nervous when she stepped into a cool foyer. The noise of several conversations going on in a room off to the right made her want to run back to Terral and hide. But she held her head high and fought back another shiver when he escorted her into the living room.
“Rye, is that you? It had better be. I’m starving and oh, my God.” A dark-haired woman stared rudely. “Momma, did you know Rye was bringing someone with him?”
“Is it Ace or Wil?”
“It’s Austin,” Rye hollered.
“Well, bring him on in and make him known to the family.”
Everything went so silent that the flutter of angel’s wings would have sounded like shotgun blasts when he ushered Austin all the way into the room.
“Everyone, this is Austin Lanier, Granny’s granddaughter.”
“Welcome to Easter, Austin. Come on in here and get acquainted.” Cash O’Donnell held out his hand and graced her with a broad smile.
Chapter 5
“This is my father, Cash O’Donnell, and my mother, Maddie.” Rye pointed as he made introductions. “My sisters, Colleen and Gemma, and brothers, Dewar and Raylen.”
“I’d be his grandmother, Franny, and this is his grandfather, Tilman,” a woman with gray hair said from a rocking chair right at Austin’s elbow.
“Now can we eat, Momma? I’m starving,” Gemma said.
“It’s on the bar in the kitchen. Everyone can help themselves the rest of the day soon as Poppa says grace,” Maddie said.
Everyone talked at once as they headed through an archway leading into the dining room and beyond that to the kitchen. Rye steered Austin with his hand still on her back. The house was cool but that spot where his hand rested felt as if someone was holding a blowtorch two inches from it.
Maddie bowed her head but opened one eye a slit to look at her oldest son. He’d been the serious one of the boys but he had an expression on his face she’d never seen before, not even with Serena, the girl he thought he was in love with back when he was about twenty-one. He was absolutely smitten with Austin Lanier and Maddie wanted to weep for him. The girl was a high-powered businesswoman who lived in the big city of Tulsa. Rye would never be happy away from a ranch.
Tilman delivered the grace. “God bless the corners of this house, and be the lintel blest, and bless the hearth and bless the board and bless each place of rest, and bless each door that opens wide to stranger as to kin. And bless each crystal window pane that lets the starlight in, and bless the rooftree overhead and every sturdy wall. The peace of man, the peace of God, the peace of love on all. Amen.”
It was the strangest prayer Austin had ever heard and she looked at Rye with a question on her face.
“It’s an Irish blessing that he says every Easter,” he whispered.
“Then you weren’t kidding about being Irish?”
“Not one bit. Momma is too. She was Maddie O’Malley before she married Dad.”
“And we’ve all got the temper to prove it. And Rye is the worst of the lot. That’s why he’s not married,” Gemma said.
She had black hair cut in short layers that framed an oval face, deep green eyes beneath arched dark eyebrows and heavy lashes, and a wide mouth. She took care of her short height with a pair of three-inch wedge espadrille sandals on a one-inch platform. She wore a flowing gauze skirt in a splash of bright spring colors and a skintight tank top the same color as her eyes.
Colleen playfully poked her sister on the arm. “He’d be runnin’ a close race to you.”
Her hair was that strange burgundy color that usually comes out of a bottle but looked totally natural. Her face was slightly rounder than Gemma’s angular planes and her lips a wee bit wider. She was a little taller than Gemma but her bright red high heels that matched the cute little capris and western cut top put them about the same.
“Love your hair,” Austin said.
“Looks like it would come right out of a Lady Clairol bottle, don’t it?” Gemma
“Rye, is that you? It had better be. I’m starving and oh, my God.” A dark-haired woman stared rudely. “Momma, did you know Rye was bringing someone with him?”
“Is it Ace or Wil?”
“It’s Austin,” Rye hollered.
“Well, bring him on in and make him known to the family.”
Everything went so silent that the flutter of angel’s wings would have sounded like shotgun blasts when he ushered Austin all the way into the room.
“Everyone, this is Austin Lanier, Granny’s granddaughter.”
“Welcome to Easter, Austin. Come on in here and get acquainted.” Cash O’Donnell held out his hand and graced her with a broad smile.
Chapter 5
“This is my father, Cash O’Donnell, and my mother, Maddie.” Rye pointed as he made introductions. “My sisters, Colleen and Gemma, and brothers, Dewar and Raylen.”
“I’d be his grandmother, Franny, and this is his grandfather, Tilman,” a woman with gray hair said from a rocking chair right at Austin’s elbow.
“Now can we eat, Momma? I’m starving,” Gemma said.
“It’s on the bar in the kitchen. Everyone can help themselves the rest of the day soon as Poppa says grace,” Maddie said.
Everyone talked at once as they headed through an archway leading into the dining room and beyond that to the kitchen. Rye steered Austin with his hand still on her back. The house was cool but that spot where his hand rested felt as if someone was holding a blowtorch two inches from it.
Maddie bowed her head but opened one eye a slit to look at her oldest son. He’d been the serious one of the boys but he had an expression on his face she’d never seen before, not even with Serena, the girl he thought he was in love with back when he was about twenty-one. He was absolutely smitten with Austin Lanier and Maddie wanted to weep for him. The girl was a high-powered businesswoman who lived in the big city of Tulsa. Rye would never be happy away from a ranch.
Tilman delivered the grace. “God bless the corners of this house, and be the lintel blest, and bless the hearth and bless the board and bless each place of rest, and bless each door that opens wide to stranger as to kin. And bless each crystal window pane that lets the starlight in, and bless the rooftree overhead and every sturdy wall. The peace of man, the peace of God, the peace of love on all. Amen.”
It was the strangest prayer Austin had ever heard and she looked at Rye with a question on her face.
“It’s an Irish blessing that he says every Easter,” he whispered.
“Then you weren’t kidding about being Irish?”
“Not one bit. Momma is too. She was Maddie O’Malley before she married Dad.”
“And we’ve all got the temper to prove it. And Rye is the worst of the lot. That’s why he’s not married,” Gemma said.
She had black hair cut in short layers that framed an oval face, deep green eyes beneath arched dark eyebrows and heavy lashes, and a wide mouth. She took care of her short height with a pair of three-inch wedge espadrille sandals on a one-inch platform. She wore a flowing gauze skirt in a splash of bright spring colors and a skintight tank top the same color as her eyes.
Colleen playfully poked her sister on the arm. “He’d be runnin’ a close race to you.”
Her hair was that strange burgundy color that usually comes out of a bottle but looked totally natural. Her face was slightly rounder than Gemma’s angular planes and her lips a wee bit wider. She was a little taller than Gemma but her bright red high heels that matched the cute little capris and western cut top put them about the same.
“Love your hair,” Austin said.
“Looks like it would come right out of a Lady Clairol bottle, don’t it?” Gemma
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