The Complete Mackenzie Collection by Linda Howard Read Free Book Online Page B

“You’re very good-looking.”
    He almost grinned at her. “Yeah. That and two bits will get me a cup of coffee.”
    “So they looked back?”
    “And flirted. One acted like she really cared something about me. But when I asked her to a dance, the door was slammed in my face right quick. I guess it’s okay to flirt with me, sort of like waving a red flag at a bull from a safe distance, but there was no way she was actually going to go out with an Indian.”
    “I’m sorry.” Without thinking, Mary reached out and covered his strong young hand with her own. “Is that when you quit school?”
    “There didn’t seem to be any point ingoing. Don’t think I was serious about her, or anything like that, because it hadn’t gotten that far. I was just interested in her. But the whole thing made it plain that I was never going to fit in, that none of those girls would ever go out with me.”
    “So what did you plan on doing? Working on the ranch for the rest of your life and never dating, never getting married?”
    “I’m sure not thinking of getting married!” he said strongly. “As for the rest of it, there are other towns, bigger towns. The ranch is doing pretty good now, and we have a little extra money.” He didn’t add that he’d lost his virginity two years before, on a trip to one of those bigger towns. He didn’t want to shock her, and he was certain she would be shocked if she had any idea of his experience. The new teacher wasn’t just prim, she was innocent. It made him feel oddly protective. That, and the fact that she was different from the other teachers he’d known. When she looked at him she saw him , Joe Mackenzie, not the bronzed skin and black hair of a half-breed. She had looked into his eyes and seen the dream, the obsession he’d always had with planes and flying.
    After Joe had left, Mary locked the house and got ready for bed. It had been a tumultuous day for her, but it was a long time before she slept, and then she overslept the next morning. She deliberately kept herself busy that day, not giving herself time to moon over Wolf Mackenzie, or fantasize about things that hadn’t happened. She mopped and waxed until the old house was shiny, then dragged out the boxes of books she had brought from Savannah. Books always gave a house a lived-in look. To her frustration, however, there was no place to put them. What she needed was some of that portable shelving; if all it required for assembly was a screwdriver, she should be able to put it up herself. With her customary decisiveness, she made plans to check at the general store the next afternoon. If they didn’t have what she needed, she would buy some lumber and hire someone to build some shelves.
    At lunch on Monday she made a call to the state board of education to find out what she had to do to make certain Joe’s studies would be accepted toward his diploma. She knew she had the qualifications, but there was also a good deal of paperwork to be done before he could earn the necessary credits by private tutoring. She made the call on the pay phone in the tiny teacher’s lounge, which was never used because there were only three teachers, each teaching four grades, and there was never any time for a break. Nevertheless it had three chairs and a table, a tiny, dented refrigerator, an automatic coffee maker and the pay phone. It was so unusual for any of the teachers to use the lounge that Mary was surprised when the door opened and Sharon Wycliffe, who taught grades one through four, poked her head in.
    “Mary, are you feeling sick or anything?”
    “No, I’m fine.” Mary stood and dusted off her hands. The receiver had carried a gray coating, evidence of how often it was used. “I was making a call.”
    “Oh. I just wondered. You’d been in here a long time, and I thought you might not be feeling well. Who were you calling?”
    The question was asked without any hesitancy. Sharon had been born in Ruth, had gone to school