Trusting Drew: Burlap and Barbed Wire Read online

  Trusting Drew

  Burlap and Barbed Wire #5

  Shirley Penick

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Also by Shirley Penick

  About the Author

  TRUSTING DREW

  Copyright 2019 by Shirley Penick

  All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any fashion without the express written consent of the copyright holder.

  TRUSTING DREW is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed herein are fictitious and are not based on any real persons living or dead.

  Cover Photo by Jean Woodfin Photography

  Cover Models: Tionna Petramalo & Tyler Smith King

  Editing by Carol Tietsworth

  Formatting by Cora Cade

  Contact me:

  www.shirleypenick.com

  www.facebook.com/ShirleyPenickAuthor

  To sign up for Shirley’s New Release Newsletter, send email to [email protected], subject newsletter.

  To those who put their lives on the line to protect us. Thank you.

  Chapter 1

  Drew Kipling took a deep breath of the chilly morning air, he loved the early winter days in his mountain home. The day was not quite cold enough to see his breath, but instead was crisp and clear, with a slight breeze. The sky a brilliant blue as it often was at this altitude. He was happy to walk past his extended cab truck to the barn, where his horse waited. He had the next two days off and the first thing he was going to do was go out on his horse for an hour, or four. He’d been working for ten straight days, they’d been shorthanded due to the damn flu.

  Nearly everyone in the Spirit Lake Sheriff’s department had contracted it on the same day, when they’d found a hiker half out of his mind from fever, walking around on the edge of the lake. The guy was a huge mountain of a man and had put up a fight. The sheriff was forced to call in reinforcements to get the guy subdued. All the men piled into two patrol vehicles to accompany the tourist, to make sure once they got to the urgent care, which was just about forty minutes away, they would be able to muscle him inside. The doc had listened to the tale, taken a look at the hiker, and told the rest of them they were contaminated and to go straight home. He didn’t want them beginning an epidemic.

  That was the last time he’d had a day off. He and one of the other guys on the night shift had missed the flu party, since they’d missed the call for help. They’d discussed calling in a couple of officers from one of the neighboring towns, but they’d decided not to, when they heard several of those towns were shorthanded, too. Instead, the two of them had been working twelve-hour days, for ten damn days, while the rest of the crew hit their beds.

  At least now, everyone was on the mend and were no longer deemed contagious, so he’d gotten to sleep late this morning and was now going to take his horse on a long ride across the family ranch. When he entered the barn, his horse shook his head to let Drew know it was about time he’d shown up. Drew quickly saddled the animal, and they headed out into the sunshine. The Colorado Rockies loomed in the distance as he rode across the acres his family owned. The cattle were in the southern fields, so he headed north. He didn’t mind working the herd on his day off, but he needed some time to chill first. A ride up into the National Forest would be just what the doctor ordered.

  He had his ever-present badge and pistol in his saddle bag, along with a first aid kit, and some lunch. One of the rifles that the whole family carried with them when they were out was strapped to the saddle. Early winter could pose problems for animals not having their readily available food source. They’d had a couple of snowfalls, but not enough to send the animals into hibernation. The snow up at the higher elevations made the evergreens stand out in stark contrast, God he loved this time of year. Cold, crisp, and gorgeous. The air was clean and pure. He filled his lungs with it, as he gloried in the day.

  As he rode nearer to the National Forest at the top of the ranch, there was something down on the ground, so he spurred his horse into a run, to check it out. When he got closer he realized it was a person, a woman. Blood covered the ground and her hair. He quickly got off his horse and dropped the reins on the ground, to signal his horse to stay put.

  Grabbing the saddle bag which had the first aid kit, he rushed over to the woman. She wasn’t dressed for the weather, wearing only a thin pair of slacks and what used to be a silk shirt but now was in tatters. No coat, no shoes. Her long brown hair was a tangled mess with twigs and dirt and blood matting it. What in the hell was going on?

  “Miss, are you all right?”

  She groaned and tried to open her eyes. “Head hurts.”

  He knelt down beside her, keeping his weapon behind him and the first aid kit by his side. He pushed the hair back on her forehead and saw the gash that had been causing the bleeding. It wasn’t deep, but head wounds always bled like a mother.

  “You’ve got a small cut on your forehead.”

  She groaned, still not opening her eyes. “No, hurts in back.”

  He rolled her slightly and found a knot on the back of her head, easily the size of a baseball. “Oh yeah, you’ve got a knot.”

  She shivered, so he pulled off his coat to wrap around her. He needed to get her somewhere warm, her skin was cold to the touch, and she’d lost blood. He wondered how long she’d been out in the cold. At this altitude and with the breeze it wouldn’t take long for her to get hypothermia. Drew weighed the cold against her head injury and the cold won. They were a long way from the house, he’d been riding close to an hour, but one of the cabins they had for temporary winter housing was close by.

