"What's a movie?" Flower asked.
"Oh, no!" Tess groaned and bent her head, hiding her face from the too-near, craggy visage at her side. Somehow, though, her eyelids cracked open and she slid a look through her long lashes.
Tess caught her bottom lip between her teeth to stifle the erupting giggle. Good heavens, he looked as astonished as she felt. And as helpless.
His arms hung loosely from his broad shoulders, hands cradled in his lap. He'd landed in a sitting position beside her, his legs bent at the knees, crookedly cocked to either side of his slim hips. Oh! She had no business looking at that bulge in those tight denims!
Tess quickly glanced back at his face, willing her eyelids not to open fully as she tried to hide her perusal.
Lordy. Was this the Marlboro Man come to life? He'd lost his hat in the tumble, and that rather longish brown hair waved in soft fullness around his head. Here and there she even caught a hint of a reddish tint, but not quite as prevalent as in her own hair when the sun hit it. All he needed was a filter-tipped cigarette dangling from the corner of that full mouth to complete the picture. What color were that Marlboro Man's eyes...?
"I asked you a damned question!" Those lips snarled now.
Tess's head flew up and she glared at him in return. "I'm hurt! I think my ankle's broken."
The brown eyes softened a little, lost just a hint of their glare.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. But I asked what you were doing here on my land."
"Boy, don't I wish like hell I knew," Tess breathed.
"Ladies shouldn't curse," the young girl said.
Tess looked over at her and smiled. "You must be Rain's sister. And I apologize for cursing. Rain already told me I shouldn't do that. He said your dad might wash my mouth out with soap."
"Where's my son?" Stone demanded, drawing her attention back to him.
"He said something about going to bleed a deer — the one he shot."
"Guess you won't have to kill a chicken after all, Pa."
Stone scrambled to his feet and backed away from the woman, though he felt like he was struggling against invisible strands trying to hold him close to her. Damn, she was a beauty. Auburn hair and green eyes like Abigail, but there the resemblance stopped. Her hair curled wildly, tumbling unrestrained down her back. His long-ago love, Abby, always kept her hair in a knot on her head — or at least tied back.
Abby had been little more than a girl at sixteen, though well old enough to wed. Her breasts would have filled out more after she had children — indeed, they had been fuller when he visited, not that he'd had any right to notice. They'd never gotten this full, though — and they weren't restrained, either. For God's sake, what happened to her corset?
"Please! Watch your language!" Angela whispered loudly when she read his mind.
"Sorry, honey," Stone murmured distractedly in Flower's direction.
Tess frowned in confusion and looked at Flower. She hadn't heard Flower say a word. Flower shrugged her shoulders in reply to Tess's questioning look.
"I hope you've got a dress in that pack! I don't allow my daughter to wear pants, and you won't either, if you expect us to help you out. What's that thing you've got wrapped around your foot?"
Tess clenched her fists, fighting against the confirmation of Rain's insistence that this was indeed the year 1893. Shoot, no, she didn't have a dress in her pack. Who on earth would carry a dress on a backpacking trip? At least, in 1993! Soon enough, she'd have to tell him that, though. For now, how the heck was she going to explain an elastic bandage to a man born years before vulcanization was even invented?
Suddenly it dawned on Tess that she believed it herself. Somehow — some way — somewhere — she had slipped through a time warp. Those books weren't completely fiction after all.
"Uh...uh...the bandage is just something to support the muscles in my ankle until I can get the foot x-...I mean, until I can determine if it's broken. Is...is there a doctor anywhere near?"
"Nope," Stone denied. "Not near, anyway. You better let me look at it and see if I can tell if it's broken, instead of just sprained."
"No!" Tess gasped in pain when she jerked her foot away from Stone's reaching fingers. "I...I mean...don't you think it would be better for me to leave it wrapped until I get off this hill? It's not as painful with the bandage on it. I can ride, if you'll help me on one of the horses."
"Where's your horse?"
"Mine?"
"You sure didn't get clear out here just walking," Stone said. "I've heard of you women having some new-fangled ideas, but surely you've got sense enough not to travel around the country by yourself. Hell, even on horseback, that's a stupid idea."
Holding back her fury took more gumption than Tess had left just then. "I suppose you're one of those chauvinistic pigs that think a woman's place is in the home! That we're just not as smart as a man! That we shouldn't be paid as much, because we just don't do as much work as a man!"
Stone grabbed his hat from the ground and slapped it against his leg to knock off the dust. He plopped it on his head and tipped it back an inch, staring at her from under the brim.
"Well, don't guess I've ever been called a pig before, and I don't have any idea what breed of pig you're talking about. But I'm darned well aware that Flower works just as hard as me at the ranch, so you can take that uncalled for opinion of my character and stuff...."
Stone shook his head. What the hell was he doing, standing here arguing with a strange woman like he'd been married to her for ten years?
"Look," he said in a more reasonable tone of voice. "All I want to do is help you out. Neighbors out here do that for each other."
Tess's indignation diffused in a whoosh. Good grief, she was really going to have to watch what she said. But just how much was she going to have to say to explain how in the world she had shown up here?
