Donovan's Daughter (The Californians, Book 4) by Lori Wick Read Free Book Online Page B

hillside.

    The next morning Marcail went to church. Since the
auction was to follow the service, she brought her apple
pie in a basket, as did most of the other women in town.

    Allie's pie was mince. She whispered to Marcail during church that it was Seth's favorite. Marcail smiled at
the joy in her friend's eyes. She had missed Allie since
she'd started seeing Seth, but Marcail recognized the
signs of love and told Allie, in all honesty, how thrilled
she was for her newfound happiness.
    No social time had been planned, since the weather
was cooling, but spirits were high as the bidding began,
raising funds that were once again to go to the school.
    Marcail's pie came up in the middle of the bidding, and
just as Rowie had said, he was on hand and bidding like a
rich man. It looked as if Marcail's basket was going to
go high, and the young schoolmarm kept her eyes on
Mr. Flynn as two men took the price over $1.00. She recognized one voice as Rowie's, and the other as Allie's
brother, Logan's.
    Marcail, preparing herself for an afternoon of being
gawked at or pulled around, was praying for patience. A
deep voice from the back of the crowd startled her with a
bid.
    "Three dollars!"
    Marcail's eyes slid shut on a sudden rush of tears. She
was barely aware of the way Mr. Flynn stuttered to a halt
or how still the crowd had grown. Moments passed
before Mr. Flynn declared the pie sold and Marcail turned
and made her way back off the platform.
    A massive hand was there to take her basket and then
her hand, but Marcail didn't dare look up until the man
had led her away to the semiprivacy of a nearby tree. As
soon as he stopped she let her tear-filled eyes meet his,
and a second later she was crushed in Rigg's arms.
    Marcail didn't know when anything had felt so good.
She let herself be cuddled against his chest and tried not
to cry.

    "I've missed you," Rigg whispered in her ear, feeling
as though he could cry himself.
    He couldn't love this girl more if she had been his own
child, and in a way she was. He was only 17 years her
senior, but she had come into his life as a nine-year-old
girl whose mother had just died and whose father was
overseas. Their's had been a love-at-first-sight relationship, a brother-sister type of love.
    A year later he was married to Marcail's sister, and she
was living with them. Not even the birth of his own three
children had diminished his love for her. He'd gone into
a state of near mourning when her father had returned to
California and she had moved downstate to live with
him.
    Rigg released Marcail and tenderly wiped a tear from
her cheek. There was so much they wanted to say to each
other. They had just began to share when Jethro Kilmer
came on the scene.
    "Who is this, Marcail?" Jethro demanded unexpectedly.
    Rigg only glanced at the younger man before turning
his surprised gaze to his sister-in-law.
    "Rigg, this is Jethro Kilmer. Jethro, this is my brotherin-law, Marshall Riggs." Marcail's voice was polite, but
Rigg heard the note of longsuffering.
    "Oh, he's married! Why didn't you say so?" Rowie's
voice was so filled with relief that Marcail felt angry. She
would probably have spouted off at Rowie if Rigg hadn't
put his hand on her arm.
    "It's nice to meet you, Jethro," Rigg's voice was steady.
"But I'm sure you'll understand my wanting to spend
some time with my sister."
    Rigg led Marcail away without further explanation.
Marcail was so pleased over the way he'd handled Rowie
that her smile nearly stretched off her face.

    "Do you need me to talk with this young man?" The
question came softly to her ears as they walked. When
they stopped, trying once again to steal some privacy,
Marcail shook her head.
    "No, but thank you. As you've probably guessed, I'm
not encouraging him, even though I'm sure he would
welcome any interest on my part. I'm certain he'll grow
discouraged and eventually leave me alone."
    Marcail grew silent then and simply