Winds of terror by Patricia Hagan Read Free Book Online Page B

really get around in his wheelchair, she

    reflected; there didn't seem to be any place he couldn't go.
    "If you'd been in a cage for two days, you'd understand," she laughed. The smile left her face and was replaced by a look of acute embarrassment as she realized how ill-chosen her words had been. Cale was in a cage of sorts—imprisoned in that chair.
    But Cale didn't seem to notice. His eyes were shining, and the wide grin added to his charm. Melanie suspected that at one time he had probably been a real favorite with the girls.
    "How does Grandmother feel about your having a dog here?" he asked.
    Melanie repeated what Addie had said that morning. He nodded thoughtfully.
    "She really believes Todd is coming back from his grave to haunt her, doesn't she? He was a wild one, but no one is that wild. It's Mark she'd better watch out for. He's the crafty one.'*
    "Mark?" Melanie had to laugh at that. "You didn't grow up here, Cale, so you don't remember how it was. Mark would jump if Todd so much as blinked at him. He hasn't got the backbone to do one devilish deed."
    He frowned, and she saw his hands clench the arms of the chair.
    "He's crafty, Melanie. He's going to find a way to get this whole plantation for himself."
    "Aunt Addie won't let that happen," Melanie said quickly.
    "Hell find a way. He'll have her declared legally insane if he doesn't kill her first."
    "He's your cousin, Cale," she said sternly. "You shouldn't talk like that."
    "Okay, okay, forget I said anything," he offered, patting Dutch's head affectionately as the terrier nuzzled in his lap. "I'm not going to say another word about anything," he went on. "I think it's foolish for a pretty young girl like you to bury herself alive here with a bitter old woman, a cripple, and a conniving fortune-hunter, but it's your business."
    Melanie decided to change the subject. "When are you going to learn how to drive the car you talked Addie into buying?**

    "After I learn how to walk," he said. "Which may take years."
    "Do you ever try?"
    "Sure. Sometimes ..." He stared off into the distance. •Td like to walk again, almost as much as I'd like to be able to race again. There's something about racing that gets into your blood and never gets out. The smell of burning rubber and exhaust fumes becomes a kind of perfume; your blood races and your heart pounds . . /* He took a deep breath, held it, tiien let it go all at once, his lips spreading into a big smile. "Yep, I guess I want to drive again more than anything in the world. One day, I will."
    Melanie's heart filled with pity, even though she knew it was the last emotion Cale would ever want her to feel for him. Even now, with his legs paralyzed and useless, there was a vibrancy about him, an enthusiasm for living, that few people ever have.
    'The thing for you to do after nearly getting killed once," she said, "is to find some nice girl and get married and settle down and have a houseful of children."
    A cloud seemed to come over Cale's eyes, and Melanie was sorry she had made such a statement. His hands went to his knees, and he shook his head.
    "No woman wants a man like this," he said quietly as though he were stating a fact. "I found that out You see, I was engaged when I had the accident."
    "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
    Cale sighed and went on, "Sylvia just didn't want to be a nursemaid to a cripple. I don't blame her. Oh, she tried to hang on, for appearance's sake, I guess. She came around to the hospital and said all the things a guy wants to hear at a time like that. She even visited me here once or twice. I saw through it all, though, and one day I just asked her why she didn't get lost. And she did."
    He laughed, but it was not a pleasant sound. "Sylvia was too much of a party girl to play Florence Nightingale. The last I heard, she was in Europe chasing after some Grand Prix driver...."
    Melanie almost reached out to touch him, but checked herself in time. She decided it best just to keep quiet and let him