  “There’s a cabin not too far from here. Can I try to get you there? It’s got a fireplace, wood burning stove, blankets, and maybe something hot to drink.”

  Her eyes, when she finally opened them, were startling blue, and filled with fear, nearly terror. “I don’t know you.”

  He reached back and pulled out his badge, “I’m Deputy Drew Kipling, my family owns this land.”

  She took the badge and looked it over carefully, her fingers running over the surface. “You’re a cop?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Relief filled her eyes and her body relaxed. “Thank God. All I could think, as I was running, was that I needed a cop.”

  He was surprised by that, what had happened to this woman to have her running through the forest wanting a cop. Was someone after her? They would be a whole lot safer in the cabin instead of out here in the wide-open spaces. “Well you’ve got one, but let’s get you up and moving. I’ll get you to the cabin, check your wounds, and get you warm. Then we can talk about the rest.”

  “I think I twisted my ankle, that’s when I fell.”

  Glad she was lucid and answering his questions, he asked. “Does it hurt anywhere else?”

  “No, just my left leg and head.”

 
; He took his saddle bags down to her feet, letting her continue to hold his badge. His mind thinking through the various options to get her warm and safe. Hoping whoever she was running from wasn’t following her. He didn’t want to take the time to wait for one of the ranch vehicles. His horse would be the best option at this point.

  Her leg didn’t feel broken, but her ankle was swelling, and her feet were bleeding. Probably from running through the forest with no shoes. Where in the hell were her shoes? Drew pulled an ace bandage from his first aid kit and quickly wrapped it around her ankle.

  “I can carry you over to my horse and we can get to the cabin.”

  She said in almost a whisper, “Okay.”

  He lifted her, she was short but curvy, not heavy, so he carried her over to his horse. With a spoken command his horse knelt on the ground, which made it easier to climb up onto his back with his burden. He didn’t want to jar the woman, but he didn’t want to take too long to get to the cabin. He gave his horse the command to rise and with his knees nudged him into a gentle lope.

  She was content to let this man carry her to the cabin. She didn’t know why, but she trusted him. He’d wrapped his long coat around her, still warm from his body heat, and something else around her ankle that kept it secure from hurting with each step the horse made.

  They were heading away from the forest, which caused her to relax even more, something was not good in there. The land was flat with scattered pine trees. It only took a few minutes before two buildings came into view—a cabin and an even larger barn. The cabin was single a single-story structure made out of logs, it wasn’t large, but it did look welcoming. The barn was a more modern-looking construction.

  When they got to the cabin, he carried her into the unlocked building and laid her on the couch in front of a fireplace. He left for a moment and returned with blankets, that he piled on her. Was she cold? She didn’t really feel cold. After the blankets were carefully spread over her he turned to the fireplace and lit the already laid fire with a single match.

  This was a very odd place. It looked like no one lived here, but the door was unlocked and there was a ready-made fire in the fireplace and also the woodburning stove. He lit the stove with a single match, also.

  “I’ll be right back. I’m going to put my horse in the barn, and then get a basin of water to clean up your forehead and feet.”

  Her feet? What was wrong with her feet? She didn’t feel any soreness on her feet, but then she realized she didn’t feel them at all. Her ankle still throbbed though, as did her head.

  She noticed she still held his badge in her hands and laid it on the coffee table near the couch.

  After he’d put a cold pack wrapped in a cloth under her head and another one on her ankle, he began washing the blood from her face and cleaning the cut on her forehead.

  “I told you my name is Drew, right?” He started making small talk. “What’s yours?”

  “My name is…” Her name? What was her name? She couldn’t remember. At all, which was ridiculous. How could she not know her own name? She gasped. “I, I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

  He looked sharply at her and then shrugged it off. “It’s probably just from that bump on your head, don’t worry.”

  But as he cleaned her head and then examined her feet, that’s exactly what she did. She tried as hard as she could to remember her name, but there was nothing there. It made her head ache to think so hard.

  “So why were you running through the forest, with no shoes, and no coat, wanting a cop?” he asked casually.

  “No shoes? I don’t have shoes on?”

  “No, and your feet are torn up a bit. I think maybe I should call my brother. He’s not far away and is a veterinarian. It might be better to have him look at your feet until we can get you into town.”

  Fear raced through her at the mention of town. “I can’t go to town. They could find me there.”

  “Who? Who can find you there?”

  Her mind was blank again. Where were her memories? This was getting annoying and if she was honest a little scary. “I have no idea. I don’t like this. Why can’t I remember? All I know is I can’t go to town.”

  “Okay, no town, but how about bringing in my brother or his wife? They are both vets, with good medical training.”

  She didn’t feel any fear at the idea of them coming. She supposed it would be all right. If her feet were torn up it would be good to get them treated. She couldn’t wear her heels with torn up feet. Heels? That was her worry? That she wouldn’t be able to wear her heels? What a stupid thought, but it stayed there, not going anywhere.

