Castillo's Fiery Texas Rose Read Online Free PDF Page A

neck as his hand slid behind her head. He lifted her slightly and her shoulder came alive with the stings of ten thousand bees. A gasp stumbled from her lips.
    “Easy. I know it hurts.”
    Her lashes brushed against her cheek as she squeezed her eyes shut, but not before a tear coursed down her cheek.
    “Open,” he said gently.
    She felt the lip of the spout touch her bottom lip, and her mouth opened for the reward of cool water. She held it for a moment, then swallowed. The chill of spring water bathed her throat as it meandered down. With the process accomplished, he laid her head back and watched as she opened her eyes again. “Thank you.”
    “You are welcome.”
    He sat back on his haunches and replaced the stopper. Sunlight caught something metallic on his shirt. Intrigued, she stared at the star that hung on his chest. Her brow furrowed. They had met. She was sure.
    “You remember?”
    She didn’t want to. She wanted to forget. Her gaze rolled around the clearing. Nothing moved. She looked past the charred wagon, caught the mound of fresh dirt. Her eyes widened as her heart forgot to beat. She swallowed, but nothing would go past the lump in her throat. Her glance turned back to his face. He stared back without emotion. In those dark depths, she discovered the ugly truth.
    She took another deep breath and opened her mouth as a rush of remembered sounds assaulted her mind—Moe’s remarks, then her brother’s voice shouting her name, the bark of a rifle, and her own screams. Mary Rose cried out and her eyes shut against the wave of nausea that followed.
    “Mrs. Thornton?” His voice, tinged with worry, called to her.
    She felt his warm hand take hers, and he covered it with his other. Her eyes opened and she found he’d drawn it to his chest.
    Her brother’s name tumbled from her lips. “Daniel,” she whispered.
    He shook his head. A deep pain seared across her chest.
    His voice, clipped, laced with ire, filled her ears. “You are the only survivor.”
    She wondered why his anger seemed directed at her. It wasn’t her fault, or Daniel’s. Her heart lurched, and the tremble that had started in her chin grew stronger. “No.” The shattered word slipped from her mouth. “Please, no!”
    Tears moved one after another as the loss of her brother settled across her shoulders. Too numb to move, she felt something brush her cheek as his fingers swept away her sorrow.
    “I am sorry, so sorry for your loss,” he said.
    What could she do? What else could he say? What else could anyone say?
    Taking her silence for acceptance, the marshal spoke again. “Let’s get you into town. Claiborne is too far away. It will be easier to go to Cobb’s Crossing.”
    “I can’t go,” she began in a weak protest. Her eyes darted around, looking for a way out of this dilemma. “I can’t go home and leave him here, not alone.”
    “I have buried them, Mrs. Thornton.”
    Her soft sobs filled the space behind his words. Her brother lay in the ground, dirt filling his nostrils, covering his skin, nothing to protect him from the scavengers. Now the tears came in earnest. Somehow, she found herself cradled against a solid chest.
    “Come, I will take you from this place of misery,” he crooned. One hand stroked her hair. “Hush, hush, there was nothing you could do.”
    Mary Rose tried to compose herself. So many questions flooded her mind. Her brow furrowed. “I have—” She took in a shattered breath. “My wagons? Where are my wagons?”
    “One wagon only,” he replied. “And that one burned. The other is now gone.”
    Anger replaced hurt. Almost everything they had worked for was now vanished or destroyed. As quickly as it came, she felt the fight fade and become despair. It hurt too much to care, to think. She stared at the deep red Texas soil and mumbled, “It’s all gone.”

Chapter Three
    Trace glanced at the woman sitting on the ground, all her fight and bluster from yesterday gone, her despair all too