She glanced at the Marlboro Man to see him studying the ground behind her. "What...?" But she knew immediately what he was looking for. Her horse's hoof prints. And he darned sure wasn't going to see them.
"What's your name?" she quickly amended.
"Rain told you his sister's name. Didn't he tell you mine?"
"Oh. Yes, yes, he did. It's Stone, right? Stone Chisum."
"What's yours?" Flower asked. She moved over and squatted beside Tess, holding out her hand in an offer of friendship.
"Tess." Tess gripped the smaller hand and gave it a slight shake. "Tess Foster."
"That's pretty," Flower said. "Tess," she repeated.
"Before you ask, it's not short for anything," Tess said with a laugh. "It's just plain old Tess."
"How old are you?" Flower asked.
"Thirty," Tess admitted wryly.
"Gee, you're almost as old as Pa, but you sure don't look that old. Are you married?"
"No. Not even engaged." Any more, her mind continued.
"You sure don't look like a spinster," Flower said as she rose to her feet. "One of the books I read said anyone who isn't married by the time she's twenty gets called a spinster. But I always imagined a spinster would be all dried up and ugly. You're awfully pretty, like your name."
Tess stared at her in dismay. How in the world could she answer that comment? Luckily, Stone intervened.
"You'll have plenty of time to ask Miss Foster all the questions you want after we get her down to the cabin and make her more comfortable, Flower. Where did you say that horse of yours went, Miss Foster?"
"I...I've no idea," Tess replied. She wasn't lying. Sateen was back in a stall — somewhere back there.
"Hey, Pa! Am I glad you're here. You can give me a hand lifting the deer on Smoky."
"Sure, son," Stone called toward Rain, who was trudging in their direction. "Just let me get Miss Foster taken care of first. It's mighty hot to just leave her sitting there."
"Her foot's hurt pretty bad, Pa," Rain said, glancing down at Tess with a smile of concern as he halted beside his father. "She must have hurt it before she got here."
"Before she got here? What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Stone said with a frown.
Tess took the only recourse she had when he glared at her. She screwed her face up in pain, and even managed to squeeze out a tear to trickle down her cheek.
Rubbing her leg, she said with a sob, "Please. Can't we talk after we do something for my ankle? I've been lying here over half an hour, and I don't think I can stand the pain much longer."
Angela chuckled softly to herself and clapped her hands as the man named Stone dissolved into helpless confusion. He reached toward Tess's face, then jerked his hand back and grabbed his handkerchief from his back pocket instead. Thrusting the handkerchief into Tess's free hand, he somewhat gruffly ordered Flower to bring her horse closer.
Gently, ever so gently, Stone bent and lifted Tess into his arms, carefully shifting her against his chest as she wrapped her arm around his neck.
"I'll try not to hurt you," he muttered distractedly. "Please. Don't cry any more. We'll get you down to the cabin. I think I've got some laudanum there. If not, there's some whiskey."
"Pa, what about the deer?" Rain asked.
"We'll get the damned deer in a little while, Rain," Stone said, trying to soften the harsh tone of his voice and ignore the unbound fullness crushing against the pectorals on his own chest. Wildflower scent surrounded him, drifting up from the head nestled against his shoulder.
Those emerald eyes were closed now, her lower lip caught between her teeth, perhaps in pain. If his arms hadn't been so full, he could have stroked her slender back and maybe eased the pain somewhat. Funny, though, how she seemed to fit that empty space in his arms just exactly so.
Good thing his arms were full. Otherwise, he might just try to stroke that pretty mouth with his thumb — ease it from its clenched tightness, so he could enjoy looking at those full lips again. 'Course, his own mouth was free — maybe he could nibble....
Tess opened her eyes when she felt a feathery hint of breath on her face. Sweet heaven, he was going to kiss her. She gave a languid sigh and closed her eyes again, barely parting her lips. Her free arm started a path up his chest to caress that corded neck.
"Uh...Pa," Flower said, clearing her throat to get his attention. "Here's the horse."
Their gasps of astonishment sounded in unison and Tess buried her face on Stone's shoulder to hide her blush. What in the world was she doing? No matter how much raw sexuality this Marlboro Man exuded, she had no business allowing him to kiss her five minutes after she met him. Allow him? Hell, she had offered it to him!
He even smelled deliciously masculine. A faint hint of soap and sweat — Tess took a tentative breath — a little horse odor....
"Think you could help me out here a bit, Miss Foster?" Stone asked in a gruff voice.
Tess jerked her head back, her neck popping with the strain. Tearing her eyes away from his face, she glanced at the horse standing beside them.
"Sure. S...sorry," she sputtered.
Bracing herself on Stone's shoulder, she threw one leg over the saddle and reached for the saddlehorn. A very capable pair of broad hands cupped her rear and steadied her, pushing her upward. She almost went off the other side of the horse before she caught herself.
"Thought you said you could ride," Stone said as he unconsciously rubbed his hands against his denim-clad legs.
"I can," she almost snarled at him. To prove her point, she neck-reined the horse around and started down the trail.
