Forbidden Fires (Love Spell historical romance) by Bobbi Smith

Author:Bobbi Smith [Smith, Bobbi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: 1998-03-30T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

The Richardson estate was a magnificent three-story brick home located on fashionable State Street high on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi. In all seasons, the view the house afforded was breathtaking. When the river flooded in the springtime, it became a raging muddy torrent filled to bursting with not only her own debris but with that of the Illinois River which joined with her just a few miles to the north. In the summer, the Mississippi appeared deceptively sluggish, as if enjoying a calm vacation after such a strenuous spring. Fall brought a bright burst of dying color to her tree-shrouded banks and made her seem a life line to the warmer states to the south. Barren and icy during the frigid winter months, the river threatened all who sailed upon her with the sharp chunks of ice that were making their way haphazardly downstream in pursuit of their own destruction. And Price had witnessed it all during those happy years of his early childhood.

Sitting alone in his carriage before his family home, Price studied the mansion with eager eyes, admiring its stately splendor. From a distance, the long years of neglect were not obvious, but, as he left the carriage and approached, he could tell that it was in need of major repairs.

With a heavy hand, he let the tarnished brass knocker fall and waited impatiently for someone to come. Alex finally opened the door.

"You're alive!" He gaped, astonished by the sight of his cousin.

"How perceptive of you," Price remarked derisively, brushing past Alex and entering the house. "I need to see Rachel right away."

"Mother isn't up yet. Whatever you have to say, you can say to me." Alex moved, trying to block Price's way.

"Go get her," he commanded, his tone quiet and deadly. "I'll be in the sitting room."

Price walked away, leaving Alex standing, dumbfounded, by the open front door. As Price entered the parlor, he heard Alex close the portal and hurry upstairs.

He turned his attention to his surroundings and was shocked by the condition of the room. The expensive furnishings that had graced it were gone, no doubt sold for ready cash. Furious, he moved from room to room only to find that the house had been stripped of all valuables. Too angry to remain in the empty rooms, he stalked into the hallway, anxious for this confrontation to be over.

Rachel, however, took her time about coming down and at least half an hour passed before she appeared at the top of the stairs with Alex by her side.

Short on stature, long on nerve, Rachel Kent stood momentarily on the landing looking down at him, her lips curled in disgust as she stared. Of all the rotten luck! Why did he have to show up now? Just when things were going so well.

Price looked up at his mother's older sister. How was it possible that two women reared in the same household could turn out so differently? Rachel was an embittered woman. She had hated

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