The Tender Vine by Heitzmann Kristen

Author:Heitzmann, Kristen [Heitzmann, Kristen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Inspirational, Historical, ebook, Western, Romance, Adult, book
ISBN: 9780764224171
Amazon: 0764224174
Goodreads: 419138
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Published: 2002-10-01T07:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

What lies a man believes to guard his feeble pride; illusions fill his mind to succor him inside.

—Quillan

QUILLAN HAD UNHARNESSED the horses and led them to the trough by the time old Giuseppe came out with an oat bag. As he walked around the swan fountain trickling water from its upraised beak, Quillan gauged him older than Alan Tavish by a decade perhaps. He was bent but not gnarled, stiff though not arthritic. Life was kinder to some.

But there was a tremor in the old man’s hand as Quillan handed the reins over, and he had lost all his teeth. Maybe the calamity of time just manifested differently. As Giuseppe led the horses to the barn, Carina came and stood at the gate; she looked lovely and exotic even with her features drawn in grief. Had he seen her in this environment, Quillan would never have dared to love her. Now that he saw what she was, what she came from, what she stood to lose—he would never have dared. But since he did, he was not going to back down because of any threats from her brothers. Or Flavio.

He hadn’t arrived with any mental picture of the man. In fact, he’d forgotten him until this morning when Carina’s face grew fierce. Flavio had wounded her, sent her running to Crystal with the hope he would come after her, prove his love, his regret. One look and Quillan knew that would never happen. Flavio was not that kind of man.

He had that melancholic beauty women gasped over, and probably the changeable nature to match. But he was not one to lose face gracefully. Quillan believed Giuseppe’s warning. His stomach twisted, but not with fear. He had thought he was through with the dragon, but what he’d felt for Alex Makepeace was nothing to this.

And he’d seen Carina’s face. She might deny caring with all the bravado she could muster, but there was something between them still. Fine. Let Flavio come. He would release the wrath of Wolf ’s son. Quillan felt a check in his spirit. He looked up. What did God expect?

Then he thought of Carina’s own words. “Family is the most important thing.” Quillan’s chest tightened painfully. He couldn’t be an agent of destruction in her family, couldn’t threaten what Carina held most dear.

What then? Leave? Never. He’d given his word. He watched her wander now over to the fountain and sit on the stone rim of the base. Her grief was apparent, but not eruptive at the moment. He untied and pulled the tarp from the back of the wagon. The furniture would need to be stored as long as they stayed in her father’s house. But how long would that be? Anyway, there were things they would need now. Quillan opened the back, climbed up, and slid the trunk to the end of the bed. The sooner they found a place of their own, the better.

Quillan looked out through the courtyard gate to the land beyond— terraced and lined with vines, smelling of damp earth and sunshine .

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