Read Online Sun Kissed by Catherine Anderson - Free Book Online Page A

Out of respect for her dad, she couldn’t just walk away, turning her back on everything he had sweated blood to build. It would break his heart.
    “I need to be my own person,” she said softly.
    “So be your own person,” Clint replied. “Who’s stopping you?”
    Who, indeed? Her father’s place lay due west of hers, Clint’s was directly to the north, and her other three brothers lived within shooting distance of her front porch. From anyplace on her property she could see the rooftops of their homes, and they all took frequent advantage of the short distance to visit her whenever they pleased. The only time in her life when she’d had any sense of separateness had been during the dark years of her marriage, when they’d all stayed away because they couldn’t abide Steve.
    “Forget it,” she said wearily. “Just forget it. I could talk myself blue and never make you understand.”
    Clint made it clear he didn’t care to understand by brusquely saying, “Get that spud back on your eye.”
    And there it was, the very essence of her problem with him and all the rest of her male relatives. They refused to treat her like an adult. In their minds she would always be Sammy, daughter and pesky baby sister. When she was eighty, they would still be telling her what to do.
    “Do you have to be so bossy, Clint?” she asked. “It’s my eye. If I have a shiner tomorrow, oh, well.”
    “Bossy?” Her eldest brother looked genuinely incredulous. “What in the Sam Hill are you talking about?” Before she could answer, he put the question up for a family vote. “Am I bossy, you guys?”
    Quincy flashed a broad grin. “I’m not touching that one with a ten-foot prod.”
    “So you agree?” Clint shook his head. “You actually think I’m bossy?”
    Parker chuckled. “Of course you’re bossy, Clint. Helping Dad to raise all of us screwed you up.”
    “Yeah,” Zach interjected with a lazy grin. “You think the power of persuasion is a size-eleven boot up somebody’s ass.”
    “What is it with you and boots today?” Samantha asked Zach. “As for that, you can all clean up your mouths. This is my kitchen, not the barn.”
    “I haven’t taken the Lord’s name in vain,” Zach protested. “Neither has anyone else.”
    “That soup is starting to smell mighty good,” Quincy observed in an obvious attempt to change the subject. Boot heels tapping the slate tile, he crossed the kitchen and nudged Clint aside to put the bread in the oven. “I’m hungry enough to eat the south end of a northbound don key without wiping its ass first.” He slanted Samantha a glance. “Sorry, sis.”
    Samantha knew when to cut her losses. Her brothers would never break themselves of using colorful language. She picked up the potato to stare at the discolored pulp.“How long do I have to keep this stupid thing on my eye?”
    Parker came to set the bowl of salad on the table. He stooped low to examine her bruise. “It’s taken down the swelling some,” he pronounced. “A few more minutes ought to do it.”
    The security system chimed just then, yet another sign of her family’s devotion to her safety and well-being. The moment she’d kicked Steve out, the alarm system had been installed, and now, an entire year later, her dad still phoned her every evening at dark to make sure she remembered to set it.
    The sound of the front door closing echoed through the house. A moment later Samantha heard her father’s distinctive footsteps echoing on the hardwood floor.
    When he appeared in the doorway, hat in hand, she said, “Mission accomplished?”
    “Mostly,” he replied, the expression on his burnished countenance unabashed. “And don’t start,” he warned. “I did what I needed to do, and whether you approve or not, there’ll be no discussin’ it.”
    It had been a long day, and Samantha was too weary to argue.
    “What’d you think of Coulter?” Zach asked.
    “I like him.” Frank raked his fingers through his