……The undulating Montezuma Hills appeared black against the night sky. Wispy, high clouds veiled the face of the half moon, filtering its silver white light and a warm breeze whispered of spring turning to summer. The bright beam of the single headlight from the 1902 Pierce Arrow Motorette was all that allowed Kate Moore to see the deeply rutted dirt road. As she headed home toward the town of River Run, she could not hear her own carefree humming above the clatter of the motorcar.
…… Kate stomped the gas pedal to the floor, pushing the Motorette to its top speed. She guessed it rattled down the road at twelve miles per hour, a respectable rate for the eight year old machine, but not nearly as exciting as whizzing along at twice this speed in her mother’s new auto in New York. A twinge of regret for her hasty departure from that city pricked her heart. Ruthlessly, she obliterated the emotion by concentrating on navigating the dark road.
…… A sudden, hard bump propelled her toward the roof of the car. She felt the thwack on the top of her head as her huge brimmed, flower bedecked hat hit the leather awning.
…… Kate heard the explosive bang from behind her reverberate off the hills in a chain of echoes. As the auto tilted toward the left rear wheel, she groaned with vexation and stopped the engine. The car ceased its rattling. Night sounds surrounded her; crickets, a hooting owl, the breeze rustling through a nearby tree. Darkness settled thick around her, threatening to shut off the air from her lungs.
…… Ordinarily, she would not be frightened of a quiet night, but alone and far from town her imagination conjured up flesh eating beasts and renegade men eager to pounce on a lone woman. Sliding her hand under the seat, she was reassured by the smooth feel of a metal gun barrel. The pistol was small, but she could protect herself if the need arose.
…… Kate knew what the problem was before she got out of the car to inspect it. She was an old hand at patching blown out rubber tires. With determination, she marched to the rear of the auto and kicked the sagging wheel. Her colorful language damning rutted rural roads rebounded off the hills.
…… Standing with her gloved hands on her hips, she glanced back down the road. She recalled that Abigail Penny and Eulalia Ericson had left the women’s suffrage meeting after her, but they would not be coming along in the slow moving buggy for quite a while.
…… Resignedly, Kate untied her unwieldy, beribboned hat and tossed it across the car seat. Her leather driving gloves quickly followed. She wished to do away with the pinching whalebone corset as well. It would be much easier for her to work without all the feminine trappings of fashion.
After opening the toolbox on the rear of the Motorette, she removed the jack. To her satisfaction, work went quickly.
…… She was so engrossed in applying the patch to the tube that the rhythm of a horse’s hooves did not register until the animal and its rider were nearly upon her. In a hurry, she moved toward the front of the auto where she could easily reach under the car seat. The horse stopped a few feet from her, but in the dark, she could see no more than a shadow of the rider.
…… “What have we here? Are you lost, little girl?” A man’s deep voice came at her with a teasing lilt.
…… Kate bristled, “little girl” indeed.
…… “It’s none of your concern what’s going on here. Just move along,” she managed in a calm tone.
…… “Are you nervous? You should feel real nervous out here in the dark …alone.” Kate caught her breath in apprehension as the man dismounted and stepped slowly toward her. “No telling who might be just waiting for a sweet little thing like you to come along.”
…… Kate was more than nervous. She could hear her heart thudding in her chest and her hands were slick with sweat. As his slow, purposeful stride brought the stranger closer she clasped the gun and brought it down to hide behind her skirt. He was so near she could make out his six foot, broad shouldered, intimidating size. Still, he kept coming. Her arm shook as she lifted the gun out in front of her. The barrel end was only a yard from his shirt buttons.
…… “No further,” Kate ordered as she cocked the pistol. “I know how to use this.”
…… Abruptly, the man stopped. “Easy, now. I was just trying to make a point, not molest you.” She noticed that caution and respect replaced the bravado in his voice. “Point that gun away from me and let’s talk.”
…… “Let’s not talk. Just climb back on your horse and get out of here.” Finding no reason to trust him, she still leveled the pistol at his heart. Adrenalin raced through her, stiffening her trigger finger with tension.
…… “I won’t hurt you. I’m the Chief of Police from River Run. Now put the gun away.” There was a hard edge to the command. He clearly expected to be obeyed.
…… “Prove it.” Her voice was crisp, belying the anxious quaking deep in her belly.
…… She watched as slowly he reached his hand up to his shirt pocket and removed something from inside it. Metal caught the
moonlight. Kate stepped closer and saw it was a badge.
