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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] were shaking. She'd never had such a close call. Well, she wasn't getting back into that truck until she was calm enough to drive safely. The sound of a car going by on the state road that paralleled this dirt one caught her attention. It was a police car. It slowed just for a few seconds before it shot ahead. The policeman probably wondered what she was doing out here all alone with the front end of her truck hanging over a bank. Well, he could just wonder. She wasn't going home, not yet. She'd give Judd plenty of time to get away first. She couldn't bear to see him again right now, with the memory of that kiss eating her alive. Judd was walking back to his SUV when he saw Maude standing on the back stoop, looking concerned. He turned and went within earshot, smiling gently. "Something wrong?" he asked. "Did Crissy tell you?" she asked abruptly. He scowled. "Tell me what?" Maude hesitated. "Have you seen her?" "No. Should I have?" he demanded impatiently. "She was on her way to talk to you," Maude amended. "I don't see her truck." He felt his body tense. If Christabel had come to the barn, she must have seen him with Tippy. He'd kissed her to keep the assistant director, Gary, from trying to put the make on her again. The man was becoming a pest. It had been completely innocent, a stage kiss. But if Christabel had seen them... "What was she going to talk to me about?" he asked, thinking about how often he tripped over Grier when he came here. It had gotten to the point that he hardly spoke to Christabel. He was so jealous he couldn't even hide it anymore. Maude cleared her throat. "I don't know, she didn't say," she hedged. She drew in a long breath. "I suppose she went to get the mail or something. Never mind." Maude went back into the house. Judd hesitated. Maude was acting strangely. He wondered why Christabel hadn't made her presence known. It wasn't like her to ignore what she'd think of as betrayal. The old Christabel would have raised hell and he and Tippy would have had a royal battle on their hands. It bothered him that Christabel had walked away without saying anything. He got into his truck and decided to run into town and see if she was at the post office. But even as he put it in gear, he heard a call on the police band. "Is Cash around?" a young man asked. "He's in conference with Chief Blake and the city manager. Why?" "When he comes out, tell him that his lady is standing on the banks of the river next to her truck out on J. Davis Road, would you?" "Why does he need to know?" the dispatcher queried. "Because the front wheels of the truck are barely on the bank, and so is she," the young man replied. "If I were him, I'd get out there quick." "I'll tell him the minute he comes out. It shouldn't be long." "Thanks." The young man gave his vehicle's call sign and left the air. Judd burned rubber getting out onto the road. Christabel heard the approach of a vehicle and she tensed. It was a lonely place, and she could find herself in trouble. Maybe it was just that policeman who'd gone by earlier, wondering why she was here. She hoped it wasn't someone looking for trouble. The big black SUV came into view and her body tensed. The last person on earth she wanted to see right now was Judd Dunn. Her dark eyes glared daggers as he stopped behind her truck and got out with an economy of motion. She was wearing her sneakers, which robbed her of height. He looked very big in his leather boots and cream-colored Stetson, with that big .45 caliber Colt automatic in its hand-tooled leather holster on his hip. The silver Ranger badge glittered in the sun, like his black eyes as he approached her. "You're too close to the bank," he said without preamble. She folded her arms tight over her chest and averted her gaze back to the current. "I'm not," she argued. He stopped just behind her, waiting for her to speak, to ac-cuse him, to explain. But she didn't. "What are you doing out here alone?" he persisted. "I had some things to work out," she said in a strange tone. He hesitated. He didn't know how to ask if she'd seen him with Tippy in the barn. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |