Certified Cowboy by Rita Herron Read Free Book Online Page B

they hadn’t managed to worm their way inside any of the cabins. And if Rachel had locked the cabin up when she’d left and the windows were shut…
    “What are you gonna do with him?” Kenny asked.
    “Let him go.” Johnny frowned, then stood. “You see, Kenny, farms and ranches need snakes to eat smaller rodents. It’s God’s way of balancing nature.”
    Rachel watched him, her arms folded around her waist as if she was trying to hold herself together. Some people had an aversion to snakes, but her reaction seemed over-the-top.
    Kenny tugged at his shirt. “Can I help you let him go?”
    Johnny looked up at Rachel. “Sure, buddy. Then I’ll check the cabin to make sure it’s clean.”
    The wary look that flickered in Rachel’s eyes made him wish he could retract his statement.
    He wanted a moment alone with her.
    Maybe to pull her into his arms again?
    Watch out, Johnny. This woman is trouble.
    And you have a ranch and a bunch of children to protect.
    Relief softened her face. “Thank you. I’ll sleep better if I’m certain there are no more predators inside.”
    Her word choice struck him as odd but telling.
    Just what kind of predator was after Rachel and her son?
    Kenny tagged along beside him as they walked to the pasture to release the snake.
    “My mom don’t like bugs or spiders, either,” Kenny said, jerking Johnny from his thoughts.
    Johnny smiled at the boy. “Most girls don’t, bud.”
    Kenny squared his little shoulders. “Yeah, but us guys, we gots to protect the girls. That’s what real men do.”
    Real men? “What do you have to protect your mom from?”
    Kenny angled his face toward the dirt as if he’d said something he shouldn’t, and Johnny’s heart ached. He sensed the kid wanted to tell him more.
    “Kenny?” Johnny said softly. “I’m your friend, and your mother’s friend. If you need someone to talk to, you can talk to me.”
    The little boy looked up at him with such a grown-up expression that Johnny wanted to take the weight of the world off his small shoulders.
    But Kenny simply shrugged. “Thanks, but me and Mama, we take care of each other.”
    Johnny’s chest constricted. God, he understood how the kid felt. When his mama had left and his daddy had gone on his drunken raging tears, he had taken care of Kim.
    And they had kept the beatings a secret.
    He hated to think that Kenny and Rachel were dealing with the same kind of monster he and Kim had lived with. And that they suffered the same shame.
    Shame they didn’t deserve.
    “Looking forward to your riding lesson tomorrow?” he asked as they headed back toward the cabin.
    “Yes, sir.” Kenny’s face brightened, excitement replacing the earlier fear.
    The boy’s hesitation once again reminded him of his own sorry childhood, and he wanted to sweep Kenny in his arms and promise him he’d never have to worry again.
    But first he’d have to figure out who had the kid and his mother so spooked.
    Then he’d get rid of the problem so that Kenny and Rachel would never have to be afraid or run again.

    R ACHEL WATCHED J OHNNY search the cabin, beneath the bed, in corners, the closet, and inside the bathroom and kitchen cabinets.
    “No more snakes,” he said, glancing at the bed where Rachel had stripped the covers and replaced the sheets with fresh ones from the linen closet.
    “I don’t know how it got in. Maybe a door was left open.”
    “Not by me,” Rachel said. She was fanatical about checking locks and doors and windows.
    Johnny shrugged as if he had no answer, but she’d already kept him long enough and was beginning to feel like a fool for overreacting.
    Damn Rex for making her so paranoid that she was behaving like a crazy woman.
    Kenny had crawled along beside Johnny, searching each corner and crevice with him and mimicking every movement Johnny made. Now they stood side by side, Kenny trying to look big and tough like the cowboy he admired.
    Like the one she was beginning to admire, as well.
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