Noah by Kelli Ann Morgan Read Free Book Online Page A

mare.
    “Thank you,” Noah called after him.
    A large stack of fresh straw mounded in one of
the empty stalls. He grabbed a pitchfork off the wall and took several large
measures of the bedding, tossing it into Apollo’s stall.
    Silence passed between the men for a number of
minutes before Noah started to whistle. The ranch and its owner were a lot to
take in. After a few more minutes, Levi finally peeked over the stall, his arms
perched on the short partition separating them, his chin resting on his hands.
    “So, what do you think of Miss Kate Callahan?”
he asked.
    Noah had noted a barrel of oats and a scoop in
the corner next to the work table and stepped over to retrieve them. How could
he tell his cousin that Kate was already more than he’d ever dreamed she would
be, that not only was she the most beautiful woman he’d ever had the pleasure
of meeting, but he’d thoroughly enjoyed her company?
    He wasn’t worried as much about Mr. Thomas and the
man’s ill manners as he was about the others that would surely start arriving.
He couldn’t allow himself to fall for a woman who may never be his. He’d
married for the wrong reasons the first time, and the next time would be the
last time. It had to be right.
    “I can see why you were tempted to settle down,”
he said coolly as he lifted the saddle from Apollo’s back and hung it over the partition
next to Levi. “She’s pretty and no nonsense. I like that.” He unhooked the
brush that hung just outside of the stall and proceeded to groom the gelding’s
sleek grey coat and long black mane. “How many men do you think will answer her
ad?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe a dozen or so. It only got
through to two different newspapers. One in Colorado and the other in Montana.
Why?”
    “I just need to know what I’m up against and
how quickly I need to win her over.”
    “You like her. Don’t you?”
    Noah could not stop the smile that cracked
through. “It’s too early to tell, but if I am going to have a fighting chance,
I need to get to know her better. And the ranch. I’ll ride out first thing
tomorrow and get a good look at the herds, the pastures, and the outbuildings.”
    Usually, a ranch this size would have at least
a dozen hands, but the foreman, Dell, had told him that only three had agreed
to stay on after Mr. Callahan died—Virg, Oscar, and Cal, if he remembered
correctly.
    “I’d like to speak with Dell and make note of
any repairs that need to be made. Also, I heard the clerk at the telegraph
office mention that there are several thousands of acres for sale out this way
and I would like to look at buying some.”
    “Whoa, slow down there, Noah. You’re going to
hurt yourself with all that planning.” Levi moved out in front of the tack room
and leaned back against one of the beams, his ankles crossed, and his arms
folded.
    Noah laughed. “It’s not worth doing if you
don’t do it right.” He stepped out of the stall and latched it shut, placing
the pitchfork back on its proper hook. “Granddad was very generous with our
inheritance and I want to put it to good use.”
    “I wouldn’t know about that…yet,” Levi said,
shaking his head. “I’m not too worried about it, though. If it doesn’t happen in
time and I don’t get the money, would it really be that bad? It’s not as if my
family struggles. Financially, I mean.”
    “It’s not a trivial amount, Levi. You could do
a lot of good with the money Granddad left you. However, you are still quite a
ways off from the ‘end of your twenty-fifth year.’ You’ll be fine.”
    Liam Deardon had believed that unmarried men
over the age of twenty-five were a menace to society. Thus, he had been very
specific in his will that each portion of his grandchildren’s inheritance was
dependent upon them getting married before their twenty-sixth birthday.
    Noah hadn’t felt deserving of the sizeable sum
he’d received after he’d wed Persephone Whittaker and had been very