Sunset Embrace by Sandra Brown Read Free Book Online

he could breathe easier when meeting strangers.
    He had offered to buy the land from the old recluse. The man had laughed and simply handed over the deed sent to him by the Texas government years earlier. "I'll die here in this cabin, son," he had said. "Don't have no need for that land. I moseyed into Texas on a lark. That war meant no more to me than a big brawl and a helluva good time. You want that land, it's yours."
    When he had broached the subject of relocating to Victoria, she had shown more enthusiasm than he had bargained for. He had wanted to go ahead of her, see the land, get a house started, then send for her and the baby. But she had insisted on going with him.
    "Better to make a clean break while Daddy's away, Ross. Let's join up with that wagon train that's organizing down in McMinn County."
    Ross had planned on doing that anyway. Traveling in numbers was safer. There was also a distinct advantage to bringing household belongings rather than trying to buy them once there. People were flocking to Texas and then finding when they arrived that homesteading supplies weren't readily available.
    Victoria had seen it all as a grand adventure and wanted to keep their departure a secret. He had argued with her. He didn't want her father to return home and find them gone without a word.
    "Please, Ross. He'll think up a thousand reasons for us not to go, especially if he finds out about the baby. He'll never let us leave."
    Now Ross wrapped two slices of bacon in a leftover biscuit and handed the sandwich to Bubba. "I'd saved enough wages to buy the horses to start my own herd. Now I've got Lucky and five of the prettiest mares you ever saw."
    "You sure do," Bubba mumbled around a mouthful.
    "Thanks to the grooming you give them every night." Ross chuckled. "Lucky is crazy in love with every one of those mares."
    The youth basked in Boss's approval. They were smiling at each other companionably when they heard the fussy cry of the waking infant from inside the wagon.
    Bubba whipped his towhead toward the sound. Coming to them through the canvas were soft maternal mur-murings. Then silence. Bubba looked inquiringly at Ross, whose expression had turned fearsomely dark as he stared at the wagons opening.
    "That . . . that girl, Lydia. Ma said she'd be stayin' in your wagon and takin' care of the baby from now on."
    The lips beneath the black moustache thinned. "It appears that way, yes." Restless and angry, Ross knew he bad to direct that energy elsewhere or he would explode. He rose to his feet and walked to the end of the wagon. Opening up a carpetbag, he took out a mirror, a straightedge razor, a brush, and a shaving mug, and set them on the tailgate. Then he folded the collar of his shirt inside. He had been heating a pan of water near the fire. He dipped the shaving brush into the hot water, then into the mug, and began working up a thick, rich lather. He slapped the white foam onto his Lower face and began lifting off the soap and the stubble of his beard with deft strokes of the razor. Bubba watched, envious.
    "She was right poorly when me and Luke found her," he said, conversationally.
    "Was she?" Ross swished the razor in the water and tilted his head to one side to see better in the mirror he had hung on a nail.
    "Sure was. Lyin' in the rain, pale and still as death."
    The jaw being shaved tensed. "Well, she's fair to bursting with life and good health now."
    Ross wished to hell he couldn't remember the way the lantern had cast light and shadow over her breasts. The unusual gold color in her eyes had bewitched him not to forget it. He commanded his body to forget. It wouldn't. Even now it responded.
    His heritage was manifesting itself. It wasn't decent, his noticing the girl's body and his wife barely cold in her grave. Damn! That's what came from being the bastard son of a whore. No matter how many respectable people you associated with, no matter how refined a lady you married, sooner or later, even when you