ТОП просматриваемых книг сайта:
Gabriel's Heart. Madeline George
Читать онлайн.Название Gabriel's Heart
Год выпуска 0
isbn
Автор произведения Madeline George
Издательство HarperCollins
This book is dedicated to my husband, Chuck, forever and always my dearest love.
August 1881
Gabriel Hart spied the cabin when he crested the hill. No sign of Hannah anywhere. He frowned. She usually heard him coming and hurried to meet him.
He grinned. Napping. Had to be it. Now that they were expecting a baby in a few months, she had to rest more often.
When he passed the well and saw the bucket spilled, the dipper in the dust, Gabriel’s gut tightened and his blood raced. Something wasn’t right The house and yard were too quiet. Too empty.
He stepped down from his horse, let the reins drop and reached for the Colt on his hip—but he’d waited too long.
A flash. Thunder in the still afternoon.
The first bullet tore a ragged hole in his right wrist Pain jolted through his gun hand.
Another flash. More thunder.
The second bullet gouged into his side and lodged beneath his left lung. Fire spread through his chest like a bolt of lightning, taking his breath away.
Gabriel dropped to his knees and glared at the man who’d just shot him. Otis Blackburn. The bastard was holding Hannah the same way he’d hold a rag doll.
“Gabriel…”
Her bruised face, and her clothes, torn and bloody, told him what had happened.
“Hannah!”
A knife. Sunlight flashed off the blade as it ripped her throat. Her scream slashed through Gabriel like a dagger. Blood soaked into her dress, draining her life away.
Hatred gave Gabriel the strength to stand. If only he’d gotten home a little sooner. Five minutes earlier, and this snake of a man, this waste of skin he thought he’d put away forever, would be bleeding out his life in place of the woman who made Gabriel’s life complete. The woman who carried his child.
Hannah’s brown eyes glazed over and her bruised, bleeding lips mouthed Gabriel’s name as she sank to the ground at his feet.
Otis Blackburn laughed while Hannah died.
The hammer clicked back. “I won’t kill you, Hart. I want you to live at least ten more years. I want you to know what it’s like to be in prison all those days and nights. In prison in your own body.” He took aim at Gabriel’s right knee.
With his last strength Gabriel lunged at the filthy murderer and drove his head into Blackburn’s gut. The gun fired into thin air. Gabriel pounded his good fist into Blackburn’s face and gouged at his eyes until he felt blood trickle between his fingers.
Blackburn smashed the butt of his gun into Gabriel’s temple.
Gabriel sank into the dust, pain burning through him.
“Adiós, lawman.” Blackburn mounted and rode off toward the ridge.
Gabriel dragged himself forward until he could touch Hannah’s limp hand. Already cold. He balled his left hand into a fist and raised it to the vanishing image of the killer.
“Someday, Blackburn, I’ll find you. You’ll die. So help me, God. You’ll beg to die.”
October 1882
“Geoffrey, I have to get to the depot. The train won’t wait for us if we’re late.”
“But, Katrina, I have something really important to tell you. To give you, actually.”
Trina McCabe thrust one of her brown leather traveling bags at Geoffrey Monroe in an attempt to budge him from the spot in the hall outside her bedroom door. He’d arrived at the ranch half an hour ago, but she hadn’t spoken to him until just now. She wasn’t ready to talk to Geoffrey yet. She knew the thing he had to show her was an engagement ring, but she wasn’t ready to address that subject To be truthful, she didn’t know if she’d ever be ready to discuss it. So she’d made him wait, hoping he’d get the idea she was too busy to talk today. But it hadn’t worked. Couldn’t he take a hint just once?
In the looking glass above her chiffonier, her cheeks seemed a trifle pale. She touched the tips of two fingers to her tongue, then scrubbed at one of the pink roses on the wallpaper. With a few practiced strokes she transferred the pink dye to her cheeks. Satisfied, she straightened her blue feathered hat.
“Please listen, Katrina. Aren’t you curious to see what I brought you?” Geoffrey shined the toe of one boot on the back of his freshly pressed nankeen trousers, then straightened his vest nervously. “Can’t you stand still?”
“No, I can’t. Papa will be calling any minute now that it’s time to—”
Amos McCabe bellowed from downstairs. “Trina! We’re leaving right now. Are you coming or not?”
“I’m coming, Papa!” Trina called back. “Now, Geoffrey, there’ll be worlds of time to talk once I’m back from Silver Falls. Come for supper then. I promise I’ll listen to every word you say.” Every dull and tedious word, she wanted to add, but Geoffrey was, after all, her beau. Wasn’t he?
Geoffrey grabbed her bag and reached for the valise, but Trina beat him to it. For some reason, demonstrating her independence seemed terribly important Geoffrey clutched the bag as though it contained silver or gold.
“You shouldn’t be carrying heavy things, Katrina.” Geoffrey grabbed the valise from her hand. “I’ll carry this, too. Maybe I ought to go with you to Silver Falls.”
“Nonsense!” She said it too emphatically and knew it She gave him her sweetest smile as placation to turn his protests into thin air, as always, and scanned the room to see if she’d left anything essential. The valise had been heavier than she’d thought, so she decided not to argue with Geoffrey and let him carry it, too. Traveling without a trunk was terribly inconvenient She usually packed three trunks for a trip this long. But there would be no one she knew in Silver Falls. Praise the Lord for that.
Her father’s voice boomed again from downstairs.
“Trina! We’re going without you if you aren’t down here by the time I count to five!”
“Papa’s going to have apoplexy. Come on!” Trina hurried down the stairs with Geoffrey close behind, lugging the baggage. She needed a couple of days to herself, without Geoffrey six inches away, panting around her like a lonesome puppy.
And she had to look after her father. Something wasn’t right about this business trip. He’d protested her coming in such a way she’d been genuinely alarmed at the idea of him going to Silver Falls at all, much less alone. Then there were those dreadful men who’d come to the house last week. Well, there was simply no way she’d allow him to go without her.
Geoffrey practically stepped on her skirts all the way down the stairs, and even bumped her behind with the baggage a couple of times. If Trina didn’t get away soon, she’d pitch the biggest fit any of them had ever seen!
Outside, Amos McCabe waited in the carriage, along with Trina’s oldest brother, Tom, who was going to drive them to the depot in Denver. The icy air hinted at snow, while the wind felt like icicles against her bare skin.