“Well, you’re welcome here. Let me get you some towels to dry those babies off,” Mavis said, bustling up and taking charge.
“Thank you,” Hank said, and dropped one arm around his wife’s shoulders.
Ryder felt a pang of envy. He still missed his wife, Elinah, and didn’t see nearly enough of his grown children. He was alone now, and he didn’t much care for it.
“Go on with Mavis. She’ll fix you up with soup and coffee,” he said, then smiled at the boy. “And maybe a cookie or two.”
He watched them go and saw Angela look up as the family approached. Then she looked past them right into his eyes, and for a heart-stopping second he felt the hard punch of connection even from across the room. There was something between them. Something he hadn’t counted on. That he’d thought had died when he’d lost his wife, Elinah. Elinah had been his miracle. He’d already had one marriage fail when he met her. She’d seen something in him worthy of taking a risk and he never stopped being grateful for that. Elinah became his second wife and the woman he had been born to love. When he lost her, Ryder had felt as if his life was over. Now he was waking up again and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.
His heart heavy, he walked off to the supply room to search for some towels. Sooner or later, he would find the chance to talk to Angela. He just had no idea if it would clear things up or make everything worse.
* * *
Liam frowned at the water pouring through the first floor of the Texas Cattleman’s Club. Already streams of water were washing across the floor, snaking through the rooms, claiming more and more territory. Rain raced through the broken windows, soaking him further as he stood there. Since he couldn’t do anything about the damage, Liam trudged through the mess to the back room. The refrigerator was big, but not exactly full. Using a box off one of the tables, he filled it with the sandwiches, fruit, some crackers and a half a bag of chips and bottles of water he found in the fridge, then trudged back through now shin-high water to the stairs.
Back in the bedroom, he heard the shower running through the closed bathroom door, and tried not to think about a wet, naked Chloe. Instead, he stocked the bar fridge with his loot and helped himself to a beer. While he drank it, he walked to the window and looked down at the mess that was Houston.
The rain hadn’t let up a bit, still pouring down in what looked like an unending deluge. Which meant the floodwaters would continue to rise, and he didn’t know how long they’d be stuck together. With no phone, no way out of this sanctuary, it was as if he and Chloe were trapped on an island. Just the two of them.
“Damn it.” He took another pull on the beer bottle, then set it aside to take off his sodden shirt, his boots and socks.
He was wet to the bone and still it couldn’t quench the fires blistering his blood. Liam heard the shower shut off, and instantly, his mind provided him with images designed to bring him to his knees. Chloe, warm and wet, stepping out of the shower, grabbing a towel, smoothing it up and down her body and—“Oh, yeah. This is great.”
“What?”
He’d been so caught up in his own imagination he hadn’t heard her open the bathroom door. Now he turned to look at her and his mouth went dry. Her hair fell long and damp to her bare shoulders. She had a thick, sea green towel wrapped around her and knotted between her breasts. Her bare legs were honey colored, and her toes boasted a deep purple polish. Everything about her made him hunger.
“Nothing,” he managed to say in spite of his suddenly dry mouth. “I, uh, found some food downstairs. Plus the wine and beer in the bar fridge. You want anything?”
“Wine would be good.”
“Right.” Liam was grateful for the task that would give him something to do besides stand there staring at her, fighting the urge to touch her.
“You know,” she said, “as long as we’re here, you could tell me what you’re thinking about my plan for the camp.”
He looked back over his shoulder at her. She was sitting on one of the two chairs drawn up to a gas fireplace that he should probably turn on.
“That’s what you want to talk about?”