Gunpowder Tea (The Brides Of Last Chance Ranch Series) by Margaret Brownley Read Free Book Online Page B

meeting her face-to-face, Annie hurried through her morning ablutions and dressed in a dark blue skirt and white linen shirtwaist.
    The last thing she did was lift her skirt and strap her leather gun holster around her thigh. The derringer was a gift from her brother Travis, following the successful fulfillment of her first assignment. It was his way of saying she was an operative in every sense of the word, even if their father didn’t agree.

    At the moment, she didn’t much feel like one. This was her first time outside the States and never before had she been required to work in such a remote location. The cattle ranch was nothing like the cities or large towns that offered endless resources for catching criminals.
    Even if by some miracle Miss Walker didn’t throw her off the ranch, there was still the problem of how to submit the mandatory daily reports to the main office. Annie didn’t even know how to contact the marshal in a hurry and she felt very much alone.
    She straightened her skirts and could almost hear her father’s stern voice: “You wanted a challenge, Miranda, and now you have one. So quit your complaining.”
    Shaking the thought away, she held her head high and shoulders back. With outward confidence and inner doubt, she followed the smell of bacon and coffee downstairs to the kitchen. The man standing in front of the stove had introduced himself the previous night but she couldn’t remember his name.
    “Mornin’, ma’am,” he said, wielding a spatula. A crooked-teeth smile flashed against his freckled skin and ginger hair curled from beneath a wilted white hat. His smile made her relax. At least his was a friendly face.
    Annie responded in kind. “I’m sorry, you told me your name but—”
    “Everyone calls me Able. Got the name when I was a chuck wagon cook.” A note of pride crept into his voice. “No cowboy ever went hungry with me around. Wind, rain, snow—you name it—and I was able to whip up a fine meal.” He emphasized his words with a nod of the head.
    “Sounds like Miss Walker is lucky to have you,” Annie said.
    He scoffed. “Cooks don’t get the same respect they used to.” Heturned to the cookstove and in a voice barely audible added, “There was a time when being a cook meant something, but those days are long gone.”
    Not knowing how to respond or even if she was expected to, she glanced around. The kitchen was furnished with the most modern equipment and even had running water. The cooking range was equipped with several burners, a large oven, and a high shelf. On the opposite side of the room, a dry-air refrigerator stood nearly eight feet high.
    “Do you want to take up her breakfast or do you want me to do it?” he asked.
    She’d rather not face Miss Walker so soon but putting it off wouldn’t make it any easier. “I’ll take it up to her.” She may as well face the music and get it over with. “I feel terrible about what happened.”
    He wrinkled his nose. “If you ask me, Miz Walker was an accident waitin’ for a happenin’. No woman her age should carry on like she does. She can outride and outrope any man and she ain’t slowin’ down for nothin’ or nobody.” He flashed his teeth, his smile as ready as his opinion. “Except for maybe a broken leg.”
    He turned back to the stove and scooped a hotcake from the skillet. With a flick of his wrist, he added it to a plate already piled high with food.
    “Her breakfast is ready.”
    The plate held enough food to feed a family of four. As if guessing her thoughts, Able chuckled. “Four scrambled eggs, a quarter pound of bacon, a stack of hotcakes, and coffee strong enough to picket a wild horse. Just as Miz Walker likes.”
    Annie studied the tray. “Perhaps this morning she would prefer something a bit lighter.” The doctor had sedated her and it wasdoubtful that she’d recovered from either her fall or the medication enough to enjoy such a grand feast.
    He sniffed and it was obvious by his