BLURB:
Crystal Rivers had suffered many things
throughout her life, but none was more shocking than the untimely death of her
husband. Learning that her in-laws were not the loving people they claimed to
be, she soon finds herself in the arms of her only living relative…her elderly,
Aunt Milly.
Now with child, Crystal is determined to
create a new world for her and her unborn baby on the majestic farm that she
herself once enjoyed as a child. Falling
in love was not part of that plan, but many things were about to come to pass
that Crystal could have never imagined. Deceit and an attempt on her and her
child’s life would test her will to survive, to the very core of Crystal’s
sanity.
EXCERPT:
Milly
cleared her throat several times on the way to the chicken coop to keep from
laughing. She didn’t want to spill the beans, so to speak. She knew the best
way to learn how to do anything on a farm was to get down and get your hands
dirty, and that was just what she was going to let Crystal do. Once they were
at the chicken coop, Milly opened the door and ushered Crystal in.
“Why do I
have to go first?”
“Cause you
have the feed and I need to lock the door.”
“You’re
going to lock me in?” Crystal yelped, panic setting in.
“I’ll be in
there with ya, gathering eggs. They ain’t gonna hurt ya,” she promised as
Crystal walked through the door. “Just don’t turn your back on the rooster.”
Crystal
tried to turn and go back out, but the door was already closed and Milly was
walking toward another one. Crystal was on her heels in one huge step.
“How will I
know which one's the rooster?”
“He has a
pecker,” she replied and burst out laughing.
“Milly!”
“He’ll be the
one that’s trying to get at your leg,” Milly laughed, then opened the door
where the chickens had been throughout the night. She shuffled in and started
gathering the eggs while the flock of fowl scurried out. When she didn’t hear
anything coming from outside the coop, she stepped back out to see Crystal
frozen in the middle of fifteen chickens and one cocky rooster.
“Just toss
the grain on the ground and they’ll move away from ya,” Milly said, smiling ear
to ear.
Crystal
turned the bucket upside down, pouring it all in a single pile, then tossed the
bucket toward the corner of the pen. The chickens began flocking around the
front of her feet and she jumped back, hitting the rooster with the back of her
leg. The startled bird jumped up and angrily flogged the back of her thigh. She
screamed and took off running from the creature that came up no higher than her
shin, with that rooster on her every step of the way.
She circled
around the inside of the cage three or four times before she finally put her
back to the chicken-wire wall and started screaming at the rooster to, “stay
back or else!” Milly got so tickled that she couldn’t have helped the poor girl
if she’d wanted to. She was doubled over in laughter, holding her side, trying
to suppress the pain that shot through it from laughing so hard. Every time the
rooster jumped at Crystal, she would kick out her foot and try to hit him back.
“That’s right,
you have to show him who’s boss!” Milly said between hiccups of laughter.
“I’m done,
can I get out now? Please?” Crystal begged as she kicked once again at the
rooster that seemed determined to show her who the boss was and it
certainly wasn’t her.
Milly turned
around and grabbed the last few eggs before walking over to where she and the
rooster were engaging in their little war. Milly hollered, “Get!” waving her
hand toward the rooster. He bobbed his head, scratched his foot across the
ground a few times, and then joined his females.
Crystal
carefully slid with her back to the cage wall toward the door that would let
her out, not once taking her eyes off of her new-found friend. Milly unhooked
the latch and in a split second, Crystal was out in the open with her hands on
her knees and her head hanging down.
“I guess
fried chicken is out of the question for supper tonight,” Milly joked, knowing
she wouldn’t let Crystal live this one down for some time.
Crystal
started to lift her head to retaliate when she noticed her tennis shoes were no
longer white. “What the heck is that on my shoes?”
“Well, good
night child, it’s chicken shit,” Milly said, shaking her head smiling, knowing
the day was going to be a little longer than she had anticipated. “Think you’re
ready to help me with the horses?”
“You really
don’t give a person time to think about their problems, do you? Are your horses
very big?” she inquired, scraping her shoes on the gravel at her feet.
