Where The Four Winds Collide by Hildie McQueen

Author:Hildie McQueen [McQueen, Hildie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pink Door Publishing
Published: 2018-05-21T16:00:00+00:00

The next day, when Jackson awoke, the fire had gone out and the room was chilled. He didn't have to wonder long how he'd managed to stay warm through the night. Butch lay beside him, not bothering to budge as Jackson rolled out of bed.

He went to the front of the house, dressed, and started a fire. Minutes later, the fire helped dispel the coolness of the house, and Jackson sat at the kitchen table a cup of coffee between his hands. Peggy Ann had left some bread, which he ate along with ham he'd found in the larder.

A horse and cart approached, and Jackson didn't have to wonder who it was. Peggy Ann must have seen the smoke from his chimney and was not waiting for him to come to her.

The petite woman stormed into the room without knocking. Her fiery eyes flew from his face to his coffee cup. "Listen here, Jackson, you need to be going after your wife, not sitting here relaxing like everything isn't about as bad as it could get."

"You have no idea what you’re talking about Peggy Ann. With all due respect, there is much you don’t know." Jackson took another sip of coffee, purposely not moving.

She stared at him with disbelief at his lack of reaction.

"What do you know about Adeline not being here?" he asked her, wishing he didn't have to talk about his wife.

"Earl told us when he came to give you the news about Heath, you were here by yourself and Adeline was gone. He said you must have torn up the house in a rage, 'cause your hands were cut up." Peggy Ann pinned him with an angry glare. "I know she lied about Billy Johnson, but when I convinced her to tell you the whole truth, I didn't think you'd go to the extreme of throwing her out."

Jackson could only stare at the woman; it was his turn to give her an incredulous look. "You expected me to stay with her after... everything?" He stood, no longer able to act nonchalant. "Peggy Ann, why would I stay with her knowing she belongs to another man? And she worked in a whorehouse?"

"What?" Peggy Ann walked to him and clutched the front of his shirt, her face inches from his. "What are you talking about, Jackson? True, she made a mistake. She gave herself to Billy Johnson since they were engaged, but that doesn't mean she belongs to him."

"They are married." Jackson spoke slowly, wondering why Adeline had told Peggy Ann so much more than she'd admitted to him.

"No, they are not," she replied in a high-pitched voice. "Who told you that?"

"Billy Johnson. He was here when I returned from the cattle drive."

Peggy Ann blanched and put her hand to her heart, her eyes wide and mouth agape. She waited for him to continue.

"He was confronting her, and they were fighting. He told me they were married."

"Wh-What did Adeline say?"

Jackson closed his eyes, not wanting to relive the day. "She just kept repeating 'no', then she said not to believe him.

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.