Raven's Storm

By Rebecca Willoughby

There are a lot of things to love about growing up in a small rural community in south Louisiana, but for lifelong resident Paige Barksdale, there is nothing she loves more than her family, her horse, ... and Canan McCord. Unfortunately, only the horse and family return her love in equal portion. Even though she has finally reached the coveted status of adulthood, Canan still sees Paige as a child.

Canan McCord is a man's man, living his dreams. As VP of his father's land management company, Canan spends his days in the woods surveying timber and heads right back out on the weekends to hunt and fish. Life is good. He even has a beautiful, accomplished girlfriend who is dropping strong hints about wanting to be promoted to "wife" -- but something is holding him back from buying that ring. Something that looks an awful lot like the young, raven-haired beauty who grew up next door.

As Paige comes to terms with the idea of a future without the man who holds her heart, a violent hurricane strikes the tiny town of Davout, Louisianna. As wind and rain sweep across the Bayou State, lives are lost and Paige and Canan are forced to discover who they really are--and what truly counts in life . . . and in love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rebecca Willoughby
• Release date: Sep 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781502259035

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

THE WATER FLOWING over rocks, the whistling of the summer breeze through the pines, and the perpetual chirping of the birds—no big-city symphony could make a sweeter harmony, at least not to the ears of seventeen-year-old Paige  Barksdale. The days she spent in the woods of Southern Louisiana seemed to recharge her from the months she spent stuck in school classrooms. Her mode of transportation for these seemingly too-short summers was her best friend, her beautiful buckskin horse ‘Buckskin Bill’s Best’, but everyone just called him Buck.

For the last eleven years, she had spent hours in the woods with Buck. As he got older, she would not run him through the creek as much and would, instead, climb on the ATV when she was in the mood for an adventurous ride. Every minute of splashing through the Louisiana creeks and bayous layered increasing amounts of mud and leaves onto her tan skin. By the end of the day, her legs and arms were completely covered with mud and degraded vegetation. Her cut-off shorts and halter top, made from one of her father’s old plaid work shirts, would be soaking wet.

Today, as had become routine, she made a pass through the water to remove most of the evidence of her adventure. She walked slowly into the creek and slipped her athletic frame onto her favorite rock, letting the water move over her as she turned her face to the sun. In one motion, she loosened her long black hair that had been bound with a rubber band and let it flow around her shoulders. Leaning back, the water washed away most of the mud. Yet, there always seemed to be a layer of grunge that would require a scrubbing with soap to remove.

Buck lazily walked through the water nudged her with his muzzle. As she reached up to pet her companion, her mind wandered back to the day she first saw him emerge from the well-worn trail through the woods behind her house.

She had been six years old when foot surgery to repair a broken bone had kept her from exploring the woods and creeks between her family farm and the adjoining McCord property. Their neighbors, Trenton and Meagen McCord adored the little dark-haired girl. They had two sons they loved, but Mrs. McCord found entertaining her with tea parties and dress-up play a welcome distraction.

Canan McCord was fifteen, and was the oldest boy. His father sent him over to deliver the horse. He wanted to cheer up the little patient and provide her with transportation for her through the woods to their house. It had been three weeks since her surgery and Paige was getting restless. She was not used to spending so much time indoors or just sitting in one of the old rockers on the porch, as she was that day. Seeing Canan ride Buck through the yard with a big red bow on his bridle made her young heart leap.

His blonde hair, cut short in the spring, had grown enough that a curl or two always seemed to hang on his forehead, and it was late enough in summer for his skin to be tan. Paige had a crush on him and was pretty sure he knew it. She thought he probably found her amusing, but figured that a teenage boy could find better things to do than spend a day delivering a horse to a six-year-old girl.

Paige’s father had horses off and on since she was born, so she knew how to ride, but getting off and on the animal was a challenge when you had a cast on your foot. Mr. McCord had instructed his son to not only ride the horse over to the Barksdale farm, but also to not leave until he was sure Paige was able to mount and dismount safely. And instructions from Trenton McCord were not disobeyed.

It didn’t take long for his student to master the lesson and the little girl’s very appreciative mother rewarded him with a big portion of blackberry cobbler topped with a scoop of homemade ice cream. He ate it quickly and headed back outside to give Paige a few more instructions before heading home.

She gave him a big hug and thanked him. He patted her on the head and told her to be careful and not get too adventurous.

Dad said don’t go too far through the woods on him by yourself. Just ride him to our house and back until you get that cast off.

Thank you so much, Canan. You know you can come ride him whenever you want. I don’t mind.

Thanks, but I think I’ll stick with the jeep, he said and then disappeared down the trail headed back home.

It didn’t take long for her to trail off from the advice of her benefactor. Paige was at the creek on Buck within a couple of weeks, finding big rocks or fallen trees to give her a leg up when she needed to climb back on and head home.

* * *

Buck’s warm breath on her face brought her back to the present, and the cool water running around her body was beginning to chill her. Ok, Boy. You’re right. It’s time to go.

She returned home earlier than usual to get Buck cleaned up and fed before dark. She washed him down and put him in the stall before heading into the house.

The Barksdale’s white farmhouse had been built by her paternal grandparents years earlier on thirty acres of land. Her grandfather had died unexpectedly when her dad was a teenager and when her parents married, they moved in to take care of her grandmother, as she was in poor health. Paige barely remembered her as she was only five when her grandmother passed away.

The screen door on the side of the house creaked as it opened and slammed shut behind her. Her mother was washing in the utility room that had a wood frame window original to the house. It was sealed shut with layers of paint that had been collecting for years, just like the rest of the windows in the house. This one faced the barn. Her deep blue eyes watched the teen from the second she rode up. Abby Barksdale met her daughter at the door to the kitchen with a stern look and an even sterner warning.

