Tallchief: The Hunter Read Online Free PDF

eyes had a definite gleam. “Well, now. That will cost you. Please use my pickup truck. It’s safer in your hands than in my wife’s. The way she strips the gears tearsat my heart. By the way, Michelle is all set to pamper you. In fact, all the Tallchief women are probably warming up their ovens now to spoil you. Calum’s wife, Talia, just may enlist you into her plays.”
    His hand rested on Adam’s shoulder, then slid to take Adam’s in a handshake. They were men now, their boyhood together torn from them. It would take time for the bond that had already started to grow. “I’ll keep your secret, Adam. Do what you have to do. I’ve found a home here that I’ve never had. I hope you’ll find peace here, too.”
    “Not with Jillian in the neighborhood,” Adam said brooding darkly. “I’m not finished with her.”
    Liam chuckled and grinned. “Maybe you won’t ever be,” he teased.
    “Lay off. That was a long time ago.”
    Just then, four-year-old J.T. burst into the station, carrying story books. At the door, Michelle’s smile was happy as the boy leaped into his father’s arms. “Daddy! Uncle Adam! Guess what? A big box came on a truck today, and someone gave me the whole Sam the Truck set of storybooks and gas station and railroad crossing signs and Irma the Flatbed and Mr. Mechanic and—Daddy, the whole Sam the Truck Highway Happy Set is at our house.”
    Adam leaned back against the counter, enjoying the little boy’s delight. He’d worked hard to build Sam the Truck products, but the real joy wasn’t in financial returns—it was in moments such as this, a little boy’s or girl’s excitement. The toys were designed to give lessons in safety, in crossing railroad tracks and watching street signs. The books demonstrated kindness to others and were inspired by his childhood with Aunt Sarah. She’d often used his old toy trucks to demonstrate all the life lessons that Adam now used in his products.
    “Liam, you could have told me,” Michelle said, coming to kiss her husband. “That was a pretty extravagant gift from you—but appreciated, as you can see.”
    “A friend gave me a good discount,” Liam returned lightly, and winked at Adam.
     

    By noon, Adam sat on top of the cabin’s shingled roof, repairing it. He was used to “making do” in primitive conditions; he enjoyed the physical work while he thought of Jillian and the simmering past between them. Then through the rain and mist, trucks came prowling, stopping in front of the isolated cabin. He hadn’t expected his relatives so soon, yet they stood, emerging from the mist and staring up at him. Their features, so like his own, stunned him.
    “I’m Birk Tallchief,” said the man strapping on a carpenter’s tool belt. “These are my brothers, Duncan the Defender and Calum the Cool.” He motioned to three men not bearing the Tallchief black hair and gray eyes, but just as tall. “These are my brothers-in-law. The curly haired one is Alek, Elspeth’s husband, and he’s Talia’s brother. That’s Joel Palladin, Fiona’s husband. That’s his brother Nick, married to a cousin, Silver. Their brother Rafe married Demi, another Tallchief cousin, and they’ll be along when they can.”
    “Nice to meet you. I’d invite you in for dinner, but a sandwich from the grocery store’s deli isn’t going to serve all of you.” Adam studied the Tallchiefs’ features. Jillian had been right; they were a match to him—tall, lean, with dark complexions complementing their black hair and gray eyes. The Palladins were a different matter, with brown wavy hair and one looking like the other. According to Elspeth, the five Tallchief children had fought to stay together, but the three Palladins had had a rougher course—their father had tried to rob the convenience store and instead had killed the Tallchiefs’ parents, who had stopped for pizza for their hungry brood. With their father in prison, the Palladins had managed to keep their