“This is Meredith,” Ren introduced her. “She’s a friend of Randall’s. She’s staying with us for a while.”
He introduced the cowboys to her. One, a tall and rangy one, was named Willis. He was the ranch foreman. The rest of the men greeted her enthusiastically. One got her a cup of coffee, another offered her a camp stool. She sat down and sipped coffee while Ren asked them about predators that had been seen nearby.
She almost dozed off. Ren called her name. He had his horse by the reins.
“The boys and I are going to ride down to the fence line for just a couple of minutes to look at a sick heifer. Will you be all right until I get back?”
“Of course,” she said, holding out her hands to the warmth of the bonfire. She smiled. “I’ll wait right here.”
“See that you do.” He vaulted into the saddle. “Won’t be long.” He turned his horse and caught up to the others.
Merrie watched them until they were out of sight. The snow was beautiful. The campfire was so warm. She closed her eyes and smiled. Then she heard it. A long, echoing howl. It sounded like a wolf, and very close by.
She stood up, her heart racing. The howl came again. It sounded closer. She looked around nervously. She had no weapon. She’d read about wolves. Wouldn’t they attack lone people sometimes?
The howl grew louder and closer. Merrie panicked. She’d promised not to move, but there was a wolf and it sounded as if it was coming closer, right into the camp. She felt fear like a sickness in her gut. If she’d only had a weapon!
She got up from the camp stool and moved away from the howling, back down into the shelter of the lodgepole pines. Perhaps if the wolf couldn’t see her, it would leave. Her heart raced like a ticking watch as she kept backing into the woods.
She didn’t mean to go far, but the snow suddenly picked up and turned everything white around her. She couldn’t see a foot in front of her. She hoped she was going the right way, to try to get back to camp. Ren would be back soon. Surely he’d see the wolf and make it leave!
The snow fell harder. It blinded her as she walked. In less than five minutes, she was hopelessly lost. And that howling was closer than she’d realized.
She recalled what Ren had told her about the cowboy who got lost in a blizzard and was found dead. She also remembered what he’d said to do. Don’t keep walking. Stay put. Keep on a path or a trail.
She looked around and grimaced. There wasn’t either. She was in a small clearing near a stream. She didn’t have a cell phone with her, or any matches. She couldn’t make a fire. She was freezing cold, because she didn’t have gloves and she’d had to hold on to tree trunks to get away from the howling thing.
Great, she thought. I’ll freeze to death, and it’s my own fault. Nobody will ever find me. I’ll be covered up with snow and lost in the wilderness. Why didn’t I stay put?
She sat down at the trunk of the tree and wrapped her arms tight around herself. “Stupid, stupid,” she muttered to herself. All because something howled. It was still howling, only it sounded closer. She had nothing that could be used as a weapon. There was a big limb nearby, but she couldn’t budge it. The whole limb was frozen. That made her hands even colder, and numb.
The snow was coming down in bucket loads. Ren was probably going crazy trying to find her. He was going to be so mad...!
The sudden sound of a gunshot startled her. She jumped to her feet, shivering. Then it dawned on her. It was a signal.
“I’m here!” she called. “I’m down here!”
There were voices. One was deep and very angry. She winced as Ren came into view, moving down the hill as if the snow wasn’t even there.
He came to a stop in front of her and stood with his hands on his hips, glaring down at her with black eyes that absolutely glittered.
“Oh, Ren!” She threw herself against him and held on for dear life. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I did a stupid thing. I heard a wolf howling and it sounded so close. I got scared and I just didn’t think. I’m sorry!”
He let out the breath he’d been holding and jerked her close, inside his open jacket, enveloping her in his strong arms. He rocked her, loving the feel of her soft body against him, drinking in the scent of honeysuckle that still clung to her hair. It had been a long time since any woman had made him feel protective, possessive.
“It’s all right,” he said at her ear, his voice like velvet. “I only meant to be gone for a minute or two. We lost track of time.”
“The howling scared me,” she confessed sheepishly. She loved being held by him. She felt safer than she’d ever been in her life, right now. She closed her eyes with a soft sigh and listened to Ren’s heart beat under her ear.
“We have wolves on the place,” he said. “One of them, however, is a pet. That’s what you heard,” he added with a soft chuckle.
“A pet?” She lifted her head and looked up into his black eyes at close range. Very close range. She felt swollen all over because of the way he was staring at her.