Illegally Wedded by Jennifer Griffith

Author:Jennifer Griffith [Griffith, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781983577406
Published: 2018-01-23T05:00:00+00:00

He hadn’t been here during daylight hours in a long time. Now, it was coming on sunset, and the fiery horizon echoed the ghosts of the flames that had burned the Double Bar T years ago. Zach had only seen the embers—and the aftermath—when he showed up a couple of hours after the fire trucks left their ashen, muddy mess.

Zach had been working as a first year associate, his first big case. He hadn’t answered his phone call from his mother. Meanwhile, his family home had been reduced to cinder and ash.

“Is all this land yours?” Piper gazed out, not in derision, but in wonder. “How far does it stretch?”

The Double Bar T Ranch, no matter how neglected and dilapidated, still had an impressive number of acres.

“From here to those foothills.”

Piper caught her breath. “All of that? Are you serious?”

He was serious, as was the state that acreage lay in. The horses were gone, the cattle, too. All the animals had been sold after the farm equipment went up in flames. Fire insurance would have paid for their replacement, for the rebuilding of the barn, the house, the business, even Dad’s classic Firebird. But something else burned up that night, something far less replaceable than a tractor or even a rare vintage Pontiac.

Now the money languished in that account, the one Zach used for their weekly upkeep. But they refused to manage even the small things like grocery shopping. Only the cable bill got paid religiously, so Dad could watch his late night shows.

But now they pulled further into the yard, and the state of things loomed gloomy and forlorn. It berated him for his negligence. Zach’s soul crumbled like the first time he’d seen it, when the steam still hissed as it rose from the wet ashes.

“They live in this trailer.” He pulled up next to the single-wide. Yeah, he probably should have called before coming to warn them he was bringing someone, but it was Friday evening, his usual visiting hours, and there was every chance they wouldn’t do anything different even if he was bringing Piper.

He’d gotten married—without inviting them, without even telling them. For obvious reasons, that had been the case, but still, swallowing those facts went down like chalk.

Zach parked, staring at the blaze of orange on the horizon. He didn’t get out. Not yet.

“What do you think they’ll say about taking care of Teacup?” Piper pulled the pup from its cage now that they were stopped. She tucked the dog up close to her chest. Zach reached over and petted it, but he didn’t try to take it from Piper. It was in its happy place against her chest. Yeah, that did look like a happy place. Zach could probably use a dose of that embrace himself, to fortify him for what lay ahead right now.

“Zach? You seem hesitant. Maybe we should forget asking them to keep the dog. I don’t want to put them out. I mean, I also don’t want the first time I meet your family to be by asking for a favor.

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.