Home on the Range by Ruth Logan Herne

Author:Ruth Logan Herne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2016-10-18T04:00:00+00:00

Elsa had discovered a new scientific theory yesterday. The power of one very well done kiss could provide environmentally friendly energy for the world, if harnessed correctly.

It sounded preposterous, but how else could Elsa explain the urge to scrape one side of the house to prepare it for painting, spackle dents and holes to discourage bugs, and bake double batches of brownies and cookies for the volunteer construction crews working on the church? She dashed in and out of the house, humming—yes, humming!—while she rotated pans in the oven and scraped the beige clapboard. Once the desserts were cool, she packed them into plastic containers and headed toward the construction site.

Her tire pressure light came on as she drove toward the main road, so she stopped by the convenience store on the way into town. She unscrewed the valve covers, then fed coins into the machine. When the air hose burst to life, she filled the low tire, then decided to check the others. As she rounded the back of the car to get to tire number three, she noticed two people coming out of the small, patched-together bar on the other side of the intersection.

Whitney Stafford and Johnny Baxter.

She watched, dismayed. Neither one looked sober. She didn’t realize she was staring until the air pump ran out of time and the motor shut off, leaving a silent gap.

The change drew their attention. Elsa felt Whitney’s gaze as if taking measure. She set the hose down, moved around the car, and fed more coins into the machine. It sprang back to life, but when she turned to finish the last two tires, Whitney was approaching her.

She’d felt prepared to deal with Whitney on Sunday, surrounded by Nick’s family.

But here? At the corner of Rustic and Deserted?

Elsa’s heart went into overdrive. Her palms broke into a cold sweat. Her throat choked, and she had to mentally disengage herself from the pure physiological reactions as Whitney drew near. “You’re Nick’s little friend, aren’t you?”

She could argue, admit it, or smack Whitney with the air hose and run away. Option two won. “Elsa. Yes.”

Whitney’s eyes narrowed, and when she raked Elsa’s T-shirt and capris with a deliberately disparaging look, Elsa was pretty sure she’d just stepped back into eighth grade. “Why were you watching us?”

She was trying to put Elsa on the defensive. That would happen only if Elsa allowed it, and she wasn’t about to give Whitney the satisfaction. She moved to the opposite side of the car and went back to filling tires. It was impossible to hear over the roar of the air compressor, so why try? And the wait might give Whitney time to settle down.

“You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?”

The air compressor shut off just then, which meant she couldn’t help but hear Whitney. The choice of whether or not to answer was another story.

“But who are you, Elsa?” The scent of liquor grew stronger as Whitney moved closer. “Who does Nick have watching my girls, because Johnny tells me no one knows all that much about you.

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.