…… Obviously, River Run’s town council had selected a new Chief of Police during her absence. Last week she had returned to California after living in New York for six years. When she had left, she remembered Zack Peach holding the office and this man was definitely not Zack.
…… Looking up at the shadowed face hovering above her, she distinguished the startling light eyes and brown hair that was too long, a wild lock tumbling across his forehead. A lightning bolt of recognition jolted through her. John Gallegher. Except for the few hardened angles of his face that aged his boyish handsomeness, he looked much the same as he had six years ago. He had been a new police officer then, recruited from his father’s farm somewhere up the Sacramento River.
…… Disconcerted, she had the same physical reaction to him now as she had when she was fifteen. Only this time there was no confusion. She understood the heat that spread from the core of her womanhood, making her want to touch him. It had been many months since a man had made her feel this way, not since Trevor Freebush. That despicable fortune hunter and all men were her enemies.
…… The lawman’s commanding voice, low and tense, interrupted her train of thought. “Take that gun away from my chest. Then hand it to me … butt first.”
…… Kate realized that the pistol was still poised to kill him. She lowered the barrel to aim at a more intimate part of his anatomy.
…… “Are you nervous?” The corner of her mouth tugged up in a mischievous half smile. “You should feel real nervous, trying to frighten a harmless woman. There’s no telling what she might do in self defense.”
…… Gallegher’s teeth ground together. He was losing patience with the cheeky brat. With her tiny stature, machine oil smudged across her delicate features and wheat blond hair swept up and pinned down into a ladylike do, the woman looked about as dangerous as a three-week-old kitten. He reckoned she was just having fun at his expense, but she was playing a dangerous game. He had no intentions of losing his manhood because some female twit caused an accident.
Stretching his arm out toward her, Gallegher turned his hand palm up. His deadly cold eyes nailed her.
“Give it over. Now.”
…… He stared her down, controlled violence causing his biceps to spasm. From her expression of amusement, he knew she enjoyed watching him squirm. Gallagher was close to the breaking point.
Silent curses echoed in his head as she ignored his waiting hand, uncocked the weapon and slowly reached behind her to place it on the car seat. Her eyes steadily held his. She had obeyed, but not entirely.
…… Gallegher’s eyes narrowed and he silently vowed to squash her. The small act of defiance showed more pluck than he thought was acceptable in a lady … and she most definitely was a lady.
…… His glance took in the petite figure in the grimy dustcoat. The top of her proudly held head did not reach his shoulder, yet she seemed to look down at him. Moonlight accentuated the pampered fair complexion and fine bone structure of her face. Even though he was annoyed, he had to admit she was appealing.
…… Behind the show of bravado, he suspected a scared little girl. There had been a flicker of deep pain in her eyes before she had put down the gun. She was no shallow innocent. A seed of recognition intruded on his thoughts. He had seen that hurt look somewhere before.
…… “Who are you? And what are you doing out here alone?” His voice was gruff. He doubted she would answer if he didn’t sound in command.
…… “I’m Katherine Moore and I was on my way home to River Run. As you can see, my car has a flat tire. Now that your questions are answered, you can leave and I can get back to work.”
…… He watched her turn from him and head for the rear of the auto. Moore from River Run. He remembered now. Nathan Moore, from The Hill, had been killed in an accident. There had been a scandal and his socialite widow had left for New York with her daughter. He wondered how much this gutsy lady knew about her father’s private life. His gaze searched out the young woman who was wrestling with the rubber tube.
…… “Could you use some help with that?” he offered.
…… “I can do this myself.”
…… “Suit yourself.” Gallegher leaned comfortably against the side of the Pierce Arrow. “I’ll just stand here, then, and frighten away the boogeyman.”
…… “The only boogeyman around here is you and it would suit me fine to see your back as you ride away,” she spat at him.
…… He unsettled her with his presence. His masculinity reached out to batter her defenses and she could not allow that. The longer he remained with her the more of a danger he became.
…… “You remind me of a cat I had once.” His voice was deep and mellow, floating to her on the evening breeze. “She was a tiny, little thing, the runt of the litter. I was partial to her, always did like calicoes. We called her Spunky. Even as a kitten she was real feisty, hissing and clawing at everything and everybody. I remember she used to go after the dogs.”
…… “Mr. Gallegher.” Kate stopped her work to look at him as he lounged against the auto. “If this story has a point, please get to it.”
