Read Katy Run Away for Free Online Page A

step he took when he circled around the fire to her side. She glared, shivering and rubbing at her arms. “Oh. Silly me, here I thought maybe you were done beating me for the night.”
    Cal laughed again. He had that hard, unamused coughing sound down fairly well. “Yeah, keep on pushing. See what happens.”
    He sat down on the ground directly behind her, pulling her back into the cradle of his arms and legs. It was right on the tip of her tongue to object, but she really was cold and Cal felt as warm as sunshine everywhere he touched her. She couldn’t help curling against him, turning slightly to press her cheek against his shoulder. He held her, rubbing her arms with his large hands.
    “Aren’t you cold?” she asked incredulous.
    “A little,” he admitted. He made himself comfortable, propping his back against a relatively flat side of the rocky nook they’d taken shelter in for the night, and folded his arms around her. “These last few years, I’ve probably spent at least half my nights sleeping out with the cows. I’m just more used to it than you are.”
    Katy shifted a little, craning her head on his shoulder so she could look up at him. “Is that why you and your father left? You went to work on someone else’s ranch?”
    “We went to work our own ranch,” Cal corrected. “Granddaddy left his spread to my daddy when he died. So, we bought our seed stock from your daddy and we moved out here to start our own business. It’s going well, too. Nothing like what you’re used to, but we get by and we’re growing. I’ve no complaints.”
    Katy shifted again, trying to get the pointed end of a rock out from under her hip. She folded her arms across her chest, hugging herself for warmth. She even relaxed a little, in spite of herself. “I remember your father. He always had little pieces of licorice or rock candy in his pockets. Every time I came up to him, he’d give me a piece. My mother was always mad because I was never hungry when supper rolled around.” She felt more than heard Cal’s soft laugh. “How is he these days?”
    “He died. It’s been about…eight months come November. The dry weather out here made it easier, but consumption finally got him.”
    For a moment, Katy forgot the cold, the uncomfortable rocks. She even forgot how much she didn’t like Cal. “I’m sorry.”
    When she looked up at him, his face held a far-away expression. “Don’t be. Those last couple years were hell on him. He’s not hurting anymore. Be happy for that. God knows I am.” Nodding faintly, Cal then looked at her. “I was real sorry to hear about your father, too.”
    Katy looked away. She tried not to feel it, but even after four years, it still hit her like a knife in the chest. “He got thrown from his horse. His neck was broken.”
    “I’m sorry,” Cal said again.
    She was sorry, too. She couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t felt sorry. Sometimes it seemed like she’d never feel anything but this again. She concentrated on just trying to breathe, slow and even, even when she added, “Mama remarried.”
    Cal didn’t say anything. He just stroked her arm.
    “Do you remember daddy’s friend, Clifton Sullivan?” she asked.
    “Uh.” His eyes narrowed in thought. “Yeah, I think so. Lived in Stillwater, above the milliner’s shop, didn’t he? Used to come out twice a year and help bale hay? Seemed like a nice enough fellow.”
    “He is, very nice. He’s a very decent man, but…” Katy stared straight into the fire now. “But that’s who she married. Four months after daddy died.”
    “Ah,” Cal said. That was it, but Katy still stiffened. His ‘ah’ had a tone.
    “What does that mean?”
    “It doesn’t mean anyth—”
    “Oh yes, it does,” Katy snapped. Warm or not, she pulled out of his arms. “It means something or you wouldn’t have said it like that: ah .”
    “I’m not trying to fight.”
    “The hell you’re not!”
    “Watch your mouth!”
    “I am