Cowboy's Kiss by Victoria Pade Read Free Book Online

felt as if she’d known them forever and could count them as friends.
    Meggie had spent most of the time watching an animated movie with Danny, but once everyone had said good-night and gone, Ally told her to go upstairs and get ready for bed.
    â€œNot yet,” Jackson vetoed from behind, having followed her in from the front door after seeing Linc, Kansas and Danny off.
    â€œWhat?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him.
    â€œThere are some people the two of you have to meet and then I’ll show Meggie the chores she’ll need to do tomorrow while we’re off working.”
    It took a moment for all of that to register and for Ally to choose which to take issue with first. “Whatever work I do, Meggie will need to be with me.”
    â€œNo, ma’am, she won’t. The people you’re about to meet are Hans and Marta. Marta does the housekeeping here and Hans takes care of the grounds and the handiwork close to home. They’ll look after the girl while we’re gone, make sure she’s doing what she’s supposed to.”
    Issue number two.
    Ally turned to face him. “I’ll do what you feel is necessary to earn our keep, as you put it, but Meggie—”
    â€œIt’s okay, Mom,” Meggie interrupted, suddenly at Ally’s side, sounding worried and as if she were feeling responsible for smoothing the waters. “I can do chores. I fed Grandma’s cat before, remember?”
    Ally put her arm around her daughter’s shoulders and hugged her close, besting Jackson with a glare fiercer than he’d given her all night. She didn’t say anything else. Not then, with Meggie there. But Jackson Heller had not heard the end of this. Not by a long shot.
    He ignored what her expression conveyed and turned toward the kitchen, saying as he went, “Hans and Marta went into Cheyenne today but I saw them coming back as Beth and Ash left. We’d best get over there before they turn in for the night.”
    Apparently that meant Ally and Meggie were to follow him, which Meggie was quicker to do than Ally. Ally might have just stood there staring daggers at his broad back except that her daughter took her hand and dragged her along.
    The small cottage Ally had thought was a guest house was where the two caretakers lived. Marta and Hans were well into retirement years and seemed more like resident grandparents than employees.
    Hans was thin, wiry and bald on top; he slipped his dentures in as Marta welcomed them into their home. She was as wide as she was tall—but agile in spite of it—with rosy red cheeks, white hair cut like an inverted bowl, and kind, jolly eyes.
    There was an underlying tone of joyousness to her high voice as she asked Meggie what kind of things she liked to eat for lunches when Jackson informed her she was to look after the little girl during the days while he and Ally worked.
    The older woman seemed to view the news as a gift that delighted her and Meggie responded to that, warming up to her, and to Hans’s teasing, too.
    Ally only hoped her daughter wasn’t just putting a good face on things to keep the tension with Jackson down to a minimum.
    They didn’t stay but a few minutes before leaving Hans and Marta to go to bed. From there Jackson led the way to the chicken coop while explaining to Meggie that one of her daily chores would be to feed the chickens, gather eggs and bring them to Marta.
    â€œMeggie is just a little girl,” Ally warned from behind the two of them, trying again to make it clear she didn’t want her daughter to have to do this.
    â€œOn a ranch even little girls work,” Jackson informed in a tone of voice more even and equable than Ally’s had been.
    Meggie shot her a look that begged her not to make waves, and again Ally put off further argument as Jackson showed her daughter what to do.
    Ally watched like a hawk, staying close to Meggie, ready to swoop should