Leaving Liberty, a Western Romance (Book 5) (Texas Hearts) (14 page)

Cole was out counting the cattle in the high pasture to see if any were missing. She didn’t really want an altercation between the two of them today. Seeing Jackson alone was hard enough.

He parked the truck and then got out, slowly walking toward her.

“I thought you’d be long gone by now,” she said.

“Then you don’t know me very well at all.”

“Cole’s back home.”

His mouth twisted just a little to show his irritation. “I know.”

“Why did you come back?”

“I…”

Jackson started to answer, but the air had changed around them. He glanced up at the sky and saw the clouds had a greenish hue to them.

“What’s wrong?” Libby asked, lifting her head to look in the direction Jackson was looking.

“The clouds look strange.” Orange had blended in with the green hue and black of the clouds. The wind was moving the clouds fast and the air pressure had suddenly dropped.

He listened, but heard no siren. They were just far enough outside of town that they wouldn’t be able to hear a tornado siren at the ranch.

“Where is your storm cellar?”

“Behind the house. Why?”

“Those aren’t just storm clouds. Could be a tornado.”

“But that’s not possible,” she said. “We’re too far south for a tornado.”

“Don’t bet on it. We’d better get to cover just to be safe.”

Libby looked around the ranch and saw two of her horses that had been grazing in the lower pasture were now running. “I need to get the animals inside.”

He looked over his shoulder at the sky in the distance as he moved toward the barn. “We don’t have time.”

“What? We can’t leave them to the elements.”

“They’re safer out there than they would be in the barn. If it really is a tornado they have a better chance out in the open where they can outrun the storm than if they’re trapped in a paddock or in the barn. Leave them.”

Terror filled her. “But Spirit and Skittish are still in the barn. We need to get them out of there.”

Libby took off on a sprint toward the barn. In just those few seconds the sky had changed dramatically. The air pressure had dropped and the sound of objects hitting something grew louder.

“Hail! Libby, we don’t have time!” he called out to her.

“I’m not leaving the horses in the barn to die. I have to give them a chance!” Libby ran inside the barn and was out of sight.

Jackson ran into the barn and found Libby struggling with the gate to Skittish’s stall.

“Help me, please! Get Spirit out. I have to calm Skittish.”

They each went to their task. The animals were already spooked, making them jumpy inside the confines of the stall. As experienced as Libby was with animals, Skittish was giving her a hard time, rearing up and then backing against the wall.

“Watch out. He might run right over you to get out.”

“I know what I’m doing!”

She opened the gate to the stall and took a wide step back against the gate opposite Skittish’s stall. Jackson did the same a few stalls down. Spirit wasted no time at all freeing herself from confines of the barn, and took off on a run into the pasture.

“Come on, Skittish,” Libby urged. “Don’t be scared. Go!” She smacked the horse on the back to get him to move, but Skittish’s eyes rolled in his head, clearly terrified by what was happening outside.

Jackson ran to the entrance to the barn and looked at the sky. “Libby, we have to go. Leave him.”

“I can’t just leave him.”

“It’s you or the horse. We need to get to the storm shelter.”

Not waiting for her any longer, Jackson grabbed her by both arms and shook her lightly, just enough to startle her. “Let’s go!” Then he dragged her out the door of the barn. Holding her by the hand, they ran through the field to the back of the house. A lawn chair nearly hit them as the wind lifted it and launched it across the yard.

His heart hammered in his chest. Feeling his body react to the fierce wind was hard enough. But thoughts of Libby’s hand escaping his as they ran consumed him. She was so tiny. The wind could easily claim her.

The door to the storm shelter was in view. But the roar of the tornado was at their back. Hail started pelting them just as they reached the door to the storm cellar. Jackson quickly yanked the door open. The wind lifting it hard, causing it to crash against the foundation. Then it lifted back up, smashing against his arm.

Jackson let out a guttural grunt as he pulled Libby to the door and pushed her inside. Libby quickly raced down the dark steps as he turned to pulled the door closed. As Jackson closed the latch on the door, a light below him flicked on.

