Rio Grande Wedding Read Free

was short and stout. So what?
    But even beyond that, she hesitated because of the worry and love she heard in his voice when he called out Josefina’s name. In her view, devotion should be rewarded, not punished.
    It couldn’t hurt to shelter him until he had healed enough to find his lost Josefina. Molly couldn’t turn him away or turn him in until then. If things went well enough, her brother would never even have to know what she’d done.
    The tension of indecision melted away, and she went to the kitchen to slice tomatoes, forming a plan to resolve the situation before it became troublesome. Later, maybe she’d go to town and have lunch at the Navajo Café. Listen to the gossip—maybe she’d hear a clue. After that, she could swing by the hospital and check on new arrivals.
    Later, though. She was a little worried about her patient, and didn’t want to leave him alone until he seemed stable.
    In the meantime, she called her best friend and Josh’s wife, Lynette. To stay abreast of his activities, Lynette kept a scanner on twenty-four hours a day. Molly found it a little gruesome to listen to the conversation of ambulance attendants or the shouts echoing in the background at a domestic-violence call, but she could understand Lynette’s need to be sure her husband was safe. She would also know exactly what had happened last night at Wiley Farms.
    When Lynette answered, she sounded breathless and annoyed. “Hello?”
    â€œHey, sis,” Molly said, smiling. In the background, she heard the sound of her eight-year-old niece howling mournfully. “Rough day?”
    A heartfelt sigh. “Two cases of the flu. Are we on for lunch today?”
    â€œDid we have plans? I was going to dry tomatoes.”
    â€œI know. You can’t blame a girl for trying. I’ve had about as much as I can stand of kids throwing up. I finally got them both in school full-time, and now this.”
    Molly chuckled. “Won’t be long. Let’s make a date for next week, huh?”
    â€œYou got it.” She spoke in a murmuring aside to one of the children, then asked, “What’s up?”
    â€œI thought I heard something last night.” A lie, but it might have been true. “Was there trouble at the orchards?”
    â€œA raid,” Lynette said. “Josh was there. Said they rounded up about thirty illegals, I guess. Wiley is fit to be tied—says he can’t get his crop in without that help.”
    â€œMmm.” Molly looked at the man on the couch. His black hair fell over his face and neck like a spill of cloth. “Did they get all of them?”
    â€œPretty much. Jake Arnott chased one into an arroyo, but he got away, and there were probably a couple of others. You know they never get everybody.” A pause. “Why?”
    â€œI was just curious. I thought I heard gunfire.”
    â€œThey don’t shoot them, Moll. Must have been your imagination. I keep telling you to get a dog. Then you wouldn’t be so jumpy.”
    â€œYou’re right. Thanks. I just wondered what was going on out there.”
    A sudden burst of tears sounded on the other end of the line. With another harried sigh, Lynette said, “I gotta go.”
    â€œOkay. Don’t forget, next week, you’ll be free again.”
    â€œIf I live that long.”
    Molly chuckled. “You will.”
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    Alejandro Sosa awakened slowly, an inch of his body at a time. Unfortunately, the painful parts awakened Brst—the pulled muscles across his chest, the scrape on his face and the roaring in his leg. He struggled to the surface, and found himself making an unmanly noise of pain.
    â€œEasy,” said a woman’s voice. A hand fell on his shoulder.
    He opened his eyes. The woman was the same one who had appeared in the garden. A gentle face with a firm mouth and high cheekbones that gave her an exotic look. Gray eyes. An impression of long