Loving A Cowboy by Anne Carrole Read Free Book Online

deeply than she’d been willing to admit, was hurting. And she needed to be with him, wanted to be with him, and help him in any way she could. She owed him at least that. Because reality was, given how she’d treated him five years ago, she owed him a whole lot more.
     
     
     

Chapter 5
     
    Were his eyes playing cruel tricks? He’d just been dreaming about Libby, and there she was. Though edges of her were fuzzy in the glaring light, she looked just about as good as a woman could look to a man. Tousled blonde hair, concerned blue eyes, plump pink lips that she was nibbling on.
    The pulsing ache of his body let him know something was real enough.
    “Chance,” she said in a fragile voice that sounded like it was going to crack under the slightest pressure.
    “What are you doing here?” His own voice bellowed out like it was coming from a tunnel in his head as the bright overhead light seared his eyes.
    “Waiting for you to wake up.”
    Was he awake now?
    “Lonnie?” Where was his friend? He should be here.
    “He just went to get another cup of coffee. He’ll be back.”
    “I won.” Hadn’t he?
    His thoughts were scattered. He was saying whatever was coming into his head. He couldn’t seem to stop himself. What the hell?
    “Yes, you did.”
    Did she sound irritated?
    “How are you feeling?” She wrapped her arms around her waist as if bracing for the worst.
    “Feeling?” He moved his arm. Then his leg. That pulsing ache turned to sharp pain, spearing him. His chest rose in a gasp. More pain, like big needles ramming through his flesh, his organs.
    “Not good,” he rasped out.
    “You broke some ribs and fractured your foot, but your leg is okay.”
    “Good. Broken leg would be a bitch. Couldn’t rodeo for a while.”
    “You won’t be rodeoing anytime soon.” Again there was irritation in her voice.
    “Can’t keep a cowboy down,” he said through teeth gritted in pain. It was pulsing somewhere in his chest. Damn he felt weak. Helpless. Exhausted.
    His eyes closed. Where the hell was Lonnie? He’d need a few days at the ranch and he’d be good as new.
     
    * * *
     
    “What do you mean you’re not starting today? You sure as hell are, young lady. It’s a done deal. You gave me your word.” Her father’s voice carried through the large kitchen, booming off the walls right through to the den.
    All the way home from the hospital last night, all she could think about was what she had done to Chance. And how he’d thrived despite what must have been a devastating blow.
    Having married the man she loved, she’d hoped she’d be seen as an adult, only it had felt more like playing house. When they returned to a ramshackle trailer home some guy had lent Chance for the night, reality had set in, and come morning, that reality was packed with danger signs. She didn’t have any skills to earn money. She didn’t know how to cook or take care of a house. Just eighteen and in her first year at Laramie Community College, she began to panic. And that’s when Sam Brennan had banged on the door so hard, she thought he was going to bring it down.
    Caught between a reality that scared her and one that was familiar, she chose the familiar and left with her father, crying the whole way.
    In retrospect, she wasn’t ready for marriage. She would have been an albatross around Chance’s neck. But she should have worked it out with Chance. She shouldn’t have allowed the outcome to be dictated by her raging father.
    Not being ready for marriage did not mean she hadn’t loved him. If she could just get him to understand that, then maybe this hollow feeling would go away. She didn’t know how she would make it up to him, but seeing him so battered and bruised and in need of help, she knew she had to try.
    Last night she realized sometimes you didn’t get to choose your fate. When you did have a choice, you needed to seize the moment. This morning she’d received a call from the Western Stock Show asking