Samantha’s Cowboy by Marin Thomas Read Free Book Online Page A

bare dirt had been exposed, Millicent patted the ground. “Here.” She pressed Luke’s palm to the spot.“Feel that?” Then she moved the boy’s hand to another area. “Feel that?”
    “This one’s cooler.” Luke returned his hand to the first spot.
    “Water under the ground makes the dirt cold,” Millicent explained.
    Sam ignored Wade’s eye roll and asked, “How far down do you think the water is?”
    “Sixty feet.”
    Millicent’s claim lured a snort from Wade. Typical geek—always demanding evidence to back up facts.
    “Dad. You gotta feel this,” Luke said. “Millicent’s right. The ground’s colder here—” he patted the earth “—than over there.”
    Wade surprised Sam when he did as his son requested. Brow furrowed, Wade squatted and pressed his palm to the ground, drawing Sam’s attention to his hand. Her mind wandered along a path of its own as her eyes followed the movement of his lean fingers, imagining them stroking her skin, palming her breast, touching her… there .
    Wade stood, then slapped at the dust on his hands, the sound ending Sam’s fantasy. “Are you sure there’s water?” he asked Millicent.
    “Ya callin’ me a liar?” The old woman waved the switch in the air and Sam feared she intended to smack Wade with the branch.
    “A sixty-foot hole can’t be that difficult to dig.” Wade studied the ground.
    “Oh, no,” Sam said. “You’re not—”
    Wade’s gaze shifted from the ground to Sam’s face. “Why pay a drilling company over a hundred thousand dollars when we can dig the well ourselves?”
    “We?” Sam had no intention of shoveling dirt. There were too many other items on her to-do list that needed to be tackled.
    “Yes, you and me,” Wade confirmed.
    Luke jumped up and down. “I can help, too!”
    “What do you say?” Wade’s eyes lit with excitement. If playing in the dirt thrilled the man this much, then he needed a vacation from his job.
    Hating to see the boy get his hopes up, Sam said, “I doubt your mom would want you to risk getting hurt, Luke.”
    “My mom won’t care. Besides I spend most of my time with my dad.”
    Confused, Sam glanced at Wade and he said, “Luke’s mom and I are divorced.”
    That explained the absence of a ring, but not the twitter of excitement that raced through Sam. Her gaze traveled over Wade’s body. “You’re not exactly the well-digging type.” The sparkle dimmed in his eyes and Sam cursed herself for being blunt, then shrugged off her concern—no way would a man like Wade care what she thought of him. “I’m not worried about saving money,” she insisted. “Now that Millicent located the water, the drilling company should be able to dig and cap the well in less than a day.”
    “Permits take time,” he argued.
    “Not that long. I’ll phone the owner of the company and ask if they can squeeze—”
    “You said you didn’t want your father learning about this ranch until you’d whipped it into shape. How will you keep the news from him if you hire professionals?”
    Why hadn’t Sam considered this complicationbefore? As soon as the drilling company learned the client was a Cartwright they’d contact her father. No one dug a hole anywhere in Oklahoma without Dominick Cartwright being informed.
    “C’mon, Samantha. People dug wells by hand all the time in the olden—” Wade glanced at Millicent.
    “Watch yerself,” the witch warned.
    “I’ll research how to dig a well,” Luke chimed in.
    Sam nibbled her lip, unsure how to proceed.
    “Please,” Luke begged.
    Wade’s son was so darned cute she hadn’t the heart to upset him. Once her father flew off to Europe, she’d be free to contact a drilling company if the do-it-yourself well-digging project came to a standstill. “Fine. Let’s begin digging next Sunday.”
    “Why not Saturday?” Wade asked.
    “My brother’s wedding is Saturday.” Hadn’t she mentioned Matt’s wedding to Wade? “We’ll meet here bright and early