Showdown at Lizard Rock by Sandra Chastain Read Free Book Online

down. He’s”—she lowered her gaze—“he’s a very emotional man.”
    King smiled. “Don’t think your spring water will help, Katie, darlin’. After all, you’ve been drinking it all along and it hasn’t stopped you from getting excited.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean that there are some needs that can’t be tranquilized. Sooner or later they erupt into … well, you figure it out.”
    He turned and walked away, leaving Kaylyn wondering whether she’d won or lost their latest battle.
    By nightfall she knew that this time even her springs had let her down. Nothing could calm the desire she’d felt when King had kissed her. And throughout the day, in spite of her efforts to control her thoughts, she fantasized several different versions of the eruption he’d predicted. King was the key figure in every one of them.

Three
    “Somehow, Katie, I think there must be a better way to do this,” Sandi Arnold said. She was unloading placards and signs made by the nursing-home residents. Kaylyn stood beside the van, gathering the protest materials in her arms. The large, deep pool that was Pretty Springs glimmered nearby under the light of a half-moon.
    “I wish you’d tell me if there is,” Kaylyn said. “I can’t give up now, San. I know I’m getting to him.” She reached down to scratch the rash on her ankle, realized what she was doing, and stopped herself. The rash reminded her of everything that had happened with King Vandergriff.
    Sandi followed her actions with puzzled eyes. “What’s that?”
    “Poison ivy, from my little trek up the rock.”
    “Well, it’s good to know that you
do
have the same weaknesses as the rest of us mere mortals.” Sandi nodded toward the huge blue-and-white travel trailerparked on the far side of the springs. “When did Vandergriff move into the rolling Taj Mahal?”
    “Last night.” Kaylyn glanced at the magnificent trailer King had set up. It was too close, and it made her uncomfortable. Of course, that was what King had intended. Its presence was a smug, subtle reminder that he was going to provoke her at every turn. “He’s hired Harold to be his chief cook and bottle washer. Harold’s in heaven. He tells me the trailer is fantastic. It’s even air-conditioned.”
    “Well, I don’t know how long you intend on camping out here at the springs,” Sandi said, “but there’s a cold front heading this way, and that means rain.”
    Kaylyn looked up at the deceptively clear night sky. “I can deal with that,” she said without much enthusiasm.
    “Also, before I forget to tell you, you got a call from Tom Brolin, something about a new project for feeding some homeless men. And the Animal Shelter called about a donkey.”
    Kaylyn sighed. This might be one time when she really was guilty of having too many irons in the fire. Possession might be nine tenths of the law, but none of that mattered if your possession didn’t have any effect on the person you were trying to irritate. Sandi was willing to fill in for her at the nursing home for now, but Sandi had her own duties as physical therapist. Sooner or later the occupation of the springs would have to come to an end, whether Kaylyn wanted it to or not. Unless …
    “Sandi. What did you say about feeding the homeless?”
    “I don’t know. I’m just passing on Tom’s message. He said you’d mentioned trying to put together akind of soup kitchen for some unemployed people, and he has the food if you can find a place to do it.… Now, Katie, what are you thinking? Don’t get that look in your eyes.”
    “Why not? It’s perfect, Sandi! You and Tom can load up those men and bring them out here. I’ll cook for them, and they’ll get a meal and a bath.”
    “A bath? In that icy water? Yuck! It really is too bad that the water isn’t hot.”
    “I know. I’ve had the same thought, but it won’t matter, because the weather is warm enough. Go through those clothes bags at the home and see what you