Patricia Hagan
Page 26
“I said, is this your first trip to Mexico?” He flashed a bright smile, leaning closer to the aisle, eager.
Amber nodded silently, then turned her gaze resolutely back to the window.
The man stiffened. He would not give up so easily. “Where are you going?” he asked boldly. “To visit relatives?”
Amber sighed. She did not want to be rude, could not remember being rude in her whole life. And what harm, she wondered, would it do to speak to the man? He was probably feeling as lonely as she was—though she had not been feeling sorry for herself because she was so excited to be seeing her father again after all these years. Turning to look at him, she murmured shyly, “I am getting off the train at a place called Suevlo.”
“Suevlo?” he echoed loudly. She moved back in her seat. Laughing softly, he gestured and said, “Don’t be frightened. I was surprised, that’s all. Suevlo isn’t anywhere at all. It’s in the middle of a wilderness. I hoped you were going all the way to Mexico City.”
“No,” Amber said quickly, shaking her head. “I am being met by my father…and my new family. They have a large ranch and breed bulls for fighting in Mexico City bullrings.”
“Do you think you will be coming to Mexico City?” he asked, too eagerly. Amber withdrew again. Scribbling down his name and a hotel address on a scrap of paper, he held it out to her. “Here. If you do get there, be sure to look me up. I would be honored to take you to dinner.”
Reluctantly, Amber took the paper, knowing she would throw it away later. “Thank you,” she said coolly, then added hastily, “If you will excuse me, I would like to take a nap now.”
She turned her back to him, settling down in the seat, her face to the window. For a long time she could feel his eyes on her, hear his agitated breathing. She knew he wanted the conversation to continue, and she hoped he was not hurt.
Amber allowed her mind to wander back to her childhood. She had been only twelve when her mother died. Her father left her in Louisiana in the care of her maternal grandmother and went to Mexico. He had seldom written, and Grandma hinted that he would never return, as much as saying that he had abandoned Amber. One day, there was a letter, telling of his marriage to the wealthy widow Allegra Alezparito.
Amber would not let herself believe that her father had abandoned her. After all, he had written that when her schooling was finished, he would send her the money to join him in Mexico. He wrote page after page describing the happy life she would have on the bull ranch. She read that letter until it was worn to tatters, for through the next years there were only a few lines at Christmas and on her birthday.
Life with her grandmother was far from happy. The old woman insisted that they live in almost total seclusion. Amber was not allowed friends, and heaven help any young man who dared to come calling! Grandma chased people from the front porch with a corn shuck broom. Their only outings were church on Sundays and occasional shopping trips to town. Even church socials were forbidden. Grandma did not hold with square dancing or picnics or other frivolous activities.
Amber counted the years, then months, until she could escape her miserable life. But just when freedom drew near, her grandmother took to her bed and stayed there for two long years before she died. Amber nursed her night and day, pushing her dreams far into the recesses of her mind.
When the old woman died, Amber sent a wire to her father. The response was immediate. He regretted that he was unable to be there for the funeral, but he enclosed money for Amber’s train ticket. No one attended the funeral except Amber, the preacher, and a few church members. A day after her grandmother was buried, Amber hastily disposed of her grandmother’s small home and belongings.
What lay ahead? Her father had told her she would love life on the ranch in Mexico, and he had mentioned that his wife had a son, Valdis, in his twenties, and a daughter, Maretta. How she hoped they would all be close; a real, loving family. Amber had missed all of that.
More exhausted than she realized, she fell asleep. When someone touched her shoulder, gently shaking her awake, she sat up and stared around in bewilderment. Night had fallen, and the conductor was telling her that they were only minutes from her destination.
As the conductor left, Amber thanked her stars that she knew Spanish. It wouldn’t be the first time she would do so. Since her father’s decision to settle in Mexico, she had cherished a hope of someday living with him, and had fed that dream by studying Spanish, getting books however she could, making up conversations with herself, and engaging a storekeeper who knew the language fairly well in endless talks. She smiled now, thinking of his mock exasperation every time she begged him to teach her Spanish. She sent him a silent thank-you.
