A Texas Sky (Yellow Rose Trilogy) by Lori Wick Read Free Book Online Page A

put up
    with her mouth.
    All this was still rolling through Darvi's mind when she
    saw that she'd lost Dakota's attention. He was still standing
    in the same place, but his eyes were focused down and
    behind her; a smile was just starting across his lips.
    Darvi knew what had his attention. Vivian and Filar had
    come downstairs with their mother.
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    9owt,
    "I'M merry scott." the doctor's wife was the first to
    speak and came forward to shake Dakota's hand. The girls
    stayed close beside her, but the shyness they had shown
    with Darvi was not to be found. Indeed, they seemed quite
    taken with this large, dark stranger.
    "I'm Dakota Rawlings," Dakota said as he shook
    Merry's hand, catching the girls' interest but not looking
    directly at them. "I appreciate your hospitality. I'm sure I
    feel better for having come inside to lie down."
    "Well, Darvi tells me you'll be taking her to Aurora to
    catch the train home, and you need to know that however
    long you're here, we expect you to use that room."
    "Thank you," Dakota said, before his amused eyes
    swung to the strawberry blonde.
    "Is that the plan? I'm taking you to Aurora?"
    Darvi's mouth opened. "Didn't Uncle Marty tell you?"
    "No. Maybe he thought you did."
    "Oh, Dakota!" Darvi was horrified. "I had no idea. I
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    mean, I just assumed you two had talked."
    "It doesn't matter. Like I said, I have some free time
    right now."
    "To rest up," Darvi said wryly, thinking she could cry.
    She had been so determined to get to Stillwater that
    nothing else had mattered. She now wondered whether her
    uncle knew of the situation.
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    "That was your uncle's plan/' Dakota answered the
    unasked question, "but I don't think I'm going to be
    needing much rest"
    "But you're not working right now?"
    "No. My time is my own."
    Sounding rather crushed/she said, "And I'm sure this is
    just how you had planned to spend it."
    It was at that moment that the couple realized they were
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    alone. When Merry and the girls slipped away, neither of
    them knew. Darvi moved toward the door that led to the
    backyard, obviously upset. Dakota followed.
    "You need to listen to me, Darvi," Dakota said as soon
    as he followed her to the back porch. "You're upset for no
    reason."
    "No reason ? " Darvi began in outrage, but Dakota put his
    hand up, his face stern. Darvi subsided, something rather
    new for her, and waited for him to take a seat on the porch
    railing as she was in the only chair.
    "I was hurt midsummer. Brace didn't want me back for
    six months. I came anyway. Since my escorting you puts
    me nearer my family's ranch, he said I should go there
    whenever we're done and check back with him in a month.
    The truth is, I don't feel a hundred percent, but neither am
    I dying. I'll probably be pacing at the ranch for three weeks
    before I'm supposed to report back in Austin. You may take
    as long as you like to get on that train in Aurora. My time
    is open. And unless you want me to wrestle a bear, I'm up
    for just about anything."
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    "But you were hurt some by how hard I wanted to
    ride," Darvi couldn't help but say.
    "At any time I could have asked you to stop, Darvi, but
    I didn't. I have no one to blame but myself."
    Darvi saw that he was right but still wanted to take
    responsibility. She looked away from Dakota's eyes and
    tried to work it out in her mind. When she looked back, he
    was still watching her. For some odd reason, her heart was
    wrung with compassion.
    ATexasSty 49
    "How were you hurt, Dakota?"
    "A gunfight. It wasn't that they outnumbered me; it was
    my miscalculation of where they were."
    "You were shot?"
    "Five times."
    Darvi's hands came to her mouth.
    "I'm fine," Dakota said gently. "I will tell you if I can't
    do something."
    Darvi mentally promised to pinch herself if she cried,
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    and it seemed to do the trick. Nodding swiftly and dropping
    both her hands and her eyes, she asked herself how
    God could stand all this weeping she did. Ever since she'd
    understood