Read Online Vivid by Beverly Jenkins - Free Book Online

mud. Grayson
jumped down from the seat and called to his daughter standing next to Vivid in
the doorway of the shack. "Majestic, come take the reins."
    Magic ran through the mud out to the wagon
and scrambled aboard. Her father went around to the back to push. Vivid was
smiling as she watched him slog through the slop until he turned her way and
said, "Doctor, you either help push or walk. Your choice."
    Vivid wondered how he'd feel about having two bullet holes in that old beat-up hat of his instead of one. She had
absolutely no desire to traverse that mud, but rather than be judged unfit, she
started toward the wagon. She gasped as the cold mud swallowed her shoes. Her
stricken face met his amused eyes. She slogged through the mud just as he had,
although she was certain he hadn't mourned the loss of an expensive pair of
shoes during the journey. She did her best to hold her skirts up from the muck
but the going was slow at best.
    "Now while Magic reins the team,
we'll push," he told her.
    In tandem with Grayson, Vivid gave it all
she had. It took three tries to free the wheels enough for the horses to gain
leverage. When the wheels finally came free, the sudden movement made Vivid
lose her balance and land face first in the mud. Grayson's uproarious laughter
gave her a sense of how she must look. She stood up, wiped the mud from her
eyes, and looked down at her beautiful ruined dress. The snow-white blouse with
its hand-done lace and mother-of-pearl buttons looked as if it had been doused
in gravy. The traveling dress her aunt had sent her from Mexico would never be
emerald-green again. Grayson was still laughing, and so was Magic, the traitor.
    "If we're finished, may we go
now?" she asked haughtily.
    "Sure," Nate told her, but he
couldn't stop laughing. Vivid gave him a blistering look and climbed into the
wagon.
    Some time later a shocked Abigail Grayson
met them at the door. "Oh, my dear Dr. Lancaster, look at you. What
happened?"
    Magic piped up, "She fell in the mud,
Aunt Gail. I thought Pa was going to bust a gut laughing so hard."
    "Nathaniel!" his aunt said
scoldingly.
    "Don't 'Nathaniel' me, Abigail
I'm-gone-to-Kalamazoo Grayson. You have some explaining to do."
    Had Vivid not been so wet and chilled
she'd have laughed at the look of feigned innocence on Abigail's face as she
replied, "Why, I've no idea what you mean."
    "I'll bet you don't," Nate said,
smiling.
    Abigail smiled back, then said, "Dr.
Lancaster, come on in here where we can get you dry. Nate, bring in some water
for her. Magic, change out of those wet things and set the table."
    Abigail Grayson was nearly as tall as her
nephew and had the same smoke-black eyes. She leaned on a cane and moved as
proudly as if she were royal-born. She steered Vivid through the well-furnished
front room of the very large house and back to the kitchen.
    "There's biscuits in the oven. I'm
sure they won't mind you stealing a little of their heat."
    A shivering Vivid warmed her hands near
the warm metal.
    Moments later, Nate reentered from the
back of the house carrying a huge cauldron of water. From beneath her lashes
Vivid watched his arms strain with the weight as he set it atop the stove, the
corded muscles as beautifully detailed as an anatomy drawing. Vivid forced her
attention back to Abigail, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Grayson, what did you
say?"
    "It's Miss Grayson, Dr., and I asked
if you wanted some tea."
    "Oh, yes, please. Anything to cut
these shivers."
    Abigail handed her a cup. The warmth
against Vivid's hands made her smile and purr, "Thank you."
    "You're welcome, and once you finish
I'll show you where you can wash up and change. Then you can tell me about the
fit Nate threw when he found out you weren't a man."
    Shocked, Vivid turned to Nate, who said,
"Told you I knew nothing about that contract. But later my beloved aunt is
going to tell me how she accomplished that not-so-small feat."
    "Nathaniel, if I tell you, it won't
work the next time."
    His eyes