Magnolia Dawn Read Online Free Page A

looked over her shoulder at him. “Two more things. You’d better be as experienced as you say you are, or I won’t think twice about firing you. And second, I sleep with Blue at my side and a gun under my pillow.”
    Rush stared at her a moment, narrowing his eyes. “I’ll take that under advisement, Annabelle Ames.”
    She met his gaze evenly. “You do that, Rush Cousins.”
    Without another word, she turned and walked away. As she disappeared around the front corner of the house, he tipped his head back and laughed, reluctant admiration curling through him. Annabelle Ames was one tough lady. He might not enjoy working for her, but it certainly wouldn’t be dull.

Chapter Two
    T he night shimmered with moisture. Fog had begun to roll off the river shortly after dark. It cloaked the grounds in diaphanous billows of white, reminding Anna of the nights she had sat in this very rocking chair, listening raptly to her father as he wove exciting, romantic tales about the Old South and their ancestors.
    Anna smiled at the memory, listening now to the songs of the cricket and the bullfrog, being lulled by the rhythmic creak of her chair. The day had passed quickly and pleasurably. She had allowed herself the luxury of doing nothing productive. She’d picked flowers in what had once been the formal gardens, had walked to the levee and gazed for an hour at the lazy river; she’d sat under the largest magnolia on the plantation and read a book that had nothing to do with anything but enjoying herself. And now, she just sat, enjoying the richness of the white-black night.
    She rested her head against the chair’s high back. Her day would have been totally relaxing if not for Rush Cousins. No matter where she’d been on the plantation, she’d been aware of him, of his presence.
That awareness had put her on edge, had made her feel vulnerable. He had violated her privacy in a way having other workers on Ashland’s grounds in the past had not.
    Rush Cousins took up a lot of space. He was the type of man who walked into a room and owned it. He had a kind of energy that dominated, that refused to be ignored.
    Anna shuddered. It was going to be difficult for her to work with him. She wasn’t comfortable with men like that, men who were big, confident and masculine. She didn’t like being aware of her own femininity, or the vulnerability that came with it. She closed her eyes and an image from her fifteenth summer flashed lightninglike across the backs of her eyelids. An image of her sobbing and pushing at the boy’s chest. Pushing as hard as she could but still being too small, too weak to free herself from his grasp.
    Anna made a sound of fear and opened her eyes. Headlights cut across the darkness, illuminating both the fog and the landscape it concealed. She recognized her brother Lowell’s car and sighed. Why had her brother chosen tonight to come see her? Why this moment, when she was suddenly feeling so vulnerable and uncertain?
    At her feet, Blue whined. She reached down and stroked the dog’s silky ears and head. “I know, boy. I feel the same way.”
    From the side of the house, she heard a car door slam, heard the murmur of male voices. Rush, she thought and wondered what he would think of her brother.
    Lowell emerged out of the fog and started toward the gallery. The image of the Southern gentleman, Anna thought wryly. Tall, slim and blond, dressed in elegant evening clothes, he could have stepped out of the past, out of one of their father’s romantic stories. How Lowell would laugh if he could read her thoughts.
    He stopped at the base of the stairs and gazed unsmiling up at her. “Good evening, Annabelle,” he said finally, softly.
    â€œLowell,” she returned, forcing a light smile. “What brings you out here tonight?”
    He climbed the stairs. “Ashland is my home. At least the last time I checked, I still owned