Texas Heat by Bárbara McCauley

he’d tied one on the night before. Jake sighed inwardly. Only his stepmother would hire a drunk to drive for her. “You go to any AA meetings yet?”
    â€œOne.”
    â€œGet yourself straightened out, then come see me in the fall.”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    Jake turned and went back into the house. Billy was Myrna’s problem. And right now, he and his stepmother were going to have to get a few things straight about Savannah and Emma.
    Because now that he had them here, he intended to make sure they stayed.
    * * *
    The hot water did wonders for Savannah’s frazzled nerves. Sighing, she stood under the pounding shower head, letting the needlelike spray relax her tense shoulders. To say that her first day at Stone Creek had been long was the understatement of the century, but after Myrna had left, everyone, including herself, had calmed down and enjoyed the rest of the day.
    Emma was already asleep. Savannah had tucked her in only minutes ago and the child’s eyes had closed immediately, a smile on her angelic face. Savannah’s own lips curved as she recalled the excitement on Emma’s face as she’d bottle-fed the calf that afternoon. The nine-year-old had never even seen a cow before, let alone fed one.
    Eyes closed, Savannah leaned her head back and rinsed her hair. Shampoo and water sluiced over her flushed skin. She felt herself slowly relax, and she let her mind wander, assessing her first day at Stone Creek and the man who had brought her here.
    Jake Stone. Hardworking rancher, as devoted to his family’s land as he was to the family itself. Yet he had no family of his own. No wife. No children. He seemed to hold part of himself back, watching more than participating.
    And he’d watched her, too, she realized. He’d watched her with the same intensity that a wild animal might observe its prey. Calculating and bold. Determined. She shivered despite the heat of the pulsing water. She’d felt, more than seen, the heat of his stare. Felt it on some primal level she didn’t understand and had never experienced before with any man. It frightened her.
    It excited her.
    Reluctantly Savannah shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. Her first day here and already she’d made a fool of herself. She’d practically melted in the man’s arms this afternoon. She groaned softly, remembering how she’d leaned into him when he’d held her hand.
    She refused to give in to any attraction she might feel for Jake. The feeling would pass, she told herself, though she really hadn’t much experience to base that belief on. She’d never met, or reacted to, any man like Jake before. She was completely out of her element. It was much easier, and much more comfortable, to date men who didn’t intimidate the hell out of her.
    Savannah couldn’t imagine that there would be anything easy or comfortable when it came to Jake. He’d barely touched her this afternoon, and yet she could still feel the coarse texture of his thumb on her palm and the electricity that touch had sent through her. She rubbed the towel roughly over her skin and her hair, as if she might scour the feeling away, but it only intensified.
    Swearing under her breath, she yanked a comb through her tangled hair and slipped on her nightgown and robe. Thank goodness Jessica was here as a buffer, she thought. A month would go by quickly and she and Emma would leave, no worse for wear.
    She felt better already as she stepped out of the bathroom and headed for the guest bedroom beside Emma’s. Family pictures lined the hallway, and Savannah paused, quickly scanning the photos—Jake as a young boy, sitting on a horse as he waved a cowboy hat; Jessica in pigtails with one tooth missing; Jared and another boy the same age, riding bicycles, though she couldn’t see the second boy’s face.
    An old wedding picture caught her attention and she moved closer to that one,