Читать онлайн «Jessie's Child»
Автор Dyer Lois
“For tonight, I’m just Zach. And you’re just Jessie. No last names. No family between us. ”
“Can we do that?” she asked, her voice shaking with confusion while her body pulsed with desire.
“We can do anything we want. ” Zach pressed his mouth against the curve of her throat and she closed her eyes, arching her back to offer him greater access. “Give us tonight, Jessie. ”
She struggled with her conscience while the vow she’d made at ten years old to hate all Kerrigans faded beneath the force of her own desire. He’s not like the rest of them. She fumbled behind her and twisted the doorknob, allowing the door to swing inward. She saw a flare of satisfaction in his eyes before he swung her off her feet and carried her into the apartment.
Dear Reader,
I fell in love with northeast Montana when I was five years old. That was the year my family moved there to help my great-uncle work his wheat-and-cattle ranch just north of Peerless. I saw my first real horseman when neighbor Tony Kleeman joined my father to run the Hereford cattle into the home pasture for the winter. The fluid rhythm of Tony riding a quarter horse was like watching choreographed ballet. I was wide-eyed, awed, amazed and left with an image I’ve never forgotten.
The ranchers who work the land in Daniels County and elsewhere in Montana are rugged, independent individuals, and the women who share their lives are equally strong. But like families everywhere, pride, prejudice, betrayal and intrigue can complicate their lives. I hope you enjoy this story about Jessie McCloud, Zach Kerrigan and their struggle to create a family for their much-loved son, Rowdy. And I hope you’ll return to Wolf Creek with me for the third installment in The McClouds of Montana when Chase McCloud reluctantly joins forces with Raine Harper to search for her missing brother.
Warmest wishes,
Lois Faye Dyer
Jessie’s Child
Lois Faye Dyer
LOIS FAYE DYER
For my sisters, Norma, Shirley, Elsie and Carol, and for my brother, B. L. Jacobson. Because you all remember those years in Montana.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter One
Wolf Creek, Montana
Early Spring
Jessie McCloud shivered in the raw wind that blew down from the buttes, carrying a spatter of raindrops that felt like ice against her tear-dampened cheeks. She struggled to stifle her sobs but succeeded only in hiccupping as she tried to swallow the sound.
Flanked by her two tall teenage brothers, she clutched their hands, squeezing harder.
Seventeen-year-old Chase bent toward her. “Are you okay, Jessie?”
She nodded, glancing fearfully over her shoulder at the Montana State Department of Corrections Officer who stood several feet behind them. The uniformed man’s expression was stern, his gaze fixed on the mahogany casket and gravesite beyond.
