerous lightning—Lord forgive her, and she’d treated him so deplorably, too!
She had forgiven her father all when she’d held him weeping so piteously in her arms, hadn’t she? Why couldn’t she have shown the same compassion for Seth?
The man she loved!
