His Brother's Wife (27 page)

The day was dark and
cloudy. It matched Grace's mood. The atmosphere in the house had
been gloomy for days, much like the weather.

Winter winds swept down
from the mountain, frosting the air and every surface it touched.
The mornings were cold, the nights brutal, and Grace took each day
one at a time while contemplating her future in Willow
Creek.

Thoughts of the new doctor
plagued her mind. Abigail and Sarah had both said he was unmarried
and would be a great match for her. She'd be able to move to town,
live in the new building she'd seen being erected, but every time
she thought of leaving the ranch, she had a sick knot form in her
stomach. Leaving was the last thing she wanted to do but Rafe may
give her no other choice.

He'd been in a foul mood
ever since returning from the ride with Holden and Colt and she
realized there were things in Rafe's past that she didn't know.
Things that made him the man he is and he hadn't been willing to
share any of it with her which was very telling.

He didn't trust her enough
to share his life with her.

There was still bad blood
there between Rafe and Holden. You could tell by the way they acted
around each other. She wondered if something had happened on their
ride and maybe that was why he barely spoke to her now. He'd been
reminded of what he lost and wanted nothing to do with her because
of it.

Grace waited on him to
come in for lunch and for the fourth day in a row, he didn't
bother. She'd barely seen him since the day of the sewing circle
and her thoughts ran rampant, filling her head with tormenting
reasons as to why, most of which had everything to do with
her.

She stored the sandwiches
she prepared in the oven, her appetite gone, and went up to her
room feeling miserable and dejected. Memories of the day by the
creek with Rafe plagued her on the days he avoided the house, and
her, and today was no exception. What they'd shared that day seemed
like a lifetime ago. He rarely spoke to her now and she had to make
a decision where Rafe was concerned, but making it would be the
hardest thing she'd ever have to do.

Hard-headed man that he
was, she was in love with him. Marrying someone else would kill her
but she wasn't sure she had much of a choice.

She couldn't live in this
house forever. Jesse would grow old enough to marry before too long
and Grace would never be able to accept a marriage proposal from
him. She'd been playing mother to him for too long now to ever
think of being his wife.

Sighing, she sat down on
the bed. She was at a loss as to what to do. She spotted Rafe out
by the barn. The desire to talk to him was strong but she was so
tired. Tired of chasing after him to no avail.

It was obvious he would
never ask for her hand, as heartbreaking as the realization was. No
matter how much she wanted Rafe Samuels, living with him wasn't
enough. She wanted more. She wanted marriage and children and if he
wasn't willing to give her that, then she had no choice but to move
on.

Laying back against the
pillows, she let every aspect of her situation fill her mind. She
had a hard choice to make and the sooner she made it, the sooner
she could get on with her life.

* * * *

"Son of a bitch!" Rafe
threw the hammer, hissing out a string of curses as it slammed
against the barn wall, and ignored the animals as they all snorted,
squawked and stomped in response.

He stuck his thumb in his
mouth, trying to lesson the pain and only made it hurt worse. He
shook his hand, started across the barn to retrieve the hammer and
leaned back against the wall instead, closing his eyes as his thumb
throbbed and his mind, once again, filled with thoughts of
Grace.

He'd avoided her for close
a week now. It was the worst sort of torture he could think of. He
craved the sight of her and missed her smiles.

Missed the way she looked
at him.

And he was getting more
careless as each day without talking to her made him more reckless
than the next.

His hands were covered in
cuts, his thumb now bleeding from smacking it with the hammer and
he hadn't had a proper nights sleep since the ride with Holden and
Colt.

Just looking at Holden
brought back memories he'd just as soon forget. Memories of Maggie,
the girl he thought he'd spend his life with before Katie promised
him forever.

Ten years later, he was
alone, desperate to have a woman he was sure would tear his heart
out, and too afraid to take a chance that she wouldn't.

Her leaving him sometime
down the road would be his undoing. He'd not survive that sort of
pain again. As much as he wanted Grace, letting her have any part
of his heart was a death wish.

He knew she would leave
soon, if for no other reason than to marry someone in Willow Creek.
There was a list of available men for her to chose from and any of
them would be damn lucky to have her.

But the thought of her
with any of them made his stomach ache, acid burning in his gut
until fire licked his veins. Anger at the unknown man caused him to
see red. How would he ever be able to live here knowing Grace was
somewhere close by, sharing another man's bed? Her belly swelling
with another man's child?

His hands started shaking
just thinking about it. His eyes burned, his throat closing to the
point he found it hard to breathe. He leaned over, bracing his
hands on his knees and sucked in several harsh breaths. How could
he let her leave when every corner of his soul begged him to make
her his?

He straightened, staring
at the barn doors, trying to convince himself he shouldn't go into
the house, take her into his arms and tell her he couldn't live
without her. That he'd die if she left him.

Her voice was a soft echo,
his name drifting on a breeze. He cocked his head to one side,
listening to see if he'd only imagined it and heard it again,
softer this time, as if it came from some great
distance.

Pushing off the wall, he
crossed the barn and tried to open the door. It didn't move. He
stared at it, puzzled, and tried again, finally getting it to budge
by putting his shoulder against the wood and pushing.

When he was able to see
outside, his eyes widened.

Snow was falling at a rate
so fast, he couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him. The
house was gone, blurred by the white out.

He'd been hearing the wind
howl against the barn for hours, the temperature inside cooling
quickly, but not once had he thought anything of it. Winter often
came in hard and fast here and the winds were expected.

