Spring Blossom Read Online Free PDF Page B

protruding
hipbones. Suddenly he understood; the calf was square!
    “See?” Maggie crowed.
     
     
     

CHAPTER 4

    The days of Hunter’s visit at Treemont flew
by until they numbered seven.
    On the eighth day he would be leaving to
travel to his own home.
    At dawn of the seventh day, Maggie had stood
at the foot of his bed, dressed only in her nightclothes,
breathlessly asking that he ride with her.
    Hunter had stared into her earnest blue eyes
and wondered if he had miscalculated. Had he overstepped the
bounds? The last thing he wanted was to hurt her, but Maggie needed
to understand that hers was merely an infatuation. And yet, to tell
her so would wound the tender heart that tried so hard to beat like
that of a woman.
    Perhaps it was unwise, but he decided to
ride with her one last time before he left. Within months she would
no doubt forget him.
    He found that thought caused him some
dismay. He had stared at the pretty young girl who promised to
reflect her mother’s beauty in the years ahead. It would be
interesting to see how she turned out, how her youthful spirit
matured. In fact, as his dark eyes roamed over the untamed fair
hair that flowed over her thin shoulders his thoughts had begun to
gel. He had given considerable thought to his frequent encounters
with her since his arrival. He had enjoyed her company immensely on
each occasion. Her youthful nature was charming, her sense of humor
infectious, and her more serious side revealing. Her youth did not
negate her sense of responsibility which she had demonstrated on
more than one occasion. She was, in fact, the promise of a woman
who would one day be exceptional and he had begun to wonder if
Alastair would be amenable to his possible return in two or three
years.
    Now, as he prepared for the day, he threw
off the thought, more concerned with the problems currently
surrounding his leave-taking. He had smiled at Maggie, agreeing to
her request before she had happily raced out of his room. By the
time he had emerged from the house, she was waiting at the stables
with the roan mare he had purchased ready to ride, standing beside
Maggie’s own little mare.
    *
    At the moment Maggie was obsessively happy,
blatantly ignoring the fact that he would be leaving in the morning
and might never return. This was their last private time together
and she intended to enjoy each moment for she felt an important,
and painful, phase of her life fast approaching.
    They had ridden some distance from the house
before either spoke but Maggie had become more comfortable with
these periods of silence between them. It gave them time to enjoy
the things around them, each enjoying their individual appreciation
of the breathtaking beauty of nature. She actually felt that
finding companionship in silence between two people was a very
adult thing.
    It was Hunter who broke the spell. “Maggie,”
he said softly, “we must talk,”
    Shaking her head in a fashion that reminded
him of her youth, she refused to look in his direction. “I don’t
want to talk,” she said firmly.
    He smiled sadly, understanding. “I know.”
And then, spying a pretty pond, he led her in that direction and
dismounted at the water’s edge.
    Maggie’s mare stopped beside Hunter’s mount
without any signal from her rider; but Maggie kept her seat,
refusing to join him.
    “You cannot avoid the inevitable, Maggie, my
girl,” he said firmly as he stepped up beside her mare and reached
up to grasp her waist with both hands. “Come down now.”
    Maggie had no choice but to turn, leaning
toward him and bracing her hands on his shoulders as she stared
into his dark eyes. “I know what you’re about to say and I don’t
want to hear it.”
    He laughed shortly and lowered her to the
ground. “And what am I about to say?”
    “That I am just a silly girl and you are a
man.”
    The small pout that had formed around her
mouth made him smile. “You are not a silly girl, little one. You
are a delightful young