The Scoundrel's Bride (46 page)
Read The Scoundrel's Bride Online
Authors: Geralyn Dawson
“Burkett!” Morality favored him with a scowl. “The East? He’ll be gone for months. He’s supposed to have stopped working!”
“Well, Louise wants to travel,” he explained. “You know she’s been aching for a trip to New York since before the war. Rosalee has her all het up on it.”
“Het up on it,” Morality grumbled with a sniff.
Pulley ropes began to tug, and they paused in their bickering to watch a huge log bubble up alongside the boat. Zach looked over his shoulder at the sound of footsteps walking up behind them. “Tarnation, would you look at that. Must be six feet around!” Their oldest child, twelve- year-old James, stared at the water in wide-eyed wonder. “Hey, Pa, I’ve been wondering—”
“Hay is for horses,” Zach automatically drawled, flicking the bill of his son’s hat. They scuffled for a moment, then he asked, “What is it you’ve been thinking about?”
James grinned crookedly, looking so much like his father that Zach knew his wife’s sigh was meant for him. The boy said, “The end of the raft. What happens now, back at home? Will the water go down overnight?”
“It’ll take some time,” Zach said, shaking his head. “The riverboats will be with us for a while yet.”
The boy nodded. “Good. It’ll be better that way. It’ll give Grampa some time to get used to the idea.”
“Don’t worry about E.J.,” Morality said with a put-upon look. “He’s too busy with the ‘Coke for governor’ campaign to notice anything.”
“ ‘Gonna throw off that carpetbagger yoke.’ ” Zach quoted his father’s latest slogan with a smile. “Politics is what he does best. Doesn’t matter that ever since the storm he’s sworn off being a candidate himself. Texas is lucky to have him.”
Morality wrinkled her nose. “The children would be luckier to have him in Cottonwood Creek more often. As much as I love Texas, I believe this family has given their fair share. I’d like to see all our men home for a while.”
Zach lifted her hand and kissed it, unwilling to drag up that old argument. The war years had nearly split the family in two, with the Marstons strong supporters of the Confederacy and the Carstairs—Cottonwood Creek’s newest residents—maintaining their Union loyalties. Zach’s time as a member of the Marion Rifles, which had become Company A of the 1st Texas, John B. Hood’s Brigade, had been a nightmare. And although war had never physically come to Cottonwood Creek, Morality had fought her own battles valiantly and without regret.
Early on in the War Between the States, long before Zach had decided to fight, his wife had declared herself a pacifist and done her level best to convert others to her cause. She caught hell from the townsfolk when their men started marching off to war, but Morality stood her ground.
Remembering, Zach grinned. For a pacifist, she’d sure fought a mean battle, using her most effective weapon when he’d followed his conscience and declared his intention to enlist. Of course, he’d won that particular war. Otherwise, their second eldest, cotton-topped Melinda, would never have been born.
“Papa!” a boy’s voice called. Zach and Morality both turned to see their youngest son, Jess, wave from his perch atop the snag boat’s pilothouse.
“That boy will be the death of me yet,” Morality grumbled as Zach hollered at their five-year-old son to come down.
“Aw, angel, it’s natural for boys to climb around like that.”
“I don’t mean jess,” she corrected. “It’s Patrick who’s the problem. I told him if he was going to allow Jess in the pilothouse, he’d have to keep an eye on him. He thinks that just because he’s the pilot on this boat he’s the boss of everything.”
“That’s because he is boss of everything.” Zach grabbed his wife’s arm as she made nagging gestures at Patrick Callahan while mumbling, “I still can’t believe he fell in love with the riverboats. He should have been a veterinarian.”
“Watch it, or you’ll never get a ride on any of his boats again.”
Morality gave him a sidelong glance. “Do you actually think Patrick would ever tell me no?”
“Dumb idea.”
She nodded and Zach grinned, glad to be boating on the Red River with his family that morning. Cognizant of the history linking Morality, Zach, and the Red River raft, Patrick had invited the Burketts along to witness firsthand the removal of the last remaining portion of the blockage that had indirectly brought them all together. Today was a watershed day, so to speak.
“By the way, angel,” he added as an afterthought. “Don’t you think it’s time you quit calling that man a boy? He’s twenty-four years old, by damn.”
“Burkett!” she said with a long-suffering sigh. “I despair that you’ll
ever
learn to control your language.”
An unholy grin spread across Zach’s face, displaying his dimples at their very best. “Ah, c’mon now, angel.” He bent his head and gave her a quick, but thorough kiss.
“Don’t you believe in miracles?”
Don't miss any of
New York Times
bestselling author Geralyn Dawson's romances now available in digital format!
Historical Romances
THE TEXAN'S BRIDE
CAPTURE THE NIGHT
THE SCOUNDREL'S BRIDE (Originally published as TEMPTING MORALITY.)
THE WEDDING RANSOM
THE KISSING STARS
THE BAD LUCK WEDDING DRESS, Bad Luck Wedding series #1
THE BAD LUCK WEDDING CAKE, Bad Luck Wedding series #2
SIMMER ALL NIGHT, Bad Luck Wedding series #3, Bad Luck Abroad trilogy #1
SIZZLE ALL DAY, Bad Luck Wedding series #4, Bad Luck Abroad trilogy #2
THE BAD LUCK WEDDING NIGHT, Bad Luck Wedding series #5, Bad Luck Abroad trilogy #3
HER BODYGUARD, Bad Luck Wedding series #6, Bad Luck Brides trilogy #1
HER SCOUNDREL, Bad Luck Wedding series #7, Bad Luck Brides trilogy #2
HER OUTLAW, Bad Luck Wedding series #8, Bad Luck Brides trilogy #3
Contemporary Romances
MY BIG OLD TEXAS HEARTACHE
THE LAST BACHELOR IN TEXAS (Originally published as MY LONG TALL TEXAS HEARTTHROB.)
Women's Fiction novel
SEASON OF SISTERS (Originally published as THE PINK MAGNOLIA CLUB.)
Contemporary Romances written as Emily March
ANGEL'S REST
HUMMINGBIRD LAKE
HEARTACHE FALLS
LOVER'S LEAP
NIGHTINGALE WAY (September 2012)
About the Author
Geralyn Dawson is a
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author of over twenty-five novels written in a variety of sub-genres including historical romance, contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and women's fiction. She is a three-time Finalist for Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA award and a recipient of
Romantic Times
magazine's Career Achievement Award. Her novel THE WEDDING RANSOM was named one of Romance Writers of America's Top Ten Favorite Novels of the Year. The
Detroit Free Press
named her THE WEDDING RAFFLE as one of the best romances of the year.
Geralyn is currently writing romantic women's fiction for Ballantine Books under the pseudonym Emily March. The first three novels of Emily March's Eternity Springs series, ANGEL'S REST, HUMMINGBIRD LAKE, and HEARTACHE FALLS each earned coveted starred reviews from
Publishers Weekly
magazine. The fourth book of the series, LOVER'S LEAP is a January 2012 release with NIGHTINGALE WAY to follow in Fall 2012.
Geralyn invites you to visit her website at
www.emilymarch.com
and register for her e-newsletter, which includes contests, news about her upcoming releases, and other fun stuff.
You can follow her on
Twitter
at both @geralyndawson and @emilymarchbooks. Geralyn is also active on her Facebook page,
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