Frontier Gift of Love (American Wilderness Series Romance Book 5) by Dorothy Wiley Read Free Book Online Page A

between them, the cows delivered a bull and three heifers. Now, as they huddled near him, their middles appeared swollen with a calf once again. He had also bought several dozen more cows at a good price from a man who decided to leave Kentucky in a hurry and move to the Ohio territory. Although not as good as the stock that Stephen brought to Kentucky, the new cows all dropped nice calves as well.
    Why anyone would want to move further north eluded him. It was cold enough in Kentucky. He buttoned his coat and tied his woolen scarf more snugly around his neck. But the weather here was far better than New Hampshire, where each winter many of his cows froze to death or nearly starved.
    He would have to acquire more heifers soon to grow his herd as quickly as he wanted to. Moments ago, Colonel Logan, accompanied by four men from the fort, purchased ten young bulls from him—intending to use the best one for breeding and the other nine to supply winter beef for Fort Logan.
    “I have to get back to the fort,” Logan told him. “These men will bring the bulls back.”
    “Thank you, Colonel Logan,” Stephen said, looking up at the man, grateful for his first significant sale of cattle.
    As Logan rode away, the four men said their goodbyes and then herded the bulls toward the trail to the fort. Stephen wished the bulls had been born heifers, because then he could have kept them. But a herd this size only needed one good bull. And Boone, named in honor of Kentucky’s most valiant man, already proved his worth by keeping all of Stephen’s cows bred.
    Growing tired of waiting on Stephen to feed them, the highest ranking cows—the two he’d brought from his meager farm in New Hampshire—started mooing and bellowing loudly. They had long since become like pets and he reached out and scratched the wiry hair on their foreheads. “Hungry ladies? I know, it’s not easy finding grass under this snow.”
    After he fed grain to all his stock and farm animals, and oats to his prize horse George, the offspring of Stephen’s last stallion of the same name and Jane’s mare, he headed toward the house. The snow crunched beneath Stephen’s worn boots until he stopped at the wood pile to the right of the porch and loaded his arms with firewood. After he entered the large cabin he tugged off the muddy wet boots, leaving them by the door, and sat the logs down by the stone hearth. The brightly blazing fire, along with the kitchen hearth, provided the home’s only warmth and he made sure to keep both well supplied with good-sized logs. He didn’t want to risk either Jane or his daughters getting sick from a chill.
    “Coffee, Stephen?” Jane called from the kitchen.
    “Please, my hands could use some warming up,” he answered.
    Stephen yanked off his coat and scarf and hung them near the door. He walked up behind Jane in the kitchen and tugged her against his chest. Her body would warm him far sooner than the coffee. “Did you miss me?” He pushed her long curly red hair aside, to give him access to her neck, and gently nibbled there before planting a kiss or two. Her skin felt almost hotagainst his cold lips. And, as usual, the sweet taste of her stirred his blood.
    “I did miss you, as always,” she said.
    Whenever he came in from chores, even if he was working just yards away, Jane often said she missed him. Their souls were so connected, they were two halves of one whole. Whenever separated, it left each of them feeling an emptiness that nothing else could fill.
    “My lips are cold,” he told her and turned her around to face him. He pressed his mouth against hers, enjoying her warmth and luscious taste.
    “You’re making me more than miss you,” she purred when he finally released her lips. “Wait till I get you under the covers tonight.”
    “How does it feel to be kissed by a cattle baron?”
    “Did you sell some?” she asked excitedly. Her green eyes sparkled with excitement.
    “Indeed. Not only did he buy the ten