Sky's Pride and Joy by Sandra Steffen

Author:Sandra Steffen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

It was nine in the morning when Meredith pulled into the long dusty driveway that led to the bunkhouse where Sky lived. Already, the temperature was nearly eighty degrees, the sky the lightest blue she’d ever seen. Three horses watched from the corral, and somewhere, a calf bawled forlornly. Parking her car near the bunkhouse, she got out. Other than an occasional clunk and bang coming from one of the sheds, and the half-grown puppy that yipped from the front porch of the main house closer to the road, there didn’t appear to be much activity in and around the Lone M this morning.

The sun shone through the curtainless window on the east side of the bunkhouse, lighting up the inside of the rustic structure. Nothing moved. The place looked deserted, the windows and door closed up tight.

“Well,” she said to the teenage girls she’d hired. “Might as well knock and see if anybody’s home.”

She wasn’t surprised when her knock went unanswered a few moments later. Sharla Avery, the older of the two girls, said, “Think we should have called first?”

Meredith shook her head. “Sky doesn’t have a phone.”

“Ugh, that’s right,” the petite brunette exclaimed. “How can anyone survive without a phone?”

“Sky’s a free spirit,” Holly Quinn, the other girl said matter-of-factly. “I guess free spirits don’t need to make phone calls.”

“I saw that dreamy Billy Schmidt’s truck over by the shed,” Sharla said. “If you want, I’ll go ask him if he knows where Sky went.”

“Sky isn’t here.”

The deep, male voice had come from someplace directly behind them. Meredith, Holly and Sharla all turned around; poor Sharla was the only one who turned slightly red.

“Billy!”

“Hey, Sharla,” Billy Schmidt said, a twinkle in his eyes and a smile on his face.

In an effort to give the girl a few seconds to recover, Meredith smiled at the handsome young cowhand she’d seen a few days ago, and said, “Do you know where Sky went?”

“Me and Buck half expected him to be gone when we got up this morning, but he wasn’t.”

“He isn’t gone?”

“Well, he’s gone, but he isn’t gone-gone. He and Buck are mending fences over by Old Stump Road. I had to help Slappy get the carburetor out of the tractor. Now I’m heading out there, myself.” Billy flashed a smile at Sharla. “You plannin’ to go to the dance Saturday night?”

“What time?” Sharla was fresh out of high school. For once, she seemed to be fresh out of feminine wiles. Closing her eyes, she all but groaned out loud. “I mean, I might.”

Billy’s grin spread across his face. “I could pick you up around eight.”

“Eight sounds good.”

He slanted Sharla another one of his dreamy smiles, asked Holly about her father, then looked at Meredith. “You fixin’ to surprise Sky, like he said?”

Meredith hadn’t planned to do that, but she considered it now. “Maybe I will,” she answered.

“Then I won’t tell him I saw you.” Angling Sharla another of his dreamy smiles, he gave the brim of his hat

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.