Hannah's Promise
Page 36
Jacey searched Glory’s eyes for understanding. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about why? I know I am. I’ve got to go to Tucson—to find out the why of it. And mark my words, I’ll get my keepsake back and make some sorry old outlaw pay with his life for ever taking it in the first place.”
Glory’s frown creased her brow. “I understand how you feel, Jacey. I do. No one knows better than me what that little oil painting meant to Mama. And I know what it means to you. I do remember her saying that when she died, she wanted you to have it. But you can’t—”
“I can’t what? Get back what’s rightfully mine? That little oil painting, as you call it, is of the only Wilton-Humes that Mama gave a fig about. And she wanted me to have it, Glory. Me.” Jacey swallowed around the sudden constriction in her throat. “She said I have Ardis’s spunk. Her fire. Mama loved that old woman, and I reminded her of her.”
Jacey’s face worked with the depth of her emotion. When she could safely speak again, she went on. “But now, she and Papa have been taken from us. There’s not a blamed thing I can do to bring them back, but I can sure as shooting get back her keepsake. And I will. It’s mine now. So whoever took it, stole it from me.” Her chest rising and falling in the deep, even breaths of firm conviction, Jacey awaited her sister’s response.
For long moments, Glory stared at her. Then, without a word, she stepped around Jacey, who turned to watch her go. Head erect, her bearing queenly, Glory walked across the big comfortable room that retained the memory of the Lawless girls’ childhood laughter and tears. When she reached the stairs and put her foot on the first riser, when she laid her hand on the railing, she finally turned to face Jacey.
“You are trying to bring Mama and Papa back, Jacey. That’s what this is all about, even if you won’t admit it. But I know you—you’re still going to try. Once you set your mind to something, no one and nothing—not God, and not reasoning—can stop you. So, go. And don’t worry about me or Biddy or the ranch. Like you said, I have to grow up.”
Tears stood again in Glory’s eyes, and then spilled unheeded down her steadily pinkening cheeks. “But don’t expect me to see you off tomorrow. Don’t expect me to wave as you ride off to what could be your death, and not some sorry old outlaw’s.” She glared for a moment and then added, “I, for one, have had enough of death.”
With that, she ascended the stairs. Jacey watched her all the way up, but not once did Glory hesitate or look back. When she was out of sight, when her footfalls no longer echoed upstairs in the hallway, when Jacey heard a door close, she looked down at her hand, at her older sister’s now-crumpled letter. Dry-eyed, she lifted her gaze to the impassive stairway, set against the great room’s far wall.
She relaxed her fist. Hannah’s letter fluttered to the floor. Jacey then clasped the jagged piece of spur on her chain. She gripped it so tightly that its edges cut into her palm.
JACEY’S RECKLESS HEART—COMING IN NOVEMBER FROM ST. MARTIN’S PAPERBACKS!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHERYL ANNE PORTER began writing professionally in 1991. Her first three historical novels are bestsellers, but she is especially proud to have been a top-three finalist in the National Readers’ Choice Awards in 1994 for her title Kansas Wildfire.
Cheryl made the move from Oklahoma to Florida in 1994, and resides with her husband Paul, her two sons, and her daughter-in-law. She also writes contemporary romance fiction, teaches fiction writing at a community college, and speaks at various writers’ conferences and local chapters. Cheryl loves getting mail, and you can write to her at P.O. Box 755, Brandon FL 33509-0755. She answers each and every letter and has found new friends this way. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Preview: Jacey’s Reckless Heart
About the Author
Copyright
HANNAH’S PROMISE
Copyright © 1997 by Cheryl Anne Porter.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
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ISBN: 0-312-96170-7
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition/May 1997
St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
eISBN 9781250092717
First eBook edition: June 2015