Marked for Marriage (10 page)

“Maddie! Maddie!” he yelled as loudly as he could. The wind took his words and carried them away. In the very next heartbeat Noah stared, wiped snow from his face and eyes and stared again. He shone the flashlight around, zipping it one way then another, and told himself that he wasn't seeing clearly.

But he was. Maddie's white truck and trailer were gone!

T
he wind was brutal, lifting and hurling ground snow as well as what was still falling, creating a surreal world that was at the same time precariously authentic. This was no irrational dream, and Noah fully understood the dangers of Maddie driving her heavy truck and trailer in this harsh, unmerciful storm with only one hand. His other concern—more like intense worry—was her state of mind. Was she even seeing clearly, let alone thinking that way?

It took only minutes for Noah to follow the ruts Maddie's rig had cut in the snow to the road and another few moments to ponder and then fully grasp what it was that she'd really done. She's actually out there driving! My Lord, she isn't just risking her own neck but also the life of everyone who
has
to be on the roads tonight!

Anger hit Noah then, striking him with more force than the wind ever could. This was an internal blast, fueled by resentment, fear and despair. He'd accepted responsibility for
Maddie Kincaid's well-being, and how would he face Mark or anyone else in Whitehorn, for that matter, if she met with some awful end because of his negligence? He should never have left her alone today, certainly not for such a lame excuse as needing his own razor and toothbrush.

He ran—if one could call slogging through deep snow running—to his vehicle and got in. He started the engine, then muttered a vile word and got out again. Hurrying to the house, he went inside, grabbed his medical bag and rushed out again.

Driving through that heavy, wind-tossed snowfall was as close to driving blind as a man could get, and to think that Maddie, with all of her physical injuries and half-baked grasp on reality, was also out there daring the elements made Noah a little bit crazy.

He wanted to speed in the worst way, to press the accelerator to the floor and fly, but he knew that even with four-wheel drive he'd end up in a snowbank if he did anything so rash, so he played it safe and kept it under thirty. Less than that in many places. His SUV was powerful, but it wasn't a snow-plow, and there were drifts across the road, swept smooth as a white tablecloth by the treacherous wind, that brought his speed down to a mere crawl.

He finally reached the turn onto county road 34 and stopped for oncoming traffic. There wasn't any, not a car, a pickup or anything else. What's more, there were no streetlights that far out of town, and from that point on his headlights would be his only guide.

Remembering his missing cell phone, Noah switched on the overhead light and looked all around the front seat for it. If he'd ever needed a cellular telephone, it was now. But it was nowhere to be found, and with a grim set to his lips and a discomfiting knot in his gut that contained a dozen opposing emotions he put his SUV in motion again.

He drove even slower on county road 34, because he felt that he should check both sides of the road for ruts or other evidence that someone may have skidded into snow too deep to get through, or into a ditch. Noah recalled that a substantial segment of this road had a man-made drainage ditch on its left side, but it was impossible for him to pinpoint the exact area, so he had to stay alert all the way.

He was also keeping an eye on the odometer, because the stable housing Fanny was located on that portion of the Braddock ranch that connected with this road, seven miles from town, he'd been told. Two miles passed, then three, and he saw that he was nearing the four-mile point when he thought he saw a light on the right. He stopped the car and peered through the passenger window, then reached over and rolled it down because if there was a light out there he'd lost sight of it. He debated taking a closer look on foot or driving on.

Scowling and furious that Maddie would cause both him and herself such unnecessary misery, he got out, braving the ferocious elements one more time. He trudged through the snow toward what he thought was a spot of light. He sensed more than saw the trees all around him. In fact, something black suddenly loomed right in front of him, and he halted his stride just in time to prevent a collision with a big pine. It irritated the devil out of him that he'd been so totally focused on Maddie and her shenanigans that he'd left his flashlight in the car. He almost went back for it, but the urge to do so was quickly dispersed by a surge of common sense that told him to get this done fast. He forged on.

