September Morning Read Online Free PDF Page B

whirled, grasping her midi-length velveteen skirt and staring down at her shapely calf. “Where?”
    He went on up the stairs with a low chuckle and she glared after him.
    ***
    Later, she watched him come back downstairs, dressed in a pair of dark slacks with a white silk shirt open at the neck and a tweed jacket that gave him a rakish look. What woman was he taking out, she wondered, and would she know how to appreciate all that dark, vibrant masculinity? Just the sight of him was enough to make Kathryn's pulse race, and involuntarily she thought back to the night of her homecoming party and the strange look in Blake's eyes when he started to kiss her and didn't. That hesitation had puzzled her ever since, although she tried not to think about it too much. Blake would be frighteningly dangerous in any respect other than that of a cherished adopted brother.
    ***
    Nan Barrington came over early the next morning to go riding with Kathryn. Petite and fragile-looking in her jodhpurs, she was wearing a blue sweater, very tight, that was the exact shade of her eyes.
    She brushed by Kathryn with a tiny sigh, her eyes immediately on everything in sight as she searched the area for Blake.
    “He's gone out,” Kathryn said with an amused smile.
    Nan looked wildly disappointed. “Oh,” she said, her face falling. “I just thought he might be going with us.”
    Kathryn didn't bother to mention that Blake was doing everything short of joining a monastery to avoid her. That would have led to questions she didn't want to face, much less answer.
    “Well, there she is, the golden girl,” Phillip said from the staircase, gazing with exaggerated interest at the petite blonde. “You luscious creature, you.”
    Nan laughed delightedly. “Oh, Phil, you're such a tease,” she said. “Come riding with us and let me prove that I can still beat the socks off you.”
    He made a mock pose. “No girl exposes my naked ankles,” he scoffed. “You're on!”
    Kathryn led them out the door, tugging her green velveteen blouse down over her trim hips as she went, delighting in its warmth in the chill morning air. “It's nippy out here,” she murmured. Her slender hand went up to test the strength of the pins that held the coiled rope of hair in place on top of her head. The wind was brisk, invigorating.
    “Nice and cool,” Phillip agreed. “Strange how Blake's run out of time to ride,” he mentioned with a curious glance at Kathryn. “He's literally worked every minute he's been home. And with the Leedses arriving Saturday, he's going to be lucky if he can manage time to pick them up at the airport.”
    “Fighting again?” Nan probed, shooting a glance at Kathryn.
    Kathryn lifted her head and watched the path in front of her as they took the old shortcut to the big barn, with its white-fenced paddocks. The path led through a maze of high, clipped hedges, in the center of which was a white gazebo, carefully concealed, and ringed all the way around with comfortable cushions. Kathryn had always thought it a wildly romantic setting, and her imagination ran riot every time she saw it.
    “Blake and I are getting along just fine,” she said, denying her friend's teasing accusation.
    “Nothing easier,” Phillip agreed with a grin. “They never see each other.”
    “We do,” Kathryn disagreed. “Remember the other night when Blake was going out on that date?”
    Nan glanced up at Phillip. “Who's he after now?” She laughed.
    Phillip shrugged fatalistically. “Who knows? I think it's the little blonde he's got in the office. His new secretary, if office gossip can be believed. But I hear she can't spell cat.”
    “Blake likes blondes, all right.” Kathryn laughed with an amusement that she was far from feeling.
    “Here's one he sure avoids,” Nan groaned. “What's wrong with me?”
    Phillip threw an avuncular arm across her shoulders. “Your age, my dear,” he informed her. “Blake likes his women mature, sophisticated and