A Mother for His Son by Betty Woods

Author:Betty Woods
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-02-28T21:59:20+00:00

* * *

In case Rachel was upstairs in her rooms, Mac knocked hard enough on the dining room door to make it rattle. He waited. No answer. He pounded on it again. Absolute silence.

He grabbed the key from his pocket. If she’d replied to the text he’d sent about forty minutes ago, he wouldn’t be doing this. She always answered texts. As promptly as possible. Even the ones from his aunt that she didn’t want to see. This wasn’t like her. A woman who still feared coyotes would be inside with the sun going down in half an hour.

A man with any sense wouldn’t be standing here wondering where she was because he hadn’t heard from her in forty minutes.

“Rachel?” He called her name as soon as he stepped inside.

Silence.

He took the stairs to her rooms two at a time. He knocked on her door. He called her name loud enough for her to hear. Knocked again. Nothing. He yelled again before inserting the key in her door lock. Still no response. No sign of her as he looked around the small living room. Her cell phone sat on the arm of the couch. That’s why she hadn’t responded to him.

But where was she? Somewhere close by, he hoped. She wasn’t as used to coyotes as she pretended. He searched the rest of the little apartment just in case.

No Rachel. No lantern, either, unless she’d put it in a closet. Which he doubted she’d do, since she’d been so thankful to get it. Nosy or not, he checked both bedroom closets. No lantern.

So maybe she was getting brave enough to go for a walk alone? But where?

Think, man. You’re being ridiculous. She had to be close by. She hadn’t been at the ranch long enough to go anywhere without a definite marked path or trail. Such a sensible woman wouldn’t strike out someplace she might get turned around or lost.

Longhorn Creek? He’d try that first, since the path down there was easy enough for a child to follow in the dark. He marched in that direction. He’d run if not for the risk of catching his boot on a tree root or something. His mom tripping like that had been bad enough. No use risking his neck.

As he went, he clamped his mouth shut to keep from calling her name. If she was close enough to hear him, he didn’t want her to have any idea how anxious he was to find her and be sure she was okay.

Good friends watched out for each other. Panicking because he couldn’t locate her was outrageous. If he wasn’t careful, his heart would be in more danger than a man cornered by an angry bull. He slowed his steps.

The remaining rays from the setting sun shone on her honey-brown hair and narrow shoulders as he entered the clearing. She looked beautiful, even from behind. His boots slowed. His pulse sped up.

“Rachel?”

She jumped.

“Sorry to scare you. I came looking for you when you didn’t return my text.

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