Samantha and the Cowboy by Lorraine Heath Read Free Book Online Page A

though he was some kind of hero for teaching him how to tie a square knot. And he was a far cry from being a hero.
    He cast a sly glance Sam’s way as his horse plodded along. He’d decided to teach the kid another knot, and Sam was now busily working to master the double half-hitch. The kid had such small hands—delicate, almost. Jake was right. Sam wasn’t anywhere close to being sixteen.
    Closer to fourteen, maybe even younger. Why lie about his age when they were hiring fourteen-year-olds?Obviously the kid wanted to grow up, and grow up fast.
    Sam’s slight build made Matt want to protect him, protect him the way he’d tried to protect boys younger than him during the war—and that was a dangerous undertaking on a cattle drive.
    Every man had to be capable of caring for himself, and the sooner Matt taught Sam all he needed to know, the sooner Matt could stop worrying about him. He hated worrying about someone else almost as much as he hated riding drag.
    During the war, the soldiers kept getting younger and younger. He’d been promoted to lieutenant at sixteen because he’d been the oldest in the outfit. He’d thought that had been a fairly pitiful reason to put him in charge. Sometimes he thought the war was more of a boys’ war than anything else.
    And cattle drives were becoming no different. So many men had gone off to fight. The youngsters left behind had started herding cattle. They were the reason that trail hands were now referred to as cow boys .
    Matt fought an inner battle not to worry about Sam. He’d teach him what he needed to learn, and the boy would do fine. He had spoken the truth about his ability to learn quickly.
    Matt turned his attention back to the herd. He supposed it wouldn’t hurt to be a little nicer to the kid. Samrarely spoke so Matt didn’t have to worry that the boy would try to develop a friendship with him. There were dangers on a cattle drive—not as many as a man found at war, but enough that it wasn’t uncommon to lose a man or two. If Matt kept his distance, it wouldn’t hurt so much if someone did die on him.
    He’d do one favor for Sam, just to ease his own guilt for not really wanting Sam around. Then he could go back to just teaching him what he needed to learn and avoiding him the rest of the time.
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    Sam had plowed fields, planted seed, harvested crops, hunted game, mended fences, worked from dawn till dusk. She had expected sitting astride a horse all day, trailing cattle to be easy.
    It had been anything but. She was covered in dust from head to toe. And bored out of her ever-loving mind. In spite of the thick clouds churned up by the plodding hooves, she’d tried to strike up a conversation or two with Matt, but he seemed reluctant to speak more than a couple of words at time. He had a habit of quickly putting a halt to her attempts by telling her they’d discuss it later.
    Which was probably for the best.
    Every time she practiced tying a knot, she’d think about his hands and wonder what their touch might feel like.
    She didn’t understand why her thoughts kept wandering to images of her and Matt together—together with him knowing she was a girl. Smiling at her. Holding her hand.
    None of the boys who had returned from the war had made her realize that she was truly growing up, that she was beginning to have a woman’s dreams. She thought she might even be interested in attending a dance if Matt was going to be there.
    Where were all these strange ideas coming from? Was this the way Mary Margaret felt every time she got near Benjamin? Did her heart pound, her palms get damp, and her mouth grow dry?
    Sam wondered if all this was indeed the result of an attraction to Matt. She sure hoped she wasn’t on the verge of getting sick, for surely Jake would send her home if she wasn’t feeling well.
    The cattle began to slow much as they had around noon.
    Matt moved his hand in