Cowboy Who Came For Christmas (Harlequin Romance) (6 page)

CHAPTER SIX

A
DAN
DOZED
WITH
one eye open.

He must have finally fallen into a deep sleep only to wake up to sunshine and the smell of coffee. With a grunt, he sat up on the sofa and looked around. In the light of day, this place was cozy and comfortable even if it wasn’t much bigger than a horse stall. The room was colorful and full of little
woman
things—embroidery and lace, fluffy pillows and crocheted quilts, vases and picture frames. Dainty things. Which only made him feel like a stallion in a henhouse.

When he heard noise in the kitchen, he first checked his hands and feet for any ropes or tape. None there. Then he checked her for signs of a weapon. Nothing there, either. She wore a too-big flannel shirt and slim gray sweatpants and fuzzy boots. Her hair, caught up in a haphazard twist, was a loose rich auburn that burned bright in the light of day. Sophia looked earthy and right at home as she scooted around the small U-shaped efficiency kitchen.

He hitched a breath then got aggravated at himself. This woman was lying through her pretty white teeth and somehow, he had to get around all that cuteness and find the truth. He didn’t like lying women. Only reminded him of Gaylen’s absent mother, Helena. She’d lied to him from the day they’d met and she’d lied even as she’d walked out the door, never to return. Helena hadn’t wanted a baby and she sure hadn’t wanted him. She’d used him as a means to an end—to get out from under her powerful father’s thumb. Well, now she was living high on the hog with the rich man she’d always wanted. Good for her.

He missed Gaylen with the kind of ache that brought a man to his knees. He’d get home to her soon. Somehow.

Adan scowled over at the woman in the kitchen, trying to associate that pretty countenance with that of a liar.

Hard to do.

“You’re up,” she said, her smile not so sure-footed.

Adan realized he’d been staring and pushed at his hair and grunted. “Yes, and... I’m still alive.”

“Don’t worry, I thought about doing you in but decided against it since I didn’t want to drag you out there and leave you like a frozen lump.” She smiled and brought him a huge cup of steaming coffee. “I have biscuits and ham in the oven.”

Her serene attitude threw him. It was completely opposite of her skittish, worried mind-set last night. If she was hiding something she sure didn’t seem too worried about it this morning. Or maybe she’d successfully helped Pritchard escape and she was bluffing until she could figure out how to get rid of Adan. In the meantime, he’d bide his time and get some answers out of her. And watch her like a hawk.

He took the coffee with a grateful nod. “Do you always get up at the crack of dawn?”

“Most days,” she replied. “I like to work in the early light.”

He glanced around at the various forms of artwork. “So you’re an artist?”

“Yes. Mixed media.”

“Mixed what?”

She went back to the kitchen and opened the oven. “It’s just using several different ways of creating an art piece. Layering different textures and materials onto one canvas.”

“Right.”

She laughed and pointed to a big structure hanging over the fireplace. “I made that piece out of old fence boards, buttons and jewelry.”

Adan studied the piece of art and decided it did look like part of a fence. Then he saw it. “It’s the mountain. A vista.” He moved closer, amazed at the striking piece of art. “I don’t know art from Adam,” he said, “but this is real pretty.”

She smiled, obviously pleased that he’d guessed right and probably glad she’d managed to distract him. “There’s one spot down near the stream running behind the cabins where the view is incredible. I go there a lot for inspiration.”

“And so you recreated that view of the mountain with old wood and other things?”

“Yep. I go into town once or twice a month and leave a couple of pieces in the art gallery. Sometimes I go with Bettye to the arts-and-crafts shows held in several of the towns around the Ozarks and we set up a booth. She makes quilts and does embroidery on pillows and hand towels.”

That explained all the dainty stuff exploding in this room.

“Is that how you make your living?”

She stilled at that. “Yes. And I saved up before I came here.”

Okay, there it was again. A subtle evasiveness that he immediately recognized. She wasn’t telling him everything, but he only needed to know the part where Joe Pritchard came into the picture. Adan knew patience wasn’t his virtue but decided to take it easy since she was slowly opening up to him. He needed to get Pritchard and get back to Texas. First, he wanted to check on his truck and maybe move it back here near the cabins, and then he’d figure out what to do next.

