Read Online Aloha Love by Yvonne Lehman - Free Book Online Page A

sky and give it to her. “I. . .I’m sorry. I must go. My horses need tending. And there’s my daughter.”
    “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t throw up on your horse the day I arrived. And I’m fine today. Maybe a tad dizzy upon occasion.”
    He seemed at a loss for a moment, then gave a short laugh and reached up and patted his pocket. “One can never be sure.”
    She thought he was attempting to jest, but he seemed so uncomfortable that she simply said, “Say hello to your mother and daughter for me.”
    “Oh, that reminds me,” he said. “My mother is eager to have you and Miz Matilda, the young lady, and Reverend Russell come to dinner when it’s convenient, considering the circumstances with Miz Pansy.”
    “Thank you,” she said.
    He plopped the hat on his head and mounted the stallion, which proceeded to kick up the dust along the stretch of path bordered by tall coconut palms.
    When Jane returned to the house, Matilda said, “I saw you and Mak talking.”
    “Yes,” she said and smiled. “He mentioned my ring, and we talked about Austin. So Mak MacCauley has nothing to worry about.” She flashed a glance at Matilda. “To his way of thinking, where I’m concerned, he’s perfectly safe.”
    Matilda draped her arm around Jane’s shoulder and said simply, “Yes, dear.”

Thirteen
    Mak wished he hadn’t stopped to talk with Jane. He’d simply made a fool of himself. She must take him for a complete idiot. But what could he have done? After she asked to ride the horse, he couldn’t very well tell her to climb up and they’d ride together, like they had the day she had a problem with her land legs. There had been a reason for it that day. Rather than further embarrass his mom and the reverend, and cause more talk than when he’d tried to kill his horse, he’d consented.
    But this was another day. She was an engaged woman. He was an avowed single man, and Jane’s fiancé likely wouldn’t take such an offer from him very kindly. Mak would not have liked for Maylea to climb on a horse with a man she’d just met and trot off. Maybe things were different in Texas.
    And he could not let this young woman get on his horse alone. She still did not know the area. He felt confident he could control Big Brown even under the worst circumstances—that horrible thunderstorm they’d been caught in one time was proof of that, as was the time a wild pig spooked the stallion and Big Brown had reared up unexpectedly.
    But no way could Mak chance any woman getting on his stallion alone and riding off. So, his mother said Jane was an equestrienne. But that was under controlled conditions in a confined area with a trained horse, and one she would be accustomed to. That was the kind of riding a lady would do. . .not hightail it off on a horse weighing more than a thousand pounds.
    She’d been easy to talk to, fun to talk with. He’d had too many women try and attract his attention. This one did not. She just wanted to ride his horse.
    And he could not, would not allow that.
    Perhaps he could show a better side of his character, if there was one, when she came to dinner—if she accepted the invitation.
    The following morning, however, when he was less than a mile away from the school, he heard the church bells. That meant one of three things: Church would soon begin, but this wasn’t Sunday; Something wonderful had happened, such as a ship coming in; Or something sad had occurred. For death, the bells rang three times and stopped. Then they would ring three more times and the process would be repeated over and over.
    The last time the bells had rung for a dreaded occasion was back in April when Father Damien had died. That remarkable priest had given his life to help the lepers in Molokai. Then he died of leprosy. Word was spread later that he had said the Lord wanted him to spend Easter in heaven.
    Father Damien was a remarkable man, willingly sacrificing his young life and health to make seemingly hopeless,