A Promise of Thunder

accomplishment at having done it so handily. He really is a detestable man, she thought.
    Then why does sparring with Grady Stryker make you feel so alive?
a voice inside her dared to ask.
    Because Grady Stryker is like no other man
, that same voice replied.
    Storm chose to ignore those voices. All she knew was that Grady Stryker was a danger to her. If just being near him could make her forget Buddy, what would a friendship lead to? Trouble, she decided. More trouble than she could even imagine. Men like Grady Stryker didn’t settle down in one place for long. Sooner or later their violent ways caught up with them.
    Once their claims were filed, Storm and Grady went their own ways, agreeing to meet back at the wagon later in the day. First Storm visited the bank, receiving assurance that she had sufficient funds with which to buy lumber and hire men to build her shanty. Only she wasn’t going to build a shanty. It was going to be a real cabin, small out of necessity, but comfortable enough for her immediate needs. No soddy built of turf for her. Many settlersbuilt them for economy’s sake despite the fact that they were damp and nearly impossible to keep clean.
    From the bank, Storm went to the lumberyard to order wood and roofing for her cabin. The owner assured her the material would be delivered to her claim the next day. Construction could be started immediately.
    Storm and Grady met by chance at the lumberyard when he stopped there to order his own lumber. Since his funds were limited, he planned to build his own dwelling.
    A visit to the grocery store for provisions was her last stop before Storm headed back to the wagon. She had already arranged for a well to be dug and bought items she and Buddy had neglected earlier. She placed her purchases in the wagon beside Grady’s packages. Because he had been less prepared than Storm, his goods nearly filled the wagon. Foremost was the roomy tent he intended to use until his cabin was erected.
    When Grady leaped into the driver’s seat, Storm offered no resistance. She was too tired to argue. The hectic events of the past few days had taken their toll, and losing Buddy had been a shock to her system. Before they reached the outskirts of Guthrie, Storm was already asleep, using Grady’s broad shoulder as a cushion for her head.
    Storm never stirred when Grady placed an arm around her, drawing her tightly against him. The evening had grown cool and shesnuggled closer against him to absorb his comforting warmth. She didn’t even awaken when they reached her claim and he carried her into her tent, placing her gently on the bedroll that served as her bed and covering her with another blanket he found nearby. After unloading her provisions and stacking them against the tent, he drove the wagon to his own claim, unloading his supplies before unhitching the horses and hobbling them nearby. He’d return the wagon the next day, he decided, giving him another excuse to see Storm.
    Workers arrived with Storm’s lumber the next morning, and within days the cabin took shape. Meanwhile, Grady began work on his own dwelling, which was rising much more slowly since he was working alone. Storm had decided to move her cabin site more than a half mile away from the place where she had originally erected her tent; it now stood on a grassy knoll beneath a stand of trees that would shade her home in the blistering heat of summer. The site also gave her a good view of her land. And better yet, it was farther away from Grady’s cabin site, which was nestled on the bank of the river.
    The digging of the well was going more slowly than the raising of the cabin, Storm thought as she trekked across Grady’s land with a pail in each hand. She had driven the wagon to a section of his roped-off claim, then walked the rest of the way to the river to draw water for theday. It was a daily chore, one she had come to loathe. Each time she crossed the half-breed’s land she felt more and more indebted to him, and she didn’t like the feeling. Sometimes she saw him working on his cabin and she nodded in greeting, and other times he was nowhere in sight. Inspecting his land, she supposed. She had to admit it was a much better piece of land than her own quarter section and she envied him his claim.
    This morning the absence of hammering sounds told Storm that Grady wasn’t working on his cabin. Her relief was profound when she realized she wouldn’t have to see him with his splendid torso