Read Palomino for Free Online

clothes with him for a month at Saint-Moritz. Most of that was my husband's. We had just been to Palm Springs.
    He nodded, saying nothing, and then led the way to the garage. He was a man of few words but rich emotions. She had seen that often during her early visits to the ranch. Five minutes later they had reached the large red pickup, stowed her suitcase in the back, and were driving slowly out of the parking lot of the Los Angeles International Airport, and Sam suddenly felt as though she were about to be set free. After the confinement of her life in New York, her job, her marriage, and now the confusion of bodies pressing around her on the plane and then in the airport terminal after the trip, finally she was about to go out to open places, to be alone, to think, to see mountains and trees and cattle, and to rediscover a life she had almost forgotten. As she thought of it, a long, slow smile lit up her face.
    You look good, Sam. He cast an eye at her as they left the airport, and he shifted into fourth gear as they reached the freeway beyond.
    But she only smiled and shook her head at him. Not as good as all that. It's been a long time. Her voice softened on the words, remembering the last time she had seen him and Caroline Lord. It had been a strange trip, an awkward mingling of past and present. The ranch hadn't been much fun for John. And as they drove along the highway, Sam's mind filled with memories of the last trip. It seemed a thousand years later when she felt the old foreman's hand on her arm, and when she looked around, she realized that the countryside around them had altered radically. There was no evidence of the plastic ugliness of the L.A. suburbs, in fact there were no houses in sight at all, only acres and acres of rolling farmland, the far reaches of large ranches, and uninhabited government preserves. It was beautiful country all around her, and Sam rolled down the window and sniffed the air. God, it even smells different, doesn't it?
    Sure does. He smiled the familiar warm smile and drove on for a while without speaking. Caroline sure is looking forward to seeing you, Sam. It's been kind of lonely for her ever since Barb died. You know, she talks about you a heck of a lot. I always wondered if you'd come back. I didn't really think so after the last time. They had left the ranch early, and John had made no secret of the fact that he'd been bored stiff.
    I would have come back, sooner or later. I was always hoping to stop here when I went to L. A. on business, but I never had enough time.
    And now? You quit your job, Sam? He had only a vague idea that she had something to do with commercials, but he had no clear picture of what, and he didn't really care. Caroline had told him that it was a good job, it made her happy, and that was all that counted. He knew what her husband did, of course. Everyone in the country knew John Taylor, by face as well as by name. Bill King had never liked him, but he sure as hell knew who he was.
    No, Bill, I didn't quit. I'm on leave.
    Sick leave? He looked worried as they drove through the hills.
    Sam hesitated for only a moment. Not really. Kind of a rest cure, I guess. For a minute she was going to leave it at that and then she decided to tell him. John and I split up. He raised a questioning eyebrow But said nothing, and she went on. Quite a while ago actually. At least it seems like it. It's been three or four months. A hundred and two days, to be exact. She had counted every one of them. And I guess they just thought I needed the break at the office. It sounded lousy to her as she said it, and suddenly she felt panic rise in her as it had that morning when she spoke to Harvey. Were they really firing her and just didn't want to tell her yet? Did they think she couldn't take the pressure? Did they think she'd already cracked up? But when she looked at Bill King, she saw that he was nodding, as though it all made perfect sense to him.
    Sounds right to me, babe. His