Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ "You were riding a horse on the beach?" CASTAWAY HEARTS #excerpt

 

Twice orphaned, Catherine Barrett arrives in Virginia a stranger to her closest kin and secretly engaged to the one man her family would disapprove of—her seafaring grandfather’s apprentice. Add to her troubles, the rich and intriguing older brother of her secret betrothed, Dawson Randolph, a plantation owner who is as heartless as he is handsome. Heartbroken when her intended sets sail for his maiden voyage, Catherine finds it difficult to adjust to her new life, hoping to befriend the one man who is, undoubtedly, the match her grandparents wish for her. Dawson’s distaste for her secret engagement to his brother makes it clear he has no designs for marriage to anyone. Especially her.

Ten years since the tragic loss of his young wife and infant son, Dawson Randolph is convinced love and marriage is a fool’s game and resents being pardon to his brother’s hidden engagement. Damned by his instant attraction and his own growing desire, Dawson vows to befriend her against his better judgment. Determined to bring her happiness in a time of fear and uncertainty, Dawson puts aside his animosity to become her confidant, only to realize Catherine holds the key to his heart. When tragedy strikes at sea, Catherine’s guilt pushes Dawson to the fringes of her life as madness consumes her.

Can his love save her before she drowns in her own grief? Or is he doomed to love her from a distance, always in the shadow of her love for his dead brother?

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     “I did not spy, young Miss. I was out for a late night horse ride on the beach, and I heard a ruckus. I figured I better check things out to make sure someone or something wasn’t drowning.”

     There was much more to it than that, but she ventured no further questions in that regard.

     “You were riding a horse on the beach?” This thought piqued her interest.

     “Yes. I couldn’t sleep…” Dawson began. “I have several, do you like to ride?”

     “Yes, but I’ve already been warned away from it.” Anger singed her insides. “Again, it’s not something a lady, like myself, should be doing.”

     “Well now, that’s a might shameful.” Dawson’s lips curled up on one side before he drew on his pipe and looked thoughtful. “I tell you what. If you like to ride, I’d be more than happy if you’d ride one of my fine mares. Gypsy’s mine and trusts only me, but I have several others that are good and gentle for a lady like you.”