Clarice cautiously began to branch out into human portraits, starting with young John Thomas, since he wasn’t likely to have any hidden emotions. Farris encouraged this process. “Those portraits you did of the McGees were sort of unexpected, but there was nothing offensive in them,” he told her. “Maybe you were picking up nasty hidden emotions because you yourself were hiding so much.”
“I hope that’s the explanation of the problem,” Clarice replied, “because I’m getting requests to paint horses with their owners, and I’d really like to.”
“Well, they do say that people begin to look like their animals, or vice versa, when the two are close.” Farris grinned. “Why don’t I take some close-ups of you and Courier together, and we’ll see what happens.”
For Courier had become Clarice’s horse. The moment she returned from Tennessee, he had seen her on the porch of her special guest house and jumped the corral fence to gallop up to her. Clarice now confidently rode him to hunt meets and steeple chases, and Farris was able to obtain decent ‘covering’ fees for the young stallion.
Hunting friends, learning the reason for her diffidence, began donating photographs so Clarice could see if her ‘superpower’ was truly tamed. “Well,” one friend remarked on her new portrait, “I don’t think I usually look that genial, but I’m not going to argue about it.” - By the New Year, Clarice was beginning to show horse and owner portraits. It was like a dream come true. Now she was not only painting animals, which she still loved dearly, but human portraits as well, and doing great at it as well. She smiled and patted Courier on the head, who whinnied a reply. It was nice to know that her life was really turning out to be the fairy tale she had once shunned from her life.
********************************
Meanwhile, the young couple was rediscovering their joy in lovemaking. Married love proved to have more responsibilities and strings attached, but Farris enjoyed exploring his wife again. Now that she was safely on ‘the pill’, there would be no surprises they did not plan for. Clarice, for her part, often found her hand slipping onto her husband’s private member when they sat together after supper, and John Thomas was in bed. They savored their new life and love together, home at peace on the Two Flags ranch where it all first began. Clarice couldn’t have possible
For the first time, Clarice stopped hating her own body. Those wretched ‘hooters’ her mother had mocked so still required sturdy foundation garments, but Farris enjoyed seeing her bounce them. Also, they had proved quite useful when John Thomas was nursing. Clarice had always been able to satisfy him.
Marion Saxe was also finding a new meaning in her own life. That psychiatric hospital had been scary – and tremendously expensive. She had been admonished to throw off the burdens of her own past, and the advice had seemed good. Apparently, being successful in business made better sense financially than allowing her private vendettas to get her into a hospital. Why, she’d never felt so confined in her life!
Actually, it was a little easier to get things done when you didn’t have to consider every move any prospective client had ever made. – And it was nice to see people smile. Even Old Nick Mortimer occasionally smiled when she praised his meticulous bookkeeping.
The really big change came when a grizzled stranger came into the office and inquired for Marion Bean – her long-ago maiden name. “I was once Marion Bean,” she admitted, staring. The stranger had glasses and walked with a limp, but he was still nice looking.
“And I’m still Ezra Plunkett,” he replied with a smile. “I guess you never expected to see your big, dumb football player again.”
Years rolled away from Marion’s vision. “You were having trouble passing biology – all those Latin tree names!”
“Yep, and you helped me, too, though you were mighty saucy about it,” Plunkett responded. “I see you’ve got a different name painted up over the door now. You ever find yourself a man who could keep up with you?”
Marion found herself laughing a little. “It was a long time ago; he died in an auto accident before I could even get to know him well. Then, my parents died, and there was nobody else to take over the business.”
“No, people are moving out of these little burgs,” Plunkett responded. “I took myself off and joined the Merchant Marines. No pesky Latin there. Anybody jabbering in a foreign language, you scraped him off with a boat hook. – I’m retired now, of course; no place for a sailor with a gimpy leg.”
“Are you looking for a rental?” she asked. “I’m afraid we’re not much cheaper here in the boonies than they are in the big city.”
“Actually,” Plunkett answered, “I think I own some property here.” He took a big wad of paper from the pocket of his light jacket. “My Pa’s will finally caught up with me when I went in to the shipyard to get my severance papers. I’ve been trying to figure out what this says ever since I got it. Then I saw this shop and remembered you were good with reading.” He passed the papers over.