Paige, I have had enough. If you think you are getting into either tub in this house in that condition, you are mistaken. I didn’t spend half the day cleaning and scrubbing this house to have you kids tear it apart this afternoon.

Mrs. Barksdale was tall, dark, and just turning forty. She was a loving mother to her children, of which Paige was the middle, but a day full of cleaning had left her in a sour mood. Her blue eyes were serious on the surface, but deep down, there was a softness that gave away the truth. She could only blame herself. Paige was just as wild about the outdoors as she had been as a child. Standing in the kitchen, her dark hair was pulled into a loose bun on top of her head and seemed to glisten in the light shining through the window, as wisps of silver shone through the strands. Her face had aged slowly over the last twenty years, but slight creases here and there could no longer be ignored. Opening her closed hand, she revealed a bar of soap, and in the other hand, a towel.

Go outside to the barn and wash down with the hose. Your daddy’s got some clean shop rags out there you can scrub with. You are not coming into my house until you are as spotless as it is!

With a grin, Paige looked her mother in the eyes, grabbed the soap and towel, and headed to the barn. She latched, then locked the barn door and turned on the radio sitting on the shelf. She didn’t have to change the channel. The country music station her father listened to was also her favorite and instantly the sweet sound of Sara Evans was wafting through the air. The hose was running into a metal watering tub whose usual purpose was watering the livestock, but a quick overturn left it empty.

Paige began to scrub the day’s adventure from her skin and thought about the few days of summer she had left before returning to school and the prison that it had become for her. It’s not that she necessarily hated school, but she hated the containment of school. She resented the rules, the hours spent indoors with little natural light and lots of other teenagers she had nothing in common with. She did have one friend, Trinity Packard, and through the years, she would spend time with her on the Barksdale farm or in the woods dreaming up adventures. Since Trinity’s parents’ divorce three years before, though, Trinity had spent the summers in the city with her father. That left Paige alone most of the summer.

She would’ve been welcome to join her nine-year-old brother, Wilson, and his friends. Well, actually Paige was more welcomed by the three or four nine-to-eleven-year-old boys who hung around her house than by her brother. He tolerated her presence, but wasn’t impressed at all by her looks, like his friends were.

Paige was almost finished washing when she realized that she had left the house without grabbing any clean clothes.

Ughhh!

Pulling at the towel she had just wrapped around her freshly-washed hair, it came loose with a sudden fall, tumbling around her shoulders in loose curls. She quickly wrapped the towel around her body and made her way to the barn door, radio still blaring, tub filled with soapy muddy water, and dirty clothes laying over the edge of the stable wall. She took a look back and thought that she would have to come right back because her daddy would not be too happy if he found that mess!

Unlatching the door, she pulled it open, and in one quick step, ran into a broad-shouldered wall in the form of Canan  McCord. To Paige, Canan was tall, blonde, muscular, and completely gorgeous. The crush she’d had as a six year old still lingered resulting in a blush to her cheeks that she hoped he wouldn’t notice.

They had enjoyed a teasing banter back and forth through the years. If he knew the feelings she had for him he never let it show, and he had never encouraged her in any way. But she took comfort in the fact that he had never discouraged her either. He didn’t need to. She got all of the discouragement she needed at home. Her family knew of her crush that had started with his delivery of Buck years earlier. Her mother and older brother were always quick to remind her that Canan was too old for her.

Unfortunately, right now, he was looking at her and she was a hot mess. Grinning from ear to ear at the sight of her with her hair in a tangled mess around her head, towel clutched tightly around her body and barefoot, he grabbed her shoulders as she tried to quickly go around him. She had hoped she would be too fast for him to notice her disheveled condition.

Slow down, Raven! Where are you going in such a hurry? his deep velvety voice was nothing short of perfection.

Uh, hello? Can’t you see I’m a little under dressed? And for the ten thousandth time, stop calling me Raven! she seethed as she tried in vain to wiggle out of his grasp, the task made even harder by the fact that she was clasping onto the towel that was at an increasing risk of dropping to her feet. Through the years, she had complained when he used the nickname he had given her, but secretly would be disappointed if he ever stopped.

Yeah I know you have. But old habits are hard to break and that hair of yours is still black as night. What were you doing in the barn? He asked but quickly decided he didn’t want to know. Never mind. I’m looking for Ted.

At twenty, Ted was the oldest Barksdale child and was home from college for the summer. He was usually hanging around the barn, but between her time spent in the woods and subsequent washing in the barn, she had not seen him all day.

Well, I have no clue where he is, but I know he isn’t at Mel’s house because she rode to Natchez today with her mom and aunts for her cousin’s wedding shower.

He may be in town picking up his suit from the cleaners. He has to meet Mel at the Monmouth Plantation Saturday for a couple’s party. She paused for a moment, then through a mischievous little grin, said, You know how much he loves hobnobbing with you rich folk!

Yeah, well, notice I didn’t get an invitation to Monmouth and I’m a relative. So, they obviously don’t want to hobnob with me. Nothing in Canan’s tone or his ice grey eyes gave the feeling that he was disappointed in not getting an invite. Mel and Canan were cousins from a close-knit and loving family, but cousins who couldn’t have been more different.

Of course, he continued, you have to have a date to go to a couple’s party and I don’t have one of those, either, he continued as he released his hold on her shoulders. The loss of his touch had left her with a chill. Although she had struggled to get away initially, now she wanted to feel his hands on her again.

What happened to what’s her name? Paige asked.

Who? he replied.

The blonde debutante who walks like she has a stick up her butt and doesn’t want you to hunt? You’re telling me y’all are off again? she temporarily forgot she was standing there wrapped in only a towel and was now more concerned about his current relationship status.

Yep. She’s gone.

Well, I swear you two are like wipers on a windshield. Back and forth,