The Coyote's Cry. Jackie Merritt

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СКАЧАТЬ of him that Jenna had never seen. Actually, it made her wonder if her previous opinion about Bram avoiding her because of her father’s intolerance was on the mark or if he simply didn’t like her and never had.

      But if he didn’t like her, why in heaven’s name was she so smitten by him? Couldn’t her hormones tell the difference between an interested and an uninterested man? Shouldn’t her own reactions to the opposite sex be more accurate than they apparently were with Bram?

      Bram stood up and Jenna ducked away from the window so he wouldn’t catch her watching him. She heard him come in and then call, “Jenna!”

      Leaving the kitchen, she hurried to the front door entry. “What?”

      “Can my dog come in the house?”

      “Why are you asking me?”

      Bram thinned his lips. “Because you’ve got rules. Nellie is used to coming inside, but if you don’t want a dog in the house because of Gran—”

      Jenna broke in. “Is Nellie going to jump on the bed and give Gloria fleas?”

      “She doesn’t have fleas!”

      “I was only kidding. Pets are very good medicine for people in Gloria’s condition. By all means, let Nellie come in.”

      Bram opened the door and Nellie came bounding in. “Settle down, Nellie,” he said quietly, and the collie immediately obeyed.

      “She’s awfully cute,” Jenna said. “Is she friendly with strangers?”

      Nellie was, but Bram wouldn’t give Jenna the satisfaction of saying so. Her nervy intrusion on his quiet life galled him, especially when he was with her again and seeing those glorious blue eyes and that golden hair.

      “Sorry, but no. I recommend you give her a pretty wide berth until she gets used to you being here.”

      “All right,” Jenna said with a soft sigh that ripped through Bram like a buzz saw cutting wood. The cut was just as sharp and jagged, and he wished he hadn’t lied to her.

      But it was done, and if Jenna had any backbone at all she’d discover Nellie’s love of mankind in very short order.

      “What breed is she?”

      “Border collie. They’re natural-born herders. What smells good?”

      “Most of your family brought something to eat with them when they dropped in to see your grandmother. It’s all in the kitchen. Help yourself.”

      So, she didn’t intend that they eat together. Fine, he didn’t want to eat with her, anyhow. “I’m not hungry,” he said gruffly. “I ate in town.” Bram walked off, leaving Jenna to cautiously keep an eye on his vicious Nellie, who was lying down with her nose on her front paws, closely watching Jenna. How was Jenna to know that the collie was so watchful because she never missed a chance to herd, and maybe this nice lady would run around the house and let Nellie herd her from room to room?

      “Bram Colton,” Jenna whispered, “I absolutely, positively loathe you.”

      Right at that moment, it was the truth.

      Chapter Three

      The chiming of the doorbell startled Jenna, who’d been so involved with Bram and his watchful dog that she hadn’t heard the arrival of another vehicle. But all afternoon the visiting Coltons had merely rapped once and walked in, some of them not even bothering to announce their arrival with that cursory knock. Thus Jenna was pretty certain that whoever had rung the doorbell was not a Colton. She glanced toward the master bedroom to see if Bram had heard the chimes, but it appeared that either he hadn’t or he was ignoring the caller.

      Giving Nellie a warning look that Jenna hoped the dog would interpret to mean, “Don’t you dare move from that spot,” Jenna went to the door herself. Opening it, she could hardly believe her eyes.

      “Dad!”

      Carl Elliot’s face was dark red with anger. “What in hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded. “Staying in a damn Indian’s house. Don’t you have any pride?”

      “I’m working! I’m taking care of Mrs. Colton.”

      “You’re living with an Indian man! This is his house!”

      “I am not living with anyone, not in the way you’re inferring. I explained my job assignment in the note I left for you, which you must have read or you wouldn’t have known where I was. I’m very upset over this…this intrusion, Dad.”

      “And I’m so embarrassed by your behavior I can’t hold my head up or look friends in the eye! Get your things and come home with me this instant.”

      “I most certainly will not!”

      “Jenna, I’m warning you…”

      Jenna felt Bram’s presence behind her before he said a word. He stepped so close that her whole body became tense.

      “What’s going on?” he asked, using that lethally quiet tone that never failed to deliver a thrill to every erogenous area of Jenna’s body. She took a quick, nervous breath and tried to ignore his overwhelming sexual magnetism so she could concentrate on minimizing the situation.

      “I don’t want my daughter staying here,” Carl Elliot said coldly, proving that he was unafraid of Black Arrow’s sheriff, or any other man, for that matter.

      “Well, I’m not all that keen on your daughter staying here, either,” Bram drawled, shocking the breath out of Jenna and possibly doing the same to Carl, who suddenly looked confused. “But Dr. Hall assigned her to care for my grandmother, and until another nurse appears on this doorstep to take her place, your daughter is working for me. Take it or leave it, but don’t come here looking for trouble or you just might find it.” Bram strode away with Nellie on his heels, heading, Jenna saw, for his bedroom.

      “This is not the end of this,” Carl said angrily, shaking his finger at his daughter. But to Jenna’s immense relief, he left the front porch and walked—obviously in a huff—to his car.

      “Dad,” she called, having second thoughts. She ran after him.

      Carl stopped as he reached his car. “Did you change your mind?”

      “No, but there’s no reason for anger between us. Try to understand. I’m only doing my job.”

      “Your wonderful job embarrasses me, shames me. Thank God your mother isn’t alive to see how you’ve disgraced the Elliot name.”

      Jenna gasped. “How can you stand there and say something like that? Mother didn’t have a biased or prejudiced bone in her body and you know it.”

      “Yeah, well, she wasn’t always right, either. I’m not going to forget this, Jenna. How long are you planning to live with that big breed?”

      Jenna’s spine stiffened. “I won’t listen to that kind of talk another second. Good night.” Spinning, she walked back to the house with her head held high, went in and closed the door.

      But СКАЧАТЬ