Diana Palmer Long Tall Texans 10 Emmett

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"What about Mrs. Ray?"
"She's resigning," Emmett said sadly. "She says she's reached the age where she needs peace and quiet
and flowers to grow. So we'd have to
replace her even if we stay here."
Guy and Amy and Polk exchanged resigned glances. They didn't want the risk of a housekeeper they
couldn't control. There was always that
one chance in a million that their father might come up with someone they couldn't frighten or
intimidate.
"Melody could stay with us, couldn't she?" Amy asked suddenly.
"Sure!" Polk agreed, beaming.
Guy's complexion went pale. He muttered something under his breath and got up and went to the
window to stare out it. He knew for
certain that Melody wouldn't want him around, even if she did like the other two. She'd never forgive
him for what he'd done to her cat. Besides, he reminded himself forcibly, he didn't like her. It was her
fault that he didn't have a mother
anymore.
Emmett found the suggestion warming, if impractical. He'd done a lot of thinking about Melody
himself.
"Melody has a job," Emmett said.
It surprised him that the kids found it so easy to picture Melody as part of their lives. It surprised him
even more that he did, too.
"Jacobsville isn't very big, is it?" Guy asked without looking at his father. "There's not much to do
there, I guess."
"You're old enough to start learning how to manage a ranch," Emmett told him. "You can come
around with me and learn the ropes."
Guy's usually taciturn face brightened. He turned. "I could?"
"Yes." Emmett's eyes narrowed. "I'll have to turn things over to you one day," he added. "You might as
well know one end of a rope from
the other when the time comes."
Guy felt as if he'd been offered a new start with his father. It was a good feeling. Guy looked at his
siblings.
"I'll go," he said, bis expression
warning them that they'd better agree.
Amy and Polk stood close together. "I guess it would be nice to have you at home all the time,
Emmett," Amy said softly. "It would be
'specially nice if you didn't have to ride any more mean horses."
"We don't want you to die, Dad," Polk agreed solemnly. "You're sort of all we've got."
Emmett's lean face hardened. "Maybe you're sort of all I've got, too. Ever think of it like that?"
Guy looked uncomfortable and Polk just smiled. But Amy slid onto his lap and hugged him. She
looked up with soft, loving eyes. "I'm glad
you're our daddy, Emmett," she said.
At that moment, so was he. Very, very glad.
It couldn't last, of course, all that peace and affection. They moved to Jacobsville and they hadn't been
in the big sprawling ranch house
two hours when the cook started screaming bloody murder and ran out of the house with her apron
over her head.
"What's the matter?" Emmett called.
"There's a snake in the sink! There's a snake in the sink!"
"Oh, for God's sake, woman, what kind of snake is it?" Emmett grumbled absently, more concerned
about the books he'd been going over
than this gray-haired woman's hysterics over some small reptile.
"It's twenty feet long!"
"This is Texas," Emmett explained patiently. "There aren't any twenty-foot-long snakes here. You're
thinking of boa constrictors and
pythons. They come from the jungle."
"Hey, Dad, look what we found in the barn!" Guy called, grinning.
He came out with a huge black-and-white striped snake. It wasn't twenty feet long, but it was at least
six.
"Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!" the cook screamed and started running again.
"Go put it back in the barn," Emmett told them.
"But it's just a king snake," Polk protested.
"And he's very friendly, Emmett," Amy agreed.
"Put it back in the barn or she'll never come back. I'll have to cook and we'll starve," he explained,
gesturing toward the figure growing
smaller in the distance. He scowled. "As it is, I'll have to run her to ground in the truck. Never saw
anyone run that fast!"
"Spoilsport," Guy muttered. He petted the snake, which didn't seem to mind being handled in the least.
"Come on, Teddy. It's back to the
corn bin for you, I guess. I had hoped we could let him sleep with us. In case there were any mice
inside,"
he said, justifying his reply. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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