…… “Yes, ma’am.” He smiled, his teeth flashing white in the moonlight, then continued to speak in his slow, easy way. “The dogs wouldn’t hurt her, maybe bark and snap at her some. That’s about all. …… Now, Spunky knew she was safe picking on the dogs. One night, she went after a strange dog in our field. It was a coyote, but she couldn’t tell the difference.”
…… There was a long silence as Kate waited for the story to go on. She looked up to meet his eyes. The end of the tale was evident to her before he told it.
…… “All we found the next day were a few tufts of calico fur and coyote tracks.”
…… “Are you a coyote, by any chance?” Her mouth had a sour twist.
…… “I might be, if I’m pushed too far.”
…… She studied him for a long while, taking his measure. His lips slightly curved up as though something amused him, but the eyes were calculating and stern. A premonition warned her that …… Gallegher had no patience for nonsense. This homespun lawman, in spite of his homey farm stories and easy smile, could be a dangerous adversary in more than one way. His unyielding temperament was evident in his steady gaze. A worse problem was her powerful physical reaction to his blatant maleness. Kate would be fighting him and herself at the same time.
…… She forced her attention back to the patched tire. It was ready to be put back on the rim and pumped up. She worked quickly and efficiently. On occasion, her gaze flickered toward the man who stood nearby. He had lit a cheroot and was relaxing while he smoked. His eyes never left her. The aroma of burning tobacco drifted past her nostrils as warm, comforting emotions floated up to surprise her.
…… Papa used to smoke that brand, she thought with a bittersweet pang of nostalgia. But he was gone now and she still missed him sorely. Firmly, Kate pushed the memory from her mind. It was perilous to allow sentimentality to distract her when she needed a clear head.
…… Kate heard the horse drawn buggy coming long before she could see it. She sighed with relief. Now that Abigail and Eulalia were arriving, she could rid herself of that pesky Mr. Gallegher. She would convince the two schoolteachers that it was not proper for her to be alone out here with a man.
The buggy had hardly stopped when the driver, a drab, brown sparrow of a woman, spoke. “Are you all right, Katherine?”
…… “It’s only a flat tire, Abigail. I’m almost done fixing it.”
…… Before Kate could say more, footsteps came up from behind her and a baritone voice sounded from above.
…… “Good evening, ladies. It seems to be a busy night for roaming around in the dark.”
…… “Good evening, Mr. Gallegher.” Abigail sent him a friendly nod. “There was a suffrage club meeting tonight. Quite a few of us from town attended. How lucky for Katherine that you happened along.”
…… Kate grimaced. Lucky was not the word she would have chosen.
…… “I was riding back from a visit with my folks when I came upon Miss Moore. She’s been interesting company. It’s getting late and I’m sure you ladies want to get home. I’ll make sure Miss Moore gets back to town safely,” he assured them.
…… “Could you please stay for a little while longer?” Kate addressed the women, but glance in Gallegher’s direction. “For propriety’s sake.”
…… “It seems Miss Moore has her doubts about my intentions. Please reassure her that she’s safe with the Chief of Police.” His voice held an offended tone. She was certain a chaperon was the last thing he wanted.
…… Eulalia, the sweet faced young blonde lady sitting beside Abigail, spoke for the first time.
…… “I am certain Katherine trusts you as we all do and is only concerned with her reputation.”
…… “In that case, I know her friends wouldn’t hurt her reputation by gossiping about us.” Kate watched the women stiffen at his words. “Of course if Miss Moore is afraid to be alone with me, then maybe one of you should stay.”
…… Kate was incredulous. That slippery-tongued snake had backed her into a corner. She could not accept aid from the women without hinting that she feared their gossip. It would also be an admission that he scared her and neither could be
further from the truth. She had never cared what society thought of her and no man would make her cower.
…… “That won’t be necessary. I’ve changed my mind.” Kate’s chin thrust out.
…… Gallegher stifled a grin, but victory glittered in his eyes. The little stinker was no match for him. He had to concede, though, that she kept the game interesting.
…… “I am sure you will be safe with Mr. Gallegher, Katherine. We will see you next week at the meeting.” Gallegher watched with satisfaction as Abigail lifted the reins and started the horses toward town, a chorus of “Good evenings” floating on the night air.
…… He was alone again with that aggravating female.
As soon as the ladies were gone, she returned to work on the tire, which irritated him no end. Being ignored was more of an insult than if she had slapped him.
…… “That was a tricky move, trying to get one of the ladies to stay here.” While she wrestled with the tire, he stood close beside her, determined to gain her attention. “I think you’ll appreciate no one else being around when I scold you.”
