Long Road Home by Joann Ross Read Free Book Online

came up with a plan we figured you might listen to.”
    “I didn’t tell a soul,” Ryan assured him. “Not even Layla, who was as surprised as the rest of us at the effed-up way things played out between the two of you.”
    “Well, that’s something. Austin’s got enough on her plate without having to worry about being embarrassed every time she goes into town.”
    “You know,” Ryan said, “getting back to the topic of your love life—”
    “Or lack of it,” Cooper interjected.
    “You could always cook her dinner,” Ryan continued his thought. “Women like that.”
    “Says the man who, from what I can tell, hasn’t managed to lasso a female of his own.”
    “I’ve been a little busy going to medical school and, like you, serving in the military to pay off my ROTC debt,” his brother, the most easygoing of the three of them, said mildly. “Plus, I’m particular.”
    “So, Mr. Particular, even if I were interested in making a move, which I’m not saying I am, what the hell would you suggest? Should I nuke her a Hungry Man frozen dinner or pop open an MRE? Because, along with calling out for pizza delivery, which I can’t do because River’s Bend doesn’t even have a pizza joint, those are the levels of my kitchen skills.”
    “It’s a damn pitiful thing when a man can’t feed himself,” Cooper said.
    “Not that you have to worry about where your next meal is coming from because you just happen to be living with a New York Culinary Institute trained chef.”
    Cooper shot out his jaw. “I wasn’t exactly starving before Rachel came to town. I can make stuff.”
    “How about taking her out?” Ryan tried again, obviously wanting to soothe the waters before fists started flying. As the middle Murphy, Ryan had always been a bridge between the occasionally troubled waters of Cooper’s oldest-brother bossiness and Sawyer’s youngest rebellion.
    “Great idea. To the New Chance? Which, in case you’ve forgotten and unless you’re talking peanuts and wings at the Shady Lady, is the only place to eat in town.”
    “Excuse me?” Cooper folded arms that were all muscle and sinew and could undoubtedly still wrestle a steer to the ground without him so much as breaking a sweat. His dark brows dove down toward his nose. “Are you suggesting that you have a problem with my woman’s cooking?”
    “Hell, no.” Cooper didn’t rile easily, but on the rare occasion he did, the wisest tactic to take was to back away. “From what she dished up for the party, it’s a freaking miracle that she decided to settle down in a cow town like this instead of making a name for herself in New York or Vegas or L.A. Or maybe even being one of those TV chefs. She’s sure pretty enough.”
    “And yet she chose me over the big city, flashy lights, and television fame.”
    “Yet another miracle.”
    Sawyer was happy for his brother, who seemed to have hit the woman jackpot not just once but twice. But that didn’t mean he was in the market for a wife.
    All he wanted was to be left alone.

5
    A USTIN WAS OUT in the corral, working on getting a yearling to come to her, rather than her chasing him. Last year, when he’d been a colt, she’d put in the groundwork getting him used to humans by touching him, lifting his feet, having people move in and out of the pen with him. Now she needed to build his trust and make him want her attention rather than just hanging out with his herd.
    She’d bred him as a future cattle horse for the Flying Goose, who’d be putting him to work next year. Meanwhile, she was teaching him how to be a working horse and, as a prey animal with a strong flight response, how to deal with stressors. Which would be vital in keeping not just him safe and happy but the herd he’d be joining happy, as well. A disruptive horse was an unhappy horse, which no one, especially Austin, wanted.
    Building up to saddle training next year would take time and patience. But when things were going well, as they