MM02 - Until Morning Comes Read Online Free PDF Page B

could not capture her attention. She was studying the magnificent, inscrutable Apache face.
    “Why, Colter?”
    “Do you believe in fate, Jo Beth?”
    “No more than I believe in falling in love. And that's not at all.”
    “I’ll make you change your mind.” He vaulted onto his horse and reached to pull her up. “Come. I’ll take you back to your Jeep.”
    “No, thank you. I want to get a few more shots. But before you go, there’s something I have to know.”
    “Yes?”
    “What is the third stage, Colter?”
    “I cover you with my blanket and make you mine.”
    Before she could recover her breath, he had wheeled the horse and galloped away. She turned to watch. Sand sprayed up behind horse and rider, and the sound of thundering hooves echoed across the desert. Colter rode low, bending close over the horse's head, almost as if he were carrying on an intimate conversation with the animal, speaking magic words that only the two of them understood.
    That was probably what he was doing, Jo Beth thought. Speaking magic. The Apache doctor had a silver tongue. He had spoken magic to her, and she was ready to give love another whirl.
    And why not? He was certainly a perfect man, perfect of face and form, educated, articulate, and sophisticated, with the added attraction of being mysterious and exotic.
    Almost without thinking, she aimed her camera. But it wasn't the landscape that claimed her attention. It was Colter. A few quick adjustments, and Jo Beth had captured him forever, a magnificent bronze man, riding into the sunset.
    When he was out of sight, Jo Beth loaded her gear into the Jeep, called her dog, and headed back to the cabin.
    All the way home she planned exactly how she would find out if love really was alive and well in the modern world. She'd brought one great party dress to the desert, just in case. She'd take Colter into Tucson, find a small hideaway with a good band, and take him onto the dance floor. She loved dancing. It was so conducive to falling in love.
    Then there were the moonlight walks. Nowhere on earth did the moon glow as it did in Arizona.
    One or two walks in the evening could do more for love and romance than a hundred how-to books. And she'd read them all. She'd done everything the books had said: She'd used perfume guaranteed to cause swooning and toothpaste guaranteed to cause kissing. Nothing had worked. Her breath didn't rasp, her heart didn't sing, and her libido didn't tap-dance, or whatever a libido was supposed to do.
    Until today.
    She was smiling as she pulled the Jeep into the front yard and parked. She was still smiling when she walked through the front door.
    The rope sailed over her head and settled around her chest.
    “Gotcha.” Her father jumped from behind the door, pulling the rope tight. “Whooee, the Long Badger has not lost his touch.”
    Her hopes tumbled, and she wanted to weep.
    “Dad, what are you doing with the rope?” She loosened it and pulled it over her shoulders.
    “Practicing. Don't you know Toronto is still on the loose?”
    “He's a doctor from San Francisco, and he's merely out there camping.”
    “That derned Indian can't fool me. He's aiming to take my daughter captive, and I'm aiming to stop him.”
    Jo Beth was sidetracked for a moment by the thought of being Colter's captive. “Pull yourself together, girl.” She didn't realize she'd spoken aloud until her father answered her.
    “That's what I say. Pull yourself together, girl. That's what I came to the desert for—to protect you. Now you just hush that foolishness about that derned Indian being a doctor and give me back my rope.”
    Jo Beth looked at the man who had helped her take her first step, taught her to tie her shoes and sat in the front row in her elementary school auditorium, cheering while she'd played a pumpkin in the Halloween pageant.
    And now, suddenly, he was the child and she was the parent. She put her arms around his shoulders.
    “Come on, Dad. Let's go into the