Golden Roses by Patricia Hagan Read Free Book Online

from him, by God.
    During the rest of the meal, Valdis talked. He talked about himself, expounding on the wonderful job he had done with the ranch. His bulls were the finest stock in all of Mexico. Amber would, he said, be very happy there. He would groom her to be the lady of the house. His mother, he declared, was senile. He hoped Maretta would marry soon and move away. He expressed his desire to entertain elaborately and was confident that Amber, with her charm and beauty, would make him the most envied man in the valley.
    “It will be advantageous for both of us.” He lifted his glass, while Amber sat quietly, making no move to join in the toast. “And who knows?” He leaned closer, smiling broadly. “We may become good friends, much closer than merely brother and sister.” Then he laughed to himself, as though harboring a deep, delightful secret.
    Midway through the meal, Valdis ordered a large pitcher of sangria. Amber stared at the dark red wine and the slices of oranges and lemons and limes in the bottom of the pitcher. She thought how refreshing it looked, but she declined a glass. She would not drink with him. He was consuming enough for both of them, anyway.
    When they had finished eating, Valdis stood and pulled Amber’s chair back so that she could rise. She allowed him to lead her through glass-paned double doors onto a wide terrace. They were at the rear of the house.
    “Beautiful, no?” Valdis said, waving his arms with a flourish.
    Amber murmured in agreement, wanting not to compliment him, but thinking that it was truly lovely. A warm breeze was blowing through the dancing fronds of a nearby weeping willow, and the air was scented with jasmine. A lonely bird sang his lament of longing. Closing her eyes, Amber felt the familiar stirrings, the strange sensations that had caused her such bewilderment in recent years. Alone in her bed at night in her grandmother’s house, she had felt this same encompassing loneliness mingling with a sweetly painful hunger. After a while, the dreams would begin…dreams of a handsome stranger who folded her into his arms, his lips claiming hers in a searing kiss. His hands would dance over her body, caressing her breasts, and then a strange liquid fire would fill her body, spilling forth, and she would awaken startled and frightened. But for a while the hunger abated. Someday, that intriguing stranger would appear, and she would know him, for she had spent too many nights in his embrace not to know him well.
    But the man of her dreams was not Valdis. Never Valdis. Revulsion caused her to step back.
    “It is lovely, no?” Valdis placed his arm about her waist. Giving her a little shake, he laughed softly. “Relax, Amber. You say you are not afraid of me, and it is not my wish that you be. I want only for you to understand that I wish to be your friend. I want you to be happy here. This is your home now.”
    Amber wanted to laugh. Did he think her a complete fool? She would not be taken in by Valdis’s hypocritical charm, which he would call up at will. But for the moment, she would pretend to be entranced. Let him think her a fool. When the time was right, he would learn differently.
    Valdis led her to the edge of the terrace. The mountain range was visible, stretching to the sky, and the liquid moonlight seemed to coat the peaks in snow.
    “Do you see all of that?” Valdis said proudly. “It is mine. I own all that the eye can see…” Suddenly his voice became bitter, and he finished harshly, “Except on the eastern side.”
    Amber impishly prodded, “Why don’t you own that land as well?”
    He took a long, deep breath, then let it out slowly. “The pompous fool who owns that land will not sell to me. I have offered him far more than it is worth, but he is stubborn. One day he will come to me on his knees, begging me to take it off his hands.”
    “Why won’t he sell?” Amber pushed.
    “Because he is a fool!” Valdis cried. “He does not even need to