A Cowgirl's Pride by Lorraine Nelson Read Free Book Online Page A

Chug a chug a, chug a chug a. Woo
woo!”
    A smiling, happy trio arrived at the back of the
house.
    “Thanks,
Cal
.”
    “No problem.”
    He left with the snowblower, and she watched
until he rounded the corner of the house. Even dressed in winter gear, he was a
fine specimen of the male gender, and her heart raced in reaction.
    She refocused her attention on the boys, showing
them how to carefully cut blocks with their shovels and place them on the wall.
The snow was quite deep, so she went first, putting the bigger blocks on the
bottom as they followed behind placing the smaller ones. They were doing pretty
good, too.
    Whack! A snowball hit her. She scooped up a
handful and turned to throw it at one of the boys when she got whomped with
another one.
Cal
!
The boys got into the fun, making snowballs and firing them at Cal. Surprised
that they’d take up for her and not help him gang up on her, she cheered them
on. They closed in on him. He was still making and throwing snowballs as he
walked backwards, away from them. All of a sudden, he lost his footing. He
grabbed for her to steady himself as he fell backwards and ended up pulling her
down on top of him.
    They were laughing so hard, tears came to her
eyes. She heard the boys giggling in the background. She struggled to push
herself upright, but when she saw the desire, the longing in his baby blues,
she stopped short.
    “You planned this, didn’t you?” she accused.
    “Nope, but if I had, it would’ve happened sooner,”
he said, grinning an unholy grin filled with deviltry, mischief and so much
more.
    “I need to get up. I’m crushing you.”
    “You don’t hear me complaining, do you?”
    “We have an audience,” she said, referring to
the boys.
    “Ah, darn. Okay. Help me up, will you?”
    She scrambled to her feet and held out a hand.
He took it and stood, only to lose his footing again and fall sideways into the
snowdrift, taking her with him. Her lips barely a hair’s breadth from his, she
was tempted, sorely tempted, to see if he still tasted the same. Only the
presence of two little boys helped keep her mind on track.
    The twins were laughing and trying to pull her
up at the same time. She let them.
    “Hey! What about me?”
    “Uh, uh. I helped you the last time and got half
buried in a snowdrift for my efforts. You need to attach some grips to the
soles of those cowboy boots.”
    “Never thought of it.” He grinned. “When I
jumped down off the tractor and saw you guys shoveling, I just acted. Hadn’t
planned on walking in snow, just driving.”
    “Oh!”
    “You’ve got a good start on that fort. Want some
help, boys?”
    “Sure.”
    “Yeah.”
    Together they worked and, with
Cal
’s help, had the fort built in no time at
all, even the tunnel to crawl through. They’d packed a wide ledge of snow
around the inside walls for seats, and all four bodies collapsed onto a piece
of it, smiling happily.
    “This is neat,” said Casey.
    “Can we light a fire? It’s cold in here,” Cammy
asked.
    Leah laughed. “What? And melt this beautiful
snow fort? No way, chum.” She tilted her head back and stuck out her tongue to
catch some snowflakes.
    “It’s not nice to stick out your tongue,” said
Cammy.
    “Mommy says so,” Casey added.
    “How else am I supposed to catch snowflakes?”
she asked.
    “With your hands.”
    “It’s more fun this way. They tickle. Try it.”
    They did, then sat back giggling at each other.
    “Snowflakes do tickle,” said Casey.
    “And they’re cold,” Cammy agreed, shivering.
    She hated to go inside and leave
Cal
, but the boys looked
cold. “How about we go in and rustle up some hot chocolate?”
    “With marshmallows?” they asked at the same
time.
    She laughed. “What’s hot chocolate without
marshmallows?”
    “Yay!” They were on their knees and crawling out
through the tunnel in record time.
    “Leah, will you meet me tonight?” he asked as he
pulled her close.
    “I’m not sure that’s a