Читать книгу The Cowboy's Christmas Proposal - Judy Christenberry, Judy Christenberry - Страница 4

TWO attractive young ladies held hands as they stood by the four graves, tears streaking their cheeks as they struggled to overcome their emotions.

“At least we know they didn’t suffer,” one of the girls said, sniffing away her tears, the morning sun glinting off her shiny blond hair.

“No,” the brunette agreed, “but they were much too young to die so soon.”

“I know.” She gulped back her emotions. “It means we’re our only family now, you and I. We’re going to have to stick together if we’re going to continue.”

“Yes. And that’s what they would’ve wanted, for us to continue.”

They were interrupted by the townspeople in Bailey, Colorado, wanting to express their condolences. The young cousins stood shoulder to shoulder and greeted their neighbors and friends. The deaths of their parents in a car accident, having traveled to Denver for a football game and run head-on with an eighteen-wheeler on the way home, had been totally unexpected and the tragic loss had taken everyone by surprise.

“You girls should ask for help when you need it. You’re awfully young to be on your own,” one neighbor had told them. They exchanged looks but received the piece of advice graciously. They were both twenty-five, a reasonable age to be independent, but neither had wanted it to be like this.

They received many offers of help, but they didn’t expect to ask for any. They both thought they had a plan laid out to carry on their lives and their beloved family traditions.

But then they hadn’t planned to be alone, either.