Read Online When The Heart Beckons by Jill Gregory - Free Book Online

admit.
    Reading his notes, Annabel had realized in
horror that if Brett did not return home soon, he might have
nothing to go home to. No fortune, no business interests —no
father.
    She turned from the window and began to
plan. There was not a moment to lose.

Chapter 5
    E arly the next
morning Annabel purchased a frisky white-legged mare called Sunrise
from Will Chatham at the livery stable, tied her carpetbag and a
canteen to the saddle, and set out for Eagle Gulch. According to
the hotel clerk’s directions, the town was no more than twenty-two
miles due south of Justice.
    “If you hit the river, you’ve gone too far
west. Keep the foothills to your left and you’ll be all right.
Eagle Gulch is a right nice town. A little bigger than Justice. But
...”
    He had peered curiously at her from behind
his spectacles. “Wouldn’t you rather just wait until next week when
the stage comes through? Ma’am, it’s not safe for a woman to travel
alone such a distance.”
    “You needn’t be concerned. I can take care
of myself.”
    “It’s pretty rough country out there
...”
    “I’ll be careful.” Annabel gave him a wave
and a smile before hurrying out the door.
    The possibility that she would find Brett
today in Eagle Gulch buoyed her as she rode along the high plateau
bordering the outskirts of Justice. She had the derringer tucked
inside her boot, she wore a comfortable white shirtwaist and dark
blue riding skirt, and on her head was a sombrero she’d purchased
in Denver to protect her from the sun, its chin straps dangling as
she rode. As far as journeying alone across the desert was
concerned, she wasn’t much worried. She had a good horse, an
excellent sense of direction, and an immutable purpose.
    Eagle Gulch by late afternoon—or bust.
    It was a brilliant spring day, crowned by a
clear azure sky, soft breezes, and wildflowers blooming on the
mesas and all across the rolling prairie. Gazing out at the awesome
beauty of the Arizona wilderness as she nudged Sunrise into a trot
and left drab Justice behind, she thought, Maybe I’ll find Brett
today.
Maybe he’s in Eagle Gulch, and when I ride into town,
there he’ll be, walking right toward me. He’ll shake his head in
amazement to see what a becoming young woman I’ve turned into, and
he’ll hold out his arms to me
...
    And maybe, the greatest miracle of all, he
would finally gaze at her with love in his eyes—love and wonder and
delight, and realize that all along he had felt for her what she
had always felt for him ...
    The red mountains shimmered in the distance.
She rode past groves of cottonwoods, followed the trail through
winding ravines and high-walled canyons, and guided the mare past
boulders and across narrow, gushing creeks. The hours rolled by,
and Annabel continued to be awestruck by the splendor of the
canyons, by the majesty of the distant mountains and gray-green
prairies, and by the lovely sea of golden poppies and purplish pink
owl’s clover flowing across the mesas. But as the afternoon wore
on, the refreshing spring breezes wavered and died. The air grew
still, hot, heavy as lead. A molten sun burned high above, its
relentless rays piercing like daggers through the heat-glazed
air.
    Annabel found herself forced to pause for
frequent sips from her canteen and to rest now and then in the
shade. And still the trail stretched endlessly ahead. She began to
wonder if she had turned the wrong way and would ride on and on
endlessly without ever reaching civilization again.
    But as the afternoon waned into the early
stages of twilight, she reached the edge of a town almost as rough
as Justice, but larger and slightly more prosperous looking.
Annabel had never been so glad to see any place, except for the
time she had first arrived at the McCallum house after traveling
all day and Aunt Gertie had led her into the kitchen and given her
good fresh bread and a chunk of cheese and a large wedge of
strawberry pie. Now she surveyed Eagle Gulch