Once a Cowboy by Linda Warren Read Free Book Online Page B

doing a lot of talking and I was wondering how our lives got so out of control that I had to leave to make my own way in the world.”
    “Tom, God rest his soul, was a hard man. He believed his way was the right way and he didn’t leave you many choices.”
    “Yeah. I guess I was as hard and stubborn as he was.”
    “Mmm.” She carried the album back to the cabinet. “I’m glad you and Claudie are getting along better now.”
    “Me, too.” And he meant that. All the years of estrangement had certainly strained their relationship—there would always be some tension between them. But he was now able to talk to his mother without his stomach coiling into knots. At least sometimes.
    “They love you. Never doubt that.”
    He nodded. Part of him finally believed that.
    “Now we just have to find a woman to love you.”
    He grinned. “I can find plenty of those.”
    “Brodie Hayes, you bad boy.” Cleo wagged a finger at him. “I mean a forever kind of love that produces babies and happiness.”
    All of a sudden he saw Alex Donovan’s face, her soft brown eyes and kissable mouth.
    “Do you think there’s such a thing as real happiness?”
    “Heavens. Don’t ask me. I certainly never found it, and believe me I tried. But you, with that face, that dimple and those gorgeous eyes—a woman is just waiting to worship at your feet.”
    His mouth twitched. “Not exactly what I had in mind.” He stood. “I’ll head back to the ranch. Tell Mother I’ll call her later.”
    Cleo studied him, her eyes narrowed. “You know Melvin has a friend who has a niece….”
    “No. No blind dates.” He reached for his hat.
    “Suit yourself, cowboy.”
    Brodie left feeling much better. He never realized he had a germ of doubt about the DNA test, but after talking to Cleo it was gone. He was not Helen Braxton’s son.
     
    T WO WEEKS LATER Alex sat at her desk looking at the DNA results. Ninety-nine point nine. Brodie Hayes was Helen Braxton’s biological son. She took a moment for that to sink in while she ran her sweaty palms down the thighs of her jeans. How did she tell Brodie this kind of news? For she knew she had to tell him first.
    Mrs. Braxton and her family were going to be ecstatic, but it was going to tear apart Brodie’s world. Could she do that? For a brief second she had an urge to let sleeping dogs lie. This was going to hurt so many people, especially Brodie.
    Alex had been hired by the Braxtons and she shouldn’t even be thinking about Brodie and his feelings. She was human, though, and this wasn’t going to be easy on anyone.
    There were so many unanswered questions—like how Travis Braxton ended up with the Hayes family? Where was the real Brodie Hayes? As a detective she wanted to delve deeper to find the truth, but right now all she could think was that this news was going to shatter Brodie.
     
    B RODIE TWIRLED THE ROPE over his head and sailed it deftly toward a post. It landed squarely over its mark and he yanked the rope tight.
    “Wow,” Joey Henshaw said. Joey’d been bitten with the rodeo bug. During the summer, the young boy who lived on a neighboring ranch helped Brodie keep the Cowboy Up running. He was full of questions about the rodeo and eager to learn as much as he could.
    Brodie remembered that feeling of being full of dreams and hopes, of being ten feet tall and bulletproof. There was nothing he couldn’t do. The world was his rodeo.
    But what happened when the dream was accomplished? What happened after the victory? Where was the happiness? Shouldn’t that be his reward for surviving and beating the odds in such a grueling, competitive sport? He felt there had to be more to life than just living day-to-day.
    But he’d done things his way against his parents’ objections. He had to win. There was no other recourse for him. He’d had to prove himself, not to his parents, but for his own satisfaction and happiness.
    As Joey swung the rope above his head and aimed for the post,