Brave the Wild Wind by Johanna Lindsey

Author:Johanna Lindsey [Lindsey, Johanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9780786283057
Publisher: Avon
Published: 1980-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

“WHAT would you do, Goldy? Would you marry a woman just ’cause you felt a lil guilty?” Chase asked.

The horse snorted. “Sorry, old fella. Forgot you don’t like to be called Goldy. But it was a good question, huh?”

Chase was propped against the wall in Goldenrod’s stall, sitting trustingly at the horse’s feet, a half-empty bottle of whiskey beside him. He’d found the unopened bottle in the tack room after searching high and low in the kitchen. It was undoubtedly Jeb’s stash. He would have to remember to replace it.

Opening the bottle again, Chase drained another half inch and eyed his horse seriously. “I mean, shoot, that lil’ minx never made me feel bad, did she? It’s that damn Rachel who’s got me feeling like a louse. And you know what she’s gonna say soon as she gets ’round to it?”

Chase belched, then laughed. “Not that. No, Rachel’s gonna say, ‘You ruined her, now you marry her.’ You think she might hold a gun at my back? No, not Rachel. But she’s got another weapon, that damn face of hers, that damn look that says I stabbed her in the back.” He took a deep breath. “Why the hell don’t I just ride out of here?”

Chase tried to stand but didn’t succeed until he’d tried several times. He eyed his saddle on the railing as if it were an ornery critter giving him trouble. And it did. He couldn’t get it off the railing. Finally he leaned against it and spoke to his horse again.

“Looks like I might need to sober up first. But I’ll be back, Goldenrod. I’ll saddle you up, and then we’ll hit the trail. I can’t marry that hellion. It’d be like tying myself to a cyclone.”

Chase made his way out of the stable and around to the stream behind the house. He fell in and for a moment thought he might be drowning. The water was only a foot deep, however. After a considerable bit of splashing, he pulled himself to the edge of the stream and lay there, letting the icy water chill him.

Unbidden, an image of Jessie came to mind. Not the Jessie of tonight but of last night. She had been a tempest then, too, but a passionately loving tempest.

Would it really be so bad being tied to her? he wondered. She was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen. And wasn’t he tired of drifting? Rachel had said it was time he settled down, and, well, maybe it was. With some effort, couldn’t he tame the hoyden?

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