Desert Dancer Read Online Free Page A

She’d been telling him she had to shower, hadn’t she? Now he wanted the whole story, but she was pretty sure he wouldn’t like it.
    â€œI was riding along, minding my own business,” she began.
    â€œYou can tell me while we drive,” he said, and pointed at the truck.
    She was not about to be ordered around like a puppy.
    â€œI’m not getting in that truck ’til my hair is clean.” Sam planted her feet. She was trying to stare him down when she realized he was carefully rolling up his sleeves.
    â€œBend over,” he said.
    â€œWhat?”
    Jake didn’t push very hard, but because she was surprised, Sam found herself on her knees beside the horse trough as Jake pumped water over her head.
    She came up sputtering and furious. She heard her own yowl, which sounded like a wet cat, but she didn’t care. Jake Ely was going to pay for this.
    â€œNow your hair’s clean. Let’s go.”
    Teeth chattering, Sam did as she was told. Arms crossed and eyes narrowed, she vibrated with anger. She was a really nice person. She never hurt anyone and she rarely planned revenge, but she was about to make an exception for Jake Ely.

Chapter Three
    S am burst into the dressing room off the church sanctuary. This was where she was supposed to meet Gram and Brynna, but the room looked empty.
    It wasn’t. Dressed in yards of white lace, Brynna stood alone, facing a mirror. She looked like a fairy-tale princess, but she also looked very lonely.
    As Brynna turned, Sam began babbling excuses.
    â€œI’m so sorry I’m late. And that I look like a drowned rat.” Sam touched her hair, but Brynna’s relieved expression told her not to jump into a long explanation blaming Jake. “I didn’t mean to make you worry.”
    Smiling, Brynna rustled toward Sam.
    â€œThis is how it’s going to be, isn’t it?” Brynna asked. She plucked a tissue from a box and gently wiped Sam’s cheek.
    Sam wasn’t sure what Brynna meant, but the remark made her feel like a child. It didn’t help thather face was dirty because she’d actually settled down for a nap on the desert floor. Wow. She should have been worrying about her head, not her hair.
    â€œIt’s a long story,” Sam admitted.
    â€œI just bet,” Brynna said. Her smile was lopsided as her fingertips skimmed over Sam’s hair.
    The gesture reminded Sam of the way hens scratched at something they weren’t sure they should eat.
    â€œI know.” Sam moaned, but Brynna didn’t look disheartened.
    â€œDon’t worry. Even though it’s too late for a manicure,” Brynna said, holding up her own silvery white nails, “the girl your Aunt Sue found to help us out can work miracles with hair.”
    Brynna twirled so Sam could see that her businesslike French braid had been replaced with a cascade of curls, dotted with white velvet flowers.
    â€œIt’s so pretty,” Sam said, but Brynna was opening the dressing room door and peeking out. She motioned, trying to get someone’s attention. When that didn’t work, Brynna put two fingers to her lips and gave an ear-splitting cowgirl whistle.
    Sam couldn’t help laughing. So much for the fairy-tale bride. Brynna swirled around with a sheepish grin. “Well, everyone was busy, and I had to get Callie’s attention.”
    â€œCallie?”
    â€œThe hair girl your Aunt Sue hired,” Brynna explained. “You must not have passed her as youcame in, because you’d have noticed her. She has a pierced nose and her hair’s a shade of yellow that doesn’t occur naturally in human beings.”
    Now Brynna really didn’t sound like a princess. She sounded like the biologist she was.
    â€œWhere is Aunt Sue?” Sam asked. Though she’d lived for two whole years with Aunt Sue while recovering from her riding accident, they’d only talked on the phone since Sam had moved