Silver Miracles Read Online Free Page A

arms.
    "Which question do you want me to answer first?" she asked dryly, appeasing Joshua with some plastic measuring spoons.
    "Honestly." Larry shook his head in disbelief. "It’s no wonder I worry about you. You wake up in a new world every morning!"
    "You know that’s not true," she corrected defensively. "I’ve been busy. Mrs. Janis wanted her quilt order finished the day before she gave it to me, and I have been working nonstop on it— besides everything else I do around here. Anyway, just exactly who is Chase Colfax and why has everyone been trying to meet him? And," she tacked on as an afterthought, "why can’t they meet him?" It had seemed incredibly simple to her.
    "He comes from somewhere up north," Larry began heavily, "and he has taken Texas by storm. He started in Houston, getting involved in offshore drilling and establishing a huge new oil refinery on the Gulf Coast. Now he has moved his way up to Dallas. He’s been there for a while, and, by all accounts, he has Dallas eating out of the palm of his hand. I think he has out-Texaned the Texans, being three moves ahead of them in their own field—energy—and they are fascinated."
    "Okay . . . but what’s he doing here, and what is all the uproar about?"
    "He’s in the area to set up a monstrous coal-gasification plant."
    "Oh, no! Not strip mining?" Trinity exclaimed, thinking of how the surface method of mining could destroy the land, turning once-fertile fields into a stark, barren landscape.
    "Yeah, but don’t worry. The main area of activity will be at least thirty miles away, and it won’t be coming in this direction."
    "Well, I suppose it will be a boon to the area . . . Jobs, housing, and all of that," she said uncertainly, trying to be fair but hating the thought. "What else do you know about him?"
    "You listen to me, babe"—Larry pointed a bony finger at her—"stay away from him!"
    "For someone who expresses himself so brilliantly on paper, you can sure be vague at times," she said wryly. "Why don’t you just spit it out! Don’t be shy. What are you trying to say?"
    "Let me put it another way, my dear. He eats little girls like you for breakfast."
    "Larry, I am twenty-five years old," she stated with loving exasperation. "Just because I was sixteen when you married Sissy doesn’t mean I stayed that young girl you first knew. I have a little girl of my own now, you know."
    Without a doubt, he knew very well. Larry and Sissy had given up their home in Europe when they had heard that Trinity was pregnant and alone and her dad sick, coming home to lend their considerable moral support and help.
    "You can save your protests. I know good and damned well that you’re a full-grown woman—too independent for your own good and with a courage that scares the hell out of me. Even though I don’t like to admit it, you can take care of yourself—in most cases. But this man is different."
    "Why? How could you possibly object to someone you’ve never met?"
    "They say he has gray hair?" Larry returned abruptly.
    It was a statement and a question and a condemnation all rolled up into one, and Trinity was even more puzzled. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help but remember. "It’s really more silver-white—like the color of last night." She seemed to have no control over the softness that crept into her voice at the memory, but she could have bitten her tongue off when she saw Larry’s eyes narrow.
    "Whatever the hell color it is." he growled. "It’s prematurely gray. Do you understand? Premature! Chase Colfax has seen everything there is to see, has had everything he ever wanted to have and has done everything there is to do—and he’s only thirty-six."
    Trinity couldn’t help but ask, "Is he married?"
    "No!" Larry glared at her. "And he has a deadly reputation where women are concerned. His affairs are short and sweet—he gets bored very easily and walks away without a backward glance."
    "Is he going to settle here?"
    "I have the terrible feeling