Shadows of the Canyon (Desert Roses Book #1) by Tracie Peterson

Author:Tracie Peterson [Peterson, Tracie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781441203298
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2002-08-31T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“I can’t believe he’s really dead,” Alex said in disbelief nearly two hours later. Numb from the news, she hadn’t cried a single tear. She wondered if Luke thought her cold and unfeeling.

Luke reached out and took hold of her hand. “If he’d only fallen to the first ledge, he might have made it.”

“What could have happened?”

“I don’t know. I came upon your mother after it’d happened. She crumpled to the ground crying. She’s the only one who saw anything, and she’s not talking,” Luke replied, gazing at her with such tenderness. “I’m sorry you have to endure this. It’s never easy to lose a loved one.”

The words “loved one” slammed up against her like the time she’d stepped on the prongs of a rake, bringing the wooden handle full force against her face. She didn’t consider her father a loved one. She didn’t even mind the idea that he was gone—forever. Except . . . She shook her head. Except nothing. She didn’t care.

Shock washed through her veins, leaving her cold. This is your father, she chided herself. He’s dead and you must care. A sense of guilt crept in where the stunning news had first left her without feeling.

She tried not to think of her father, focusing instead on her mother. The poor woman had cried enough tears for both of them. Katherine Keegan now slept sedated in her suite with a ranger guarding the door outside. The canyon physician worried about her mental state and general health. There was talk, murmurings and whisperings about the accident. People were beginning to say that Katherine Keegan had killed her husband. It was all too much for Alex to take in.

“I know this is difficult for you. In spite of the way your father behaved, I know you didn’t wish him dead.”

Alex couldn’t even look at Luke, for too many times she’d wished just that. Well, maybe not that he’d be murdered. She’d wished often enough that he’d die in his sleep and free her mother from her misery. Or that he’d die on one of his many trips to the capital. Did that make her a horrible person? Was she less of a Christian because she was glad her father had died instead of her mother? She couldn’t keep from trembling.

“The rangers want to talk to you,” Luke said softly. “I told them you were too upset—that they’d have to wait. But you can’t hold them off forever.”

She looked blankly at the wall, not seeing a thing. “I understand.”

But in truth, Alex didn’t understand anything at all. Joel had threatened her mother’s life, but was this what he’d meant? Alex had feared he might kill her mother, but perhaps this was even worse. Had Joel Harper somehow arranged her father’s death and allowed the blame to rest on her mother’s shoulders? But if that were the case, if there was another person involved, then surely her mother would tell them.

Luke rubbed her hand. His warmth seemed to permeate the icy feeling that ran the full length of her body.

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