Catch a Falling Star Read Online Free PDF Page A

Her earlier thoughts of someone else understanding what she’d gone through fizzled.
    Right now Justine felt like Azalea Bush was her only friend, her only ally in the place she swore she’d never come back to for any length of time. She’d gotten up her nerve and called Sunday night, but only got her voice mail. She couldn’t think of a message that didn’t sound completely pathetic, so she hung up without leaving one. Three days of being in town and not a peep from her mother.
    They finally reached Starlight after a silence-filled ride. Instead of heading to the Cedar Grove development, Billy turned the truck, heading past the south end of town. The limestone bluffs gave way to the gentle rise and fall of the edge of the hill country.
    “Where are we going?” She glanced Billy’s way.
    His dark eyes snapped their focus in her direction. “You wanted to see about the boots.”
    “It doesn’t have to be today.”
    “It’s okay. I figure I won’t get much peace until you see the boots and my sister gets to meet you.” A dimple winked at her in his cheek. “That is, if you don’t mind.”
    “You’re the driver,” she fired back at him. She felt a laugh tickle the back of her throat. Now where had that teasing come from? She hadn’t meant to sound demanding. Tyler often accused her of being difficult, but then he had her matched in that department.
    Billy Tucker, though, hadn’t been difficult. They followed the winding road that somehow had gone from four lanes to two. The land spread out in front of them, lined with barbed wire fences interrupted by the occasional driveways framed with metal or stone arches.
    At the top of one hill, the road snaked away from them. She figured they could see a good ten miles to the south. Pretty. She had a pricier view in Los Angeles, but this one reminded her of how close the area still remained to its roots, and they were the newcomers.
    “I never get tired of the view,” Billy said, as if he knew what she was thinking. “Dad bought the acreage after he retired from the Army in 2000. We’re not as far out from town as we used to be, with the newer housing developments expanding. But we don’t get much light pollution here at all.” He slowed the truck and turned into a driveway flanked by a pair of limestone pillars monogrammed with a capital T, capped by lanterns. A smaller sign in front of the right pillar said Home of Tucker Boots .
    They bounced along the dirt and gravel driveway, and Justine clutched the armrest with one hand and her cane with the other.
    Billy slowed down. “Sorry about that. The truck sorta gets a mind of her own when we’re headed for the garage.”
    “Just like a horse?”
    “Something like that.”
    They passed a field of live oak trees, their spindly branches reaching toward the blue sky, and Justine caught her first glimpse of the Tucker house. A white, sprawling ranch house of limestone with a green metal roof sat at an angle facing the driveway. Not far away stood a large metal garage and a small stone building that wore another Tucker Boots sign. In the distance, alongside the driveway that continued through the ranch yard, lay a neat little wooden cottage.
    “This is beautiful.” Her throat caught at the sight. “Do you. . . Do you have any cattle?”
    “A few. It’s a hobby, not like a real working ranch, though. And we have horses.” Billy honked the horn twice and pulled up in front of the one-room stone building. “But here’s where I do my boots.”
    He cut the engine, left the truck, then appeared at her door before she’d gathered up her purse and her cane. He opened the door for her. She hadn’t had anyone open her door since the last time she’d used valet parking.
    “Why thank you, Mr. Tucker.” She shifted and managed to get herself down from the truck seat. He stepped back and let her get her footing. She liked that about him. He didn’t hover like some guys would, but gave her a chance to stand on her