The Rogue by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online

flat pronouncement of trust in Holt’s ability.
    Diana had stared at her father, shaken by his statement and its implication. The Major had delegated responsibility to others before, but never when his prized Arabians were involved. Holt had become firmly entrenched, and she could no longer ignore the fact. The discovery had deafened her ears to the rest of their conversation. The shutting of the screen door had brought her sharply back.
    “Your four years at college will go by so fast that they’ll be over before you know it.” The Major had picked up the threads of their previous discussion with hardly a break in rhythm.
    In agitation, she had turned away. The Major had come up behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder. She had found scant comfort in this rare display of affection. The Major had always been a very controlled man emotionally, rarely expressing his inner feelings, part of the rigid discipline he acquired in the military, plus a natural male reticence.
    “I have always planned for you to attend college, Diana,” he had told her quietly. “Every father dreams of his child obtaining a college degree. I’m no different.”
    Diana could find no argument with that. All her life she had done what he wanted. It was too late to break the habit now. She had not wanted to endure hisdisappointment in her if she refused. Besides, after his conversation with Holt, there had seemed to be little reason to stay at the ranch.
    Still, she had offered one small protest. “But Reno is so far away, on the other side of the state.”
    “Not so far that you can’t come home on long weekends and holidays,” he had consoled.
    So Diana had given in. Consoling herself that she was pleasing him, she threw herself into college life. Her class schedule did not permit many weekends home that first year, restricting her visits to vacation times that were all too short and too far apart. To make the time pass more swiftly, Diana involved herself in more activities and campus parties. She made many surface friends, but her crowded hours never contained the extra minutes to allow deeper relationships, male or female.
    The summer came and went almost overnight. It seemed she had barely arrived at the ranch and she was leaving for the fall term.
    There were two momentous occurrences in her second year of college. In October, she was called to the dean’s office, where she was informed her father had suffered a mild heart attack and was in the hospital. Diana caught the first plane home to Ely.
    As she stared at him in the hospital bed, she noticed he looked pale but otherwise unmarked. The Major had always seemed so invincible. It was a shock to discover that he was not. A vigorous light still burned brightly in his eyes, not flickering, but not eternal, either.
    “Don’t look so worried, Diana,” he admonished the concerned expression on her face. “I have plenty of years left in me. I just have to slow down, that’s all. . . take it a little easier than I have been.”
    “I’ll make sure that you do.”
    “What does that mean?” the Major demanded.
    “I’m staying home until you’re better.”
    “It was one thing for you to leave college to fly home to see for yourself that I’m all right, but it’scompletely unnecessary for you to sit around holding my hand,” he informed her sternly. “I have Holt and Sophie to take care of me.”
    Diana wanted to point out that as his only child, it was her right to look after him and not the privilege of some hired help, but the Major didn’t give her a chance to speak.
    “I’m turning over the operation of the ranch to Holt. He’s more than capable of handling it now. I’m lucky to have him.” There was no mistaking the admiration and respect in his voice.
    “I want to stay home with you.”
    “Young lady, you can make me happiest by going back to college and getting your degree. After that, I hope you find an intelligent and ambitious man to marry, maybe have a few