But the snow storm had
caught him off guard.

Grace's voice filled the
air again and Rafe pushed the barn door shut behind him, lifted the
collar of his coat and turned his head, trying to determine which
direction it was coming from.

He started across the
yard, slogging through calf-high snow, and hoped like hell he was
going in the direction of the house. Getting lost in a storm like
this would be the death of him.

Years of walking from the
barn to the house led him in the right direction and he breathed a
sigh of relief when he saw the steps leading to the back porch.
Grace wasn't there so he hurried into the house.

Not finding her in the
kitchen, he searched the downstairs, called her name and knew true
fear when he realized she wasn't inside. She hadn't been calling
his name from the porch as he'd thought.

She was in the
snow.

He ran for the back door,
grabbed the bundle of rope hanging from the side rail and tied it
to the post before taking the free end and jumping back into the
yard. He squinted into the wind, looked in every direction, and
yelled her name.

* * * *

Grace stopped when she
heard Rafe calling for her. Tears burned her eyes and she blinked
them away, turning her head in the direction the sound was coming
from. "Rafe! I’m here!"

She felt a hysterical
sense of fear wash over her as she frantically turned in circles.
She could see nothing but white. The barn, the house…it was all
gone. Hidden by a snow storm that swept through the valley in a
matter of minutes.

Venturing off the porch
had been the stupidest thing she'd ever done. After waking from a
nap, and not being able to see out the windows for the snow, fear
for Rafe had sent her to the porch, calling his name for nearly ten
minutes. When he never answered, she feared he was lost somewhere
between the barn and the house and had set out foolishly to find
him.

Now she was the one lost,
freezing, and tiring by the minute.

Walking in the deepening
snow hadn't been a problem when she stepped off the porch but now,
with snow filling her boots, her feet were numb and every step she
took felt as if she were walking on knives. The hem of her dress
was frozen, her cloak hindering her movements at it dragged behind
her, and every part of her body ached.

She listened for Rafe to
call her name again and turned, pivoting in a slow circle and
barely made out a dark shape to her left. She struggled toward it,
disappointed to realize it wasn't Rafe, but a tree. Desperate to
touch anything solid, she wrapped her arms around it the moment she
reached it.

A glance around and she
thought she was near the chicken coop. There wasn't a sound other
than the wind, the ting of sleet as it hit the tree limbs and the
occasional shout from Rafe.

She looked in the
direction of his voice and shouted, "I'm by a large tree!" She
hoped he heard her. Her voice was shaky and raw, she'd yelled so
much already. Her legs felt weak and she slid down the truck of the
tree, trying to rest her legs. She wouldn't be able to sit long but
she had no choice at the moment. Her limbs felt wobbly. She had to
rest.

* * * *

It took him twenty minutes
to find her. Seeing her slumped against the base of the tree nearly
stopped his heart.

Forcing his legs through
the snow, he crouched by her side. "Grace." He lifted her head,
fear stealing his breath to see her eyes closed. "Grace, wake
up!"

He shook her, grabbed her
under both arms and lifted her from the ground. Her skin felt cold,
her complexion taking on a funny pallor. When she blinked up at
him, he remembered to breathe.

"Come on, Grace. We've got
to get to the house."

Standing, he pulled her to
her feet, worried when she sagged against him. He wrapped an arm
around her back, scooped her legs up with the other, and lifted her
into his arms.

He'd dropped the rope when
he'd found her but could still make it out on top of the snow and
followed it all the way to the house. It took longer than it should
with the deepening snow and trying to carry Grace through it. He
lost his balance twice, tumbling to the ground and cursing under
his breath before finally making it to safety.

Carrying Grace to his
room, Rafe stripped off her cloak, tossing it to the floor, and
fumbled with the buttons of her dress. His fingers were like ice
and getting the tiny buttons unhooked was damn near
impossible.

Pulling at the material in
frustration caused the buttons to fly, bouncing off every hard
surface they hit. He ignored them as he undressed her, slipping the
dress off her shoulders, untying her corset, chemise, and bloomers,
and pulled everything down and off her legs. At any other time her
naked flesh would have provoked him. Now, it scared the hell out of
him.

She was so pale. Her skin
like ice.

Removing her boots and
stockings, he put her under the covers, naked, tucking the quilts
in around her and searched the house, grabbing every spare blanket
he could find before piling them on the bed. Then he did the one
thing he never thought he'd get a chance to do.

He undressed and climbed
under the blankets with her.

Cradling her in his arms,
he hissed in a breath when her cold flesh came into contact with
his warmed skin. She moaned, the first sound she'd made since he
found her, and he slid down the bed a bit to be eye level with
her.

"Grace, can you hear
me?"

It took ages for her to
open her eyes but relief flooded him when she did. "So…
cold."

"I know," he said. He held
her tighter to him.

They lay like that for
what seemed like hours, listening to the wind howl, the creaks and
groans made by the house the only thing to break the silence
surrounding them. Rafe wondered where Jesse was. He hoped he was
smart enough to stay in town. He couldn't even fathom the thought
of him trying to make it home.

He would never make
it.

He put Jesse out of his
mind, as hard as it was to do. Worrying wouldn't help and right
now, he needed a level head. Grace required his full attention and
he wasn't about to let her down. He'd spent his life letting those
he loved down and he wouldn't have Grace's name added to the
list.