Read Online The Wild One by Theodora Taylor - Free Book Online Page B

of the wild.”
    Roxxy smiled. “Cool! Then you’ll have to tell me how you did it. I need all the advice I can get.”
    As it turned out, a lot of the staff had done other things before coming to Sinclair Ranch. “The hotel industry can be like that, attracting people from all different walks of life,” Elena, who taught fourth grade in Buellton during the school year, told her. “But you know that already, since Andrew was still an executive at Sinclair Steel when everything went down between you and his wife.”
    A hush came over the table and everyone seemed to shoot daggers at Elena. Apparently they’d all been talking about whatever happened between Layla and Andrew’s dead wife behind her back, but it wasn’t considered polite to actually bring it up to “Layla” herself.
    “Yeah, he was,” Roxxy said, trying to lighten the mood. “But I don’t want to take that big of a leap. I was thinking about maybe finding some rich rock star to work for and doing some charitable foundation work.”
    This was actually mostly true. They just didn’t realize she was the rich rock star and that the money for her foundation would be coming out of her own coffers.
    That seemed to bring back the former mood and people started talking about what charitable things they would do if they had rock star money.
    All in all, it turned out to be a nice dinner, and it was even nicer to have people to sit with at that night’s bonfire. But all too soon, it became time for her to walk home barefoot and alone.
    She once again washed her outfit and hung it up on the line. When she came back to the house, she spotted Andrew’s cowboy hat hanging on it’s hook in the living room, which meant he’d once again arrived while she was outside. But this time, he hadn’t bothered to come to the window or even say good night.
    Whatever. Roxxy pushed the insult away and went into the kitchen to make some warm tea, which she’d learned the night before to drink alone. It had taken three cups just to calm down enough to attempt sleeping in her bedroom. And after hours of fitful dozing, she’d had a nightmare about Steve Kass. In it, he was lying on the floor with blood coming out his mouth and nose, just like Mabel. She’d come awake on the edge of a scream, and there had been no getting back to sleep after that.
    And as jittery as she was feeling at the moment, she doubted that night would be any better as far as convincing herself to attempt sleep again was concerned.
    Except that night, Andrew showed up at the living room entrance to the kitchen about two hours into her nighttime pacing session, while she was making her fourth cup of tea.
    “What are you doing?” he asked from the doorway, sounding more like he was making an accusation than asking a question.
    “I love Montana,” she answered. “But I’m having trouble sleeping here. I think it’s the crickets.”
    “This house is old, leftover from before the renovations. When you move around down here I can hear you upstairs.”
    “Sorry,” Roxxy said. “I’ll just take my tea up to my bedroom.”
    “And what happens if you still can’t get to sleep?”
    “Then I come back down here and make myself another cup of tea, I guess. Maybe try and read a book, since there’s no television or internet here. I’m not really used to not having something to do at night.”
    His eyes clouded over at that. “You miss your old life.”
    “No,” Roxxy said, though she was aware they were talking about two different things entirely. “I don’t miss my old life at all. It’s just that Montana is really dark and crickety. Not what I’m used to.”
    He gave his head a tired shake. “I’ve got a conference call first thing tomorrow morning. I’m not going to let you keep me up all night, again. I need to be on the ball.”
    “I wasn’t trying to keep you up,” Roxxy said through gritted teeth. “Just let me get my cup of tea and I’ll—“
    He turned off the stove and took