Daisies in the Canyon Read Online Free Page A

right then she wanted to see exactly what this ranch looked like. If it didn’t feel right, she would reload her things into the truck and go back to Galveston and be a beach bum. As sleep deprived as she was, she might not make it far that night, but she didn’t have to hurry. She had money in the bank, a good truck, and a destination. That was enough to keep her for a few months until she decided what she wanted to do with her life.
    According to Rusty, she should walk down the lane to the cattle guard with the ranch sign above it. That’s where the Malloy Ranch stopped. From there on to the road, the land belonged to Lonesome Canyon. She was to pick a direction at that point and keep following the fence line until she reached the canyon wall, then circle back around.
    The crisp winter air cooled her lungs as well as her cheeks. She shivered when the north wind picked up and the snow invited sleet into the winter mix that Saturday afternoon. It was a foolhardy mission on a day like this, but she’d done PT in far worse, from snow that was knee-deep in Michigan one winter to the blistering heat on the base in Afghanistan. Besides, another minute in that house would have her climbing the walls. A big argument on the first day would make the other women dig their boots in to show her that she couldn’t run them off. She took a butterscotch hard candy from her pocket, removed the wrapper, and popped it into her mouth.
    She smiled when the ringtone on her phone said her best friend, Haley, was calling. She had trouble fishing it out of the cargo pocket on her pants without removing her gloves, but she managed to answer on the fourth ring.
    “Hey,” she said.
    “Is it over? I’m dying to know about your sisters. Tell me about the funeral. Did you see your father?” Haley, her friend since they were in the nursery together in the little church on the outskirts of Galveston, finally stopped to catch a breath.
    “Yes, it’s over and yes, I saw him. It was like looking at a stranger. I can’t tell you much about Ezra’s other two daughters other than the youngest one seems bound and determined to stick out the whole year. The place is even more desolate than the pictures we saw on the Internet and I’m not sure I can handle it for a year, Haley. It’s colder than a witch’s tit in this place. I’m out for a walk around the property to see if I even want to unpack. I did bring Mama’s ashes, though.”
    Haley gasped. “You didn’t tell me you were going to do that. Your mama would feel strange about being back.”
    “I didn’t know I was going to until I went to the bank and opened up the safe-deposit box. There they were and something told me to bring them with me.”
    “There’s a reason for everything, and maybe Martha wanted to go back to that canyon. Maybe it was to remind you that she’s with you in spirit. What in the hell is that noise in the background?”
    “Bitter cold north wind rattling the tree limbs and sleet hitting the phone.”
    “Holy shit! Pack up your stuff and get out of that place. Galveston is your home. Give your portion to those other two. You don’t need the money or the aggravation in your life,” Haley said.
    “Not until I see what is here.”
    “Well, then, go have a look and then come home where you belong. Call me from the first hotel you stop at and we’ll talk then. Hugs,” Haley said.
    “Hugs back,” Abby said.
    Good-bye was something they didn’t say anymore. The last time Abby told someone good-bye, she’d finished basic training and had a week at home before going to Georgia for training school. Tears hung on her eyelashes as she remembered that last moment with her mother. Martha wore a tan-colored knit shirt with the Martha’s Donut logo on the back. Khaki shorts peeked out from the bottom of a white-bibbed apron that the wind whipped to one side.
    “ ’Bye, Mama,” she’d yelled as she pulled away from the curb. She watched through the rearview mirror