Native Silver by Helen Conrad Page B

her mouth. She was stunned by him, stunned and groping for a way to recover. As he pulled her close, hugging her, and then let her go, his arm still around her shoulders, leading her out of the barn, she didn’t say a thing.
    “I have to apologize for something else,” he added as they walked along. “Allison isn’t usually that inhospitable. She’s actually a rather nice person once you get to know her. But she’s got. . . prob lems. Her life is rather a mess at the moment. And she tends to fly off the handle at just about anything that crosses her path.”
    Allison. What did she care about Allison? Her emotions were too tangled from the way David made her feel. She had a lot of sorting out to do before she had any energy left to expend on Allison.  
    “I understand,” she murmured, just to say something.
    The sun had fallen below the hills and the evening was a dusky violet. They were walking toward the house. Allison, on horseback, was arriving at the stables in the distance.
    “You see, she’s going through a particularly nasty divorce right now,” he went on. “And Santiagos don’t get divorced, if you know what I mean. She put up with a lot before she brought herself to this step. And now she feels as though she’s let down everyone, her husband, me, the Santiago family. And most of all, her daughter.”
    “ Her daughter?” That surprised her. She hadn’t given a thought to any children who might be involved. “I didn’t know she had a daughter.”
    He nodded. “Petra is fourteen. She’s still with her father, in France. And that’s another misery for Allison to bear.”
    Shawnee didn’t want to hear any more. She didn’t want to feel sorry for a Santiago. It was bad enough that she seemed to have fallen under David’s spell. She didn’t need anything else to help complicate her life.
    But David wasn’t ready to drop the subject. “Allison’s all wrapped up in training for the horse- show,” he went on. “It’s keeping her mind off things.” His hand moved on her shoulder and she could hear the affectionate amusement as he added, “She seems to think that if she wins the horse-show, that will in some way pay us all back for what she’s supposedly putting the family through.”  
    His laugh was low and indulgent.  
    “I’ve tried to convince her that it’s unnecessary, but she’s determined. Maybe, when she stands there at the Californio Days ceremonies with the trophy in her arms, she’ll feel like her old self again.”
    Shawnee moved restlessly under his touch. Should she tell him now? Should she let him know how much she wanted that very thing herself? That beating his sister was her main goal, and would make her very happy? Maybe then he would see how impossible any sort of relationship between them was.
    She glanced up at his dark face, then looked down at her feet, striding along the dusty road. Not yet , she told herself silently. The sooner he knows, the more likely something might go wrong. Better to wait until the sign-ups. Then everyone would know.
    “I can call my brother-in-law for a ride,” she suggested as they came out onto the drive way. “That way you can go ahead to the hospital.”
    “Not a chance,” he countered cheerfully, pulling open the door to his car. “Get in.”
    The drive back to her house was uneventful, which was just fine with Shawnee. She sat on the edge of her seat, anxious to get home, to get away from David’s influence so she could think clearly and regain her sense of control.
    “Just drop me here,” she said as they came in sight of the rickety little house.
    David didn’t bother to reply, ignoring her request completely. He pulled up in front of the porch, stopping her before she could twist open the door handle.
    “Not so fast,” he said, his hand on her arm. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re trying to run away from me?”
    She swallowed, glancing towards the house, hoping Granpa Jim hadn’t heard the car drive up.