Marry Me by Sundown by Johanna Lindsey

Author:Johanna Lindsey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books

Chapter Twenty-Four

“D’YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED to my father’s pocket watch? Did he break it or lose it? I checked his valise, but it wasn’t there.”

Violet was sitting on the riverbank a few miles from Morgan’s mountain; he was lying back next to her in the grass, his hat mostly covering his face. She had a pole in one hand and her parasol in the other, and a good thing she’d brought it, since there were no trees in either direction along this section of the river to offer shade. But she was having trouble keeping her eyes off of that long stretch of body. At least he was wearing a shirt, and had started doing so whenever he wasn’t in his mine.

When he didn’t answer, she wondered if he’d fallen asleep, so she added a little louder, “I meant to mention it sooner, but I kept forgetting. It has sentimental value, or I wouldn’t ask. My mother gave it to him and there was an inscription on it: So you don’t forget to come home. Papa said it was a joke between them because he was often late getting home for dinner.”

“I saw him use it only a couple days before he had the heart attack and fell, so he didn’t lose it. If you didn’t find it among his belongings, then he probably had it on him when I took him to town—and he would’ve been buried in what he was wearing.”

“That’s—that’s actually comforting. He would have liked that.”

He sat up. “You aren’t going to cry again, are you?”

She glanced aside and gave him a weak smile, but his hat was still tilted so low that all she could really see was that ridiculous beard. Which had her blurt out, “Why don’t you shave? You have the tools for it at your camp.”

“Waste of time,” he said, and lay back down to completely cover his face again with the hat.

“D’you even have a mirror here to see how—how shaggy you look?”

“So my shaving would be for you, not me?”

She blushed. “I was just curious. Did you herd cattle with that beard, or did it scare the cows into running away?”

“Hell, no, my ma would skin me alive if I came in the house looking like this.” She started to chuckle, but he added, “And I have shaved here—twice, I think.”

She laughed this time, and guessed, “One of your disguises for town? Mountain man, hermit, cowboy, just never miner?”

“Something like that.”

An hour later, with still no bites, she stood up to recast the line farther out. Sitting again, she complained, “You can’t protect me if you’re sleeping.”

“Was I snoring?”

“No.”

“Then figure I’m not sleeping.” He sat up to open the basket between them. “Eat up, just don’t let go of that pole. It’s the only one we’ve got.”

She took the sandwich he handed her. “Are you sure there are fish in this river?”

“Pike and trout. Charley always came back with a basketful.”

She groaned. They’d be there all day if he expected that many fish.

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.