Texas Tall by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online Page A

sharp little breath, shook her head, and fled down the hall toward Erin’s room.
    * * *
    The next day was Sunday. Although the Tylers weren’t big on church attendance, Sunday dinner on the Rimrock was an honored tradition. It was a time when the family, and those who counted as family, gathered around the dining-room table in relative peace to celebrate their blessings.
    Lauren Prescott raised her bowed head after Jasper droned the usual grace over the food. She’d been included since the past summer, when her old family home had gone up in flames and Sky had asked her to marry him. The Tylers always welcomed her, but even after more than three months of being engaged to Sky, she still felt like an interloper.
    As family and friends helped themselves to roast beef, potatoes and gravy, salad, and fresh hot rolls, Lauren’s gaze drifted around the table. Beau, seated across from her with his wife, had been her friend and champion since last spring when he’d hired her accounting skills for the ranch. But Natalie, petite and dark-eyed, her pregnancy beginning to show, was so busy with her veterinary practice and her new marriage that Lauren had scarcely gotten to know her.
    Tori had become Lauren’s friend after helping her find an apartment in town. But Tori, in her own way, was also an outsider here. Today the tension hung heavy between her and Will. Something was going on between them. It showed in the way they avoided each other’s eyes, the way they spoke not to each other but to their daughter.
    Flanked by her parents, Erin basked in the love of everyone at the table. She might not realize it, but Will’s daughter was the glue that held the ranch family together, the bond that brought them here and made them—for this brief time—one.
    Bernice sat closest to the kitchen. She’d always been kind and friendly. But her brother, Jasper, had never warmed to Lauren—and Lauren understood why. For three generations the Tylers and the Prescotts had been bitter enemies. Jasper remembered every wrong, every misdeed, every dispute, from the beginning. Trust a skunk before you trust a Prescott, he was known to say, though not to Lauren’s face.
    Bull Tyler and Ferguson Prescott, Lauren’s grandfather, had started the feud. Both men were dead now, but the animosity remained. When Lauren’s father, the late congressman Garn Prescott, had died this summer, Jasper had refused to attend the burial service. Though he’d been at the graveside, Will, too, had had his own issues with the congressman. Now, as the only living descendant of Ferg Prescott and his son, Garn, Lauren carried a heavy burden of past family sins. Only time would tell what that burden would cost her.
    She felt the light press of a hand on her knee. Seated next to her, Sky gave her his secret smile. She reached under the edge of the tablecloth and brushed the back of his hand in a furtive caress. Her history and Sky’s were intertwined in ways neither of them could have imagined when they’d first met. That hidden bond made her love him all the more. She could hardly wait to become his wife. Maybe then they could start anew and put the old family scandals to rest.
    â€œHow’s the new house coming along, Sky?” It was Beau who asked the question. “I’ve meant to ride over and take a look now that the fall roundup’s done.”
    â€œThe outside’s finished,” Sky said, “as well as the plumbing, heating, and wiring. Once the Sheetrock’s up and prepped, I can turn Lauren loose on the inside.”
    â€œI’ll be in decorator heaven!” Lauren said. “We’ll have a big housewarming when it’s done!”
    Sky had wanted to build his bride an entire house with his own hands, but his responsibilities on the Rimrock had made that impractical. Under his supervision, the crew he’d hired to put in a well and septic tank, run the power line and