He waited to see what Sophia was doing. When she started toward him with two biscuits on a plate, he stood. “I can eat that at the table.”

She shook her head. “No, here by the fire.”

“Okay.” He took the plate and stared at it for a full minute.

“Is something wrong?” she asked as she curled up in a big, broken-in leather chair, her legs tucked up under her.

“Just checking for glass or maybe poison mushrooms.”

She looked confused. “Oh, you think I’m still out to do you in?”

He sniffed at the wonderful smells coming from the plate. “Aren’t you?”

She shook her head. “If that were the case, I had all night to do it. And yet, like you said, you’re still alive.”

He leaned back and took a sip of the coffee. The taste was rich and dark and fresh, like that head of hair cascading around her face. Then he bit into the biscuit.

“Hmm, pretty good.”

“Bettye taught me how to cook,” she explained, her blue eyes going soft. “She knows how to cure ham in a smokehouse. She grew up on a farm in Alabama.”

“How’d she wind up here?”

“I’m not sure. She doesn’t like to talk about it, but I think after her husband died, she went into a deep depression. She told me once that she got in her car and drove until she found this mountain.”

“This sure must be a special place,” Adan said, his gaze taking in everything and seeing nothing out of the ordinary other than him sitting here among exotic paintings and twisted doodads eating a biscuit.

She nibbled at her own breakfast. “It’s a quiet, unassuming place. It’s peaceful and secure and...comfortable. I like a certain schedule and I like order. I’ve had enough chaos in my life.”

He zoomed right in on that last comment. “Care to talk about it?”

She looked so shocked, he figured she just now realized she’d mentioned her past. “No.”

“What brought you here?”

She glanced around as if searching for a good response. “Art. I like how everyone here is involved in folk art.”

“How did you find out that everyone here is an artist?”

She gave him a blank stare and shrugged. “Artists tend to find each other.”

“Why is everyone around here so tight-lipped?”

“You haven’t met everyone around here.”

“You have a way of answering a question with a counterstatement. Were you ever a lawyer?”

Shock again. “No. I just don’t like to talk about myself.”

“And why is that?”

She got up and threw another log on the fire. “You might be able to get out and walk around today. The snow and ice will be here awhile, so I doubt you’ll be able to get down the mountain today, but you can at least search for...that man.”

“You mean Joe Pritchard?”

Her hand stilled on a log before she tossed it into the fire. “Whoever he is.”

Hmm. A bit of defensiveness and deflection. She sure didn’t like to talk about herself and apparently, any wanted criminals, either. Adan’s burning gut told him Sophia knew more about Joe Pritchard than she was letting on. If he had any service on his phone he could run a check on her, too.

“I intend to get out and search for him,” he replied with a cool assurance that didn’t calm his stomach. Then he polished off the last of his second biscuit. “Thank you for breakfast.”

She turned and took his plate before he could set it down. “Want more coffee?”

“Sure.”

He got up and followed her into the tiny kitchen and, too late, realized this space wasn’t made for two people. They bumped together when she whirled to take his cup.

“Excuse me,” she said, a becoming blush moving down her cheeks. She lowered her gaze and held her head down.

“I can get my own coffee,” he said to fill the space.

“Let me get it.”

She took the cup right out of his hand, her fingers brushing his in a soft sizzle that surged through him all the way to the tips of his boots.

Adan backed up, regrouped and reminded himself he didn’t like entanglements of any kind. Even while he envisioned his hands entangled in all that rich auburn hair.

* * *

S
OPHIA
GRIPPED
THE
sink with one hand and scrubbed with all her might with the other hand. She hated stains.

And she also hated having Adan Harrison in her home. And she hated lying and hiding things.

But she had no other choice. Did she?

When she’d come into the kitchen earlier and seen his too-big body curled up on her too-small couch, she’d had to swallow back a shard of longing. She’d always imagined having someone special in her life, and she’d tried so hard to make that happen. Once. But once was enough for Sophia.

