Free Rescued by the Ranger by Dixie Lee Brown Page B

was Jonathan suddenly siding with her least favorite person?
    Garrett stepped in front of her, raising his hands as though in supplication. “I’m sorry, but even if I’d known, I still would have told her. Someone needs to take this seriously.”
    Rachel let out the breath she’d been holding, and with her next inhale, she choked on a bitter laugh. “Jonathan’s right. It’s not your fault—it’s mine. I should have told Peg myself. And if I get my wish for a total do-over for today, everything will go back to normal in the morning.” She tried a smile as her gaze met his, but had a feeling it turned out completely cheesy.
    Regret clouded his eyes for an instant as he studied her. “I apologize for my part. Obviously, I’m the last person you wanted to have show up here. I’m hoping to change your mind about that, but if not, I want you to know that I’ll keep my word and be out of here come Tuesday.”
    Rachel had the perfect retort, but for some reason, she couldn’t force the words out. Maybe his apology was too genuine, or perhaps the sadness that had fallen over him in an instant had stolen her derision. The longer she stared into his eyes, the less she wanted to own the hatred she’d held on to for so long.
    Garrett’s steel-gray eyes darkened as his gaze swept over her face and lingered on her lips. Self-consciously, Rachel turned to take the stack of dishes to the kitchen, but was stopped when his hand gripped her elbow. The strength and warmth of his gentle grasp made her breath hitch as she met his eyes again. No humor waited there now . . . no sadness . . . only longing.
    Unexpectedly, a shiver engulfed her, and an ache of something long forgotten flared to life deep inside. For endless seconds, she couldn’t look away from his eyes, until the rattling of the dishes she held between them broke the spell. Rachel pulled from his touch, but it was another second before she broke eye contact, feeling strangely weak and shaky. Afraid her voice would give her away, she let the silence stretch for a moment. No one moved. “Six thirty in the morning . . . if you still want to run. Don’t be late,” Rachel said, then turned and hurried from the room.

Chapter Five
    T HE ALARM WENT off on the bedside table, and he slammed his hand down on the button to cut the annoying sound. Cowboy rose from his bedroll on the floor and stuck his nose in Garrett’s face.
    “At least one of us slept, huh, boy?” It wasn’t Garrett. Between his mother’s unanswered letters, his father’s probable deception, and Rachel’s enigmatic pull on emotions that hadn’t been heard from in a while, he’d tossed and turned most of the night.
    He’d been crazy to make that ridiculous deal with her. On a scale of one to ten, Garrett’s chances of getting Rachel to change her mind about him sat pretty close to zero. Right now, he’d settle for her merely tolerating him. From divulging the information to Peg that Rachel had intended to keep to herself, to mistakenly concluding she would abide his touch, he’d managed to lessen his odds considerably in the space of only a few hours. He should probably leave now and save himself the humiliation.
    But he wouldn’t, even though his original plan had been to get in and out of here the same day with answers to his questions about his mother and with no emotional commitment to Aunt Peg. So why did he care what Rachel thought of him?
    Fact was, he’d drawn his first totally peaceful breath in as long as he could remember after walking out of Peg’s office yesterday. It was a feeling he wouldn’t mind holding on to for a while. Plus he hadn’t quite gotten out without a scratch in the emotional commitment department. Irrational though it might be, he felt he owed Peg something. He didn’t need Rachel’s permission to stay, but it would make things easier on both of them if she didn’t hate his guts.
    She’d obviously been close to Amanda, and the idea of seeing his mother