Holding Haley (The West Contemporary Romance Series) (18 page)

By the time they walked up to the barn, the mud was completely washed from the three of them. Now she had even more water in her boots as she let Roger back into his corral. Blackjack had disappeared near the hen house at the edge of the yard.

By the time she kicked off her boots and walked through the back door, she was frozen.

“
What happened to you?” Alex asked. She was standing at the stove, stirring a big pot of macaroni and cheese. Ricky sat at the table, his leg swinging as he colored in his Spiderman coloring book.

“
Found Roger.” She hung up her jacket and reached down to take off her socks. “He was stuck in the old watering hole behind the south hay barn.”

Alex laughed. “That calf is too smart for his own good.”

“Maybe this time they’ll learn their lesson.”

“
Was Blackjack with him?” Alex looked over her shoulder at her.

“
Of course.” She sat down, closed her eyes, and dreamed of a cup of hot chocolate. When she opened them, Alex sat a cup in front of her.

“
Hot chocolate?” she asked.

Alex nodded. “I saw you come around the corner of the barn covered in mud and knew you’d want one.”

“You are a saint.” She grabbed the mug and sipped.

“
Why is it raining so much this year?” Alex asked, going back to the stove and removing the pan from the heat.

Haley shrugged. “I’m just glad it’s not—”

A loud crash of thunder sounded in the distance. “Damn. Never mind,” Haley said, hanging her head.

Ricky started saying damn over and over again as Alex laughed.

“I’m telling,” Alex said between laughs.

“
I don’t suppose I can bribe you?” Haley asked.

Alex shook her head and set a large bowl of mac and cheese in front of her. Just then the back door opened and Grant walked in, soaking wet.

Alex walked over to him and kissed him. “Taking showers outside again?”

He chuckled. “All the chickens are up. Including that crazy rooster,” he said, pulling off his jacket.

“Well, we’ll eat dinner here, since Haley took forever getting her calf and rooster back.”

Haley looked over at the clock and realized it was a quarter past six. She’d had no clue it had taken her so long to find the wayward animals. Wes was supposed to be back from physical therapy around eight.

“Sorry.” She took a bite of the mac and cheese and smiled. “You know, mine doesn’t come out this good.” She smiled when Ricky dug into his bowl.

Alex sat down next to Grant and smiled. “That’s because you don’t know the magic ingredient.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She sighed as she took another bite. “Love. You’ve told me a million times.”

“
That’s right, Ricky,” Alex said as she made sure Ricky’s bowl didn’t land on the floor. “Auntie Alex makes the best mac and cheese, because she loves you more than Haley does.” Haley laughed and finished off her bowl before Ricky.

After they finished eating, Grant and Alex helped her clean up then headed back to their place down the street.

She took Ricky upstairs to give him a bath because he was covered in mac and cheese. She desperately wanted a hot shower; she felt like she had mud caked in every pore.

As she watched Ricky play in the bath, she tried not to focus on the growing storm outside. Every now and then lightning would flash and she tried not to jump each time, but Ricky was catching on to her mood.

By the time she pulled him from the cool water and dressed him in his warm PJ’s, he looked pretty tired.

She let him play with the trucks as she showered quickly and dressed in an old pair of sweats.

“What do you say you come downstairs with me and watch some cartoons?”

He nodded and held onto her a little more tightly. They walked downstairs and watched cartoons tucked in a large blanket together until a loud bang shook the house and the lights flipped off. She’d turned on the flashlight she had grabbed, but it did little to reassure her.

She didn’t want to text Wes because she knew he was driving back from his physical therapy appointment in Dallas. Just then her phone beeped. Looking down, she saw the text come in from Wes.

“
Just heard on the radio there’s a tornado warning for Anderson County. Better head to the storm shelter.”

She froze. This was the first time she’d been alone during one of these. There had been plenty of warning over the years, and each one had taken a toll on her nerves, but usually her sisters had been there with her.

“Haley?” She received another text just as her phone beeped again. This time it was Lauren asking how she was doing.

A memory flashed in her mind; her mother was carrying her from her bedroom upstairs. She was running and singing to her. Then they were outside and lightning blinded her as thunder crashed all around them.

She could see the shelter door was open. Her sisters stood at the bottom of the stairs, but then she looked up and saw the dark cyclone and screamed. Her mother jolted. Then Haley was flying through the air until she landed on her sister at the bottom of the shelter.

Another beep sounded. She looked down at the phone. It was Lauren again.

“Are you in the shelter with Ricky?”

Ricky! Haley looked down at the sleeping boy in her arms and something clicked on.

