"Kristenson, Agatha - The Rancher's Wife" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kristenson Agatha)

But that ad in the magazine had been irresistible. In her frustrated
maternity, she mothered everything, Cole said. Even the calves and the
cats and the dogs and the geese. Stubbornly she clung to the idea that
it was a good thing to give a high school boy a job, particularly boys
from the city who'd wind up on the street and get into trouble if
someone didn't help.

A small voice in her head whispered that she also wanted to convince
Cole that genetics weren't all that important. If she could make this
experiment work this summer. If Cole got fond of the boys, then maybe
he'd listen to reason about adopting a child.

Here she was, surrounded by all the fruits of the earth and she had no
bounty of her own. All the animals on the ranch gave birth and
multiplied and she alone was barren. Actually she really didn't know
if she was the culprit. When the doctor had wanted to do further tests
on both of them, Cole had adamantly refused.

Kate straightened up again and blew a long strand of chestnut hair from
her sweaty forehead. The angled sun sent an elongated shadow of her
across the ground. Short shorts and a sleeveless jersey did not
distort the ripe sensuousness of her body. Long, long shapely legs,
sleek curved hips, narrow waist and breasts that looked as though they
were made for suckling a man's children.

It was two years ago she'd decided there weren't going to be any. Even
the fertility drugs hadn't helped. It had been then that she'd started
her campaign to adopt a child but for two years now Cole had remained
stubborn and refusing.

Their whole relationship had been affected. Kate walked back toward
the house, past the willow and the fish pond. Lately even their
lovemaking. Cole didn't want her as often and when he did it was as
though he were only going through the motions. A few times when he was
drunk he'd even wanted her to do awful things ... lurid, debasing
perverted things. She'd have done even that if it would have given her
a baby ... but those ... well, "positions" couldn't possibly give her a
baby. It was physically impossible.

Kate stopped at the fish pond and looked down at the glinting darts of
gold flashing through the water. She popped a strawberry, warm from
the sun into her mouth. There was mama goldfish and papa goldfish and
three babies shooting through the clear green water. Stop it, she told
herself. Everywhere she looked everything reminded her that Kate
Sutherland had no child ... and all her brooding through ten years of
marriage had not brought her one ... nor all the tears ... nor all the
begging.

The gate squeaked and Kate looked up to see the two boys coming through