Cowboy Enchantment - By Pamela Browning Page 0,12

homes for. I don’t suppose you could take one back to New York with you?”

“I’d like that,” Erica said, surprising herself. “It would be fun to come home to a pet after being away on business. But I’ll have to decline, Justine. I’m too busy to take on the responsibility. And,” she said, pausing to study Justine’s reaction, “Mrs. Gray doesn’t seem exactly, well, normal.”

“Oh, I know. Those eyes and the way she stares. It’s a little uncanny, almost as if she can tell what humans are thinking.” Justine didn’t expand on this, but Erica now suspected what really bothered her about the stable cat. It was her eyes, as Justine said, wide and yellow and unblinking.

Their conversation went on to more conventional topics, such as Erica’s makeover, with Justine making a few suggestions about hair and makeup. They soon moved to the dining room, Murphy following, and dinner progressed smoothly with both of them talking and laughing and eating heartily of roast pork, sweet-potato casserole, salad containing hearts of palm, and creamed spinach. And even though she knew her fellow guests were probably partaking of a few shrimp cunningly arranged on a lettuce leaf, Erica did not feel one bit guilty about eating so much rich food. At least not yet.

Because she was going to have the voluptuous figure she’d always wanted. It was a means to an end. A rear end that would be softly rounded, maybe even jiggling slightly as she strolled into a roadhouse wearing tight-fitting jeans. And then…then Hank, who had looked as if he could barely stand to look at her, would change his tune.

Holding that very pleasant thought, Erica helped herself to another large spoonful of sweet potatoes.

Padre Luis Speaks…

I AM ONLY a humble priest. But por Dios! I do my best.

Forgive me if my English is not so good. It is not my native tongue. When I built my school and hospital in this valley, the miners and their families rejoiced. Now they are gone. In the place where my hospital stood, there is a building. It has the inconsequential name of Desert Rose.

I live in my hospital office, or where it once was. Unfortunately this space is in the courtyard of this Desert Rose place. My office is in the midst of a cactus patch. A gardener comes to groom the cactus every week. Whoever heard of grooming a cactus patch? But I cannot feel the spines of the cacti, though I pace among them, to and fro, to and fro.

A woman arrived here today. Her name is Erica. She cannot see me, as I am not as I was. I can only barely see her. She is like a faded picture, indicating an incompleteness of the spirit. Perhaps there is hope for her, if she learns to be real. I will pray for her.

I wanted to speak to her, but no one can hear me. I do not know why. It is my belief that, as I have heard the Anglo settlers say, the cat has got my tongue.

But if the cat has my tongue, why does she not say what I would say? Por Dios, there are many things I do not understand.

I am only a humble priest, not worldly and only wishing to be wise. I must pray.

Chapter Three

Hank ignored the blinking light on his answering machine as he stared morosely at the tiny white button in his left hand and the pink-checked pinafore in his right. Actually two buttons had popped off this garment, which was one of his favorites for Kaylie to wear because it was frilly and cute and didn’t need ironing. Hank hated ironing. And he had no idea how to go about sewing on a button.

He stuck his head around the corner to check on Kaylie in her alcove. She slept soundly in her crib, her bottom up in the air, her binky in her mouth.

It occurred to him that he could ask Cord McCall, the ranch manager, to be alert for sounds from his small apartment. Cord was a loner, kept mostly to himself, but he lived next door in similar quarters, a door opened between them, and the baby monitor would alert Cord if Kaylie woke.

Although his main purpose in going to the Big House was to ask Justine to show him how to sew on a button, Hank thought it might be a good idea to stop by to see her, maybe apologize for his anger this afternoon. Not only