Texas Rose

By Jolene Faye

Forced from her childhood home by the murder of her father and the fear of the man she knew had killed him, Sybil ran from her past. Finding a new home and the love of a miss matched group of people, she'd found peace again even with the scars of her past forever haunting her future. At the turn of the 20th century, her prospects of a family of her own took on new dimensions as she stumbled onto a near frozen discovery. With the love of a small child, Sybil's heart bloomed as fate brought the darkness of a stranger to her door. Was it possible after all this time, she could have a family of her own?

*After reading several old western romances by Norah Hess, the story and characters of Texas Rose haunted my dreams. Pushing aside three other stories I'd been working on, Sybil and Cole just wouldn't stay away! I might be a simple country girl, but I'd be lost without my computer and internet, so most of my stories happen in modern times. Texas Rose however is based in the late 1800's (early 1900's) and is my first attempt at older western romance. Unlike my other stories, there was no place for the full, descriptive portrayals of the sexual intimacy in Texas Rose. I hope the readers enjoy Texas Rose as much as I enjoyed writing it.*

"Oh my Lord," she whispered still scanning her soft brown eyes over the letter, "Robert, is this for real?" Stepping toward her once again wrapping the softness of his palms over her shoulders, Robert smiled and nodded slowly. "If no parental claims of the child are made by Christmas, the one year standard wait will have been concluded and you can file to adopt Rose yourself," his voice low and soft as the tears began to fall over the length of her lashes. She had grown to love the little girl as her own and now that the possibility of it actually being true settled on her, Sybil trembled with happiness. Looking up at him, the happiness of the warm tears streaked down her cheeks and the sob caught in the back of her throat as he pressed his lips to hers. Slipping his hands down her shoulders and wrapping them around her waist, Robert pulled her body against his as his breath feathered between their lips. With the joy of the news and the sweetness of his breath on her lips, Sybil melted into the warmth of his arms for a moment. She had often longed to be in his arms again, dreamed of them raising Rose as husband and wife. Husband, the word shattered her heart as she realized he was already someone else's husband. Pressing her hands into his chest and pushing him away, Sybil stepped away, holding tight to the letter. "What are you doing," she sobbed as he tried to pull her back to him. Watching the happiness on her face transform into confusion and hurt, Robert lowered his head and stepped back. Pain twisted the soft features of his face. He had always loved her, but he had made his decision two years ago. "Sybil," his voice low as he backed down the steps, stepping into the stirrup of his horse's saddle and swinging his leg over, Robert raised the sadness of his blue eyes to her, "I'm sorry."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jolene Faye
• Release date: Aug 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476012919

Jolene Faye

Born in a small Texas town, Jolene Faye grew up a country girl on a small farm. From early on, she was an avid reader. Starting all the way back when she was barely a teen, the writings of authors such as Stephen King, John Grisham and Danielle Steel intensified her love of the written word. Always daydreaming and often not being able to sleep, Jolene penned her dreams and thoughts on whatever notebook she had around. As the size of the farm she grew up on dwindled, her lifelong dreams often revolved around living on a big sprawling ranch. Only her love of animals could compare to her love of the written word. As the years passed with her writing poems and short stories, Jolene envisioned her adult life. She knew someday she would become a veterinarian, own and live on a large beautiful ranch and eventually retire to running a quaint little bed and breakfast. As it often happens, life had other plans for Jolene as she came to find, the day her soul mate walked into her life. Never giving much thought about marriage, children or a family, life literally turned her plans upside down. The hot July day when she looked into the eyes of her first born child, all her old dreams faded. The only future Jolene could see in the bright eyes of her baby girl were those of the child growing, becoming successful and following her own dreams. With a love greater that she'd ever known, Jolene watched as youthful dreams molded into the dreams of a mother. Devoting the next fourteen years of her life to raising, caring for, and encouraging the dreams of both her little girls, Jolene lived a happy life. As her oldest child grew and started sharing her own dreams, the long suppressed love Jolene once had for reading and writing resurfaced. Wanting to show her children they should never give up their dreams, she sat down once again with pen to paper and dreamed. With several short stories started, the old flame of imagination lit the fires in Jolene's vivid dreams. Often dreaming of scene as she struggled with insomnia, Jolene formed her visions into words. Playing each piece over in her mind like a movie, the familiarity of the characters intensified, making them feel almost real. After months of her thoughts pouring out onto the computer screen and debating if she should share her stories, Jolene's family encouraged her. Having read several well written and memorable ebooks on Smashwords over the years, she took the leap. With her hands shaking, her doubts telling her it wasn't good enough, and her breath held tight, Jolene clicked. Her heart stopped as the Publish button depressed. Her eyes wide and unbelieving as the progress wheels twirled on her screen. Listening to her two girls argue over a television show behind her, Jolene finally and slowly sighed realizing she had just done the very thing she spent the last fourteen years of her life encouraging her daughters to do. She was following her dreams. *Personal Note* I want to take this time to thank everyone who read and enjoyed my first book Texas Tornado. Since it's conception, so many stories have been floating through my mind. I have since finished another book and am excited to get through the editing and review process so I can publish it as well. I'd like to ask everyone who has read or will read Texas Tornado to post a review, good or bad, I'd like to know what everyone thought of it. Please feel free to contact me anytime! Google Website - https://sites.google.com/site/jolenefaye2012/ gMail - [e-mail] Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/jolene.faye.1 Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JoleneFaye

