The Cowboy's Gamble: Destined For Love Series by Janelle Denison Read Free Book Online

long corridor to the entrance of the stable.
    “Don’t expect me to be at the wedding!” Robert yelled furiously after him.
    Seth shook his head. He hadn’t realized until that moment how his brother’s spiteful attitude was so much like their father’s. David O’Connor hadn’t cut anyone any slack, especially not a McAllister, and he’d allowed old resentments to fester until it had totally consumed his life. Robert was on that same collision course, straight to emotional destruction.
    And there wasn’t a damn thing Seth could do about it.
    As he walked out of the stables and felt the warmth of the sun on his face, Seth had the invigorating thought that he was no longer under his brother’s thumb, no longer an employee of the Paradise Wild.
    He grinned. He was a free man with a spread of his own.
    And it felt pretty damn good.

    The heartache was already beginning, starting with the letter Josie’s father had left for her.
    Sitting on the wooden bench just outside the barn, she read the brief correspondence Jake had scrawled on a scratch piece of paper. She read his words over and over, trying to understand why he’d risk the Golden M in a poker game, add an outrageous stipulation that would ruin her life and bind her to Seth O’Connor, when he knew there was every chance of losing to the last man in Montana she would have chosen for a husband.
    But his letter provided no answers. Just verification that the deed and stipulation were indeed real and binding, and an apology for what he’d done, for failing her and letting his gambling addiction force him to resort to desperate measures, though he’d done his best to secure her future. He knew she’d be disappointed in him, angry even, and couldn’t bear to face her condemnation, so he’d decided it was best if he left. The note ended with the hope that she’d finally find happiness, and that he loved her and Kellie, and not to hate him too much for what he’d done.
    There was nothing about him returning, and that tore her up the worst, because she couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing her father again.
    The hot tears welling in her eyes finally spilled over her lashes. Tears because she would miss her father. Tears because she was so afraid of what her future would hold.
    “Oh, Dad,” she whispered around the ache in her heart. She was upset, yes. But she could never, ever spurn him, despite the fact that he’d sold her soul to the devil himself. Together they could have figured a way out of this mess. Alone, she had no way of defending herself from someone as formidable as Seth. He wanted the Golden M, and he wanted the ranch bad enough to marry her for it.
    Oh, what a doozy fate had delivered! If she wasn’t so devastated, she would have been laughing hysterically at the twist.
    She heard the screen door to the house slam shut, and glanced up to see Kellie heading across the yard. She stopped and picked up Seth’s hat, paused briefly to consider the hole in the crown, then continued toward the barn, carrying Josie’s trophy piece with her.
    Quickly, Josie wiped away the wetness on her cheeks and reached deep for some much needed fortitude to explain what changes lay ahead. She had to be strong, for Kellie, because she was all her daughter had.
    She stopped in front of Josie, a frown creasing her delicately shaped brows. “He made you cry,” she accused.
    Her daughter looked so fiercely protective, Josie couldn’t help but smile. “No, Mr. O’Connor didn’t make me cry.” She’d come close a few times, out of frustration and fury, but these tears had been for the man who’d raised her so lovingly. A man she feared they would never see again.
    Kellie didn’t look convinced. “What did that O’Connor man want?”
    Our land. Our house. Everything I’ve worked so hard to nurture over the years.
    She patted the space beside her on the bench. “Sit down, sweetie. We need to talk.”
    “I don’t want to sit.” The stubborn thrust of