Read Dream's End for Free Online Page B

you some sausage and eggs and grits. Want a hot biscuit to go with it?”
    â€œYes, please.” She looked up at the older woman sheepishly. “My head hurts.”
    â€œNo doubt. Tied one on, did you?” Bessie teased.
    â€œNot exactly. I just wanted to see what a whiskey sour tasted like.”
    â€œFound out, didn’t you?” she laughed.
    â€œBoss gone out to the field?” she queried.
    â€œNo, he’s waiting for you to get yourself together enough to take some dictation,” came a disapproving voice from behind her.
    She flinched visibly as Curry came into the kitchen, wearing his jeans with a blue checkered work shirt half unbuttoned. He poured himself a cup of black coffee and sat down next to Eleanor at the table.
    His eyes traced what he could see above the table of her trim figure in a white knit shirt and matching slacks. Her hair was left loose because she didn’t have time to put it up, and her glasses were pushed casually on top of her head, giving her a sporty look.
    â€œLooks young, doesn’t she?” Bessie smiled, nodding toward Eleanor as she set a plate of hot biscuits and some jam on the table.
    â€œLike springtime,” Curry agreed. His eyes were warm on Eleanor’s slightlyflushed face. “Jim’s influence, no doubt,” he added with a contempt he didn’t try to disguise.
    â€œNo doubt,” Eleanor agreed sweetly, reaching for a biscuit.
    His eyes flashed at her. He leaned back in the chair, sipping his coffee, and she braced herself for a storm, because it was building in his eyes.
    Bessie must have felt it, too, because she dried her hands on a dishcloth, muttered something about dusting the flowers, and made a dive for the back porch.
    â€œI meant what I said,” Curry told her quietly. “I don’t want Black on this property again.”
    â€œOr you’re going to shoot him?” she asked carelessly, darting a nonchalant glance at him.
    â€œI don’t have to shoot him,” he said quietly. “If you’re determined to walk out on me, there’s a lot of work I need to get through before you pack, and that won’t leave much time for socializing.”His jaw set and locked. “You can save your plans for when you’re on his time. I’m not paying you to play.”
    Her own eyes narrowed. She glanced back at him. “Since when,” she demanded, “have I ever shirked my responsibilities?”
    â€œSince you got yourself tangled up with Jim Black!” he returned.
    â€œI’m not tangled up with him!”
    His eyes lanced over her contemptuously. “Aren’t you?” he asked insinuatingly.
    Her face went dark with anger. She wadded up her napkin and threw it down next to the plate with her half-eaten breakfast, and stood up. “If you’d like to get started, Mr. Matherson?”
    â€œSit down,” he said quietly, “and finish your breakfast. I won’t have you passing out from hunger. You’re too damned thin as it is.”
    She tossed back her long, waving hair. “From all my socializing, you know,”she shot back. “And I’ve lost my appetite, thanks to you.”
    â€œKeep pushing,” he said softly, rising, “and you’re going to find out just how far I’ll let you go.”
    â€œI’m not afraid of you,” she said defiantly, turning to leave the room.
    â€œYet,” he said as he followed her out, and the hard spoken word had an ominous sound.
    Â 
    They worked in a strained silence for the next hour. He leaned back in his chair at the desk and dictated letter after letter while Eleanor pretended a calm she didn’t feel and managed just barely to keep up with his ruthless, deliberate speed. Every once in a while, she’d feel his eyes studying her, watching to see if he was getting her rattled. It was new, fighting Curry like this. Exciting, but very unnerving. The old