Free Lorraine Heath by Texas Splendor

out his dream … and listening as the echo carried it back to him. Then the memory died like a flame snuffed out because there wasn’t enough air to keep it burning. “I don’t recall.”
    “My father used to tell me that I had to put my heart into my dream if I wanted it to come true. How do you put your heart into something?”
    Austin hadn’t a clue. He’d watched his brothers pour their hearts into the women they loved, thought he’d done the same with Becky, but if he had, she would have waited for him. He was convinced of that. Whatever their love had been, it hadn’t been strong enough to endure separation, and he couldn’t help but wonder what else it might not have endured.
    The dog came charging back from the edge of twilight, dropped low to the ground, and growled, baring his teeth. Worry etched over her face, Loree rose to her knees. “Digger, what is it?”
    The dog barked and bounded back for the trees, disappearing in the brush. A high-pitched shriek rented the air.
    “Bobcat!” Loree cried as she jumped to her feet. “Digger!”
    The dog barked and the ear-splitting feline cry came again, followed by a yelp echoing pain.
    “No!” Loree yelled as she began running toward the trees.
    Austin surged to his feet, ran after her, and grabbed her arm, halting her frantic race to the trees. “Where’s my rifle?”
    “In the corner of the front room, by the hearth.”
    “Come with me while I get it.”
    She shook her head vigorously. “I’ll wait here but hurry.”
    He didn’t trust her to stay, but he heard the dog’s wounded cry, the cat’s victorious screech, and knew he had no time to argue. With his heart thundering, he raced inside the house. He grabbed his rifle, loaded it, and shoved a handful of bullets into his pocket. Then he tore back outside, rounded the corner, and staggered to a stop in the clearing.
    The woman was gone!
    “Loree!” Fear for her edged any rational thoughts aside. He stalked toward the trees where the dog had disappeared. “Loree!”
    He no longer heard the thrashing of battle. An eerie silence settled over the woods. He tread carefully between the trees, his heart hammering. When he found the woman he planned to shake her every way but loose for scaring the holy hell out of him. How dare she risk her life for a stupid dog.
    He found her kneeling between two mighty oak trees, rocking back and forth, silent tears streaming down her cheeks, her arms wrapped around her dog. Austin knelt beside her. “Loree?”
    She opened her eyes, the golden depths revealing her ravaged grief. “He was all I had left,” she whispered hoarsely. “He was just a dog, but I loved him.”
    “I know,” he said quietly. “You take the rifle and I’ll carry him to the house.”
    “Let me hold him for just a minute … while he’s still warm.”
    She buried her face in Digger’s thick fur. Austin scanned the trees, his ears alert. He didn’t like the thought of Loree living out here alone with wild animals. The deer he didn’t mind, but a bobcat was another story.
    Gently, he touched Loree’s shoulder. “We need to get back before it’s too dark.”
    She lifted her head, sniffed, and nodded. Blood had stained the front of her dress and panic surged through him. “You’re hurt.”
    She glanced down before lifting a vacant gaze to his. “No, it’s Digger’s blood. The cat was gone by the time I got here.”
    “You should have stayed by the house like I told you.”
    “I was worried about Digger. He never backs—backed—away from a fight.”
    “Christ, your mother was right. You put a dog before yourself—”
    “I’d put anyone, anything I loved before myself. I don’t see that as a fault.”
    He didn’t mean to sound harsh, didn’t want to lecture her, but the thought that she might have been the cat’s next victim had him shaking clear down to his boots. “Take the rifle.”
    She grabbed it, and he slipped his arms beneath the dog. He ignored the pain