Cowboy Fever by Joanne Kennedy Read Free Book Online

and sunlight beamed in through open stable doors of each compartment, striping the rough wooden floor with shafts of light. Bridles and halters dangled from pegs on the walls, and two well-used Western saddles were mounted on two-by-four racks that jutted from the wall by the back door.
    He’d fixed the place up, but with Jodi here, it still felt the same. The scent of horses and hay, the calm in the air, the sunshine—it was where the two of them were meant to be.
    â€œIt’s good to be here,” she said.
    He smiled. So she was feeling it too.
    â€œIt’s good to have you back.” The words came out low and husky, and he cleared his throat. It was good. Really good. In this moment, he and Jodi were comfortable again, best friends, with none of the tension between them that had grown up over the years as they floundered their separate ways toward adulthood—before they’d drowned the connection between them in hormones and adolescent drama.
    â€œWhat brought you back?”
    Me , something inside him pleaded. Say it was me. He muzzled his pathetic, needy inner voice and turned his attention to Jodi. There was no way she’d come back to reconnect with him. After the way he’d treated her, he was lucky she’d even talk to him.
    â€œI came back for my mom.” She didn’t even have to think for an instant. “I need to make things right with her. I blamed her for everything when my dad died, and I’ve barely talked to her all these years.”
    He nodded. It had been the talk of Purvis, with half the town taking Jodi’s side, the other half standing with her mother.
    â€œI’m going to work with her at the boutique for a while. She’s always wanted that. I’m hoping we can be close again.”
    â€œThat’s good,” he said. “Family’s important. When you’ve got a family that—you know.”
    She nodded. He didn’t have to explain. She knew what his family had been like.
    He led her out the barn’s back door into the sunlight. The ground sloped down from the doorway and the world opened up in front of them, the land spreading out like a rural red carpet welcoming her home. The way the setting sun glinted gold on the grass seemed like the only gift he could offer her, and he felt something inside him give way, weakening his knees and tripping up his heartbeat to a speed that rivaled a Riverdance routine.
    He glanced at Jodi to see if she felt it. Her eyes met his briefly, then slid quickly aside before he could read them. Breaking away, he lengthened his stride, putting more distance between them as he led her to the side of the barn where long narrow enclosures stretched from each stall door. A gigantic sorrel stallion with a broad back and heavy hooves stood impatiently at the gate of the first enclosure, swinging his big head to face them as they approached.
    â€œThis is Rocket,” Teague said. Looking at the horse, he could feel his pulse slowing to normal, his world straightening on the axis Jodi had shoved sideways when she walked into the drugstore. Rocket was the core of his success, the heart of the ranch, and a bona fide masterpiece. God was serious about horses when he’d constructed that powerful combination of bone, muscle, and spirit.
    Teague could tell Jodi couldn’t take her eyes off the horse either. The animal was heavy like bucking horses always are, but perfectly proportioned and solidly built, with a strong arched neck and a broad, solid chest. At rodeos, the saddle broncs were always a little shaggy and disreputable looking, but now that he was retired, Rocket’s coat shone like a new penny. He nickered as Teague approached and stretched out his muscled neck, lifting his upper lip over his teeth in an equine smile. Teague stroked his muzzle, grinning.
    â€œNo pride,” he said. “Always looking for a handout.”
    As if to disprove the statement, Rocket lifted his