Led Astray & The Devil's Own: An Anthology (Astray & Devil) - Softcover

Brown, Sandra

 
9780778327660: Led Astray & The Devil's Own: An Anthology (Astray & Devil)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0778327663 ISBN 13: 9780778327660
Verlag: MIRA, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

Led Astray

Mourning her fiancé's sudden, tragic death, Jenny Fletcher found a surprisingly sympathetic friend in his brother Cage. She'd always considered him too wild and reckless…until he brought out a wild side of her that she hadn't known was there. And now that she'd been led astray, she couldn't possibly turn back….

The Devil's Own

Kerry Bishop prepared for danger when she undertook a mission to rescue nine orphans from a war-ravaged country. But she didn't prepare to lose her heart to the man on whom their very survival depended. She'd tricked Linc into helping her, misleading him about her identity. When and if they reached freedom—would their love survive in spite of her lies?

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Sandra Brown is the author of fifty-seven New York Times bestsellers, including SMOKE SCREEN (Simon & Schuster 2008).
Brown began her writing career in 1981 and since then has published over seventy novels, most of which remain in print. As of 1990, when Mirror Image made The New York Times bestseller list, each subsequent novel, including reprints of earlier books, have become Times bestsellers.

Sandra and her husband Michael Brown live in Arlington, Tx.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

If they didn't stop talking about it, she was going to scream.

But they weren't going to stop talking about it. It was the one subject on everyone's mind and the chance of them switching to another was remote. The topic under discussion had carried them through the pot roast dinner. It was the type of meal usually reserved for Sundays, as though this were an occasion to be celebrated rather than lamented.

Sarah had outdone herself in preparing the food. There had even been hot, fluffy yeast rolls fresh from the oven to dip in the thick, savory beef gravy and a homemade pudding that was so rich, the calories fairly shouted.

But Jenny's tastebuds might as well have been dead for all she had enjoyed the meal. Her tongue seemed to cleave to the roof of her mouth with every bite, and her throat rebelled against swallowing.

Now, over coffee, which Sarah was pouring into the china cups with the yellow primrose pattern, they were still talking about Hal's imminent trip to Central America. The trip would encompass an unspecified period of time, virtually make him an outlaw, and probably imperil his life.

Yet everyone was excited about it, especially Hal, whose cheeks were flushed with enthusiasm. His brown eyes shone with expectation. "It's a tremendous undertaking. But if it weren't for the courage of those poor souls in Monterico, everything we've done and will do would be in vain. The honor belongs to them."

Sarah touched her younger son's cheek affectionately as she resumed her chair after refilling everyone's cup. "But you've instigated this underground railroad to help them escape. I think it's wonderful. Simply wonderful. But—" her lower lip began to tremble "—you will be careful, won't you? You won't really be in danger?"

Hal patted the soft hand that clung to his arm. "Mother, I've told you a thousand times that the political refugees will be waiting for us at the border of Monterico. We're only picking them up, escorting them through Mexico, and—"

"Illegally smuggling them into the United States," Cage supplied dryly.

Sarah glanced at Hal's older brother sourly.

Accustomed to such disdain, Cage remained unaffected by his mother's disapproving glance. He stretched his jean-clad legs far out in front of him as he slouched in his chair in a way that had always irritated Sarah. During his youth she had harped on his table posture until she was blue. Her lectures had never done any good.

He crossed one booted ankle over the other and eyed his brother from beneath a shelf of dust-colored eyebrows. "I wonder if you'll be so fired up with fanatic zeal when the Border Patrol slams your ass in jail."

"If you can't use better language than that, kindly leave the table," Reverend Bob Hendren snapped.

"Sorry, Dad." Unrepentantly Cage sipped his coffee.

"If Hal goes to jail," the pastor went on, "it will be for a good cause, something he believes in."

"That's not what you said the night you had to come bail me out," Cage reminded his father.

"You were arrested for drunkenness."

Cage grinned. "I believe in getting drunk occasionally."

