The Preacher's Daughter by Beverly Lewis Read Free Book Online Page B

they get awful lonely,’’ Annie explained, as if the girls had never heard this about the bevy of beautiful birds she and her brothers raised. ‘‘They like bein’ close to each other.’’
    Several girls had their heads together, giggling.
    â€˜â€˜Once one of them flew off lookin’ for his mate after she died. . . . I’m not kidding.’’ Annie straightened her apron and pushed her shoulders back. ‘‘But for the most part, they stay put. They don’t stray too far from home.’’
    â€˜â€˜Besides that, peahens are some of the best mothers ever,’’ Kate Byler added amidst more peals of laughter. ‘‘Now, listen. What Annie’s sayin’ is ever so true.’’
    More than amused by Kate’s seriousness, Annie watched her dark eyes sparkle as she appointed different girls to carry the trays of drinks out to the men.
    As if on cue, right then Rudy Esh appeared in the back doorway. His auburn hair shimmered clean, and he held his head at a slight angle, as if questioning her resolve even now. ‘‘It’s time to team up and get to workin’,’’ he announced.
    His take-charge voice reminded Annie of all the happy yet frustrating years she’d spent as his girl. Here was a young man who knew precisely what he wanted in life, and she’d fully messed it up for him.
    Turning her attention back to the girls, she refused to let on, but she missed him all to pieces.
    Louisa kept to the speed limit as she headed up Highway 285 toward the town of Conifer, taking in the sweeping views of pine and evergreen. The highway was a two-lane sliver of concrete, crawling with cars filled with hikers, soon-to-be bikers, and tourists too late for peak foliage of aspen gold.
    She was glad for a blue-sky day with not a threat of snow or sleet. This late in the season, a blizzard frequently enveloped the road within minutes of the first sign of snow-laden clouds moving quickly from the mountains to the eastern plains.
    At Pine Junction, she made the turn south on Route 126, her ultimate destination being the cozy bedroom community called Pine a few miles from Buffalo Creek, another well-kept secret with an elevation of eighty-two-hundred feet above sea level. She knew of a secluded inn where she’d gone to work on several drawings sometime ago. The place was set back in the woods, with hiking trails that led to a spectacular overlook. She had called to reserve a room for the night, for the purpose of getting her emotional bearings. Of course, she could be reached if necessary, and she checked the time on her smart phone as the Mercedes climbed in altitude.
    â€˜â€˜Let’s talk. . . .’’
    Michael’s tense voice mail still ricocheted in her head. What was there to discuss? They had talked for more than an hour by phone following the superb steak dinner, only for Louisa to understand more fully how susceptible to the trappings of success Michael had become. Her fiancé’s true motives had finally surfaced. Just like Mother and Daddy, she thought, and all their friends .
    Excessive extravagance—the kind Michael continued to argue for, even on behalf of her own mother—had begun to slowly sicken her toward all she had grown accustomed to, although she had never known anything different. But now, enough was enough, and the way Michael had explained it, there was simply no room for compromise.
    She pondered her life as Michael’s wife. They were formed from the same mold, but she had come to long for something meaningful . . . the simple life, the way Annie Zook lived. At this moment such a peaceful existence strongly beckoned to her.
    Most importantly, she could not marry a man who was so consumed with his career and making money that his wife—and eventually the children he wanted—would come in at second or third place. Or maybe fall right through the cracks.
    She glanced at the