Desert Rose by Colleen L. Reece

Author:Colleen L. Reece
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2014-08-07T00:00:00+00:00

nine

The photograph had not done her justice.

Mike Carey carefully withdrew from his pocket the well-traveled photograph Nate had sent of Desert Rose and the duplicate she had mailed to him at his request and studied them. The spiritual quality of her face, the glistening auburn braid, the tanned skin, and her taunting dark brown eyes Mike Carey had just seen for the first time.

Neither had the photographs shown the litheness of her body, the charm of her smile, or the strength of hands that held her horse’s reins lightly but yet with total control.

Burdened by his guilt, Mike’s face contorted. If he had realized the power of her glance to penetrate his soul, would he have agreed to Nate Birchfield’s mad scheme? His mobile mouth stretched into a wide smile that seemed to lessen the guilt. “I’m afraid I would have answered even sooner,” he confessed to Peso, who obligingly whinnied in agreement. Mike carefully rewrapped the photos in the little square of oiled silk that fit in his breast pocket and kept them free of sweat and dust just above his heart.

August had become a series of memories. The hard work continued, as did Mike’s battle of wits against Sharpe, who seemed determined to make him quit. A few encounters with the Birchfield cousins on the range had resulted in an invitation to the Double B with a lovestruck Joe Perkins who stared at Columbine the entire time and announced on the way back to the Circle 5 that he intended to marry her as soon as he could!

By mid-September, fall roundup was underway as well as plans for Columbine’s sixteenth birthday. With the starting of school, she and Sam had gone back to their parents’ home in town, but Rose and Nate continued to spend a great deal of time on the Double B. Mike and Joe had been invited to the party in the big white frame house outside Antelope that Dr. Birchfield had built for his family several years earlier, but neither had been able to attend. Black-faced with rage, Joe privately branded Dan Sharpe with several choice names when he sent the two out on night duty the afternoon of the party.

“Can’t stand havin’ competition,” Joe said bitterly and slammed one fist into the palm of his other hand. His shoulder had healed quickly and his splendid strength put him back in the saddle long before Mike expected it.

Mike managed to hide his disappointment. “Which girl is he after? He’s more than old enough to be their father.”

Joe’s jaw set and his blue eyes flashed fire. “Besides, there’s stories about him and a woman in Rock Springs—” He broke off and dull color rose in his already-red cheeks. “He can play the gentleman all he wants but it don’t make him one. As for which girl he’s after, I’ve been figgerin’ it out. ’Pears to me he wants Miss Rose but she acts like she ain’t interested even when she’s bein’ friendly. Now her sister’s different.

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.