Sudden Storms Read Online Free PDF Page A

one that’s near as tall as Pax.”
    Rivers peered through the window and into the kitchen. She had noticed the way Jolee looked at that one. Weston Warner was a handsome man. Though lacking the unusually magnetic look of Paxton, he was also dark-haired. He had brown eyes and seemed a nice fellow.
    “So…he’s your beau?” Rivers commented.
    Jolee laughed. “Weston? Darlin’, Weston Warner doesn’t know I’m alive! I’m Paxton’s little sister, and that’s all I’ve ever been to him.”
    Rivers looked at Jolee in disbelief. “You’re teasing me.”
    Jolee shook her head. “Nope. I just don’t catch his eye. Oh, believe me, I’ve tried. But I guess I’m just not what he’s lookin’ for.”
    “Is that why you’re not married yet? Because you’ve liked him for so long?”
    Jolee hesitated. “You’re as sharp as my best kitchen knife, Rivers Brighton. Yes, that’s why. I can’t get that man out of my heart and mind long enough to consider anybody else.”
    Rivers was silent for a moment. She listened to the creaking of the swing as it moved back and forth, to and fro. Then she asked, “Is that why Paxton isn’t married too? Some girl has had his attention for too long?”
    Jolee looked at Rivers. Her eyes were serious and her mouth showed no trace of the smile that was ever present there.
     
    “In a manner of speakin’,” Jolee answered. Her mind was awhirl. Should she answer the girl’s question with complete and unbridled honesty? Should she relate the story to her? Paxton would have a fit if he ever found out she’d told Rivers. Jolee knew that for certain. With a deep breath she made her choice.
    “Ruby Catherine Dupree. That’s her name.”
     
    Rivers sensed an odd twitching begin in her stomach at Jolee’s revelation.
    Jolee continued, “She was very lovely. All the men and boys ’round here admired her. But, as so often goes, the two most beautiful people in the county found each other. Paxton thought he was plum gone on Ruby, and she worshipped the ground he walked on. Everyone talked about what beautiful children they would have. She had the lightest blue eyes I had ever seen and pure butter-blonde hair.”
    Jolee stopped for a moment. Rivers peered through the window once again, this time at Paxton. He was smiling and talking to his friends, completely unaware of the conversation going on out on the front porch.
    “Did she die?” Rivers asked. After all, Jolee had spoken of her in the past tense.
    “No. They were engaged to be married, Paxton and Ruby. And then one mornin’…’bout two weeks before the wedding…she was gone. Her family moved away in the middle of the night. No one heard from them. Paxton knows, though. I’m sure Paxton knows why they left.”
    “And he never heard from her again?”
    “Nope. Not that I know of.”
    A chill traveled through Rivers’s body, and she shivered involuntarily. There was something unspoken in Jolee’s story. Something ominous and unpleasant.
    “It’s getting chilly out. Let’s go in and go to bed, what do ya say?” Jolee suggested.
    Rivers nodded, although she hated the idea of having to walk past the men. No doubt by now they all knew her story.
    As the women entered, all the men stood up, and Paxton said, “You ain’t turnin’ in already, are ya, Jo?”
    “Some of us enjoy a good night’s rest. Especially before the Sabbath,” Jolee teased.
    “It sure was nice meetin’ you, Miss Brighton,” one of the men said, smiling at Rivers.
    She nodded and tried to force a friendly smile.
    “Yes. We’re glad to hear you’ve come to visit Jolee and help her with this mean ol’ cuss,” Weston Warner added.
    Rivers looked to Paxton. He knew she was looking at him but did not return her gaze.
    Instead he said, “I told the boys how plum tickled Jo was when ya wrote and said ya were comin’ for a long visit.” Then his eyes did meet hers and he added, “And how glad we are to have ya here.” The intense blue in his