A Silver Lining by Beth D. Carter Read Free Book Online Page A

refrigerator. As he chugged back a long, cold drink he absently wondered what had happened that had put such sadness and hurt into eyes as beautiful as hers.
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Chapter Nine
    Heather glanced at her new clock one more time, noting that only five minutes had passed since the last time she checked. Two fifteen in the morning, and she couldn't sleep.
    Damn cowboy.
    The kiss haunted her, but she couldn't fathom why. Maybe because she and Tristan had a semipast together, albeit a very short one. Perhaps he didn't remember her, though, at least not in the way she remembered him. He had been her first crush, at a point in her life when hormones ruled her every waking daydream. And she'd had plenty starring him. But the schoolgirl infatuation she had harbored did not even compare to the hot sting of desire he now resurrected.
    Damn cowboy.
    And now she was locked in a tug-of-war with him over a ranch she really didn't want except for the resale value. She was tired of living paycheck to paycheck, never having quite enough to get ahead. She was sick of having to rob Peter to pay Paul, only to turn around the next month and reverse it. She'd done every trick in the book, including sending checks with wrong names on them. But she got herself into the mess, and she'd get herself out of it, even if it meant cleaning horseshit
    Three days down on her month long safety net. One task almost complete. Finish all those stalls in one day? She snorted in disbelief. No way. It took her at least thirty minutes to enter a damn stall once she stood in front of it, staring at the mess that lay before her. Good thing she didn't drink.
    Twenty stalls left. Ugh.
    Damn cowboy.
    With a deep sigh of resignation, Heather rose and dressed quickly. First, as quietly as she could, she went to the kitchen and grabbed the box full of sugar cubes she had spotted the other day and then exited out the side door. She paused for a moment as she stared around the dark shrouded grounds of the ranch, illuminated by the large moon overhead. The cool air ruffled her hair and brought a sheen of goose bumps to her arms. She hadn't expected the land to be so still, so peaceful. The moment made her feel as if she were all alone in the universe.
    Slowly, she made her way to the horse barn, almost enjoying the solitude the night offered her. She had never been up at this hour of night, except occasionally in L.A. when she had been out with friends. Louisiana was a completely foreign land to her, beautiful and strange at the same time.
    Starting where she left off, Heather gathered her tools and equipment and led the first horse out of his stall. Some things she did remember from her one time visiting. Contrary to what she said, she had enjoyed walking the horses back then, helping to bathe them and cool them down after a day's work. She patted the horse on his neck and crooned soft words to him, giving him a bit of sugar to sweeten the deal.
    Over and over she repeated the routine until the sun touched the horizon, and the dawn of a new day began. She continued, even as ranch hands came to collect horses, harness the animals up, and ride off for a day's work. The men were pleasant to her, though she did get many odd looks. Heather guessed that they were remembering her aerobics session the first day, and had to cringe a little bit. Thinking about it now, she wondered how she had the gall to be so outrageous. Her pride had gotten in her way. The old man had hit a nerve, and she just had to act out, a folly she'd been doing ever since the incident in her past. She had learned early on that the only person she could rely on in life was herself, and so she tended to take her self-sufficiency to extremes.
    She worked through the morning, not even stopping when Tristan came looking for her. She knew he watched her, because her skin tingled every time he came near her. But she ignored him and stayed focused.
    Somewhere along the way, she had decided she wanted