Until the Day Breaks (California Rising Book 1) by Paula Scott

Author:Paula Scott [Scott, Paula]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-05-07T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Roman rode hard and fast to Castro’s village. He didn’t want to be away from Rancho de los Robles for very long, especially with the Americanos there. He hoped to make the meeting at General Castro’s hacienda in San Juan Bautista and return home before nightfall tomorrow. San Juan Bautista wasn’t far. Even if he missed the meeting, he could still speak with General Castro to find out what was really going on between the Californios and Americanos.

Revolutions in California were commonplace, but the revolutions had always been between Californios in the north and south. Or California and Mexico. Or California and Spain. Never between California and the United States. This order for all Americanos to leave California was explosive. A new decree. This revolution would certainly lead to war with America.

The hours in the saddle passed swiftly. He’d left Oro at home and brought other horses, switching them out as he traveled to ride farther and faster. The vaqueros were famous for this practice. A man could move about California very quickly this way.

He found himself thinking more about Rachel than the war in California. He’d not spoken with her since the picnic. Why he lost all control with her confounded him. Watching her dance in front of the ship captain made him insane with jealousy. Seeing her in the vineyard with the man of God sent a lance through his heart. Never had he felt like this over Sarita or any other woman. Returning from Texas to find Sarita married to Tyler made him angry, but it hadn’t made him crazy.

Rachel made him crazy.

Not long ago, she lay in his arms burning with fever. His longing for her to live brought him to his knees before God. He hadn’t pleaded with God since he was a boy. He thought he could live without God, but during Rachel’s sickness, he discovered he would have given his very soul for God to spare her life.

Thoughts of her tormented him now. The silkiness of her skin so white under his dark hands as he washed her burning body. The firm curves of her young flesh. The softness of her long blond hair. The delicate beauty of her face. Her sweet, gentle way with people. The desire to touch her again made him tremble in the saddle. How could he let her go? But how could he marry her? She was an Americana. The daughter of his enemy, the man he held responsible for his father’s death.

He spurred his mount harder. He needed to let her go. Just give her to the man of God and be done with it. Perhaps he would die in this war. And there would be war. There had to be war. No longer did the Americanos simply come to California to trap and hunt and explore as they had in the past and then return to their own land. They now brought wives and children and built farms in the north, pushing the Indians off the land in the Sacramento Valley.

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