"Damn it! Wait for Flower!" Stone shouted.
Tess pulled the gelding up, but refused to turn the horse around. Extremely aware of every movement Stone made, despite keeping her eyes resolutely forward, she waited until Stone hefted Flower up behind the saddle.
She lifted the reins, but Stone caught the horse's bridle before it could move.
"Wait for Rain and me, too. You'll need some help getting in the cabin," Stone said, his eyes sliding away from her brief, downward glance.
"But, Pa! Like you just said, it's awful hot," Rain said in an peevish voice. "I don't want that deer meat to spoil."
"Flower and I can make it alone," Tess assured Stone. "I've been riding all my life, and Flower can get me something to lean on, so I can make it into your cabin."
"Well, if you're sure. Flower was counting on that meat for dinner tomorrow."
"We'll be fine. Really."
To emphasize her words, Tess picked up the reins again and quirked a questioning glance at Stone's hand on the bridle.
Stone held the bridle strap a moment longer. "Is there someone around here we ought to notify about you getting hurt? Your family will probably wonder where you are, when you don't show up."
"No," Tess denied, then frantically tried to think how to explain that to him — or at least divert the new questions she saw forming on that craggy face. "I...oh, my ankle hurts." She blinked her eyes a time or two, as though fighting tears of pain, which wasn't too far from the truth. The ankle was beginning to throb again as it hung down beside the stirrup.
Stone quickly dropped his hand and stepped back. Darn, that woman's tears did something to him!
Tess kneed the horse forward. She paused at the bend in the trail where Stone had first appeared only long enough to wave a nonchalant hand back, to indicate that she was having no problem at all with the horse. No, she told herself as the horse moved out again, she did not want to see if the Marlboro Man was watching her — seeing how well she handled the strange horse.
As soon as the horse disappeared, Stone knelt and put his hands on Rain's shoulders. "Now, what the heck is going on here, son? Where did Miss Foster come from? What did you mean about her being hurt before she got here?"
Angela clapped her hands again. So Tess's attempt to divert Stone's questions hadn't worked. It had only delayed them. Not a dumb man, was this one!
"What? You think we men can't see through all those wiles you women use, just because we let you get your way most of the time?"
"Michael! Welcome back," Angela said. "Shhhh. Let's listen. I really want to know what's going to happen next."
"Well, fill me in on what's happened so far. All I saw was that poor man getting flustered because Tess blinked those big green eyes at him like she was going to cry."
"Not now, Michael. You should have been watching all along, if you wanted to know the story. You'll have to wait for a commercial."
"A commercial! Dash nab it, Angela, we're not watching television!"
"Shhhh."
"...and I really don't know where she came from, Pa. Like I said, one minute there was a wild turkey there and next thing I knew the turkey was hightailing it over the top of the hill, gobbling like I'd shot it in the rear with buckshot. Then, there she was."
And the spirit lady, too, but he couldn't even tell his pa about that. Perhaps when Grandfather visited, they could fast and....
Stone felt Rain's forehead. "Did you bring a canteen with you? I've told you not to hunt in the summer heat without taking water with you."
"I'm not sick. Gee, you don't think I'm lying, do you? I've never told you a lie."
"No," Stone hastily assured his son. "But, Rain, sometimes we see things that aren't really there. Or maybe overlook things at first. You were concentrating on the turkey. You just didn't notice Miss Foster."
"Uh uh, Pa. She wasn't there when I first aimed my gun. How could I have missed seeing someone that pretty lying right where the turkey was standing? Especially with that red shirt she's got on. And, look, you can see the turkey's tracks. It was standing right here — right beside where Miss Foster was laying."
Stone shook his head. Rain couldn't have — but he had to have....
"And I was aiming my rifle, like I said! Do you think I would have pointed my rifle at a turkey that had a person laying right beside it? I know better than that. I'm a pretty good shot, but there's always a chance....I wouldn't ever try to make a shot like that, unless I had to save someone's life."
"Rain, people can't just appear and disappear into thin air."
"They sure can't, can they? I don't know then, Pa," Rain said with a shrug. "Where did she come from? She's real, not a spirit."
"She's real all right," Stone said, rubbing two fingers across the slight hump on his chest, where the feeling of that unbound fullness still lingered.
"She smells pretty, too, doesn't she? Kind of like the wildflowers in the spring."
Stone rose to his feet, nodding his head in agreement. The pack lying near his feet caught his eye. He didn't dare. That belonged to her, and he had no business invading her privacy — going through her things.
Besides, they better get that deer, or it wouldn't be worth hauling home. He'd take the pack with him on the horse, after they loaded the deer. He'd give it back to her. Probably she had her extra clothing in there and all those feminine necessities women seemed to need.
He'd give it straight back to her.
"Come on, Rain. Let's get the deer."
"Boy, is he going to be surprised when he goes through that pack," Michael said with a wry chuckle.
"He wouldn't," Angela denied. "You can read his thoughts as well as I can. He's decided he'll give it back to her without looking in it."
Michael shifted his cigar stub to the other side of his mouth and grinned at her.
***