The Rawhide Man

The Rawhide Man by Diana Palmer

Book: The Rawhide Man by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online
Authors: Diana Palmer
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before Bess had time to reflect on Jude’s odd behavior, the phone rang. Aggie was back in a minute to get Bess.
    Bess picked up the receiver, feeling a sense of impending doom because there was only one person who might be calling her today.
    “Hello?” she said.
    “Hello, Merry Christmas!” Crystal’s bubbly voice was instantly recognizable. “Send someone to the airport to fetch me, love. I’ve come to cheer up your dreary holidays!”

Chapter Seven
    T he airport was bustling when Jude and Bess got there, but it only took a minute for them to spot Crystal. She would have stood out anywhere in the white satin blouse and black skirt she wore. With her exquisite face and figure and her tumble of long, straight blond hair, she was absolutely stunning.
    “Darling!” she called, running straight toward Bess and Jude.
    But it was Jude whose arms she ran into, and while Bess watched, horrified, Crystal kissed him on the mouth, her ardor real and sickening to watch. Worse, Jude didn’t seem to mind at all. His arms contracted and he laughed as he let her go.
    “Hello, bubbles,” he said, grinning at the younger woman. “How long can we keep you?”
    Crystal looked ecstatic, Bess thought. Already she had a captive male. And who cared that it was dry old Bess’s husband anyway? “As long as you’ll let me,” she told Jude, grinning gaily. “I’ve had a tiff with my count, and I may never leave Big Mesquite. How’s that?”
    Bess stood rigidly while Crystal hugged her. She was certain Crystal’s affection was all for show.
    “Hi, love,” Crystal murmured. “Bad Christmas for you this year, isn’t it, with Carla dead?”
    Bess’s eyes began to water and she turned away. “I’m glad you could come to visit,” Bess said tautly.
    Jude was glaring at her, but she didn’t look his way. “You just missed Christmas dinner, but Aggie can fix you a plate,” Bess said graciously, remembering her manners.
    “Lord, I couldn’t eat a bite!” Crystal said. “I had dinner on the plane, you know. Cardboard and all that, but it was filling, at least. And I never eat much. Have to watch my figure!”
    So did everyone else, Bess thought uncharitably, seeing the way male eyes followed her flamboyant stepsister as they weaved through the travelers on their way to the parking lot.
    “You’re very quiet today, Bess,” Crystal remarked when they were settled in the Mercedes—with Crystal, as Bess had expected, in the front seat and Bess in the back.
    “She had a bad night,” Jude said, straight-faced, and fortunately Crystal turned around before she saw Bess’s wild flush.
    “Well, I could have died when I read that note about the two of you getting married,” Crystal told Jude. “You used to swear you’d never let any woman get a hold on you.”
    “I meant it, too,” he said imperturbably, lighting a cigarette. “I married Bess because of those damned shares. I couldn’t get them any other way, thanks to Carla.”
    “Lord, she did hate you, didn’t she?” Crystal laughed. “Poor Jude. Is marriage awful?”
    Bess, sitting ignored in the back seat, could have shot them both. If only Jude had allowed Katy to come with them so she could have had someone to talk to!
    “It has its compensations,” Jude murmured, glancing in the rearview mirror. “Doesn’t it, Bess?”
    “Yes,” she said sweetly. “Katy is one of them.”
    He didn’t like that. His eyes glared at her. But Crystal laughed.
    “That sounds like you, darling,” she told her stepsister. “You always did love kids. Are you going to have some of your own?”
    “Yes,” Bess said curtly, and her eyes dared Jude to argue. He didn’t seem to want to.
    “Bess is good with Katy,” he said as he turned onto the main highway. “They’re already pals.”
    “I can’t wait to see Katy again,” Crystal said with a lazy smile. “She was just a baby the last time at that family get-together.”
    “You’ve missed them all for years,” Jude

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