The little boy in her arms depended on her. Wes needed her. They were going to get married and start a family of their own. Her sisters needed her to help with the ranch.

Shoving her phone into her pocket, she grabbed up Ricky, wrapped him in the blanket, and started running from the room. When she opened the back door, the wind and rain hit her face. She felt Ricky stir in her arms, but she covered him with the blanket and cooed to him.

“It’s okay. We have to go play down in the shelter for a while,” Haley said, tucking him closer to her body. They were halfway across the yard, both dogs right on her heels, when she looked up and saw hell heading right for her.

H
is physical therapist was a moron, he thought as he walked to his car. How is it possible that he hurt more after one hour with the woman than he had after a two-hour emergency surgery?

He was fifteen minutes from Fairplay when he noticed the dark clouds in front of him. Flipping on the news, he listened to the weather. When he heard they were in a warning zone, he pulled over and texted Haley.

When she didn’t reply, he tried calling her with the same results.

Tossing his phone down, he did one of the dumbest things he’d ever done in his life. He heading into the eye of the storm to save the woman he loved.

“
She’s not answering.” Lauren paced back and forth in their hotel room. “Why isn’t she answering me?” She felt like throwing the phone, but held it tighter.

“
Maybe the storm has knocked out the cell tower,” Chase suggested, his eyes glued to the news on the TV set.

When her phone beeped, she almost dropped it.

“It’s Alex, they’re in their shelter. She says it’s hailing there.” Lauren turned to Chase. “Chase.”

“
I know.” He walked over to her and hugged her. “I’ll go check out.” He rushed from the room.

They were over an hour away, but it would make her feel better to be heading home. She walked over and tossed her clothes into her bag, not caring if she left anything behind.

Five minutes later, they were in the car, heading south, not knowing what they were driving into.

Grant hit the outskirts of town and gasped. The glass in every building downtown was gone. People were standing outside, looking like they were all in shock.

As he drove through the streets of town, he was glad to see that the bank was still standing, but Mama’s and the bookstore were totaled. The front wall of Mama’s was completely gone, as well as the roof of the bookstore.

The empty building next door was completely gutted. All that stood were the brick walls on either side.

He stopped and yelled out to Jamella, who was standing there holding a towel over her head. Willard, the cook was sitting next to her holding his arm.

“Are you okay?” He started to get out.

“
Lordy, boy. Dat was some shaker. I’m fine. Lookie, her come da big sheriff to save me.”

Wes watched with amusement as Sheriff Miller rushed out of his car and grabbed Jamella into a big hug and kissed her square on the lips.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again. When I tell you to take shelter, I mean it.”

Jamella blushed and patted his shoulder. “Lookie, now everyone knowd about us.” She motioned to Wes and Willard.

“I don’t give a damn who finds out. It’s about time it got out anyway.” The sheriff nodded over to him.

Wes would have stayed to help, but he had someone else on his mind. Slamming his door, he tried to text and call Haley one more time. He’d been trying for the seven minutes that it had taken him to get into town.

There was still no reply. He hit the gas and barreled through some debris with his truck. There were tree limbs and trash all over the road, but he knew his truck could handle most of it. When he reached the outskirts of town, the roads cleared up and he thought for a moment that maybe it hadn’t hit this far out. Then he turned the corner and saw that a full-sized tree was down, blocking his path to Saddleback. It would take several men and some very large chainsaws to clear the path.

Jumping from his truck, he left the engine running as he climbed over the downed tree. He scraped his arms and legs on the pine branches, but didn’t feel any pain. When he finally cleared the tree, he rushed towards the iron gates at Saddleback. Half of the letters were missing and some of the fence was twisted.

It was too dark for him to see if the house was still standing so he rushed on until lights hit him. Turning, he saw Alex and Grant drive up in a truck. Alexis face was masked with concern.

“
Have you heard from Haley?” she screamed as she opened her door and scooted over to allow him in next to her.

“
No, you?”

Alex shook her head. “It took us a while to get out of our drive. We had to pull some trees out of the way.”

“My truck’s stuck behind a downed pine just back at the bend.” He nodded, his eyes glued to the house in front of them. It looked intact, but he couldn’t see past the first floor.

Before the truck stopped, he jumped out and was running towards the front door yelling her name.

“They’d be in the shelter,” Alex called behind him.

He took off running towards the back of the house. “You check in the house. I’ll check back there.” He turned the corner of the house and gasped. Here the damage was obvious. Half the barn was gone. The roof and hay were strung all over the yard. Horses, cows, and even some goats were walking around the yard looking weather-worn.