Elly: Cowgirl Bride by Trish Milburn Read Free Book Online Page A

her flushed face, at the wisps of hair that had escaped her braid. “Do you have to win there to get to the Finals?”
    She shrugged. “Depends on how everyone else does, but I want the win to be on the safe side. Not to mention, I have different bets with every one of my brothers that makes winning imperative. If I don’t win, they’ll be impossible to be around.”
    “What kind of bets?”
    “Let’s see. Money, a month of cooking, something totally embarrassing I’m not about to share.”
    He laughed as he reached up and gave her horse an affectionate scratch on her forehead. “What’s her name?”
    “Pepper. I’ve had this pretty girl about four years now, since I had to retire Cranberry.”
    He remembered the roan mare. He’d probably seen Elly astride that horse as much as he’d seen her off it.
    “She’s a powerful animal.”
    “Yeah,” she said as she ran her fingers through Pepper’s coal mane. “Feels like riding a stick of dynamite sometimes, but it’s like we’ve got one brain. She responds so well to my commands, sometimes I swear before I do more than think them.”
    “Are you nervous?” he asked.
    Her forehead scrunched. “About what?”
    “Being this close to the Finals? You’ve worked toward this for so long.”
    A moment of surprise passed across her face before she broke eye contact. “No, not really. Not guaranteeing what I’ll feel like when I get to Denver, but not now. I just focus on practicing really hard.”
    “Your brothers in the hunt this year?”
    “Jesse’s made the NFR. He and…” Her words faded away, causing Will to look up at her again. “What?”
    She wrapped her hands more tightly around Pepper’s reins. “He and Mark Hansen are both in the running for the bull-riding title.”
    He nodded at the awkwardness of that situation. Sad that the fact two riders from tiny Markton reaching that level of success in rodeo’s premiere event couldn’t be celebrated—at least not by the Cody siblings.
    Will hated the pall that descended over their conversation and wished he could rewind time, erase words.
    “Are you here to see Jesse?” Was it possible he detected a bit of nervousness on her part? He didn’t dare allow himself to think it might have anything to do with him.
    He nodded. “I didn’t have an appointment, but I was on my way back from Cheyenne and thought I’d check in.”
    She looked on the verge of asking a question before she closed her mouth and glanced toward the open door. “He had a lunch meeting. I don’t know when he’s supposed to be back.” She returned her gaze to him. “Would you like to come in for some coffee while you wait?”
    “That sounds good.” In lieu of holding her and making all her sorrows go away, he’d take coffee and conversation. It was so much more than he’d ever had with her before. He knew he should have passed on her offer, but damned if he had the ability to do so.
    She nodded toward the house. “The door’s unlocked. Go on in. I’ll be in as soon as I take care of Pepper.”
    Elly guided Pepper away from the fence and slowly toward the entrance to the arena. Will watched her, admiring how natural she looked in the saddle. Of course she did. She was a Cody, part of the first family of Wyoming ranching and rodeoing. She’d been on a horse probably before she could talk.
    When she rode out of sight, he made his way toward the house. But once inside, he felt like an intruder. For several seconds, he just stood in the foyer, gazing at the photographs and paintings on the walls. For some reason, he remembered one of the few times his dad had brought him to the ranch. The entire Cody family had lived in this house then. It’d been winter, and a big fire had been roaring in the stone fireplace.
    His dad had deposited him in front of the fireplace while he disappeared into the office to talk to J. W. Cody. The same office where Will had met with Jesse a few days ago. He’d stood there in front of the fire,