Read Online Thunder In Her Body by C. B. Stanton - Free Book Online

back among smaller pines and acres of twisted juniper trees.  Then just ahead, on a rise, stood one of the most magnificent Santa Fe-style stucco homes, she’d ever seen.  It sat low on the horizon, all one story, but it stretched out long horizontally.  It was that lovely rust-colored tan with huge windows across the front of the house.   Vigas – cut logs - protruding from just below the irregular shaped roof line, and a huge, deeply stained, dark wooden front door, flanked by tall, narrow stained glass windows completed the pueblo-styled facade.  In the front of the house, on either side of the tiled entrance walkway, were rock gardens with a variety of cacti and colorful, medium size boulders.  It was the quintessential New Mexican home.
    “It must be enormous inside,” Lynette spoke up, awe sounding in her tone.
    “How lovely,” Clare said, with similar awe, as the expensive vehicle turned into the circular drive in front of the house.
    Both Lynette and Clare were well-traveled and had spent lots of time in Santa Fe, Taos and other southwestern venues.  However, this was the first time they actually knew someone who owned so sumptuous a home with this luxurious a façade. From the rise surrounding the house, they could see all the way across what must have been a hundred miles of valley on two sides, and on the other side, the view was of mountain peaks of varying heights, covered with dense growths of tall pines and Douglas fir trees up to the alpine line.
    “This is utterly breathtaking,” Clare exclaimed.
    “I’m a bit proud of it myself,” Aaron replied, as he stood gazing out on this familiar scene.  “Y’all come on in.  I’m sure Blaze is anxious to see you, Lynette,” he said jovially.
    They were met at the door by two wonderfully frisky dogs, obviously happy to see Aaron back home, and extremely curious of the visitors.
    The larger of the two was a big, mixed-breed, tan dog with a white streak down his chest and white boots on his front feet.  He had a slightly square head with short floppy ears and a black muzzle.  His big brown eyes said “play with me!”
    “This is Rusty,” Aaron said.  “He looks ferocious, but he’ll lick you to death,” he laughed.  “Hell on varmints though.”
    “And who’s this pretty girl?” Clare asked.
    “This is Suzie Q,” Aaron replied.  We rescued ‘em both down at the Humane Society.
    Suzie Q was only a little smaller than Rusty, but leaner. Mostly white, she had a brown face and brown spots all over her body.  She looked part hound, similar to English hunting pictures.  She came and sat next to Clare, licked her hand, and made an instant friend.
    “You said you both loved animals, so if you’re gonna be around here you have to,” Aaron explained.  “These dogs let us live here, instead of the other way around,” he laughed.
     
    The interior of the house was almost as breathtaking as the exterior with red saltillo tile floors, stained stucco walls, a huge white Kiva fireplace in the living room, and massive Spanish-influenced furnishings.  Huge rounded beams, the vigas, crossed the high ceiling of the great room and terminated outside of the building.  It was straight out of Architectural Digest.  They walked through the living room into the family room and to the right into the kitchen.  But where was Blaze?
    “Where are you?” Aaron hollered for Blaze.
    “Out here trying not to burn up the meat,” he replied with a bit of frustration in his voice.
    Lynette followed Aaron out the heavy wooden Spanish doors to an enormous deck overlooking the valley, and there stood Blaze, with top n’ bottom apron on holding a set of tongs in his hand.  Smoke billowed out of the huge black, cast iron grill as he moved the chickens away from the flames and over to one side of the grill.  He closed the heavy lid and walked over to the three, looking only at Lynette.
    “Good mornin’,” Lynette said sweetly to him.
    “Clare, good