Montana Red

by Genell Dellin

• ISBN13: 9780373772018
• ISBN10: 0373772017
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-04-01
• Publisher: HQN Books

Summary

Haunted by heartache, wrangler Jake Hawthorne has taken a job catching wild horses in Montana. But his quest to bring in a magnificent thoroughbred pits him against an unusual rustler. Having escaped her vengeful ex-husband, Clea Mathison is trying to live life on her own terms. Then her beloved mare runs off, setting her on a journey far from the privileged world she knows--and on the run from the law. Forced to depend on each other, Jake and Clea discover a strength together that they've never known alone. But when faced with an impossible choice, will Jake give up everything for the woman he's grown to love?

Excerpts

Stealing a horse scared her wildly, much more than she'd imagined it would--which must've been at least a hundred times just today. Nothing was happening as she'd expected. Ariel didn't nicker a greeting and the security lights weren't shining much farther inside than the doorway and, even if they were, sweat was running into her eyes, stinging them so badly she couldn't see. Clea squinted into the narrow cone of light emanating from the tiny flashlight she wore around her neck and then took another step. She couldn't breathe.And not just because the humidity was niney-nine percent. It was a bold, hard job, this horse-thieving business. Whathad Brock been thinking, building a barn with no air-conditioning? She couldn't imagine that, either. People would be saying he was cutting corners, in financial trouble. Brock's image was what drove him. Clea wiped her eyes with her bare fingertips and moved deeper into the black of the aisle, straining to see the horses, flashing the torch from side to side to check each one as she passed. If only Ariel were a white! Or a palomino or a gray. Pray God she was still here. If she wasn't, Clea'd probably just break down and cry, after going through all this. She missed Ari like crazy. More than that, shehadto have her back. Somehow, being partners with Ariel was what had given her the guts to finally get the divorce she should've gotten three years ago. Scared gave way to mad again, in the endless back-and-forth game of emotions playing with her. Suddenly, she wished Brockwouldcatch her.Come on, Brockie. Look out the window and see my little light. Come on down here and tell me I can't take my own horse. Let me practice my new self-defense skills. Hey, Brock! Something metal fell, clanging like the bells of hell, to the concrete floor. Clea hit the off switch on her light and slammed her back against a stall wall. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't even pray. She just wished to go right through the wall behind her to hide inside with whatever horse was in there. The one kicking the side of the stall. Twice, and then he quit, thank goodness, or he might have lamed himself and it'd have been her fault. Not to mention that he might draw somebody's attention. Or they all would. The whole population of the barn was stirred up now. Time--who knew how long?--passed until she heard only a few mutterings and rustlings and a couple of thumping buckets from horses hoping that the excitement meant breakfast. The ringing noise must've come from the narrow feed room she'd passed on the way in. Maybe a scoop or a lid. Maybe a rat or a mouse. Or a cat. Her breathing slowed and she used every intuition she had but she didn't sense another person's presence. Evidently, neither did the horses. Oddly enough, the scare sort of calmed her down. In a weird, insane way it was as if the worst were over now. She flashed her little light from stall to stall, found the crooked white star in the black face.Finally. "Thank God." Clea barely breathed the words but the mare heard and nickered to her. Quietly, as if she knew this had to be a clandestine operation. Clea crossed the aisle in three long steps, reached for the halter hanging from the wire mesh wall with one hand and slipped the door latch free with the other. Inside, quick as thought, she cupped her hand over the mare's muzzle, stroking it for a second, whispering in her ear. Ariel had to be--her one true friend. The pumping adrenaline was making Clea's arms shake but her icy fingers managed to get the halter on and the strap pulled through the buckle. Once she'd led her out--Ari quiet and cooperating as if they'd planned this escape together--Clea took the time to close and fasten the stall door so that, at first glance in the morning, everything would look normal. Every minute she could