  Drew waited for her response, so she pushed her dumb thought about shoes to the back of her mind. “That would be fine.”

  She was a little surprised when he didn’t leave to go call his brother, but stayed right beside her. She continued to search her mind for clues, but there were big holes where her memories should be, and that scared her a lot more than a veterinarian looking at her feet. Then the shivering set in.

  She heard someone answer the phone and say something.

  Drew shook his head. “Change of plans. Can you bring a complete first aid kit out to cabin two? I found someone who needs some help.”

  Drew paused then said, “Yes, you or Alyssa would be great.”

  Another pause. “Cut on her head, feet are torn up from running through the woods in only stockings, a huge egg on the back of her head, maybe amnesia, and I think hypothermia.”

  “They’re on the way,” he said, as he pushed end.

  Her body was suddenly shaking so hard that even her teeth were clacking. “W-w-w-hy, a-a-m I sh-sh-shiver-er-ering?”

  “I think you have hypothermia, so you didn’t feel the cold, but now that you’re warming up, your body is reacting. Would you like some coffee? Or something hot to drink?”

  Mmm, coffee sounded wonderful, but for some reason she couldn’t fathom, she managed to stutter out, “Do you have any tea? Herbal tea?”

  Drew shrugged. “I can look. I know we have black tea, coffee and even hot chocolate packets.”

  Hot chocolate also sounded like heaven on earth, but she said. “Black or green would be fine, if you don’t have herbal.”

  Drew nodded and went across the room to rummage around in the kitchen area.

  Why was she asking for tea when she could have coffee or hot chocolate, was she on some kind of diet? Did she belong to some strange religious sect?

  That didn’t sound right, if her first thoughts were about wearing high heels. Didn’t religions that wouldn’t drink coffee or hot chocolate, frown on vanity, which would include fancy shoes? Maybe she was losing her mind or had already lost it. But, the thoughts of her heels that were not plain pumps, no they were sky high killer heels. That her… Brother? Boyfriend? Dad?... some male she knew, called ‘hooker shoes’ or even ‘come-fuck-me stilettos’.

  That certainly didn’t sound like talk that would go along with some religious sect.

  Drew brought her a steaming mug of something with a tea bag tag hanging out of it and a towel wrapped around it. He also brought a sugar bowl and spoon, a small plate with a snack pack of cheese and crackers and another package of nuts and dried fruit. He helped her sit up, tucked a bed pillow behind her back, then gave her the mug. Her cold hands loved the warmth, but she was glad for the towel insulating it. Her hands were shaking, and she was afraid she might spill.

  “I found some green tea. Do you want sugar?”

  “N-no.”

  “Your hands are still shaking, let me take the tea bag out.” He dragged it out of the cup and plopped it on the plate. “Do you know when you ate last?”

  She shook her head, she had no idea. Did she feel hungry? Maybe a little, but she didn’t think she could manage food, until she had some idea about what was going on. It might not sit well in her churning stomach. She was happy with the tea for now. It was still too hot to drink, but the warmth rising from it felt wonderful. She was c
ontent to hold it while it cooled.

  Chapter 2

  Where the hell were Beau and Alyssa? Drew paced to the window and back to the couch. She was shaking like a leaf, he was certain her feet were going to thaw out soon, and she would begin feeling the pain from the lacerations. He wanted the medical professionals here when they did. Sure, he’d had some training with the sheriff’s department, but Beau and Alyssa knew a whole lot more than he did.

  He wondered if the cabin had any Epsom salts in it and if he should be having her soak her feet. Should he go look, or should he wait? He threw a couple more logs on the fire, he wanted it nice and toasty for her, even if she was buried under a pile of blankets.

  Where the hell was Beau?

  It couldn’t hurt to have her soak her feet, it would help soften the tissue and maybe some of the blood that was probably making her stockings stick to the wounds. She was sipping the tea now, so that would help warm her from the inside.

  “I’m going to see if we have any Epsom salts to soak your feet in. We’ll need to get your stockings off. There might also be some clothes you could wear, too.”

  She looked up at him and just nodded, like she didn’t understand what he was saying or was deep in thought. He quickly went to the bathroom, and sure enough, under the sink was a plastic basin and a carton of salts.

  Then he rifled through the clothes that were in the bedrooms and found the smallest set of sweats he could find. Most of the ranch hands kept a set of clothes in each of the three cabins, so that if they got stranded, they could have something to wear while they washed their jeans. But none of them were even close to the size of this girl. She was so petite, what he found would probably still envelope her, but they would be warmer than what she had on and not ripped to shreds. He didn’t think she’d noticed yet that her shirt was in tatters and the pants not much better. Maybe she was in shock, did hypothermia create memory loss? No that was probably from the huge egg on the back of her head.