"Cage, please," Sarah said with a long-suffering sigh. "For once try and behave."

Jenny stared down at her hands. She hated these family scenes. Cage could be provoking, but she felt in this instance he was right to bluntly point out the risks of Hal's involvement in this venture. Besides, even she could see that Cage's derision was a response to his parents' obvious preference for Hal, who shifted uneasily in his chair. Though he basked in Bob's and Sarah's approval, their blatant favoritism made him uncomfortable as well.

Cage relented by erasing the smirk from his handsome face, but he continued arguing. "It's just that this labor of love, this mission of Hal's, seems like a good way to get killed. Why is he risking his neck in some banana republic where they shoot first and ask questions later?"

"You couldn't possibly understand Hal's motives," Bob said with a dismissive wave of his hand toward his elder son.

Cage sat up straighter and propped his arms on the table, leaning forward for emphasis. "I can understand his wanting to liberate people marked for death, yes. But I don't think this is the way to do it." Impatiently he ran a hand through his dark blond hair. "An underground railroad, escorting political refugees through Mexico, illegal entry into the United States," he said scoff-ingly as he enumerated the stages of Hal's mission by ticking them off his fingertips.

"And how are they going to survive once you get them here to Texas? Where will they live? What will they do? Have you thought of jobs, shelter, food, medicine, clothing? Don't be naive enough to think that everyone will welcome them with open arms just because they're from a strife-torn country They'll be thought of as wetbacks just as all illegal aliens are. And treated as such."

"We're trusting all that to God's will," Hal said a little uncertainly. His steadfastness always faltered under Cage's pragmatism. Just when Hal thought one of his convictions was unshakable, Cage shook it—to the core. Just like an earthquake, Cage's arguments opened up fissures in beliefs Hal had previously thought of as sound and indestructible. Hal prayed about it often and always came to the conclusion that God used Cage to test him. Or was Cage's astuteness a gift of the devil used to tempt him? His parents would no doubt opt for the second theory.

"Yeah, well, I hope God has more common sense than you have."

"That's enough!" Bob said sharply.

Cage hunched his shoulders and propping his elbows on the tabletop, carried his coffee cup to his mouth. He didn't use the tiny handle. Jenny doubted his long finger would fit in that narrow china crook. He held the cup by folding both his hands around it.

He was out of place in the parsonage kitchen. It had crispy ruffled curtains at the windows, a pastel plaid yellow vinyl floor, and a glass-fronted china cabinet that held delicate serving pieces that were treasured and used only on holidays.

Cage shrank the kitchen until its coziness became clutter. And it wasn't that he was inordinately muscular or tall. Physically Cage and Hal were much the same. From a distance and from the back, the brothers were almost indistinguishable, except that Cage was slightly more robust than his younger brother. That added brawni-ness was due more to the differences in their occupations than to a whim of heredity.

But there the similarity between the two ended. The main difference between them was one of attitude. Cage had a presence that made any room seem smaller when he entered it. An indefinablesomething surrounded him like an aura and was as much a part of him as his darkly tanned skin.

Indoors he was like an oversized body straining at the seams of clothing that was too small. He seemed to be squeezed into most rooms, as though what he needed around him was wide open spaces, earth, and sky. An essence of the outdoors clung to him, as if he carried the wind inside on his clothes and in his hair.

Jenny had never gotten close enough to him to find out, but she thought his skin must smell like sunshine. The ravages of long hours in the sun were evident on his face, particularly around his tawny eyes. Those web-fine lines made him appear older than he was. But then he had crammed a lot of living into his thirty-two years.

And tonight, as always wherever Cage went, there was likely to be discord if not downright warfare. Mischief and malcontent followed him like a shadow....

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Verlag
MIRA
Erscheinungsdatum
2010
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0778327663
ISBN 13 
9780778327660
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
512
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
HarperCollins Publishers Ireland
enquiries@harpercollins.ie

Macken House 39/40 Mayor Street Upper
Dublin
D01 C9W8
Irland

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