Shortly thereafter Noah spotted the light again. It hadn't been his imagination after all! Relieved, he noted how the light appeared and disappeared with the fluctuations of wind and snow, and that it looked to be shining through a small square. Was there a cabin out there? A house?

He nearly ran into the back end of Maddie's trailer. It was
as white as the snow and damned near invisible in the storm. And to realize that she'd driven a white truck and pulled a white trailer in this deadly blizzard just about did Noah in.

Well, she hadn't made it to the Braddock ranch, had she? It almost made him happy that she hadn't, because she obviously was a selfish nitwit who did what she wanted regardless of the trouble she might cause someone else.

But how had she gotten so far off the road? Maddie Kincaid was a menace to herself and everyone else in the area, and she shouldn't be allowed to even possess a driver's license!

Scowling, Noah walked around the trailer and located the entrance door. He pounded on it and yelled, “Maddie!”

To his surprise
she
opened it, pushing it outward and missing his head by no more than an inch. Noah jumped back and growled, “I know you'd like to be rid of me, but there must be a simpler way than murder by door!”

“Oh, for Pete's sake. What're
you
doing here?” Maddie left him standing there and walked away.

“Hey, it's more like, what are
you
doing here?” Noah grabbed hold of the assistance handle next to the door and pulled himself up and into the trailer. The steps—probably electrically powered—weren't out for usage, and he wondered how Maddie had managed to haul herself inside.

“Would you please close the door?” she said with a look of utter exasperation. “You're letting all the heat escape.”

“What heat?” The second he spoke Noah felt the warmth of the trailer's interior and noticed that Maddie wasn't wearing a jacket. Huge ski pants ballooned on her lower half, but on top she was again clad only in her brother's thermal underwear. He quickly pulled the door shut because the outside storm was trying desperately to huff and puff its way inside.

It was then that he saw the difference in Maddie. Her eyes were no longer glassy, nor was she looking pale and dazed. Standing, the top of her head was on a level with the middle
of his chest. She was a pretty little thing, even with that taut, resentful expression on her face, and it amazed Noah that he would care
how
she looked, or that he would even notice her unusually green eyes, small nose and beautifully shaped lips. Pretty women weren't uncommon anywhere a man chose to live his life, Noah had discovered. But his attitude toward the opposite sex—toward people in general, for that matter—was uncommon enough in a small town to have stirred up plenty of speculative gossip among those citizens of Whitehorn who enjoyed dissecting everyone else's personality, habits and lifestyle.

Noah apologized to no one for his usually unsmiling and unfriendly countenance, however. He frankly didn't care what people said about him. It was his life and he'd live it his way. In fact, today's ludicrous events reinforced his preference for strictly peripheral involvement with the community and its occupants. Maddie Kincaid had run him ragged during what would likely turn out to be the worst storm of the year, and the resentful expression on her face wasn't even close to the degree of resentment
he
felt.

“Would you please stop staring at me and explain why you've dogged my footsteps all day long?” she said coldly.

“For one reason and
only
one reason, you little ingrate, which I already told you.”

“Mark thought I was just fine when he and Darcy left! Why would he ask you to intrude on my privacy?”

“Probably because he knows what a lying little sneak you are.”

Maddie's jaw dropped. “How dare you? And you're supposedly Mark's friend? Hah! Just wait until he gets back and I tell him the horrible things you said to me. He won't be your friend after that, Mr. Bigshot-Pain-in-the-Neck!”

Noah felt a sudden wave of helplessness. Not that he was concerned about losing Mark's friendship over this miserable
fiasco of a day—which wasn't yet over, he unhappily reminded himself. But he'd never met anyone quite like Maddie Kincaid. She looked sweet and softly feminine and wasn't even close. With her fierce independence and tendency to yell first and ask questions later, she could probably blister paint when she got really worked up. Hard to handle? She was
impossible
to handle, and while she might have some stories to tell her brother after his honeymoon, so did Noah.

