Meg drew air into her lungs and closed her eyes. Once her sisters were raised, married, and out of the house, she intended to live without any responsibilities, wear dresses, and sew pretty garments. This life was harsh, and becoming the head of the household at the age of twelve had stolen her girlhood from her. Soon, it would be her time to live. She promised herself every day…soon.
“Come on, it’s time to put the chickens up before it gets dark,” Meg said, ruffling Ruby’s hair, like she was twelve again and not fifteen. “You’ve caused enough excitement for one day. Your punishment will be you have to clean the chicken coop, and you’ll donate the money you earned to the house.”
“No,” Ruby whined, her blue eyes pleading with her sister. “Not the chicken coop.”
Meg shook her head, knowing she had to be strong. “Sorry, I’m working in the garden, and it needs to be done. You’re now home from school to help me.”
“Lucky me,” Ruby said.
“Should have thought of that before you kissed all those boys.”
Ruby raised her head and stared at Meg, her sky blue eyes flashing defiance. “Next time I won’t get caught.”
Meg stopped. “Do you want me to tell Papa when he comes home?”
“No,” she said sullenly.
“Then there won’t be a next time.” Meg questioned whether or not she’d been strict enough with Ruby. The girl had used her brains to come up with the one way she could earn extra money. Unfortunately, it could also damage her reputation. And if their Papa learned of her antics, she might be feeling the barber strap on her backside.
The three of them walked out the front door of the small house. “I’m not collecting the eggs tonight,” Ruby said, flouncing alongside them. “That one hen bites me every time.”
“It’s my turn to collect the eggs,” Annabelle said, walking quietly with them to the barn.
When Ruby got into trouble, Annabelle always went out of her way to make Ruby’s life easier for a few days.
“I’ll put up the goats,” Ruby volunteered.
“Are those riders in the distance?” Annabelle asked, stopping and shading her eyes as she stared toward the horizon.
Meg strained her eyes against the setting sun. “Is that…? That’s Papa.”
“Papa,” Ruby cried, running across the field toward their father.
“Something’s not right,” Meg said, gazing toward the two men on horseback. “He’s slumped in the saddle. He’s not sitting up straight and tall.”
“Oh, my God,” Annabelle said as she started to run. “He’s hurt.”
Meg’s chest grew tight, squeezing the air from her lungs at the thought of something being wrong with their father.
End of Excerpt
Author Bio
Sylvia McDaniel
Sylvia McDaniel is a best-selling, award-winning author of western historical romance and contemporary romance novels. Known for her sweet, funny, family-oriented romances, Sylvia is the author of The Burnett Brides a historical western series, The Cuvier Widows, a Louisiana historical series, Lipstick and Lead, a western historical series and several short contemporary romances.
Former President of the Dallas Area Romance Authors, a member of the Romance Writers of America®, and a member of Novelists Inc, her novel, A Hero’s Heart was a 1996 Golden Heart Finalist. Several other books have placed or won in the San Antonio Romance Authors Contest, LERA Contest, and she was a Golden Network Finalist.
Married for nearly twenty years to her best friend, they have one dachshund that reigns Queen Supreme over the house and a good-looking, grown son who thinks there’s no place like home. She loves gardening, hiking, shopping, knitting and football (Cowboys and Bronco’s fan), but not necessarily in that order.
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You can write to Sylvia at P.O. Box 2542, Coppell, TX 75019 or visit her website.
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 by Sylvia McDaniel
All Rights Reserved
Published by Virtual Bookseller, LLC
Cover Art by Lyndsey Lewellen
This book and parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the author and publisher, except as provided by the United States of America copyright law. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review.
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