White Dove's Promise by Stella Bagwell Read Free Book Online Page B

he pulled away from the house, she wondered if this was the last time she would ever see him. Or if Jared Colton was going to try to make her one more notch on the foot of his bed.

Chapter Three
    T he kitten’s meow was more like a squall of protest. Jared glanced down at the small animal carrier sitting on the truck seat beside him. The yellow tabby had caught his eye the first moment the volunteer worker at the shelter had shown him into the room of orphaned cats. His broad nose, proud tail and coarse voice had convinced Jared he would be the perfect companion to frisky Fred and Peggy.
    â€œJust hold on and I’ll let you out of that cage,” he told the cat as he turned off the main highway and onto a graveled dirt road.
    At the end of the dusty, quarter-mile drive, stood an old square ranch house with a hip roof and a porch bordering three sides. The house and two acres had come up for rent five years ago when a local farmer had sold off the surrounding crop land and moved into town. Jared had taken it on a long-term lease, mainlyto have a place to hang his hat when work brought him back to the Black Arrow vicinity.
    There were times the old house stood empty for months running. But Jared had never had a problem with stealing or vandalism. There were benefits to having the county sheriff as your brother, he thought with great affection. Also to having a sister who was kind enough to keep the dust from piling up inside. And from the looks of the pickup truck parked to one side of the driveway, Willow must have taken pity on him and stopped by today to do a little cleaning.
    After parking the truck in front of a faded wooden fence that separated the yard from weedy pasture, Jared climbed out and carefully carried the caged cat into the house. The moment he closed the door behind him, he was hit by the smell of fresh-baked cookies and the sound of his sister’s voice. He followed the sound into the kitchen to see her sitting on the tall barstool he kept beneath the wall phone.
    â€œHere he is now,” she said to the caller. “So I’ll let you ask him.”
    Jared cocked a questioning brow at her. She mouthed the word “newspaper” as she handed him the phone.
    Two minutes later, Jared hung up.
    â€œThat was quick,” Willow remarked.
    â€œI’m sure he’d already told you that he wanted to do an interview with me, Kerry and Peggy. I told him we’d meet him here tomorrow night.” He made a general wave in the direction of the sink full of dirty dishes. “Do you think you could clean the place up a bit?”
    Willow shook her head in amazement. “Listen, little brother, you might not even need this place cleaned up when Kerry hears that you didn’t bother to consult herabout this meeting. Sounds to me like you’re asking for big trouble.”
    He probably was asking for trouble, Jared thought, but not the sort his sister had in mind. “I’ll get her to agree,” he told her with a confident grin, then motioned for her to follow him out to the living room. “Come here and look what I’ve got.”
    â€œWhat is this?” Willow exclaimed as soon as she spotted the animal cage sitting in the middle of the floor. “You found a snake at the work site?”
    He chuckled. “I’m not into reptiles. I like soft, cuddly things.”
    â€œHmm, don’t I know it,” she said dryly.
    Jared bent down and unlatched the cage. The tabby pranced out as if he was ready to take possession of the place.
    Willow squealed with pleasure, then quickly knelt down and stroked the cat’s arched back. “Oh, how adorable! Where did he come from?”
    â€œI stopped by the animal shelter on my way home.”
    His black-haired, gray-eyed sister looked up at him with disbelief. “Am I hearing this right? My playboy brother actually adopted a kitten? What are you going to do with him when your job here is finished? Take