He knew one thing for certain. He would keep his promise to look after Maddie, regardless of her objections, but once Mark was back home, she was
his
problem. It was relieving to envision the day when he would never have to set eyes on Maddie Kincaid again, let alone be the target of her sassy mouth. In the meantime he was through exchanging insults with her, for what would that sort of childish behavior accomplish?

“What happened? Did you skid off the road?” he asked.

She was surprised and then suspicious. He'd sounded like any other normal person making normal conversation, and she didn't trust him. Warily she replied, “No, I didn't skid. I missed a curve in the road and drove a straight line into the trees.” The gleam in her eyes dared him to laugh, as he'd done when he'd first seen her, which raised her ire every time she thought of it.

“There's hardly any visibility out there,” Noah said. “So I can see how that could happen. But what about now? Is your truck stuck?”

“It's high-centered. Probably on a log under the snow.” Why was he being nice? Or
pretending
to be nice? If he could pretend so easily, couldn't she do the same? After all, her situation required
someone's
assistance.

She tried very hard to speak calmly. “Maybe when you get back to town you wouldn't mind calling a tow truck and letting the driver know how stuck I am. I always carry a cell phone with me, but I haven't been able to find it. I mean, I thought
it was here in the trailer, and it's not, so I don't know if Mark brought it into the house with my other things, or what.”

“I lost mine, too. I have the feeling that it's somewhere at the bottom of a snowdrift, either at my house or at Mark's. Look, I really don't think you or I or anyone else is going to get a tow truck to go anywhere tonight unless it's a life-and-death situation, which this isn't. I know what you think of my opinions, but I really feel that you should ride back to town with me. I'm sure the plows are out working as we speak, and once this road is cleared, anyone with a tow truck would willingly come to the rescue.”

His logic irritated her. “And I should just walk off and leave my truck and trailer out here?” Her
lack
of logic irritated Noah. “Well, it's hardly going anyplace!”

“What about vandals?”

“In this weather?” He cocked a cynical eyebrow at her.

She flushed slightly and glared at him. “You get a big kick out of being rude, don't you?”

Noah glared right back at her, but he wasn't going to let her draw him into another battle. “I left my car running on the road. Are you coming with me or not?”

Maddie again had that frustrating boxed-in feeling. She'd met bossy, egotistical men who had to have everything their way before, but none to compare with Noah Martin. Of course she had to go with him, but why had fate sent
him
out here? Why not someone else, some nice person who didn't grate her nerves raw and constantly regard her with that superior, better-than-thou look in his eyes? Boy, was she ever going to lambaste Mark when he got home!

Noah had unbuttoned his jacket and taken off his gloves when he first came in. Now he reversed the process and said, “Call me impatient, but I'm leaving.”

Maddie sent him a murderous look and went for her jacket.
Noah looked around and realized that there was more than one room to this cozy little setup. Obviously, he was standing in the living room-kitchen area. It had a stove, refrigerator, dining booth, small couch, recliner chair and a built-in television, all done in shades of blue with attractive wood trim.

“I thought this was a horse trailer,” he called out.

Maddie returned from her bedroom with her jacket. She didn't like giving in and making small talk with this overbearing person, but while
he
relished rudeness as a way of life, she normally did not.

“It is a horse trailer. This is my space, and the back third of it is Fanny's quarters. As long as we're becoming such pals,” she drawled, “would you mind helping me into this jacket?”

“That supporter on your hand and arm gets in the way, doesn't it?” Noah asked, ignoring the sarcasm he'd heard in her voice, and took the jacket from her. “Maddie, may I look at your injured hand?”

“Must you?” she asked coldly. She did not want him for her doctor.

“No, we'll both keep right on keepin' on if I never see it, but I can't help being curious. Is it painful?”

She didn't want to answer questions. She would never think of him as anything but one of those people who barged in where they weren't wanted and then trampled over everyone else's wishes and rights.

“It's only aching a little,” Maddie said, speaking with a reluctance Noah didn't miss.

“Your hand was x-rayed, of course.”

“I suspect that's standard procedure in hospitals in any state.”