Morning Glory Read Online Free PDF Page B

disappear into the night. Prejudice
surely went farther than the color of a person's skin.
Clara and her cousins acted like they were heads and
shoulders above the people who worked in the oil
fields. No, he wasn't going to let Clara win the fight. It
went against his better judgment to stay in a place
where he wasn't wanted. He thought about the look on
her face when the sheriff told her she couldn't evict
him. Now that was pure compensation if he failed in the
mission he'd set out to accomplish. A streak of stub bornness made him lie there on his bed, hands behind
his head, eyes wide open staring out into the night
through the open window where night breezes filtered
in along with the whippoorwill's sad song. With a grin
on his face, he finally shut his eyes and slept soundly.

    Clara heard the annoying bird all right. If she could
have, she would have reached out the window and
wrung its wretched neck. Instead of lulling her to sleep,
the noise grated on her nerves. It had no right singing
outside her open bedroom window when she was so
angry she was still seeing red dots in front of her eyes.
How dare that man dupe Dulcie and then refuse to
leave! Well, she'd teach him a thing or two in the next
two months. He'd think he was roasting in hell one
minute and sitting naked on an iceberg the next. She
hoped he did stay out past 10:00 one night. When he
did, he'd find his belongings scattered all over the front
lawn. She'd throw his overalls and shirts out of the
upstairs window; hopefully it would even be raining
that day and she'd see how many she could put in a big
mud puddle. She slept fitfully, dreaming of Percy coming back to town, gathering her up into his arms and
carrying her to his automobile. In the dream, she pulled
her derringer out of her purse and put one hole through
his heart and another right between his eyes.
    Like always, Briar arose long before dawn. He
dressed in fresh denim overalls and a chambray shirt,
shaved leisurely since no one else was up and standing
in line for the bathroom and went downstairs. He was surprised to find Matilda Anderson snoring on the sofa
in the living room. She slept on her back, her arms
tucked under her head, long black hair splayed out in
disarray all around her head. Heavy lashes rested on
perfect skin. Pretty, no doubt about it, but not as beautiful as Clara.

    He tiptoed around her out to the porch where he
claimed the white rocking chair to watch the sunrise.
Dulcie didn't even see him in the corner when she
arrived a few minutes later. The rattle of pots and pans
and a gospel hymn being hummed let him know she
was cooking breakfast and in a good mood.
    Dawn brought a lovely sunrise; one that did not disappoint Briar. A big tangerine-colored ball peeped over
the far horizon, defining tree limbs into long fingers
beckoning the whole world to wake up and see the show.
It kept growing, pushing away the darkness, promising
a new day. Peace filled Briar's heart as he rocked to and
fro, keeping a soft rhythm. His outside world might be
filled with trials, the biggest of whom was named Clara
Anderson, but sitting on the porch watching the birth of
a new day put everything in perspective.
    If he succeeded in talking oil leases out of Tucker
and Matilda, he'd make a lot more money than he
already had. If he failed, it wouldn't prevent the sun
from coming up and the world turning on its axis, and
there was already enough money to support Libby for
her lifetime should anything happen to him.
    * * *

    "Tilly, what in the world are you doing here?"
Clara's clear Southern voice drifted out the screen door.
    Tilly rubbed her eyes and sat up, reaching for the
hairpins she'd thrown on the floor. "Good mornin', darlin'. That danged new deputy the sheriff hired caught
me coming home from over in Ragtown without any
lights. I told you I needed a new car. Blasted thing hit a
rut in the road and the lights just blinked out."
    "Good