The Ditchrider’s Daughter
Terry Rich Hartley
Cover Art: Designs By Rachelle
Published by Mind Wings Audio at Smashwords
This story is also available in audio CD and MP3 formats
Copyright 2009 Terry Rich Hartley
Discover other titles by Terry Rich Hartley at Smashwords.com
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
The taste of fear was like plunging two straws into a can of Sterno and sucking hard. Blackness imprisoned him—sheer, thick, and miserably confining. Dankness slithered through his nostrils, bubbled up his sinus cavities, and threatened to blow his eyes out. At the end of un-stretched arms, his palms begged the cold, grainy concrete to yield. It did not. Max Vosser was afraid—very afraid—and then he thought of cookies.
This was Lola’s doing. And the fact that she had a beauty shop in her and Max’s sprawling farmhouse on the outskirts of Glennsford. Without the shop, she wouldn’t have met the psychologist who was visiting this one-stoplight town to set up something called a satellite office, which would be staffed once or even twice a week. Yes, big city mental health counseling was coming to the sticks. And when the city shrink dropped by Lola’s for a trim, Lola decided it was time to take advantage of her services. At least, that’s the way Lola would explain things to her husband Max.
One early spring afternoon when Max Vosser entered the house after ordering a powerful new John Deere tractor from Pullin Farm and Implement, he discovered Lola had set the stage for a big change in his future.
“Max, this is Dr. Conway. She’s a psychologist from Boise and she’s gonna help you.”
“The hell you say,” popped from the farmer’s mouth.
“The hell I say,” Lola snorted. Lola always snorted when she giggled.
Max pushed back the lower corner of his chamois jacket as though he were about to draw a six shooter, then gently hooked his left thumb into the pocket of Eddie Bauer corduroy slacks. A mop of sandy hair bounced above crystal-blue eyes as he politely nodded to the stranger behind his dining room table.