She blinked. Her rancher? He wasn’t her rancher, she knew that, but right now with Grady somewhere out there in the wild weather and her safe on the inside, he very much felt like her rancher. He sure as hell was all she could think about.

And she was getting madder by the second.

Okay, sure, he couldn’t stop and answer every text she’d sent when he was working his guts out to get the ranch prepared for the havoc that was about to be brought down upon it, but surely he could answer just one? A quick I’m fine. Home in xyz amount of time. Was that so freaking hard?

If he’d answered just one of her inquires, she wouldn’t have had to send a half dozen others. God…what if he’d slipped and fallen into a gully and was unconscious and his men couldn’t find him? What if he’d had an accident in his vehicle and they couldn’t find him? What if he was trying to pull another calf out of another bog and had been pulled headfirst into the muddy quagmire and they couldn’t find him?

Not even the full-bodied red and the romantic flicker of firelight could soothe the slick of adrenaline stalking her system. She’d give him one more hour. And if he wasn’t back by then she’d… Hell, she didn’t know what she’d do, but she sure as hell was going to do something.

Call someone. Burl maybe? He’d called earlier to check on her and assure her Grady would be home when the work was done, so he’d know if Grady’s prolonged absence was normal.

That’s what she’d do. In one more hour. With that decided, she tamped down her fears and returned to her book, to the same page she’d read at least a dozen times now.

The door opened abruptly fifteen minutes later, the wind nipping and snarling before it was shut out again. Suzanne’s nerves jumped and her heart leaped as she scrambled off the couch toward Grady, who was shaking snow out of his hair and stepping out of his boots saying, “Oh yes, thank you… It’s like the Bahamas in here.”

“Grady!” She all but ran to him, launching herself into his arms, hugging around his shoulders.

“Whoa there, slugger,” he said on a half laugh as his body absorbed the impact of hers.

His jacket was freezing, as was his neck where she’d pressed her face, but she didn’t care. She hugged him fiercely, her pulse hammering madly at all her pulse points. Grady was here. Grady was safe. Grady was whole.

“God,” she said, her voice husky, tears stinging her eyes, “I was so worried about you.”

“As you can see, I’m fine.”