Free Heart of the wolf by Lindsay McKenna Page B

picked up a small leaf of lettuce and munched on it. "Montana sapphires have the same cornflower-blûe color as the ones in Sri Lanka do." When she saw he didn't understand, she added, "Sapphires come in a lot of colors—bright orange, pink, red, green, blue, white and yellow. The ones worth the most money aie the dark cornflower-blue ones. The red stones are known as rubies. Corundum is the material they're both made from."
    "I didn't realize sapphires came in that many colors."
    "Most people don't, because the jewelry industry has pushed blue ones on the public for the last fifty years."
    "What do you do with the other colors?" Wolf pulled the baked potatoes out of the microwave and deftly set them on the two plates. Sarah sat at the table, nibbling at her salad and looking as if she belonged there. The sudden thought was heated, filled with promise, but quickly, Wolf pushed the longing away. He wasn't worthy of someone like Sarah.
    "You saw all my lapidary equipment when you picked up my faceting machine?"
    "Yes."
    "My dad taught me how to facet when I was a kid. I facet all the sapphires I find, then sell them to a national gem distributor. He takes the colored sapphires, too. They become background gemstones in individual pieces of jewelry."
    "Sounds like you could make a lot of money." Wolf brought the skillet over and transferred the steaks onto their plates. After setting the skillet in the sink and filling it with water, he joined Sarah at the table.
    Sarah hungrily dug into the succulent steak, which Wolf had cooked perfectly. "That's the rub. The miner gets very little money. It's the middleman, the distributor, who really makes a killing on the sapphires. You have to remember, most of the gemstones aren't of the highest quality. A lot of them have inclusions or fractures, that lower their value. To make good money, I'd have to find a ten-or fifteen-carat sapphire with very few inclusions." She smiled across the table at her. "That hasn't happened yet."
    "It will," Wolf promised her. He was starving. Starving for Sarah's bright, spontaneous company. Her enthusiasm was a new side of herself that she was allowing him to see. There was no wariness in her lovely blue eyes now, and for a moment Wolf allowed himself to wonder what Sarah would be like if she let that passionate intensity she held for sapphires to translate into emotions she could share with him.
    Chortling, Sarah said, "You're psychic, so I'll believe you."
    "But you're able to mine enough gems to pay your bills?"
    "That's right. But I have to keep at it, Wolf." She frowned. "Being off my feet for seven days is really going to hurt me. The money I had saved went for that damned hospital bill."
    Wolf said nothing, his conscience smarting. "Why has Noonan got it in for you?"
    Sarah poured Italian dressing on her salad. "When I was in high school, I got Rickey Noonan, his only son, in big trouble. Rickey was pushing drugs, Wolf. The sheriff's son. Can you believe it?"
    "Honey, there isn't much in this world I haven't seen in twenty-eight years of living. I believe you."
    Every time Wolf used the endearment, a giddy sensation flowed through Sarah. She forced herself not to stare at him. What kind of magic did Wolf have over her? She struggled constantly to resist his powerful, quiet charisma. Dismayed at her inability to control her responses to him, she frowned and said, "Rickey was a bully in high school because of his father's power. He talked my best friend, Jody Collins, into taking drugs. Jody tried to commit suicide and I found her just in time. After that, I was so cotton-picking mad that I swore I'd get all drug pushers out of our school. I called the FBI and told them what was going on."
    Wolf's eyes widened. "You went to the FBI?"
    Indignantly, Sarah said, "Sure! Wouldn't you, if you knew the whole town's legal system was rotten to the core?" Sarah saw his mouth twitch with amusement. "Wolf, it wasn't funny at the time. I was seventeen and scared