Devils on Horseback Book 6
Sometimes the universe has to turn your life sideways so love can find its way in.
As the oldest of five, Adam Sheridan’s life is full of obligations. He longs to do something, anything, besides working his family’s flour mill in Tanger, Texas. His mama always says the universe moves in its own sweet time.
Apparently the universe was waiting for his wagon load of flour to overturn so he could meet the woman he was destined to love.
Eve Tate is a woman from nowhere with a shady past and an uncertain future. When she is left behind in Adam’s care, she reinvents herself again to be his perfect mate. Little does she know who she was will haunt who she tries to be.
And, just like the couple of old, Adam and Eve must find a way to live together—or lose everything they have.
Excerpt
When one hundred pounds of wheat flour exploded, the ensuing cloud of white was spectacular to watch. Not so spectacular to be in the middle of.
Adam Sheridan crawled out from the overturned wagon and coughed, covering his mouth to not breathe in. After freeing the horse, Farina, from its traces, he had to half walk, half stumble at least twenty feet away before he could see something other than the flour cloud that enveloped him. Adam wiped at his eyes and blinked, annoyed with the whiteness clinging to his lashes.
What really irked him though was the woman who’d caused the accident in the first place. She’d been walking in the middle of the road on a blind curve. He didn’t care why, but he sure as hell cared that she had nearly killed him, not to mention the flour loss.
In the distance he spotted a wagon lumbering along down the road. It wasn’t a local rig, that was for sure. It was made of green wood with red-and-yellow shutters on the back windows. The roof was curved, with a smokestack protruding from it. Too bad they were too far away to help, even if it looked like a gypsy wagon. Any help was better than no help. For now he would be on his own in the biggest mess of his life. Damn.
He cursed again and kicked at the wagon lying on its side in the dirt while the flour continued to rain down around him. The bags should have been tied closed and secure, but he’d been in a hurry. His father had asked him to secure the load, as he always did on Sunday evenings. Adam had spent the day with his cousins instead and so he’d done all his chores in the predawn light while his head pounded from the whiskey that had found its way into his mouth the night before.
And now this. Shit on a shingle.
The bags had been thrown when the wagon tilted onto its side. An ominous crack had preceded the back axle snapping in two. Adam had tried to jump free, instead landing on his shoulder with a painful thump. He wasn’t hurt, but his ears were ringing. Not to mention the amount of flour settling on him. He’d probably find traces of it in his nose and ears for a week.
Farina high-stepped around as though he were checking to make sure nothing was broken. He blew out loudly through his nose. Adam patted the gelding’s neck.
“Sorry, boy.” He peered through the cloud of white and saw the woman who’d caused it all. His anger surged anew.
She walked toward him as though she were out for a casual stroll on a Monday afternoon. The closer she got, the more his first impression of her changed. Walking was too benign a word. She moved like a dancer, full of grace and a sensuality that was like a punch to the gut. He coughed to cover his reaction to this sensual creature who was turning white beneath a cloud of flour. She wore a white blouse with intricate, fragile lace, buttoned up to her chin, and a long skirt the color of a blueberry. Her entire outfit had ragged edges and was faded, as though washed until it was almost transparent. Her hair was dark brown and done up in some elaborate knot at the back of her throat. She carried a ragged tapestry bag in her delicate-looking hand.
“My name is Eve. Are you injured?” Her gaze roved over his body. “Any pains in your neck, arms, legs or back?”
Adam and Eve.
There had to be some kind of reason why they ran into each other, literally. His mother always told him the universe did what it wanted when it wanted. Apparently it wanted him to lose more than fifty dollars of flour to meet a wandering girl named Eve.
What could the universe have been thinking?