been a pretty normal year,” she answered as she started the truck and steered it onto the road leading out of Dixie Ridge. “Here in town we average about fifty inches of rain a year. But up on top of Piney Knob the average is more like sixty inches.”
“That’s a lot of rain.”
She nodded. “A meteorologist could explain it better than I could, but it has something to do with the clouds coming over the mountains.”
“I guess that explains why the creek regularly floods the ford across the road just south of the cabin,” he said, thinking aloud.
She drove a little faster when fat raindrops began to plop on the hood and windshield of the SUV. “And that’s why I need to get back down the mountain as soon as possible. If I don’t, I’ll have to wait to cross the creek after the water recedes sometime tomorrow.”
He wasn’t entirely comfortable taking the hairpin turns leading up the side of Piney Knob at the rate of speed Katie was driving on the rain-slick roads, but Jeremiah decided it was safer to keep his mouth shut and not distract her. Only after they were on the other side of the creek did he breathe a little easier. The water was higher than its normal ten inches when she eased the truck across the ford, but it hadn’t risen to the point where it would flood out the engine when she crossed it on her way back down the mountain.
“Do me a favor,” he said when she pulled to a stop in front of the cabin. “Don’t drive like a bat out of hell when you go back down the mountain.”
Before she could take him to task over his criticism of her driving, he opened the passenger door, got out and sprinted through the increasingly heavy rain to the porch. By the time he climbed the steps and turned back to watch her leave, the taillights of the SUV were already disappearing around the curve of the driveway.
Jeremiah shook his head as he pulled his key from the pocket of his jeans to let himself inside. “Women! She’ll probably drive even faster just because I told her to take it easy.”
He removed his boots and left them on a mat by the door, then padded over to the fireplace on the opposite side of the great room in his sock feet. Even though it was June and fairly warm, the rain had caused the outside temperature to drop considerably and drenched as he was from his run through the rain, a fire would chase away the chill and feel good by the time the sun set.
As he placed a couple of logs on the grate and put kindling around them, he thought about Katie driving back down the mountain. He didn’t like the idea of her navigating the dangerous road in this kind of weather, and he could kick himself for not telling her to call when she got home to let him know she’d arrived safely.
His heart stalled. Now, where had that come from?
Katie was nice enough, but he didn’t really know her. And besides, she wasn’t his to worry about. Nor did he ever intend for her to be.
He’d spent most of his adult life avoiding her type like the plague. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be concerned for her well-being, did it? He’d be just as bothered if it was Harv driving back down the mountain in a driving rain.
Satisfied that he’d discovered the explanation for his uncharacteristic anxiety, he rose to his feet and pulled his wet T-shirt over his head to drop it on the hearth. He’d wait a reasonable period of time, check the phone directory for her number, then call to make sure she’d made it down the mountain without incident. Once he’d done that, he could go about his business with a clear conscience.
Pleased with himself for coming up with a reasonable solution, he unbuckled his belt and popped the snap on his jeans. But just as he started to lower the zipper, something thumped against the old wooden door hard enough to take it off the hinges.
When it happened again, Jeremiah grabbed the shotgun from the gun rack over the fireplace and cautiously approached the door. The sound hadn’t been the rhythmic sound of someone knocking, but more an erratic pounding. It was highly possible one of the many black bears in the area had lumbered up onto the porch seeking shelter from the storm.
Pushing the curtain on the back of the door aside, he tried to see what had caused the sound, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Convinced that the wind had slammed the swing into the side of the cabin, he turned to put the shotgun back over the fireplace when something thumped against the bottom of the door yet again.
Ready to scare off whatever creature was causing the disturbance, he grabbed the knob, counted to three and threw the door open with a war cry that would have impressed the hell out of any of the superior officers he’d served under. But instead of finding a bear or raccoon on the other side, Jeremiah discovered a wet, mud-covered Katie slumped in a defeated heap at his feet.
Three
When Jeremiah shouted loud enough to wake the dead, Katie would have jumped back and screamed at the top of her lungs if she’d had the energy. As it was, all she could manage was a flinch and a pitiful whimper.
“My God, Katie, what happened?” He propped the gun he held against the door frame, then reached down to pull her to her feet. When her legs threatened to buckle, his strong arms closed around her and he pulled her to his wide, bare chest. “Are you all right, honey?”
She started to answer him, but her teeth were chattering so badly she finally just shook her head and burrowed deeper into the warmth of his big body. She was soaked from the top of her head to the soles of her feet and colder than she’d ever been in her life.
“Come on. Let’s go inside by the fire where you can warm up.”
Her legs were so stiff they didn’t want to work and before she knew what happened, Jeremiah swung her up into his arms and carried her over to set her on the raised hearth of the stone fireplace. She didn’t want to think what might be running through his mind about how much she weighed. At the moment she was too preoccupied with whether or not she was going to freeze to death.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, trotting down the hall. When he returned, he knelt in front of her to drape a thick, fluffy towel around her head and shoulders. He wiped water from her face with another towel, then started to unbutton her blouse.
“N-n-no.” Her protest lost most of its effectiveness when her teeth continued to click together like the false sets sold in novelty shops, and her body shook as wave after wave of chills swept over her.
“You’re close to being hypothermic,” he said, continuing to work at getting the buttons through the soaked fabric. “We have to get you out of these clothes and warmed up, fast. Otherwise, there’s a chance you could go into shock.”
“I—I’ll…b-be f-fine,” she said, making her mouth form the words. She wrapped her cold, stiff fingers around his in an effort to stop him.
“No, you won’t be fine,” he said firmly.
To her horror, the buttons on her blouse went flying in all directions when he impatiently ripped the wet garment open and peeled it from her body. But her biggest humiliation was yet to come. Reaching behind her, he unhooked her bra and took it off as well.
If she’d thought her day had been bad up to this point, it had just turned into a complete disaster. Goose bumps covered her exposed skin, but Katie wasn’t sure if her reaction was due to being colder than she could ever remember, or from having Jeremiah strip her from the waist up. Either way, she was sure that if it was possible