Marion put on her glasses and spread the will on the counter. Then she looked up. “Ezra, it looks like you own a tract of land the county’s considering building on.” She came around the counter. “Let’s you and me mosey over to the court house.”
As it happened, Angus Pirtle had taken a summer job at the local newspaper, since his father had insisted he learn a practical skill. Thus he was returning from checking out a ‘so-called’ story when he spied Mrs. Saxe and her gimpy-legged companion going to the court house. With an attempt at cat-like tread, he followed them. He finally found them in the office of the Registrar of Deeds.
“You need to look at this, Dean,” Marion Saxe was saying. “I know old Joel Plunkett was in an out-of-county nursing home when he died, but this will says he owned property right here. Look up the deed on this Platte number.”
The man at the desk looked up. “It doesn’t matter who owned that land; the county’s seized it for back taxes.”
“Wait a minute, son.” Ezra Plunkett stepped ponderously forward. “My Pa just died two years ago. How much you say is owed on that property?”
“Three thousand dollars,” the registrar responded implacably. “That’s what it shows here.” He placed the record defiantly on the desk.”
“Yup, three thousand dollars.” Ezra reached into his back pocket and produced a fat wallet that was chained to his belt. “Well, I reckon I got that much.” He started counting out the bills onto the desk, then replaced his still well-filled wallet.
The registrar opened his mouth. “I can’t just accept money like this,” he finally got out.
“Well, go get your superior,” Marion Saxe used her sternest voice. “If we can’t settle this matter here satisfactorily, I’m going to see a lawyer.”
When the registrar had left, Ezra Plunkett put his hand over the money to see that it didn’t go anywhere. “You copy down what you need off that paper, Marion girl,” he said. “I knew I needed to come to your place. – You see, when they tested me for college football, they discovered I’m what they call dyslexic with words. If there’s a lot in one place, I can’t make heads or tails of them. Numbers I’m fine with.”
Meanwhile, more people were running toward the Registrar’s desk. Angus Pirtle scooted back into an out-of-the-way corner. Did he have a story, or did he have a story?
Two months later, Clarice looked up from her laptop. She had subscribed to the Sewanee area paper online as soon as her brother had gotten a job there, and now he had actually managed to get a byline. The headline itself was shocking.
“Farris, my mother has gotten herself a new interest,” she said excitedly. “I can’t believe it. Angus even got the byline!”
“What’s your mother gone and done?” Farris was suspending judgment on Marion Saxe. So far, his offer to supplement her retirement income had lain unnoticed in Patrick Underhill’s law office.
“This is so amazing,” Clarice burbled. “It seems that years ago Mother helped a rather dimwitted classmate pass a biology test. Appar
ently he suffered from dyslexia, but nobody knew about that then. Anyway, he came back to town and went to Mother’s agency so she could help him read his father’s will. It turns out the city owes him a lot of money, and there was a big hoo-ha in the papers. – I can’t IMAGINE Mother doing anything like that!”
Clarice had trouble picturing her mother helping anyone, especially some slow witted man, unless it benefited her in some way. But it goes to show that even an evil person can sometimes be known to let a good deed slip from time to time. She sat back and smiled.
“I’m glad to hear she’s doing something with herself,” Farris commented gently. “And it’s neat that Angus got to write up the story, too; I’ve always liked Angus.”
Actually, Farris was feeling relief that Marion was off their case. It had been a peaceful existence ever since that woman’s attempted suicide and therapy. At least some good came of the whole dramatic event. Now that John Thomas had grown up enough to require a nursery gate at the head of the stairs, Clarice was pregnant again. She had found an excellent obstetrician in Lexington, and all the Pirtles were being careful to make sure no word of the pregnancy had reached her volatile mother.
