Читать книгу The Consummate Cowboy - Sara Orwig - Страница 8

Prologue

“Things cannot get worse,” Emily Stockton said aloud. Later she would remember her foolhardy prediction. She turned off the faucets, stepped out of the shower and wrapped her red hair in a towel. Exhausted from working a ten-hour day at the office of Chicago Charities, she dried quickly and yanked on a short blue cotton nightgown. As she slipped it over her head, she heard the ring of the phone.

“Oh, no!” She could imagine Meg Dodson calling about the adoption they had been working on for weeks. She hurried to the phone and picked up the receiver, bracing for more upheaval and Meg’s panicky voice. An unintelligible and hysterical female voice ran words together.

“Meg? Slow down. I can’t understand you at all.”

“Emily, it’s me—Amber. I’m in desperate trouble. Help me. You’ve got to help me. He’s after me—”

“Amber?” Emily frowned in shock, trying to remember the last time she had talked to her sister. She shook her head, wondering what Amber’s latest predicament was. Her sister had already gone through two husbands and was now married to the third.

“You’ve got to help me. I know you’ll come, but please be careful. If he knows you’re going to help me, you’ll be in danger. I’ve got to get away from him—”

“Who’s him? Raimundo? Zach Durham?” Amber’s current husband and most recent ex seemed the logical possibilities. The first had long ago disappeared from Amber’s life.

“You know how tough Zach is and how he hates me. Stay away from him!”

“Amber, you’re not making sense. Who’s after you?”

“I’ve got to go. I think he’s here. I’m in New Mexico. Up north. I’ll call you—”

The phone clicked, and Emily stared at the receiver. “Damn,” she said, half tempted to hang up, go to bed, and forget all about Amber and her problems. Her sister had been in trouble all of Emily’s life. Yet Amber sounded more frightened than ever before. With a sigh of resignation, Emily knew she would have to do something. No matter what kind of jams her family got themselves into, she always felt compelled to stand by them. She was the youngest member of the family, yet she’d always felt like the oldest.

As she blew dry her hair, pulling the brush through her thick reddish-golden hair, the curls springing back in an annoying tangle, she mulled over Amber’s call. She hadn’t taken a vacation in three years. She could wind up the latest adoption and ask for time off to go to New Mexico and see what help Amber needed. She didn’t know where in northern New Mexico, but she expected another wild call from Amber. And more than likely, the trouble involved Amber’s second husband, Zach Durham, who was a rancher in New Mexico. Otherwise, why would Amber be in that state? The last call Emily had received from her sister had been from Acapulco, where Amber was celebrating her latest marriage to Raimundo Morales. That had been eight months ago. Maybe Raimundo and Zach were fighting over Amber.

Although Emily knew she could use some time off work, she didn’t want to spend it tied up with Amber’s problems. But she also knew she couldn’t ignore Amber’s plea for help. She let out a long sigh.

“Chump,” she grumbled into the empty darkness.