Dakota Dreamin': South Dakota by Janet Dailey

Author:Janet Dailey [Dailey, Janet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780745102689
Google: kFOPD84vW2cC
Amazon: 0759238057
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 1980-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

A VIOLENT SPRING THUNDERSTORM ARRIVED on the heels of Alison's departure. The deluge confined Edie to the house, where there was plenty of work to be done. Jerry used the time to work on the tractor, which had been running roughly, and make certain the hay baler would be ready when they needed it.

Intermittent rain showers plagued the area for three days. The only ray of brightness came from Alison's telephone call of a successfully accomplished mission and the date when the shipment of stock cattle would arrive.

The rain made preparation for the impending shipment impossible. Edie kept herself busy with the house, which had been neglected recently, but she would have preferred to be outside. All day long she consoled herself with the knowledge that the rain was needed. Proof of that was demonstrated by the way the parched ground soaked it up as quickly as it fell.

Yet at night when she was alone in the front bedroom with the fingers of rain drumming on the roof, Edie tossed restlessly in the double bed. She finally tossed the pillow next to hers onto the floor, but it hadn't helped to ease her tension. Most of her married life she had gone to bed alone while Joe had puttered in his workshop, so why did sleeping alone bother her now?

She tried to convince herself that these yearnings tormenting her were natural. After all, hadn't she read that a woman's libido reached its peak in the mid thirties? Grief had no doubt suppressed these longings. Now that it had begun to wane, it was natural they would surface.

And there was a logical reason why the image of Will Maddock's face kept flitting through her mind. With the cattle on their way, she was subconsciously trying to imagine his reaction to the news. That's why she kept seeing those smoke-gray eyes look at her with such unnerving steadiness, those hard-cast features etched with strong, sun-creased lines and that mouth cut in a male shape. These recollections had nothing to do with the brief flight of fancy her senses had taken the last time she'd seen him.

Stifling a moan with her fist, Edie rolled onto her side and faced the empty width of the bed. Her hand reached out to the emptiness beside her. "I did love you, Joe," she whispered tightly. A little voice inside reminded her that there were many kinds of love, and the force of one did not negate the strength of another. Many kinds of love existed side by side, one not diminishing another. She hugged the blankets more tightly around her and closed her eyes, listening to the drumming message of the spring rain on the roof.

The sun came out the morning the semitrailer-trucks arrived with the cattle. With Alison back and teaming up with Jerry, it was easy for Edie to forget her restive stirrings and join in with their jubilant spirits. Herding the cattle to a section of the range where there was plenty of grass and water was a festive occasion.

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