Winds of Wyoming (A Kate Neilson Novel) Read Free

trick. I have a little greenhouse in my garden, where I start my own plants early in the spring as well as seedlings for the church.”
    Kate leaned against the top rail. Below her, hummocks of snow clung to the rugged mountainside. Water seeped from the crusted mounds and trickled downhill to feed a river that ambled like a lazy snake through the verdant valley. She pointed to barely visible buildings at the far end of the basin. “Is that Copperville?”
    “Sure is.”
    Rows of concrete cellblocks marched across Kate’s memory. “Patterson is bigger than—”
    “Bigger?”
    Kate felt her cheeks warming and ducked her head. “The town is smaller than I expected.”
    “Copperville was a fair-sized mining town in the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds.” Dymple swept her hand across the panorama. “A hundred or so years later, as you can see, it isn’t much more than a few businesses and a smattering of houses. I feel for those who couldn’t make a living here, but I prefer a small community. Wouldn’t live anywhere else.”
    “Too bad I left my camera in the car. My Great-Aunt Mary and my friend Amy in Pennsylvania would love to see this.”
    “Don’t you worry, sweetie. You can get good pictures at the overlook up the road.” Dymple patted her arm. “Are you vacationing in worm?”
    Kate hesitated. She’d prepared herself to answer questions about her schooling and past employment without mentioning prison but hadn’t expected this one. “It feels like a vacation, because I’m finally out of college. But I came to Wy-o-ming to do a marketing internship at the Whispering Pines Guest Ranch. They’re going to train me this week for their tourist season, which starts next weekend, Memorial Day weekend.”
    If Dymple caught the Wyoming emphasis, she gave no indication. “Good for you. The Duncans are wonderful people and their ranch has an excellent reputation. A bright young lady like you will fit right in.”
    Kate wrinkled her nose. Maybe, except for the reputation part—and the bright part. She’d done so many stupid things, like trying to steal from yet another church. “So you know the owners?”
    Dymple placed her hands in the pockets of her denim jumper. “Laura is a dear friend, and her son …” Her eyes sparkled. “Michael is a remarkable young man, my adopted grandson. You’ll like him.”
    “Wow, small world.”
    Dymple shrugged. “This is a typical small community, Kate. Everyone knows everybody in our little corner of the world—and everything they do.”
    Kate stifled a groan. She should have stayed in Pittsburgh, where she was just another face in the crowd.
    Dymple tilted her head. “You’re a long way from home. Why Wyoming?”
    Kate stared into the woman’s transparent eyes. She’d come west to distance herself from her past. But that was a secret nobody, not even a kindly little old lady named Dymple, could ever pry out of her. “Oh, I just wanted a change of scenery when I finished school.”
    “You made a good choice, Kate. Welcome to Wyoming.” She motioned toward the chapel. “Feel free to stop any time. The Sunday service begins in about an hour. I think you’d like Pastor Chuck.”
    A bug crawled toward Kate’s fingers on the railing. She brushed it away. Not that the pastor would like her. She wasn’t ecclesiastical , the first word she’d learned in English 101 after Professor Eldridge challenged her online prison class to learn a new word every day. Over time, she’d become comfortable with multi-syllable words and with attending church services on the inside. But she wasn’t good enough to attend church with regular people, people who hadn’t done all the bad things she’d done. “Thanks, but I’d better not stay. I need to get to the ranch. The internship starts tomorrow morning.”
    “Vaya con Dios, Miss Kate.”
    Kate cocked her head.
    “That’s how my Mexican neighbors in California said goodbye . In English, it means go with