Harnessed Passions by Dee Jones Read Free Book Online

your room and I'll talk with
you more tomorrow." She kissed his shallow cheek gently and nodded
for the black man, who was waiting just outside the door. Julia
watched Thompson disappear down the hall with her father, listening
to the door to his room close.
    It was bad enough she had to promise her
father to assume his role in four months’ time, but then to be
informed there was someone deliberately trying to sabotage the
stables just seemed like icing on the cake. Not exactly what she
was anticipating, when she returned from Boston.
    When she turned back to the quiet family
room, she found her mother still occupying the area. Her silver and
black hair had been pulled back into a formal bun, just like she
always wore at meal times to avoid getting the long tresses in her
food. Her delicate frame was draped in a tailor made dress of
burgundy taffeta, that covered her from wrist to toe. Only the
white lace around the cuffs and high neck allowed contrast in the
deep rich color. Her tiny feet were void of shoes, much as Julia's
were and she reclined on the settee near the fireplace, a small
glass of sherry in her hand.
    "I wish you hadn't let him go on so," Louise
offered sternly. "He grows weaker each day."
    "I didn't exactly have a choice in the
matter, mother.” Julia walked to the liquor cabinet and poured a
glass of sherry before returning to the seat by the open door of
the veranda. “He just kept on talking, even when I tried to get him
to stop. He's just a stubborn old bastard."
    "Don't talk about your father that way," the
older woman snapped. "He deserves more respect than that."
    "No, he doesn't," Julia growled, her voice
rising slightly as her temper increased. "Did you hear what he just
did to me? He's always tried to control my life and now he's done
it. I left Kentucky to avoid him doing exactly this. The next thing
you know, he'll have me married with twelve kids, just so he can
rest in his grave and gloat."
    "Julia Dennese!" Louise gasped.
    "I'm sorry mother," she apologized with a
heavy sigh. She felt like a mad dog at the throat of its helpless
victim. "I didn't mean that, it's just that I didn't expect any of
this. I thought I was coming home for a visit; spend a few days
riding the horses, visit some old friends and back to Boston. What
am I supposed to tell Aunt Lena and Uncle Rupert? We had plans of
traveling to New York this summer once the new baby arrived. What
am I supposed to do now? I promised I'd be there when the baby was
born; Lena trusts me, she relies on me. Damned it, mother, I like
things the way they are...were."
    "Julia, have you ever thought that maybe,
just maybe coming home for a few months would help you out of the
rut your life is in?"
    "What rut, mother? I like my life the way it
is."
    "What you like is that there's no challenge
or risk involved. You need a change, maybe take a long leisurely
vacation with a handsome, stimulating man. Would that be so bad?
Good Lord girl; your life's surrounded by taking care of another
woman's children instead of your own. How exciting can that
be?"
    "I'm tired mother," Julia insisted with a
clenched jaw as she stood suddenly from her chair. She was hoping
to avoid this argument with her mother; it seemed to be the main
topic of conversation whenever she came home or received a
letter.
    "I'm going up to bed and I swear if there’s
a merciful God in heaven, he’ll let me stay there until hell
freezes over." Louise opened her mouth to speak, but closed it
again when her daughter turned a narrow stare on her. "I don't want
to talk about it anymore. I like my life as is and I'm going to
keep it that way come hell or high water." With that said she
turned on her heel and left the room and her mother to watch her
departure in silence.

    Like every room downstairs, Julia's room was
exactly as it had been when she last saw it five years ago. Pink
curtains still hung across the doors that opened onto the small
veranda. Her matching bedspread now lay