Having Adan asleep on her couch was one thing. Getting all fuzzy hearted and sentimental was quite another. So she’d reminded herself to stay away from the sleeping giant and to keep her hands and her daydreams to herself. After a sleepless night of trying to figure out what her next move could be, she’d decided she had to be nice to the big Texas Ranger. For now.

This man wasn’t here for a fling.

He’d come to this mountain to find a killer.

And she’d come to this mountain to escape. Just to escape.

Why was he here now and when would he leave? Who was out there taunting her? Her mind skittered over memories still too fresh to tuck away completely. Did someone know her sins?

Sophia stared at the sink and decided it was clean enough. She rinsed away the cleanser and washed out her dish towel, then dried her hands and grabbed her lotion bottle to moisturize them. Then she turned to tidy up the living room. Adan had folded his bedding and pillows and left them on the sofa. She touched a hand to one of the pillows and remembered his head touching that same spot.

The bathroom door opened, causing her to jump back like a kid caught with her hand in the candy jar.

Adan walked into the room, chewing up space with each step. “I’m gonna walk down the mountain to check on my truck.”

Relief flooded through her. He’d be out of her hair for a couple of hours so she’d have a chance to talk to Bettye. Trying not to sound too happy, she said, “Oh, okay. Be careful.”

“You’re going with me.”

Panic scurried across Sophia’s nerve endings. “What? Why?”

He stood by the fire, his hands in his pockets. “Don’t look so scared. I need you to be my guide and to help me with spotting any signs of activity out there. You know these woods better than me.”

She did know these woods. She also knew how to steer him away from places he didn’t need to go. Her heart beat in little skips and jumps, but she didn’t have a choice in this matter, either. She would have to serve not only as Adan’s guide, but his guard, too.

She ran a hand over her hair. “I’ll get my gear.”

He gave her a puzzled glance. “I figured you’d protest and stomp your foot and come up with some good excuses.”

Sophia quirked an eyebrow. “Would that have worked?”

He laughed at her remark. “No. I’d still take you with me.”

“Even if I refused to go?”

“That would only make me suspicious.”

“You mean even more suspicious than you already are?”

“Yeah. Even more.”

She went about putting on her hat, gloves and coat so she could hide the fear and disappointment his words brought out. “Why don’t we get going while the morning sun is bright and shiny? The snow won’t melt completely. Too cold out here.”

“Fine.”

That sun might shine a light on things she wanted to hide. But if she kept him on the road and out of the woods, they should be okay.

She should be okay.

He grabbed his coat and hat. Then he turned to holster his gun. “Let’s go then.”

Sophia felt as if she was about to go on a death march. How could she keep up this charade until the winter mix had melted completely? Until she could wave goodbye to Adan? Until she found out for sure if a criminal who wanted her dead was still out there somewhere?

With weak cell signals and frozen roads below them, Sophia figured he’d be here for a couple of days, at least. No snowplows or tow trucks would dare come here, anyway. This mountain was too remote for any kind of county maintenance.

She was juggling a lot of snowballs and they could all come crashing down on her if she wasn’t careful.

* * *

T
HEY
WALKED
DOWN
the curving mountain road in silence.

Adan wondered what Sophia was thinking. She’d been a bit too keen on escorting him to his truck. Probably afraid he’d stumble on the place she’d obviously hidden a criminal. Or possibly, she was trying to stall him while the others helped that criminal get away.

But he still couldn’t figure out how anyone could have found a hiding place out here in this whitewashed world. The only visible cabins were up the ridge on a flat incline. He’d checked around the area when they’d first walked outside. Sophia had pointed out the circle of cabins and mentioned again the people who lived here year-round.

“The last cabin’s vacant. The owners usually come up here in the spring and summer.”

Adan should have searched more last night, but the driving snow and the possibility of getting lost in whiteout had held him back. “I’ll want to check the cabins before we head down the road to my truck. He could have broken into one.”

She’d obediently followed him, her gaze cutting here and there through the ice-covered trees. When they’d searched around the vacant cabin and glanced in the windows, Adan decided he could rule out anyone hiding inside. No signs of forced entry in the windows or doors.