Their family was growing alongside their love for one another. With each passing day the family grew up as Clarice continued to grow out from carrying his second child. Clarice sat at her desk, just weeks before the child was to be born, sifting through some of the final orders before she took her leave. She paused as the wind chimes began to play outside on the porch in the distance. A soft neigh came from somewhere in the field as the new colts frolicked and played together. Her life had forever changed from one risky move when she took the commission on the Two Flags and now it was decision she hasn’t regretted a day since.
The week little Alice Rose Croxton was born, Angus Pirtle faxed another newspaper article to his brother-in-law. Farris was laughing when he came into the hospital room Clarice shared with her baby daughter. Clarice glanced up from her feeding and shot him a puzzled look, her eyes sleepy from the delivery and strain of a newborn baby once more in their lives. He sat down besides her, still laughing in hysterics and stroked his little girl’s soft head.
“Oh, Clarice, you are not going to believe this!” he chortled. “Ezra Plunkett and Marion Saxe have just wedded and are taking a honeymoon cruise to Greece!
So, Clarice thought, fairy tales sometimes really did come true. Dyslexic Ezra Plunkett would never think to ask about Marion’s past – and Marion would not be troubled to tell him.
<< THE END >>
Christin’s Other Cowboy Romance Stories
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Here is a sample from Falling For The Photographer story that you may enjoy:
Violet knew where he was taking her, but she didn’t try to stop him. She could feel worries floating into her mind, about what it might mean for her, for him and for her job, but they weren’t loud enough to stop her. There was only one thought that was loud enough in her mind to take any control and that was her desire to have him.
She had felt it the moment he had opened the door, it had intensified when he had kissed her hand and it had been laying within her, waiting for its chance to get out ever since. Even if the worries had have been louder, she doubted she would have been able to stop herself.
As soon, as they were both in the bedroom it began. His lips found the small of her neck and delicately kissed their way up to the corner of her mouth. Violet could feel her breathing growing heavy, as his lips found hers and she turned her body to face him.
There was no distance between them, as Violet opened herself up to John. Her lips moving with his, as his tongue began to tease hers. Every time she felt it flit against hers, she could feel a need growing inside of her, her kisses were becoming more urgent, as she couldn’t help but push her lips against his with some force.
She could feel his broad chest rising and falling against hers. His toned body held firm against hers, as her breasts pushed against him. Every time he let a breath out, his chest would fall slightly, sending shockwaves of pleasure from Violet’s breast, down into her pants. If there was ever any chance of her stopping this from happening, then that was a long ago prospect, the world no longer existed, her job no longer existed, the only thing she knew was him.
Falling For The Photographer
Here is a sample from Loving The Tutor story that you may enjoy:
… Belle couldn’t breathe, but she didn’t need to. All she needed was his lips on hers. All she wanted was to feel them press harder against her own. The world had melted away around them; there was only her and him. She stepped forward and closed the space between them, her chest rising and falling quickly against his. She could smell his aftershave; the scent filled her nose and intoxicated her brain with images of where the kiss might lead.
Sam felt Belle step forward, her chest was pressing against his, as his hands found their way to the small of her back. He let them rest there for a moment, putting just enough force in them to keep her close to him, but then he let them start to roam.
Belle could feel Sam’s hands shifting from the small of her back. Every inch that they moved sent tingles up her spine and goose bumps to her skin. The kiss was still happening, expect it wasn’t gentle anymore; both of them had a hunger behind it, both of them wanted more.
Sam pulled away gently after a second. The world came back into focus and Belle couldn’t help but long for the kiss to be picked back up. She didn’t say anything, she just waited for Sam to say something or do something…
Loving The Tutor
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The Cowboy of My Dreams
The Cowboy’s Desire
The Cowboy’s Redemption
Falling For The Photographer
Cowboy Misbehaving
Kiss The Cowboy
Loving The Tutor
Cowboy’s Love Lesson
Cowboy Unleashed
Be My Bride
The Voice of Love
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Fight For The Love
Table of Contents
…Synopsis…
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Table of ContentChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Note from Author
Here is a sample from Falling For The Photographer
Here is a sample from Loving The Tutor
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The Cowboy's Secret Baby: BWWM Cowboy Pregnancy Romance (Young Adult First Time Billionaire Steamy African American) Page 10