Lover in the Rough by Elizabeth Lowell

Author:Elizabeth Lowell [Lowell, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
ISBN: 9780062208880
Publisher: HarperCollins US
Published: 2000-12-31T13:00:00+00:00

Eight

* * *

Reba made a sound of disbelief as she looked at the fuchsia glitter in Chance’s palm. He saw the pleasure and the wonder shining in her eyes. He looked at the tourmaline fragments in his hand, seeing them as she did . . . pieces of dreams condensed into molten pink, hot promises shimmering and whispering in the cold wash of a miner’s light. He smiled and plucked the shattered crystals from their white bed of crushed matrix. Tiny flakes of mica stuck to his fingertips, making them almost as silver as his eyes.

“Hold out your hand,” he said softly.

He poured the crystal fragments into her soft palm, reserving the perfect needle of tourmaline. She sighed and shifted her hand, making light melt and run over the piled shards of pink. After a few moments she looked up and saw him watching her.

“I know, I know,” said Reba, laughing at herself. “These aren’t worth two cents at a garage sale, but to me they’re . . .” Her voice faded.

“Signposts on the road to Oz,” Chance finished for her, smiling gently.

“Yes,” she sighed, watching the play of light over shattered tourmaline. “If only we’d gotten here sooner.”

“Before the dragon rolled over and crushed them?”

Reba’s lips curved. “How did you guess?”

His fingertip touched her nose, leaving a shiny residue of mica. “If it makes you feel any better, coming down here last night wouldn’t have helped. We’re several million years too late for these poor beauties. But not for this one,” Chance added, holding out the slender, flawless needle of tourmaline between his thumb and forefinger.

The crystal was an inch long, a sixth of an inch wide, and naturally faceted into a many-sided shaft. Though too small to have the shocking pink color of the larger crystal fragments, the shaft of tourmaline clearly showed the tricolor progression along its length that was unique to Pala’s tourmaline. It was as though the crystal were a cylinder lifted out of a watermelon. Nine-tenths of the tourmaline’s length was a pale, clear pink. Then there was a thin band of transparent white, like the rind of a fruit. A blunt cap of clear green marked the terminal phase of the crystal, recalling a watermelon’s dark skin.

Hesitantly, Reba touched the crystal with her fingernail, afraid that the mineral would vanish like a dream at the first touch of reality. “It’s real,” she breathed. “Oh, Chance, it’s real!”

“Very real,” he agreed, “but not half so beautiful as your smile.” His lips moved slowly over hers as he placed the crystal in her palm. “Welcome to Oz.”

She laughed softly, her breath a sweet warmth on his lips. “Thank you.” Then, with an eagerness she couldn’t conceal, “Can we dig some more?”

Chance smiled ruefully. “Spoken like a true gouger. Yes, we can dig. But first . . .”

Reba, who had been turning toward the pale fall of lepidolite on the floor, looked back. “First?”

Instead of answering, he pulled her against his body, wrapping her in his strength and warmth.

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.