Book preview

Texas Rose

By Jolene Faye

Copyright 2012 Jolene Faye

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this free ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

*Personal Note*

After reading several old western romances by Norah Hess, the story and characters of Texas Rose haunted my dreams. Pushing aside three other stories I'd been working on, Sybil and Cole just wouldn't stay away! I might be a simple country girl, but I'd be lost without my computer and internet, so most of my stories happen in modern times. Texas Rose however is based in the late 1800's (early 1900's) and is my first attempt at older western romance. Unlike my other stories, there was no place for the full, descriptive portrayals of the sexual intimacy in Texas Rose. I hope the readers enjoy Texas Rose as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JoleneFaye

Google Website - https://sites.google.com/site/jolenefaye2012/

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Other Books by Jolene Faye available on Smashwords.com

Texas Tornado

Texas Tides

Chapter One

The sting of the cold sleet burned against his face. Whirls of the frigid night air pierced through the thick snow and rain soaked clothing as he pulled his arm and the small satchel closer to his chest. The daunting weight of his exhausted eyelids hooded the sharpness of his deep green eyes turning to scan the path of darkness behind him. The gentle weight of the satchel strap rubbed against the frozen wet chafe around his neck and shoulder. Pulling the reins slowly with agonizing numb fingers, he eased the horse's steady gait and strained his ears against the slushing howl of wind and sleet. The loud, sudden roar of a gunshot drove his heels into the side of the horse. Wrapping his arm tightly over the satchel, he slapped the reins against the cold wet neck of his mare and thundered into the darkness. The crack of lighting landing not far ahead in his path of escape frightened the already tired and weak mare. Her hooves kicked defensively into the night air as she reared and dropped the weight of her rider to the think wet, snow covered ground. Frantic as the air rushed from his lungs at the frozen punch of the ground, he pulled the satchel tight once again, scooting his body against the large rocks just off the icy path. Please, wait please! I have a ch- his voice faded as the brute force of the rifle's butt slammed behind his ear. The glow of the torches' light dimmed as his crystal green eyes scanned one last time over the small hollow between the rocks then faded into darkness.

~*~ ~*~

Mary Elizabeth Delacroix had been the belle of the ball, literally, when Benjamin Reed first set his eyes on her. The beautiful daughter of a wealthy plantation owner in New Orleans, Mary Elizabeth had grown tired of the fancy parties her parents had always thrown, hoping she would find a suitable husband. With her deep Creole heritage, her dark brown hair and eyes against the golden honey tone of her skin melted Benjamin Reed's heart. Six years after their marriage and move to the northernmost part of Texas, the couple was blessed with a single daughter. Named after both her grandmothers, Sybil Elizabeth Reed was the light of Benjamin and Mary Elizabeth's lives. While Texas was still wild for the most part, the stretch of land Benjamin had turned into a large expanse of cattle ranch was strategically placed between two major towns with rail road depots. Quickly earning his prestige as one of the most predominate cattle ranchers, Benjamin doted on his wife and child. When Sybil was barely fourteen, she watched as Benjamin worked late into the night adding the large glass French doors from Mary Elizabeth's childhood home to the ranch. The doors and the long heavy mahogany table where the only remnants of the fire that had destroyed Mary Elizabeth's parents' home and taken their lives. Mary Elizabeth had expected two more children from her marriage to Benjamin, but with her frail health both had ended before the unborn could be delivered. The slow decline of her health and function began shortly after Sybil had turned sixteen. Though they had help on the ranch and Benjamin loved them both dearly, Sybil had been the main caregiver of her frail mother. Two long torturous years later when Mary Elizabeth's body finally waned and gave out, Sybil watched a part of her father die too.

Benjamin protested profusely, Sybil was already eighteen years of age and he did not want to be the reason she was still unwed or still hadn't gone off to the education her mother had planned before her passing. Deep down inside, she knew it was her own face that haunted her father the most in the year after her mother's death. Though she had inherited his deep golden hair, every other aspect of Sybil looked exactly like her mother. She could see the pain in her father's eyes looking into the mirror image of his late wife's soft brown eyes when he would look at her, his own daughter. The golden brown tint of her skin contrasted against the fairness of his just like her mother's did when they'd walk arm in arm into church. Benjamin Reed had always been the strongest, gentlest man she'd ever known, but without his Mary Elizabeth he wandered around the ranch most days like a ghost. The three years since they had lost Mary Elizabeth, Sybil stayed at the ranch and cared for her father. He had changed so much that Sybil could barely recognize or reason with him. His heavy drinking had started shortly after Mary Elizabeth's passing and Sybil knew without a doubt was the cause of the dwindling prosperity of the ranch.

