Tracie Peterson - [Desert Roses 01] by Shadows of the Canyon Read Free Book Online

Alex. Her father seemed unconcerned about their lewd comments, sometimes even encouraged them.
    Luke halted his horse and took hold of the mare’s reins to stop Alex as well. “I don’t know what he did or didn’t do, but he doesn’t have the power to do anything to you anymore. You’re independent and free of his control. You gave up a lot—the comforts of home, money, your mother’s company. He doesn’t have to keep hurting you.”
    Alex met Luke’s gaze. His eyes were a rich, deep hazel color that seemed to glitter green and gold when the sunlight touched them at just the right angle. “So long as he hurts my mother, he’s hurting me. It doesn’t matter that he speaks lewdly or suggestively when I’m in the company of his friends. It doesn’t even matter that he thinks so little of me that he encourages his friends’ actions toward me. It only matters that she goes on suffering and there’s nothing I can do tomake it any better. I wish he . . . were dead.” Tears trickled down her cheek.
    Luke drew a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Alex. “Don’t let him own you like that, Alex. You’ll never know a moment’s peace if you do.”
    “I’m trying to pray through it,” she admitted, wiping her face. She folded the cloth back into a neat little square and handed it back to Luke. Smiling, she apologized. “Forgive me. I seem to be so teary these days. I’ll do my best not to do this again.”
    “Alex, we’re friends, remember? If you can’t cry on my shoulder, whose shoulder can you cry on?”
    Alex felt a trembling course through her. She wanted to reach out and touch Luke’s face—just to thank him, just to let him know how much he meant to her. Suddenly she felt very awkward. Her feelings were getting the best of her and, rather than let the conversation continue in this intimate vein, she straightened and took up her reins. She nudged the horse forward and didn’t even bother to look back at Luke when she called over her shoulder, “I didn’t know coconut cream pie was your favorite.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    Joel Harper knew the game of politics as well as he knew the exclusive brothels of Charleston. At age thirty-six, he easily recognized Rufus Keegan’s interest as being one of a man obsessed. The man wanted power and glory. It was all right with him if Keegan wanted to tag along on the coattails of Winthrop’s victory, but it wasn’t all right if Keegan thought he was going to replace Joel as Winthrop’s right-hand man. He was a man to be watched, Joel reasoned. Keegan could either be a dangerous adversary or a powerful ally. The question was, which would he be?
    “The current administration has made a mess of things to say the least,” Keegan stated in a critical manner. “Just look at the problems the attorney general has made over the German alien properties. Then there’s that whole question of what’s happening with the federal oil reserves.”
    “Yes, we’re watching that one closely. It appears, if my spies are correct,” Winston Winthrop offered, “Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, is headed for just that. A fall. The man has so many underhanded dealings, he doesn’t know which is which. The conservationists hate him, which is precisely why Joel thought it would do the Democratic Party well to play that ticket to the hilt. We’ll show the conservationists that we care about the federal land—that we’re just as appalled as they are at what’s been happening in Wyoming and California. We’ll promote the national parks, supporting the idea of preserving the land for posterity.”
    “Are you certain this will matter enough to remove Harding from office? After all, he may not have any knowledge of what Fall’s been up to,” Keegan replied. “It will be most important to relate the two men together.”
    “More importantly,” Joel interjected, “we relate Winthrop to Woodrow Wilson. They were old friends and saw eye to eyeon most everything.