Loving the wrong man (a Christian Fiction Story)

this is the beginning of another story I am working on. It's a story I hope to publish to Harlequin's Love Inspired line. Its about a woman running her family's horse ranch, but has to deal with poachers, coyotes, and people trying to steal & harm her horses.

Chapter 1

“Lindsay are you sure you want to go out there now. It’s getting dark, and it’s freezing outside,” her mother Raquel’s voice was full of concern.

“I have to mom. One of the horses, Rango, is missing. He’s young and he doesn't know how to find his way back to the ranch like the other horses to. Plus with the recent coyote attacks on the horses, I can’t afford to take any chances,” Lindsay said as she pulled on her thick down winter coat, and grabbed for her pistol

“ I've always hated that thing,” her mother said, referring to the pistol.

“Don’t worry mom, I've never actually had to shoot anything other than warning shots. It’s mostly just to scare predators away,” Lindsay assured

She grabbed for the keys to the blue Toyota pickup truck, and left the house. Her mother was hot on her trail.

“At least take the horse not the truck. The horse would be easier to navigate through all the thick snow.”

“No, I’ll be fine. Go back inside before you catch a cold,” Lindsay told her mother, before hopping up into the truck. As she drove off, she could still see Raquel standing on the porch watching Lindsay drive off the ranch.

Mothers, they will always find something to worry about.

Lindsay drove around the land, keeping a close eye out for the young brown horse and coyotes as she drove. She knew they were near because she had heard their howling earlier while eating dinner. That’s what had prompted her to go check on the horses, and discovering the stable was open and two horses escaped. She had found the first horse easily, and luckily it was not injured. But Rango was out there somewhere.

Straining her eyes, Lindsay saw something off in the distance. Gripping her pistol tighter just in case it was a coyote ready to attack, she drove her pickup truck in the direction. If it was a coyote, she needed to drive it away far from her land so it wouldn’t attack another one of her horses.

Dusk was settling in, which made things even harder to see, but she could have sworn the heap in the snow was not animal, but human. Her suspicions were confirmed when the headlights of her truck lit up the body of a man still in the fluffy white snow.

Oh God, please let him be okay, she prayed silently.

Grabbing her pistol, Lindsay hopped out of the truck and made her way carefully towards the body. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on the massive blood stain jeans on his right leg. No doubt there was a gaping wound underneath all that mess too. She suspected the man had gotten attacked by a coyote.

“Are you okay,” she said, but got no responds.

She knelled down beside him and used her fingers to feel for a pulse. Thank God there was one, but he needed medical attention soon. Lindsay had completed medical school, her residency, and two years on the job, but that was in pediatrics. She had quite her medical career to return to Montana to help her family care for the horse ranch when her father explained their recent coyote problem. She was sure the man on the ground had gotten attacked by a coyote. She had to do something to help before the coyote returned to finish the job. And if the coyotes didn’t get to him, the freezing tempters most definitely would. And it would be dark soon, making it impossible for the man to find his way alone without walking strait into danger.

Lindsay finally released her grip on her pistol and put it back into the truck so she had her hands free to drag the man into the bed of the truck. It was a near impossible task. The man was twice her 5’3 height, and surely more than double in weight over her petite frame. But somehow, probably the will of God, helped her get the man into the truck.

Thank God she followed her mind and decided to drive the truck to go on coyote patrol, instead of going on horseback like she normally would.

Lindsay drove her truck back to her family’s ranch in record time. When she pulled up, she laid in on the horn until someone came out. The first person to come out was her younger sister Loren, whose face was full of concern.

“What’s wrong? What happened? Did you find a coyote? What about Rango, the missing horse,” Loren rattled out without taking a breath as Lindsay hopped out of the truck.

“Slow down. No, I did not find Rango, or any coyote’s, but I did find this.” Lindsay opened up the truck bend to reveal the wounded man inside

Loren gasped in horror. “Oh dear God! DAD, come quick!”

A few seconds later a big burly man with wrinkled cinnamon skin, grey curly hair, and wire-rimmed eyeglasses came out on the porch. Lindsay always thought her father reminded her of the actor James Earl Jones with his intensity, his imposing size, and deep mesmerizing voice. But the man standing on the porch looked weathered, and tired.

“What’s all the yelling about…oh my!” Bruce said as his amber eyes laid on the bleeding man in the truck.

“Dad, help me get him inside so I can end to his leg,” Lindsay said. In her mind she prayed that some of her medical training would kick in so she can help this man.

Dillon woke to a bright light in his face, and the first thought was, Am I in heaven?

As his eyes began to focus, an image of a cute round face the color of raw sienna framed in dark brown spirally curls, and into view. Beautiful, he thought.

“Are you an angel,” he asked

A soft chuckle escaped her mouth and two deep dimples appeared on her cheeks.  “Hardly. But I am the woman who saved your leg.”

His leg, what was wrong with his leg? Dillon forced his eyes away from the beautiful face, and down to his leg. He pulled the thick quilt off his body. His eyes landed on his legs. He had on flannel pajamas with one leg cut up to the thigh. The thigh which was wrapped heavily in white bandages.

“You had a massive bite wound on your leg, like something bit into you, but don’t worry, your going to be okay. I clean up your wound, stitched you up, and gave you all the necessary shots to make sure you don’t’ get rabies or anything.

Massive wound, how had that happened? Then he remembered. He had been riding his horse Midnight, when the horse got spooked by a coyote, causing it to throw Dillon off its back and go racing off, leaving Dillon to be coyote food. The coyote had pounced onto his leg before he could move, but Dillon managed to scare it away with gunshots before it could do any more damage.

But Dillon soon discovered the pain was too intense to move, and Midnight was nowhere in sight. He couldn’t stand, let along attempt to walk back to his ranch. So Dillon just lay there, reasoning this was the fate he deserved. He knew for sure he was going to die. If the rapidly bleeding wound in his leg didn’t kill him, hypothermia most certainly would. That’s why when his eyes landed on the soft beautiful face, he automatically assumed God had forgiven him for his wrongdoings and allowed him into heaven. But if he wasn’t in heaven, where was he.

“Where am I,” he decided to ask.

“Wheaton Horse ranch,” she told him.

She moved to pour him a glass of water, so she missed the shocked expression that formed onto his face. She helped him to sit up.

“Here, drink this,” she told him, and helped him to sip. “My mom’s making some of her famous homemade chicken noodle soup for you to eat.”

“I can’t stay here. I have to go.” Dillon tried to get up, but the pain that shot through his leg crippled him, and sent him back onto the bed.

“Oh no, you’re not going anywhere anytime soon. That leg is in bad condition and needs to fully heal before you can walk on it.”

“What are your, a doctor or something?”

“Yes, or at least I used to be,”

Dillon picked up on a hint of sadness in her voice, but decided not to probe further. It was none of his business why she quit her career. His business was getting out of there.