She had heard the stories floating about town and the appearance of John Henry Horner around the ranch confirmed them. A little more than a year after her mother's passing, Sybil had been awoken by the loud ruckus of her father's drunken tirade coming from the parlor. Quickly wrapping her thick woolen robe around her as she stepped into her slippers, Sybil crept out of her bedroom to find a tall dark haired man lowering the slumped body of her father into a big chair in front of the fireplace. The liquor slurred yells of her father were unintelligible, but the loose swinging of his arms toward the dark haired man raised the hairs on the back of Sybil's neck. Father, she exhaled loudly as she quickly crossed the room and knelt in front of him, ignoring the tall gentleman. As the heavy head of her father fell back and he passed out from drunkenness, Sybil stood and eyed the gentleman closely before speaking. He was tall, well-built and handsome, she thought. Near thirty, she assumed from the etched features of his face. His dark black hair curled under the brim of his solid black hat and the equally dark eyebrows seemed to frame the brilliant sparkle of his blue eyes. His groomed mustache and tailored suit might have suggested he was an upstanding gentleman, but something about the curl of his lips in the almost sinister sneer he wore made Sybil uneasy. Raising her hand to her chest, Sybil curled her fingers tightly in the plush wool of her robe and held the overlapping hems closed over her chest. The darkened gaze of his eyes drifted slowly up and down her frame as the sneer on his lips softened. Removing his hat he bowed slightly before offering his hand, I'm John Horner, John Henry Horner. I'm a uh associate of your father's. His voice was slow and almost friendly as she slowly began to extend her hand to his. She had never been intimidated by any man before, but something in the expression that played behind his smile made Sybil drop her hand and turn toward her father once more. Thank you for bringing my father home Mr. Horner. I really should get him to bed, she nodded softly without looking back into his eyes. As she slid her father's arm over her shoulder and hoisted him from the chair pulling him to his feet, she half turned toward the man and lifted her chin, I'd assume you can find your way out.

After her first meeting with John Horner, Sybil was content to never see the man again. It wasn't until his visits to the ranch became more and more frequent that she probed her father about him. Benjamin had never let his wife nor daughter be concerned about the workings of the ranch or the cattle sales so it was a complete shock when he admitted to Sybil that Horner was now his partner. She had tried to pry into the association and why her father decided he needed a partner, especially one like John Horner. Sybil had known the sales had been suffering since his father's dependence on liquor seemed to cloud his judgment and sense of duty, but she could not understand what a man like John Horner could offer her father. The men's closed door meetings often including shouting matches and one or the other leaving in a huff, slamming doors behind them. Perhaps it was money Horner had invested into the cattle, she hadn't been sure but sometimes she could make out parts of the arguments and those parts were always about money. Over a year had passed with her father and Horner in partnership, his increased presence at the ranch did little to settle Sybil's doubts and worries about the man, especially after avoiding his attempts to romance her several times. Most women she knew her age were well married and already started on families by twenty-two, but after Sybil's years of caring for her dying mother and now her distraught, drunken father, those type of things were the furthest from her mind. The very attempt of John Horner to flirt and court her turned Sybil's stomach and hardened her heart against the man. From the first night they had met, Sybil had stuck to the feelings she had about him and stayed as far away from him as possible.

Sybil shivered as the sobs of despair wracked her small frame. Pulling the warmth of the quilt over her shoulder, she lay curled in the softness of her father's bed. Her eyes welded closed behind tear swollen lids as the haunting sound of dirt hitting the wooden casket attacked her mind again. Father, she stuttered through hiccup wracked sobs, inhaling deeply against the cold pillow still tainted with his smell. Even after two years of caring for and dealing the frailty of her mother before she finally passed, Sybil could not come to grips with the sudden death of her father. She often thought through the years of caring for her mother, she'd learned to deal with the impending grief of her mother's death over the course of the weakening of her fragile body. Also, she knew when the time came for her mother to leave them that she alone would have to be the one to care for her father. Watching his wife wither away from the beautiful woman he'd loved all his life had taken its toll on Benjamin Reed, but as she had done with her mother, Sybil was always there to take care of him. Who was going to take care of her now?

~*~ ~*~

My Dearest Sybil,

My dear sweet child, your father has failed you. Once I thought John Henry to be a suitable husband for my only child but only before I learned of his trickery. I will be heading out in the morning to New Orleans. I have mailed letters of account to your uncle there and will need to retrieve them to gain back the ranch and your future. My despair over losing your Mother led me to fail her final request of taking care of you. Now it is time I fulfill her request and make things right. Stay away from John Henry my dear child, for I fear his trickery knows no bounds. Should I fail at my attempt to regain ownership of the ranch, you must leave. I fear you will not be safe. You uncle has assured me you would be accepted well in New Orleans, but first for my own peace, I must try to undo the things I have done. Please, my daughter, forgive me.

Benjamin

Tossing at the images of her father's casket in the ground being covered by