Read Online This Loving Land by Dorothy Garlock - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Dorothy Garlock
Ads: Link
head.
“Got company down to the other place.” In spite of his calm manner, indignation showed in his tight lips.
“Company?” Slater moved out from where he was leaning against the door frame. “Who?”
“Miz Ellen, that’s who! Miz Ellen ’n her whole tribe!” Bulldog now bristled like an enraged porcupine. “Come a ridin’ in jist as pretty as ya please, that big galoot by ’er side along with that sorry cur she calls ‘son.’ Same bunch what was in town. Now you just tell me what they’s come fer, after all this time of not settin’ a foot on the place?”
Slater’s eyes had narrowed. “Anyone down there?”
“Jack.” Bulldog flung a hand out irritably. “We saw the dust and went to look. Then we high-tailed it over to the ‘little place’ to be a waitin’ fer ’em.”
Summer’s interest grew with every passing second.
“She didn’t lose any time.” Slater leveled his sharp gaze on Summer and she met his eyes. Sensing that somehow this crisis had to do with her, she felt compelled to ask:
“Are the visitors at my mother’s place?”
Slater lowered himself into a chair and sat rigidly erect. He studied her for a moment before he spoke.
“Ellen McLean and her son have come to call on you.” He bit the words out icily. “Enjoy your guests. They’re not welcome here.” Abruptly, he hoisted himself up from the chair and limped out of the room.
Summer stood as if he had struck her. She turned wondering eyes to Bulldog, but he slammed his hat down on his head and walked away from her. She went to the door Slater had just passed through.
“Slater.” He was going down the hall and stopped when she called to him, but didn’t turn around. “Why are you angry? Is it because of Ellen McLean? Why has she come all this way to call on me?”
He turned around, showing her only the scarred side of his face.
“She wants you for a daughter-in-law.” He ground out the words in a low, husky voice. “And Ellen usually gets what she wants.”
Summer turned her head away before he saw the distress in her eyes, and when she looked back he was gone.
Five
When Summer reached the footbridge, she was still trying to find an explanation for Slater’s sudden change of mood and boorish behavior. She pushed it back into a corner of her mind and fastened her attention on the figures waiting for her in the shade of the veranda.
Ellen McLean rose from a chair where she sat fanning her face. She snapped the fan shut and allowed it to dangle from her wrist as she came forward. The men, lounging casually against the rough logs of the house, watched her. One swept off his hat and ran his fingers through thick blond hair as he stepped out into the bright sunlight. The other scarcely moved. There was no sign of Sadie or the children.
“I hope you won’t think it presumptuous of me to call on you so soon.” Ellen came toward her with hands extended. “You have no idea how excited I’ve been, just knowing you were so near. It’s been ages since I’ve been able to talk woman-talk.” She took Summer’s hands and clasped them warmly; her smooth, lovely face wreathed in smiles. Summer’s reaction to the older woman was spontaneous.
“I don’t think it presumptuous at all, Mrs. McLean. I’m happy to see you again.”
“Oh, my dear! You’ve no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that.” Her lilting voice deepened with sincerity, then lightened as she glanced at the men behind her. “It was no mean task to persuade those two to bring me,” she said confidentially. “Jesse is champing at the bit to get back to the ranch. He’s my foreman, you know, and I must say there was never a better one, but this scamp is like his mother.” She placed her slim hand on her son’s arm. “If there’s a pretty girl around, he wants to know her.”
Summer looked up to meet bold blue eyes. She was startled to find them locked on her with a smiling intensity. It was like being caught naked in
“Got company down to the other place.” In spite of his calm manner, indignation showed in his tight lips.
“Company?” Slater moved out from where he was leaning against the door frame. “Who?”
“Miz Ellen, that’s who! Miz Ellen ’n her whole tribe!” Bulldog now bristled like an enraged porcupine. “Come a ridin’ in jist as pretty as ya please, that big galoot by ’er side along with that sorry cur she calls ‘son.’ Same bunch what was in town. Now you just tell me what they’s come fer, after all this time of not settin’ a foot on the place?”
Slater’s eyes had narrowed. “Anyone down there?”
“Jack.” Bulldog flung a hand out irritably. “We saw the dust and went to look. Then we high-tailed it over to the ‘little place’ to be a waitin’ fer ’em.”
Summer’s interest grew with every passing second.
“She didn’t lose any time.” Slater leveled his sharp gaze on Summer and she met his eyes. Sensing that somehow this crisis had to do with her, she felt compelled to ask:
“Are the visitors at my mother’s place?”
Slater lowered himself into a chair and sat rigidly erect. He studied her for a moment before he spoke.
“Ellen McLean and her son have come to call on you.” He bit the words out icily. “Enjoy your guests. They’re not welcome here.” Abruptly, he hoisted himself up from the chair and limped out of the room.
Summer stood as if he had struck her. She turned wondering eyes to Bulldog, but he slammed his hat down on his head and walked away from her. She went to the door Slater had just passed through.
“Slater.” He was going down the hall and stopped when she called to him, but didn’t turn around. “Why are you angry? Is it because of Ellen McLean? Why has she come all this way to call on me?”
He turned around, showing her only the scarred side of his face.
“She wants you for a daughter-in-law.” He ground out the words in a low, husky voice. “And Ellen usually gets what she wants.”
Summer turned her head away before he saw the distress in her eyes, and when she looked back he was gone.
Five
When Summer reached the footbridge, she was still trying to find an explanation for Slater’s sudden change of mood and boorish behavior. She pushed it back into a corner of her mind and fastened her attention on the figures waiting for her in the shade of the veranda.
Ellen McLean rose from a chair where she sat fanning her face. She snapped the fan shut and allowed it to dangle from her wrist as she came forward. The men, lounging casually against the rough logs of the house, watched her. One swept off his hat and ran his fingers through thick blond hair as he stepped out into the bright sunlight. The other scarcely moved. There was no sign of Sadie or the children.
“I hope you won’t think it presumptuous of me to call on you so soon.” Ellen came toward her with hands extended. “You have no idea how excited I’ve been, just knowing you were so near. It’s been ages since I’ve been able to talk woman-talk.” She took Summer’s hands and clasped them warmly; her smooth, lovely face wreathed in smiles. Summer’s reaction to the older woman was spontaneous.
“I don’t think it presumptuous at all, Mrs. McLean. I’m happy to see you again.”
“Oh, my dear! You’ve no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that.” Her lilting voice deepened with sincerity, then lightened as she glanced at the men behind her. “It was no mean task to persuade those two to bring me,” she said confidentially. “Jesse is champing at the bit to get back to the ranch. He’s my foreman, you know, and I must say there was never a better one, but this scamp is like his mother.” She placed her slim hand on her son’s arm. “If there’s a pretty girl around, he wants to know her.”
Summer looked up to meet bold blue eyes. She was startled to find them locked on her with a smiling intensity. It was like being caught naked in
Similar Books
