High Plains Hearts Read Online Free PDF

years,” he said jokingly.
    “Gold and diamonds and emeralds,” she mused. “Gold and diamonds and emeralds. Hmm. Let me think what I have in stock right now.”
    “I’m just teasing!” he protested.
    “So am I. Crystal and colored glass, maybe. Hey!” She snapped her fingers. “I have an idea that might work.”
    She reached high overhead and felt around until her fingers closed around it. “How about this?”
    She handed it to him. It was a shining silver bell, a bit dusty now. At the top of it, serving as a handle, was an elaborately sculpted angel’s head, her hair made of hundreds of delicate gold wires fused together lightly. The bell was her skirt, a lacy gold mesh network overlaid atop the silver background.
    “I could engrave it here”—she pointed to the hem of the gleaming skirt where a band of smooth silver ran along the border—“with whatever you would like. That would personalize it.”
    “Perfect!” The minister’s eyes shone with enthusiasm. “What should I put on it?”
    Tess shrugged. “Whatever you want is fine; it just can’t be too long, or it won’t fit. What would you like to say to her?”
    “You know, she’s been my angel all these years, but I wonder if she knows it.”
    “How about ‘My Angel’?” she suggested.
    “Perfect! How soon will it be done? And this is a secret, you know.”
    “I’ll have it done early next week. And my lips are sealed,” Tess promised solemnly.
    “And, speaking of secrets, why have you been keeping your young man a secret?”
    “What young man? Talk about secrets! I didn’t even know I had a young man! Rats. I’m always the last to know.” Tess laughed lightly and tried to suppress the telltale flush she knew was edging its way up her neck.
    “Don’t play coy with me, Tess Mahoney.” The minister waggled his finger under her nose. “You know good and well who I’m talking about. I mean that fellow who came to the dinner with you and helped us out so much. That young man. What’s the story with him?”
    “There really isn’t a story, Reverend Barnes.” Tess sadly acknowledged to herself that this wasn’t an actual lie. “He’s a customer. As a matter of fact, he just bought that big angel that’s usually there”—she pointed to the empty spot and tried to ignore the twinge in her heart—“and a print, and that’s that.”
    Reverend Barnes studied her shrewdly. “No, that’s not that. There’s more, but I’m not going to pry. I did promise your grandmother I’d keep watch over you, you know.”
    “Yes, I know.” Tess’s heart gentled. “And I am telling you the truth. I’ve only known him since the day before Thanksgiving. And I do like him—a lot—but there’s really no more to the story.”
    “It’s still early,” he said.
    “He’s a customer,” she repeated, with slight emphasis on the last word.
    “I meant early in the day,” he said, his bright blue eyes dancing with impishness. “Why, whatever did you think I meant? Girl, you’ve got to learn to relax!”
    She could not become irritated with him. He was a rascal, and she absolutely adored him. Besides, she knew he had only her best interests at heart.
    She made a split-second decision to confide in him. “Reverend Barnes, I do like him. A lot. I like his sense of humor, his thoughtfulness.” She struggled for the words. “He even likes Cora.”
    “More to the point, does she like him?” He was all too familiar with the way the cat ruled the household.
    “She adores him. Well, she lets him scratch her ears. And her nose. And her forehead.” She pretended to frown. “Reverend Barnes, I do believe the man is courting my cat.”
    “This sounds like it’s getting serious,” he answered, and Tess realized he was only partially kidding her. “When a man woos a woman’s cat, he’s building the base for an all-out campaign to win her heart.”
    “Do you think so?” Her fingers clasped together so tightly that her ring cut into her