Libby stood at the bottom of the steep stairway, peering up at him. The light above her drowned out the color of her face and made her fear stark.

“Cole’s out there, Jackson.”

# # #

“I know. But there’s nothing we can do about that right now,” he said as he made his way down to her, trying to catch his breath. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head. “Listen to that. It must be right over us by now. All the cattle are out in the upper pasture. Do you think they can outrun it?” Something crashed on top of the door of the shelter. Libby covered her ears and crouched down. But Jackson pulled her hands away and crushed her against his chest, as if holding her close like this would somehow make her safer.

“We won’t know for sure until this is over. But livestock have a sense about storms, many times knowing they’re coming before humans do. As long as there is room for them to escape, they’ll make a run for it.”

“You’re right. I know you’re right. But Skittish…”

“He got out. I saw him running through the field before I closed the door. Instinct takes over for animals.”

“Then he has a chance. But Cole…”

Jackson relived the last few moments of them outside in his mind. The tornado was still a distance away, but the wind and the vacuum it had created was nothing he’d ever felt before. He’d been to tornado ravished areas before. But it had always been after the storm had ripped through and left the crumbled debris in its wake.

In those last moments, Jackson had known a fear he’d never felt before. The memory of Libby being pulled by the wind against the hold of his hand still felt as real as if it were happening now.

She lifted her hand from his shoulder and looked horrified when she saw the red staining her skin.

“You’re hurt!”

“The door came crashing back up with the wind.” He glanced down at his upper arm and saw that his shirt was covered in blood. “I felt the door, but I didn’t realize it was this bad.”

“It’s the adrenaline rush. You will feel this later. You may need stitches. Sit down.”

“I’m fine.”

“Sit down before you pass out. This is a lot of blood.”

She looked around the tight quarters and fixed her eyes on a small box beneath the stairs. With a quick yank, she lifted the lid off and exposed supplies.

“My father told me there was a first aid kit in here.”

“It’s not bad.”

“Let me be the judge of that.”

A crash above them had Libby crouching down quickly as they both looked up.

Her eyes filled with tears, but she quickly went back to the task of rummaging through the supply box until she pulled out a first aid kit.

She opened the box and spilled the contents on the seat next to Jackson. She selected a roll of gauze and quickly ripped open the packaging.

“You said you were leaving,” she said quietly as she rolled the gauze over the slice in his arm.

“No, I didn’t. You told me to leave. I never said I was going to do it.”

She shook her head. “Why are you making this so hard? I can’t give you the life you want.”

“You couldn’t be more wrong about that, Libby. If I left Liberty now I’d be battered and bruised inside just as bad as what that tornado is doing to the ground outside. That is unless you were leaving here with me.”

“But your job here is done.”

“Lord, woman, are you really so stupid that you think my job is the only reason I’m still here in Liberty?”

She straightened her back. “I am not stupid.”

“No, you’re not. So why are you asking me why I’m still here when you damn well know the reason is because I love you.”

* * *

Tears filled Libby’s eyes. She hated girly reactions and there she was having one right in front of Jackson. She was melting like a damned fool, turning into a puddle at his feet.

She finished tying off the bandage on his arm. “It can’t be for me.”

“Why not? You don’t think you’re worthy of having a man love you?”

“No, nothing like that. Just not you.”

“Why not me? If anything, I keep trying to figure out how a woman like you could ever love a man like me after what I’ve put you through.”

“What?”

“You’re strong. You’re determined. You’re beautiful and you’re loving. I keep wondering why you should love me when I’ve given you every reason not to even like me.”

“You think too much,” she said with a chuckle. “And how can I be beautiful when I walk around half the day with manure stained jeans and windblown hair.”

He smiled and she melted even more. He did that to her. Turned her into mush and she both loved him and hated him for it.

“Now you see, that’s where you’re missing things. I saw you from across the yard with the wind whipping your hair around your face and you took my breath away. You’re as beautiful and natural as this land here.”

