Lonestar Sanctuary Read Online Free PDF Page B

Rick."
    He didn't want to be moved by her love for the child, but the gesture had affected him. "Yeah, I saw it too. It's the only reason I haven't
thrown her out on her ear. The kid needs help."
    "And so do we." Elijah went toward the door. "Let them sleep. If
we wake them to move to a bed, the nina may have trouble getting
back to sleep."
    Rick followed his boss out of the barn to the ranch house.
Stepping into the living room, he looked around, seeing it with fresh
eyes. He couldn't remember the last time one of them had mopped
the scarred wooden floors or dusted the battered furniture. Last
autumn maybe?
    A stale odor hung in the air as though the windows hadn't been
opened in months. And maybe they hadn't. He should clean it up a
little before Allie took over. But not tonight. Fatigue weighed down
his legs. He'd do it in the morning.
    ALLIE STOOD WATCHING THE SUN COME UP OYER THE MOUNTAINS. THE
morning air made her shiver, but she couldn't go inside yet. Not while
the sunrise gilded the peaks and valleys, and the air smelled like sage
and creosote. Her hair still uncombed, Betsy stood beside her with
their hands locked.
    "You like it here, Bets?" Allie asked.
    Betsy nodded and pointed. A flock of bluebirds blanketed the grass
and pecked for insects.
    Allie drank in the sight. If only finding the real bluebird of happiness was as easy as following a flock of birds. "I've never seen so many in one place. I wonder if this is a migration spot for them. We should
ask Mr. DeAngelos."

    Betsy nodded, her gaze still on the birds.
    The old man had to let them stay. The bluebirds told Allie she and
Betsy were in the right place. Betsy would talk again, and no one would
find them here. She'd been careful to cover her tracks, and the faceless
man wouldn't know where she'd gone. They would be safe here.
    "I don't think they're up yet. If the door isn't locked, we'll go in
and fix breakfast." Allie glanced at her watch. It was nearly seven, so
the lack of lights in the house surprised her, but the men might have
been up most of the night with the mare.
    The thin, sandy soil felt cool under her bare feet, and she avoided
the cactus in the path as she stepped toward the house.
    A male voice spoke. "You made it."
    Allie turned to see a fresh-faced young man. He looked like a
fourteen-year-old trying to act twenty-four. A big rodeo belt buckle
on his waist glinted. With his thumbs hooked in the pockets of his jeans
and his cowboy hat pushed back, he stood with one worn boot on the
fence rail as if posing for a documentary about cowboys.
    Poor kid. If he only knew trying to make an impression on her would
get him nowhere. He'd tried it at the rodeo last month, and though she
hadn't caught his name, he was the one who told her about this place.
    "We never introduced ourselves when we met at the rodeo." She
extended a hand. "I'm Allie Siders, and this is Betsy. We came in last
night."
    "Like I'd forget a honey like you. I'm Charlie." He put his propped
foot back on the ground, shook Allie's hand in a strong grip, then
knelt in front of Betsy. "Hey kid, want to see some horses?"
    Betsy buried her face in Allie's waist and didn't look at him.

    "She's tired,"Allie said. "Maybe later."
    The young man straightened. "I made a run to Marathon after oats
yesterday," he said. "When I saw that old truck parked beside the barn
this morning, I wondered who had blown in while I wasn't looking."
    "I don't think anyone in the house is up yet."
    He nodded. "Cupcake foaled. I think the boss was up most of the
night. Otherwise, there'd be breakfast on the table. I could rustle us
up some grub."
    "Let me do it." Allie took Betsy's hand and moved toward the
house again. "I was about to try the door when you called to me."
    The house looked like it had grown out of the red soil, but as she
neared, she saw red dirt coated the stone face of the home. The big
pillars that supported the massive porch of the two-story dwelling