She quickly gathered her worn tapestry bag and purse. A large trunk containing her clothes was in the baggage compartment. She checked her reflection in the grimy window, patted her hair, then took a deep breath and closed her eyes, whispering a prayer that the future would hold everything she had longed for all those years.
Can the answer to her curse lie in the dreams of the past?
Once Upon A Dream
© 2012 Jennifer Archer
When Professor Alex Simon moves to Canyon, Texas from England, he welcomes the opportunity to change his locale. Not only would he be aiding his recently widowed sister, but he would have a chance to forget a failed relationship.
Robin Wise is less than impressed by her new neighbor– and his little devil-cat. The feline taunts her dog, and its stuffy owner has the gall to blame her pup for the squabbles. But at a second glance, Alex isn't quite as nerdy as he seems. As a matter of fact, when he isn't insulting her dog, he can be quite charming.
But Robin has her own problems. An inherited curse looms over her impending thirtieth birthday, and until Robin can overcome the hex, she can't indulge in any fantasy she might have regarding the more-perfect-by-the-minute professor. No matter how she wishes she had the courage to act on the awakened desire in her heart.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Once Upon A Dream
Alex began his usual bedtime ritual: floss three minutes, brush two, gargle one. Then he told himself Johnny Amigo wouldn’t preoccupy himself with such finicky grooming habits. So, disgusted by his own tendencies, he turned his back on his dental floss and went to bed.
But the beer he’d consumed tasted stale in his mouth, and he couldn’t sleep. So, ten minutes after turning out the light, he rose again and resigned himself to resuming the habitual routine.
He still couldn’t sleep.
For the second time, Alex got up. He opened the window wider, hoping fresh air and the sounds of the summer rain shower would do the trick. He couldn’t quit thinking about the caller who’d followed him on Doctor Dave’s radio program. Finally…a woman who claimed to understand him, and he’d never know who she was. Just his luck.
Her fears were as illogical as his own. More so. As an academic, a professor of both botany and entomology, Alex didn’t believe in curses and other such superstitions. Still, he could understand how a woman, even an intelligent one, with the caller’s family history might become obsessed with such beliefs, logical or not. Although she was a stranger, for some reason, he wished he could help, that he could convince her the so-called curse could only hurt her if she believed in it.
Giving up on sleep, Alex switched on the bedside lamp and sat up. He reached for Amigo’s Justice, the second book in the Johnny Amigo trilogy. The first in the series had been checked out, so he had yet to read it. If Alex couldn’t rescue the damsel in distress on the radio, he guessed he might as well see how Johnny fared with his damsel.
After readjusting and plumping the pillows beneath his shoulders, Alex slipped on his glasses and started to read. Fifteen minutes later, his eyes drifted shut. Amigo’s Justice slipped from his fingers, slid down his bare stomach, then toppled to the floor.
A breeze rippled the bedroom curtains, but Alex was unaware. He didn’t see the blue butterfly flutter into the room through the tiny
hole in the window screen. At first the butterfly settled on the pillow beside Alex’s head. But after a moment, it perched atop his nose, causing a tickle and making him sneeze.
And Alex dreamed…
Love’s Wine
Patricia Hagan
She found love in the arms of the enemy!
Holly Maxwell despised the Yankees that had ravaged her home, leaving her beloved Magnolia Hall in charred ruins. Then, in the arms of a passionate stranger, Holly dared to think she might have found her true love—till she discovers that Scott Coulter is actually the new Commander of the occupying Federal Army.
Hurt, humiliated, and reeling from the betrayal, Holly is at the mercy of her ruthless stepbrother, who is more than happy to use her to further his evil schemes. But Holly is determined to persevere—she’ll stop at nothing to regain her family land…and reclaim her heart from the man who she can never forget.
This Retro Romance reprint was originally published in July 1985 by Avon Books.
eBooks are not transferable.
They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Love’s Wine
Copyright © 2012 by Patricia Hagan
ISBN: 978-1-61921-017-2
Edited by Heather Osborn
Cover by Valerie Tibbs
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Original Publication by Avon Books: July 1985
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: December 2012
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
About the Author
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