A Marriage in Wyoming by Lynnette Kent

Author:Lynnette Kent [Kent, Lynnette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-05-04T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Rachel didn’t answer for so long that Garrett had almost decided she wasn’t going to.

“My mom worked two jobs,” she said at last, still staring at the fire. “And she was sick a lot. But sometimes, when she had a Saturday or a Sunday off, we would get in the car and just drive. Up into the mountains or out over the plains, for hours, singing along with the radio. She didn’t care if I couldn’t carry a tune, because she couldn’t, either. We’d turn the volume all the way up, roll the windows down and enjoy ourselves.”

Garrett grinned. “Sounds like a terrific experience.”

She nodded. “We’d stop to eat in some diner or truck stop, and she’d always ignore her diet and order the cheeseburger and onion rings. ‘You only live once,’ she’d say, and enjoy every bite. Then we’d drive home by a different route, just to see what could be seen. It was such a sense of freedom, driving with no destination, only the potential of the unknown ahead. I loved those days.”

“That’s quite a gift to give a child—a sense of freedom and possibility.”

“She was certain I’d go to medical school, though the prospects, when you’re living on the edge of poverty, aren’t promising. And she was always sure her newest boyfriend would be the prince she’d been waiting for. My mom was a great one for believing in possibilities. Or, for that matter, impossibilities.”

At last we’re getting somewhere. Garrett waited, hoping she would say more.

Then he saw Amber making her careful way across the fire circle, being sure to stay well away from the flames. She came to stand in front of Rachel.

“Can you finish the story?” she asked.

Rachel cleared her throat. “Now might not be the best time...”

But the teenagers encouraged her. “Please finish,” Becky said.

Nate, who rarely said anything, agreed. “We want the third quest.”

Before she could start, however, Amber turned around and then backed up to sit herself down in Rachel’s lap. “Now you can tell the story,” the little girl said.

“Okay, then,” the doctor said, laughing. “Where was I?”

Lizzie answered. “The wizard gave her his magic boat to get across the river.”

“Right. Melody took the bottle of the Water of Knowledge to the elf in the cottage. He, of course, was very unhappy that she’d completed the second quest. ‘The third quest is the hardest of all,’ he warned her. ‘You must go to the dragon who lives in the mountains and return with the fire from his throat.’”

Garrett was reasonably sure that Rachel had never told a fairy tale to a five-year-old before, let alone a group of teenagers and adults. But she made good work of the story, detailing the heroine’s journey through the treacherous mountains populated with ravenous lions and evil gnomes. After fighting through an avalanche, she reached the dragon’s lair and came face-to-face with the monster himself.

“What color is the dragon?” Amber wanted to know.

Rachel had learned a trick or two this evening. “What color should he be?”

“Purple.

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