The Throw-Away Bride by Ann Major

Author:Ann Major [Major, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, General, Category, Golden Spurs
ISBN: 9780373769124
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2007-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Fifty miles out from the ranch headquarters of the Golden Spurs giant plumes of smoke billowed higher than a mountain against a hellish, purple-orange sky. When they got closer she could see cowboys on horseback were moving cattle. Leo went to the cockpit and ordered the pilot to fly low all over the ranch. He took pictures and made notes while talking constantly to Kinky Moore, the ranch’s foreman, on his cell phone.When they finally landed behind the tall, red-roofed Big House and its outbuildings, the air was heavy with the acrid smell of smoke. A white sun burned a hole through the slate-gray sky. Winds whipped the mesquite and palm trees on every side of her. Kinky ran up to them and told Leo that because of the wind direction, the house wasn’t threatened.

“We’ve got a hunting lodge to hose down and cattle to move just south of Black Oaks. Mia, Cole and Shanghai are down there now trying to save the old Knight homestead at Black Oaks.”

Leo studied the black sky and then turned to her. “I shouldn’t have brought you down here. The fire’s bigger and closer to the house than I realized.”

“There was no time to do anything else. I’ll be fine.”

“Stay inside until I come back. Keep your cell phone charged and handy.” He turned to go.

“I want to go with you.”

“No!”

She would have argued, but Leo’s expression was harsh and unyielding. And the situation was too chaotic. Fire trucks and bulldozers were everywhere. Adrenaline charged the air. Exhausted-looking firemen streaked across the lawn in dirty orange overalls, shouting orders over cell phones and bickering with sweat-streaked, soot-faced cowboys about how best to fight the fire.

When the cowboys saw Leo, they shouted and waved to him, and before she knew it, he’d left her to join the quarrel between the cowboys and the firemen.

The firemen wanted to start some controlled burns, but the cowboys yelled that if the wind changed, they’d lose valuable livestock and maybe the Big House. Leo battled long and hard, speaking in a firm, rational voice, but the firemen refused to listen and soon sped away in their fire trucks to start more burns.

A second later Leo was on his phone again. “Shanghai! The firemen are going to set pasture seven on fire! We’ve got hunting lodges down there, and if the wind changes—”

Then Leo was running, shouting to Kinky. As the two men got in Kinky’s big black SUV, Abby ran up to them and grabbed Leo’s door handle.

“Leo…Take care.”

His hair was unkempt, his countenance hard and carved with exhaustion and worry. She wanted him to get out of the SUV and pull her into his arms and crush her close, to press his mouth to hers, to say something, anything, before he left, but his dark face remained frozen even as his black eyes seared her.

Kinky twisted the key in the ignition, and the big vehicle roared to life.

“Leo…Don’t leave me.”

He clenched his jaw and nodded to Kinky to go.

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