Destiny's Surrender by Beverly Jenkins

Author:Beverly Jenkins [Jenkins, Beverly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Drew parked his carriage by Addy’s gate and walked through the light rain to the tiny covered porch. Billie asked him to look in on her. He hoped she was at home. In response to his knock, the door opened and the tiny woman who appeared offered a nod of greeting. “Morning, Mr. Yates. She and your babe arrived safely?”

He was certain they’d never met, so being addressed by name caught him off guard. “Yes. Did she tell you the baby was mine?”

“No, but some things are known.”

He wasn’t sure what to make of that or of her. “Has Prince DuChance come around to bother you?”

“He has, but his days are as numbered as mine. Tell her not to worry and neither should you.”

Because of her odd manner of speaking one might assume her to be addled, but her dark gaze pulsed with a power that made the hair rise on the back of his neck. He made a mental note to learn more about her when he saw Billie again—whenever that might be. He handed her one of his business cards. “If you ever need anything, I can be reached here.”

She took the card. “Thank you but we won’t meet again, at least not on this plane.” In response to his show of surprise, she said prophetically, “The girl is your queen. You will love her until there is no tomorrow. Good-bye, Mr. Yates.”

She closed the door, leaving the speechless Drew on the other side.

Driving away, he contemplated her final words. His queen?! Billie was no more his queen than he was the Pope in Rome, yet the words seemed to resonate with the same chilling power he’d seen in the woman’s eyes. Who was she? She reminded him of the old brujas in the fairy tales his mother read to him when he was a boy. You will love her until there is no tomorrow. He scoffed. He and Billie shared a love of lust, nothing more. And besides, queens were chosen; they didn’t drop into a man’s lap out of the blue in the middle of the celebration announcing an engagement to someone else—or did they? asked a small knowing voice.

When he reached the center of the city, the visit continued to dominate his thoughts, but he set it aside to stop and pay a visit on his good friend, circuit court judge Wendell Ross. He needed advice on how to proceed with the unsettled land claims of his clients, but Ross’s words were far from encouraging.

“The courts have no incentive to move them along quickly, Andrew, and that’s a shame. The provisions of the Treaty of Hidalgo might as well have been a government treaty with the Indians for all the weight it’s been given.”

“But many of these disputes have been languishing for ten years.”

Ross nodded solemnly. “I know. We’re supposed to be a nation built upon law, but the state’s getting rich selling off those disputed lands . . .” His voice trailed off.

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