Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1) QUOTES

21 " Praying, Audra shifted so Maggie’s weight wasn’t so heavy on Audra’s stomach. Her children might well not survive in the harsh land her husband had stranded them in, and that was something she regretted bitterly. She laid her hand on her round belly and prayed for her children’s lives. And that included at this moment, more than anyone, Julia. "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

22 " I had to remember how to eat afterward. It was like my throat’d close up. And if I ate too much, I’d lose it from my belly. Callie helped me get my strength up.” Seth slid both hands into his hair. “And I started for home. "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

23 " on one of my first real adult vacations, my husband and I went to Carlsbad Caverns. That place captured my imagination like few places on this earth ever have. It just transported me to the early days of the cavern. I could imagine the first people who found it, explored it. It is endless "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

24 " cave-in?” “I’ll tell you everything while we’re walking out.” Rafe smiled and looked at Seth. "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

25 " calm. “I’m just thinking I haven’t really . . . um . . . seen you yet. I mean you seem . . . young. You feel really young.” And beautiful. She felt very young and beautiful. “But if we get out of here and you’re . . . uh . . . old and—” ugly—“sixty years old or something . . . well, it’s going to be awkward. "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

26 " Territory June 23, 1866 Last time. This is it. Never again. Rafe Kincaid pulled his chestnut thoroughbred to a halt in full darkness, still a short distance away from the entrance of the cavern. He rubbed the ugly, jagged "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

27 " the light . . . Well, that was in his head now, and he couldn’t get it out. Yep, awkward, sure enough. And yet, she’d felt very young and beautiful. Very. “Get your hands off of me.” He loosened his grip but didn’t let go all the way because she had a ways to fall—about twenty feet straight down. "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

28 " what?” “Our children are going to be really smart.” Rafe smiled at the little innocent as he rested his hand on her lower back and urged her forward. “What makes you think of such a thing right now, Rafe?” She came along so willingly. “Not one reason in the world, little "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

29 " There was another twenty-foot descent after the ladder ended at the ledge, but it wasn’t as smooth as the upper stretch, so Rafe could climb down. "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

30 " rubbed the ugly, jagged scar that ran from the corner of his eye to his hairline just above his ear. He was glad "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

31 " make sense out of what he couldn’t see. “Help me.” Definitely a woman. “I’ll get you out.” “Don’t leave me, please.” Her voice broke. Her arms clamped around him as if she were hanging on to save her life. In her mind, she probably was. He wrapped his arms around her. In the dark he couldn’t see anything. She seemed young. She’d come at him fast. But someone older, running "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

32 " bringing some horses to corral over here. He’ll have more supplies, too.” Julia hoped the ranch foreman didn’t get back at mealtime. "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

33 " there was no humor behind that smile. Rafe looked at the tippy table Julia had contrived. Julia saw him judging her home harshly, but "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

34 " She might be judging her home harshly, too. “I met up with Steele. He already crossed the stream and is headed back to the ranch. He said he’d ride around, going across "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

35 " Her father had arranged it. He’d as good as sold her to Wendell to pay off debts. She looked down at her daughter and wondered if her father owed more money. Audra had a little sister, Carolyn. Would her father sell Carolyn to some brute? There was a baby brother, Isaac. He might not be such a commodity as a girl, but he might already be learning to behave in the image of her father. "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

36 " the bowl from her hands. “Careful, it’s hot.” Rafe moved fast, setting it down on the table. “Told me that a little late.” “Father is mostly asleep. "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

37 " mattered; he stank up the cabin just by walking inside. “You’ve brought "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

38 " I should be in there.” Audra took one step toward the cabin. "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

39 " Mary Connealy is a Carol Award winner and a RITA Award finalist. An author, journalist, and teacher, she lives on a ranch in eastern Nebraska with her husband, Ivan, and has four grown daughters—Josie, married to Matt; Wendy; Shelly, married to Aaron; and "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)

40 " There was nothing to aim at. Seth hadn’t screamed. Seth wasn’t down there. Another scream split the air. But someone else was. He holstered his gun and rushed for the cave. “Please, someone help me!” It was Seth. No, not Seth. “Someone help me!” The voice broke. Sobbing echoed off the cavern walls. Not a little boy. He stuck his head over the cavern entrance. “A woman?” Rafe spoke aloud. Trying to believe his own ears. The words echoed into the depths. There was no response, only sobs. But it was not his imagination. There really was someone down there. The crying rose and fell, echoed off the walls until it sounded like ten women crying, all ghostly, terrified. “Who’s down there?” His voice bounced back to him. Only more tears. The sun was gone. Dank, cool air rose up from the pit. He could see nothing. After those first words, there were no more. But she might be out of her mind with fear. Something Rafe could understand. Rafe looked at the rope but didn’t care to trust his weight to it. His eyes went to a flat boulder only feet away. Would it still be there? After all this time? Rafe muscled the boulder aside, stone scratching on stone, and uncovered a depression in the rocks to reveal . . . “My ladder.” He pulled it out, the metal clinking. It was chain, badly rusted after lying in the ground for years. Long ago Rafe had switched it for the hand-woven hemp rope he, Ethan, and Seth had trusted with their lives. Then trust had died and Rafe had anchored the ladder to this boulder. The sobbing had a haunting quality, but this was no ghost—Rafe didn’t believe in them—although for a few uncertain seconds, he’d been tempted to consider the possibility. “I’m coming down.” The sobs stopped. Then he heard them again, softer, muffled, as if she was trying to squelch the sound. “I’ll get you out,” he called, his voice echoing. Had someone abandoned her down there? “Can you tell me your name?” No response. He gave his chain ladder a quick inspection and wasn’t too happy with its condition. “I’m Rafe Kincaid. I ranch near here.” Rafe had known the cavern very well by the time he’d given up his exploring. Not as well as Seth. No one knew this cavern like Rafe’s little brother. Seth had run wild down there. Once, in a particularly wild mood, Seth had told Rafe he’d lost his soul down there and had to find it. Seth had always been "

― Mary Connealy , Out of Control (Kincaid Brides, #1)