Expressly Yours, Samantha (Cotillion Ball Saga Book 7) by Becky Lower

Author:Becky Lower [Lower, Becky]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crimson Romance
Published: 2015-03-15T18:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

May gave way to June, and Samantha settled into a different routine. When Val was out on the trail between Seneca and St. Joe, or in the opposite direction, from Seneca to Marysville, Samantha kept her head down and worked. Her broken rib began to heal, so she removed the restrictive binding from her lower back. She breathed easier without it, and she was able to put more muscle into her work. So far, Gus had accepted her lessened workload without saying anything, since he was familiar with her wound. But she didn’t want to test his loyalty. She needed to get back to maintaining a barn, the horses, and the tack. The last thing she needed was a helper messing with her privacy.

Crouched down beside the lame horse she’d been nursing back to health, Samantha’s chest constricted and her blood ran cold when a familiar voice penetrated the barn. A voice that had robbed her of sleep for the past two years and caused nightmares when she did nod off. Uncle Jack! Her hands began to shake uncontrollably, and the metallic taste of fear lodged in the back of her throat.

On her tiptoes, Samantha pressed herself up against the wood siding of the barn and peered out of the small crack between the boards. Gus was in the corral, helping Jack unsaddle the horse and tie him up.

“My stable boy will be out in a minute to put your horse away. He’s working on another horse right now, trying to get him sound for the Pony Express riders.”

“You haven’t seen a young girl, have you? My niece ran off a couple months ago, and I’m worried about her.”

Yeah, right. Samantha bristled with anger. She dashed to her little sleeping room and put the small picture of her parents into her pocket, along with the bullet Val had pulled from her, ready to run out the back door of the barn and into the woods if Jack set one foot into the barn.

“You’re welcome to take a look around. We have several young ladies working as housemaids and kitchen staff. Maybe your niece is among them.”

“Could use some good food, that’s for sure. I’ve been on the trail for days.”

Samantha peered through the crack in the barn siding again as Gus led Jack to the hotel. The face that had haunted her nights appeared leaner and meaner than she remembered. Evidently, Jack missed Aunt Hilda’s cooking. And her own.

She wouldn’t breathe easy until he went away, but she tamped down her fear, lowered her hat even more, and went to the corral to bring his horse and saddle inside the barn. No reason the animal should have to suffer because of a bad master.

No sooner had she put the horse away, giving him an extra ration of oats and some fresh hay, than three sharp blasts on the horn penetrated the stillness of the afternoon, signaling a Pony Express rider was about to come in. All thoughts of Jack had to be put aside while she performed the service for which she was being paid.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.