She shrugged. “I’m simple. I’m not like other girls.”

“You’re simply beautiful.”

“And you talk too much, too.”

“You want me to stop?”

“No.” She laughed again.

“I meant what I said to you the other night on the porch. You drive me crazy. I want nothing more than to love you. I don’t want you to ever be afraid of that.”

Before she could say another word, the sound of something scraping against the door above them pulled their attention away.

“Libby? Are you in there?”

“It’s Cole,” she said, relieved that he was okay.

Jackson rushed up the stairs and unlatched the door, and then pushed the door open. Cole took a step back to allow both Jackson and Libby to step outside. Libby ran to Cole. “I’m so relieved you’re okay.”

“We were worried you were caught out in the tornado,” Jackson said.

“I nearly was. I saw the twister cut right through the pasture. There are a bunch of felled trees, but none of the cattle were hurt as far as I could see.”

“Did you see Skittish?” Libby asked.

“He was running hard on the far side of the ranch. Spirit, too. As soon as the twister moved on, I jumped into my truck and headed back to the house to find you. I’m glad you both made it to the storm shelter.”

Jackson looked around. There was debris scattered about in the yard, but the house and barn were standing.

“It’s a good thing my brothers are coming down to Liberty.”

Libby gave him a confused glanced. “What?”

Jackson hesitated a minute. “I talked to my brother, Cody, last night. I told him the ranch needed some work and Cole couldn’t do it all alone. He offered to come down and help out for a few days. Beau, too. Just to get the big jobs done. Then you can decide if you need more help down the line.”

“Wow,” Cole said. “I thought you came here to throw me in jail again.”

“You have a hearing with the INS in a few weeks, isn’t that right?”

“Yes. I was supposed to be in jail until the hearing. But for some reason they allowed me out as long as I stayed at the ranch and worked.” Realization suddenly dawned on Cole. “Should I be thanking you for that?”

“Don’t get carried away. I only made a few phone calls. It seems that private investigator Buck hired had information about a doctor who treated you when you were a baby. You broke your arm?”

“Yeah. My mother told me I had X-rays taken but I found out the doctor had died about ten years ago.”

“It seems those old timers were good about keeping records that go way back. His daughter took over his practice. If you can managed to get a copy of your medical records, you can use that in court. It should be enough for the INS to allow you to stay in the US until your documentation is completed. They won’t deport you.”

“Thank you for doing this, Jackson,” Libby said.

“Like I said. All I did was make a few calls. Cole still needs to get that paperwork.”

“Just when I was really enjoying not liking you,” Cole said.

Jackson laughed. “Likewise.”

“Why would your brothers come down here to help me?” Libby asked. “They don’t even know me.”

Jackson hesitated a second. “Because that’s what kin does. And if you’re going to be part of my family, that means you get the whole lot of us. The only problem is, they’re going to need a place to stay.”

Libby’s smile was brighter than he’d ever seen. “We have enough bunks in the bunk house to house them for as long as they stay. We have plenty of room in the main house too for that matter.”

Cole propped his hat on his head. “Guess I’d better get the bunk house fit for company just in case.”

When Cole was gone, Libby said, “I can’t believe you called your brothers to come down here to help me.”

Jackson shrugged. “They offered and I wasn’t going to say no. It’s just how they are. Besides, they want to meet the girl I want to marry.”

“You…you told them you want to marry me?”

“Yeah.”

“But you haven’t even asked me yet.”

“First I had to get you to stop telling me to leave.”

She covered her mouth with her hand and laughed. “I’m so glad you didn’t.”

“I love you Libby Calvert. I’m incredibly and helplessly in love with you. There was no way I was leaving Liberty until you knew that.”

* * *

Libby couldn’t believe her eyes. How could a day have started so wrong and ended up so right. Her ranch was a mess. But the man she loved more than anything in the world had just said he wanted to marry her.

She took a step closer and Jackson opened his arms, wrapping them around her and enveloping her in the warmth and comfort she’d craved.