The Wonder of Your Love - By Beth Wiseman Page 0,98

last few weeks before the April deadline, Brad was hard to reach—either with a client or in a meeting. She knew not to expect him until after eight o’clock tonight. Knowing she couldn’t go back in her bedroom, she wondered what she would have to live without until then. For starters, a shirt.

Darlene looked down at her semi-bare upper half. She’d managed to pull on her undergarments and a pair of shorts from her drawer before she was forced out of her bedroom. She let out a heavy sigh and rubbed her forehead. Brad answered on the sixth ring.

“Bradley…” She only called him by his full name when she needed to be sure she had his full attention.

“What is it, babe?”

She took a deep breath. “There is a snake in our bedroom. A big, black snake.” She paused and shivered. “In our bedroom.”

“How big?”

She’d expected a larger reaction. Maybe her husband didn’t hear her. “Big! Very big. Huge, Brad.”

He chuckled. “Honey, remember that little snake that got in your greenhouse when we lived on Charter Road in Houston? You said that snake was big too.” Another chuckle, and Darlene wanted to smack him through the phone. “It was a tiny little grass snake.”

“Brad, you’re going to have to trust me. This snake is huge, like five or six feet long.” A shiver ran down her spine. “Are you coming home or should I call 9-1-1?”

“What? You can’t call 9-1-1 about a snake. Darlene, don’t do that. Round Top is a small town, and we’ll be known as the city slickers who called in about a snake.”

“Then you need to come home and take care of this.” She lifted her chin and fought the tremble in her voice.

Deep breath on the other end of the line. “You know how crazy it is here. I can’t leave right now. It’s probably just a chicken snake, and they’re harmless.”

“Well, there are no chickens in my bedroom, so it doesn’t have any business in there. Brad, it’s a snake. Are you hearing me?”

“Chad can probably get it out when he gets home from school. Maybe with a shovel or something.”

Darlene sighed. “Our girls are going to freak if they come home to find a snake in the house.”

“Maybe—”

“I’ll call you back. There’s someone at the door, and I’m standing here in my bra. I’ll call you back. Love you.” She clicked the phone closed, then yelled toward the door. “Just a minute!”

After finding a T-shirt in Gracie’s room, she pulled it over her head as she crossed back through the den toward the front door. This was the first visitor she’d had in the two months since they’d moved from Houston. As had been habit in the city, she peeked around the curtain, relieved to see it was a woman. A very tall woman in a cowgirl hat. She pulled the door open.

“Your Longhorns are in my pasture.” The woman twisted her mouth to one side and folded her arms across her chest. “This is the second time they’ve busted the fence and wandered onto my property.”

Darlene thought this cowgirl could have walked straight off the set of any western movie. She was dressed in a long sleeved denim shirt with her blue jeans tucked into brown boots. She was older than Darlene, possibly mid forties, and stunning, with huge brown eyes and blond hair that hung in a ponytail to her waist.

“I’m so sorry.” Darlene shook her head. Brad should have never gotten the three Longhorns. Neither she nor Brad knew a thing about cows. But Brad had said a move to the country should include some Longhorns. She pushed the door wide. “I’m Darlene.”

The woman shifted her weight but didn’t make a move toward the door. Instead, she stared at Darlene’s chest. Darlene raised a brow and waited for the woman to lock eyes with her, and when she didn’t, Darlene finally looked down. Her cheeks warmed as she sighed.

“Oh, this is my daughter’s shirt.” Don’t Bug Me! was scrolled across the white T-shirt in red, and beneath the writing was a hideous picture of a giant roach. Darlene couldn’t stand the shirt, but fifteen-year-old Gracie loved it. “Do you want to come in?” She stepped back.

“No. I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to round up your Longhorns and head them back to your pasture. I’ll temporarily repair the fence.” The woman turned to leave, and it was then that Darlene saw a horse tethered to the fence