A Headstrong Woman(56)

“Sure,” he smiled.



***





His thoughts seething, Simon Moody sat staring at the closed door. Alexandria Morris had just refused a perfectly good offer from him. Had turned down wealth and position, had turned down him. Simon shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t used to being told no. Most people usually bent to his will whether from respect or fear he cared not which. Fear was a powerful tool, he knew. Simon smiled. There was more than one way to get what he wanted. It was time to have Dalton and the men he had recruited to redouble their efforts and time for a new one from him. It would take him a while to sort through all the details but it was already taking shape. An ultimatum was what she needed. How best to accomplish that? He gathered the papers that lay on his desk and started scanning them; a smile spread over his face as he did. His plan just might work and he would get Alexandria right where he wanted her.



***



Alexandria sat bolt upright as thunder shook the walls and rattled the windows. She hated storms had since she had been a mere child. Alexandria flung the covers aside, pulled on her dressing gown, and moved onto the porch to watch the skies until the worst had blown over. It was late by the time she crawled back into bed and she knew the next day would be a long one. Had Alexandria been honest with herself, she knew she wouldn’t have slept that night anyway.

“You look exhausted,” Jonathon commented when she joined him the next morning.

“Thanks,” she tried for sarcasm but yawned instead.

“Did the storm keep you up?” he asked as they rode toward the range. Alexandria nodded and Jonathon fell quiet.

They arrived to find the men cleaning up storm debris and joined them. Rusty informed them that in addition to the storm damage, more cattle were missing. They sent two men to search the property in hopes that the storm had merely scattered them.

They were working near the stream when the men returned to inform them that the cattle were not on the property and that they had found a hole in the fence. Alexandria accepted the news stoically, too stoically in Jonathon’s opinion.

When they reached the usually shallow, peaceful stream it was bubbling and swirling angrily past them, its whitecaps were littered with twigs and leaves. A piercing bawl cut through the air and Alexandria and Jonathon rode the stream’s bank to find the source of the cry. A few feet up stream, a calf had waded into the current and was now crying out; its head was the only thing visible. Alexandria frowned. As swift as the current was it should be moving down stream but the calf remained where it was. Jonathon lassoed the calf and started tugging; it didn’t budge. Alexandria pulled her lasso and started helping to no avail.

“Why isn’t it moving?” Alexandria demanded of Jonathon.

“I don’t know,” he admitted as he dismounted and moved closer to the stream. They could see no visible reason for the calf to be stuck, whatever the problem; it was obviously below the water. It had started raining again and Alexandria began shivering, she had forgotten her coat. Alexandria watched in horror as a large limb and a sudden gush of water tumbled past them; the calf’s nose was now barely above the water.

“We have to do something!” Alexandria yelled as she started to scramble down the bank.

Two strong arms yanked her back.

“Are you crazy?” Jonathon demanded as he turned her to face him. “Do you want to leave that little girl at the house without a mother too? If there were anything I could do, I would, Alexandria,” Jonathon yelled over the rumble of the storm; he had her shoulders firmly grasped.

Alexandria’s hat tumbled from her head as she stared at Jonathon in misery. “It’s going to die!”

“I’m sorry, Alexandria,” Jonathon apologized and watched tears well into her eyes and spill down her cheeks. “You’re freezing, where’s your coat?” he asked as he pulled her to him and wrapped the edges of his coat around her to try protecting her from the storm.

“It’s going to die,” her voice was resigned.

“I’m sorry, Alexandria,” Jonathon whispered in her ear. He let her cry.

Thunder shook the ground beneath them but Alexandria was barely aware of it or the storm that raged around them. A storm raged inside her. She was exhausted and tired of fighting to stay ahead. She could relate with the poor animal, she felt as if she were barely keeping her head above water. She loved the ranch, she would continue to fight for it and she knew it. As her tears subsided and she grew warm, she became aware of Jonathon’s heart beating in her ear. Alexandria allowed her arms to encircle her foreman’s strong torso and snuggled further into his arms and his warmth. She knew that this man was the only reason she was managing to hold things together. She would analyze that later, she decided as she felt the tension began to drain from her. She was so very, very tired.