…… “Scold me? Whatever for? You’re the one who’s behaving like a horse’s behind.” As she spoke her work continued, her tone careless as though his rising temper were no concern of hers.
…… Gallegher was tired, the hour was late and his patience was at low ebb. It was time to take charge and put this brat in her place.
…… Kate was startled when his powerful hand clamped onto her arm and swung her around to face him. Her chin was firmly held in his other hand and tilted up so she was forced to look into his glinting eyes. There was no mistaking his foul mood, but she did not feel threatened. Her thoughts were consumed by the heat emanating from his flesh on her arm and face. His hold was forceful yet not painful and she had to concentrate to understand what he was saying.
…… “I will talk and you will not say one word.” His voice was controlled, each word spit out in a puff of breath that tickled her face. “The game is over and I win. When I’m through bawling you out, you’ll get into your car and I’ll finish fixing your tire. You’ll say ‘thank you’ and drive home where you belong.”
…… Gallegher paused for a moment, his grasp on her chin turning gentle, one finger sliding over the soft underside toward her throat. She swallowed convulsively at the electric force of his touch on her tender skin. “A young girl like you shouldn’t be out here alone at night. Any drifter could come along and you could be robbed, beaten, murdered, raped, or all of those things. We could’ve been out here tomorrow morning searching for your body. I don’t know what your mama was thinking to let you out alone. She should know better. In fact, I’ve got a mind to see her tomorrow and tell her so.”
…… His hand left her face, but she could not determine whether she felt relief or disappointment. When Kate could concentrate on something other than his touch, she was appalled at his vivid description of what might happen to an unprotected woman out at night. No gentleman would be so explicit. And how dare he touch her without permission? Besides, she was not a child to be scolded and, now that his distracting hand was removed from her jaw, she intended to tell him so.
…… “For your information, Mr. Gallegher, I am twenty one years old and able to take care of myself. My mama, as you call her, is in New York and likely to stay there. You are an arrogant, overbearing bully who…”
…… Kate never completed her sentence. His hand clamped over her mouth, warm fingers against her lips in a near caress. He seemed to lean over her, the magnetic draw of his expanded pupils pulling her closer to him. Her heart pounded in her ears, sounding a warning bell. This man was dangerous! There was no controlling her body or thoughts when he was so near.
…… She was surprised and confused with conflicting emotions when he caught her behind the knees and lifted her off the ground. A few long strides brought them to the front of the auto and, as he deposited her inside, her bottom hit the driver’s seat with a thump. When Kate turned to berate him, he was headed toward the nearly repaired rear tire. On second thought, she reasoned, maybe continuing her contact with him, even on a verbal basis, was not a good idea. She needed time alone to counteract his powerful physical affect on her.
…… Without conscious thought Kate reached into her reticule and stroked the string of yellow, glass beads hidden there. Her father had given them to her when she was a child so she would have something to do with her hands when she needed to sit still. They had become a source of comfort when she felt agitated and she kept them with her constantly. She needed the soothing presence of those beads now.
…… That beast of a policeman had the manners of a rampaging gorilla, yet he appealed to her on a basic level that defied explanation. There was more to the attraction than his good looks. Common sense told her to steer clear of him in the future, but her plans for the suffrage cause would render that impossible. She hoped when they clashed again, he would not use her physical pull toward him as a weapon.
…… Gallegher soon reappeared beside her. In an effort to avoid feeling the affects of his masculine aura Kate turned her gaze away from him.
…… “The tire is back on. You can go home whenever you’re ready. If you run into any more trouble, I won’t be far behind you.” His manner was easy with no trace of his earlier annoyance.
…… “Thank you, Mr. Gallegher, for your concern.” Her voice sounded strained to her own ears. She wondered how she sounded to him.
…… When Kate started to get out of the auto to crank up the engine, he motioned to her to stay put and he went to do it for her. Shortly, the Pierce Arrow was clank banging down the dirt road toward River Run. A sigh of short-lived relief escaped her as she drove away from the unsettling encounter.
…… As chairwoman of the suffrage association’s newly formed Action Committee, Kate’s rabble-rousing plans would eventually bring her into conflict with the local law enforcement. Judging by tonight’s experience, locking horns with Police Chief John Gallegher could prove to be a nerve-knotting contest of wills. Remembering the titillating sensation of his hand on her face and that he had not hurt her no matter how angry he became, she looked forward to the daring challenge.

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