The Rawhide Man by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online Page B

trembled and she looked down. “Yes, sir.” Her eyes went to Bess. “Congratulations anyway…Bess.”
    “Thank you,” Bess said, ignoring Jude’s deliberate cruelty. There would be plenty of time later to tell the sweet man what a crude, unbearable, insensitive ass he was.
    * * *
    But in the days that followed, Jude made a point of staying away from the house. If he saw Bess at all, it was rarely, and he made no attempt to come near her at night. Apparently he’d meant exactly what he’d said about their marriage. It was to be a merger, period, with no intimacy of any kind. Bess was almost relieved; it prevented any more of the horrible confrontations that had occurred before their wedding. With plenty of time on her hands, she concentrated on preparations for Christmas.
    “We never have a tree or anything,” Katy said sadly when Bess started talking about where to put one. “There’s no Santa Claus, so Daddy says it’s just a bunch of nonsense.”
    Bess was horrified. She stood in the middle of the floor gaping at Katy. “But, darling, don’t you know what Christmas means?”
    Katy shifted uncomfortably. “The teacher tells us about it,” she murmured.
    “But don’t you go to church on Christmas Eve and…?”
    Katy looked even more uncomfortable. “Daddy says—”
    “Daddy says entirely too much,” Bess burst out, dark eyes flashing. “Now, Katy, we’re going to have a tree and presents, at least from each other,” she said firmly. “And you and I are going to the Christmas Eve service at church, whether or not your father goes with us. And Aggie and I are going to fix a turkey with all the trimmings, and we’re going to have Christmas.”
    Katy’s eyes sparkled and she burst out laughing. “Oh, Bess, you make it sound so wonderful.” Then the smile faded and became bittersweet. “But Daddy won’t let you, I’m afraid.”
    “We’ll see,” she said firmly. “Now.” She turned her attention back to the living room and pursed her lips. It was a massive room, and there were double windows facing the porch, which in turn faced the road. “We’ll put it right there,” she decided, “so that it can be seen outside. Do you have ornaments or decorations?”
    Katy shook her head.
    Bess frowned. “Haven’t you ever had a tree?”
    Katy shook her head again.
    She’d barbecue Jade, Bess decided. Over an open pit on Christmas day with an apple in his mouth. “We’ll go to the store, then,” Bess said. “Get a sweater. After I speak to your father, I’ll get one of the cowboys to drive us into town to get a tree and ornaments and things.”
    “You will?”
    “I certainly will.” Bess pulled on Jude’s leather jacket and went out to find him.
    She found him in the barn talking with one of his men, and Bess waited patiently until he finished, enjoying the nip in the air.
    He came out a minute later, wearing dark slacks with a white pullover sweater and a sheepskin jacket that must have cost the earth. He stopped in the act of lighting a cigarette and stared at Bess.
    “Did you want something, Mrs. Langston?” he asked with deliberate sarcasm, his green eyes alive with it.
    “Yes, Mr. Langston, I did,” she said imperturbably. “I want you to have someone drive us to town so that I can buy a Christmas tree and something to go on it.”
    “No,” he said coldly. “Not in my house.”
    She had realized already that it was going to take a fight. She was prepared. She lifted her head with the blond hair coiled haughtily atop it and stared at him.
    “Before we married, you agreed we should try to get along, didn’t you?” she asked. “I haven’t asked anything of you up until now. Not one single thing. But now I want half the living room. In fact, I want the half that faces the road. It has a double window. Then,” she added, watching his eyebrows slowly go up in astonishment, “I want a tree—something bushy, I don’t care what kind—and some ornaments and a turkey and a