The Cowboy's Mail Order Bride by Carolyn Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

herself this mornin’. What have you got there?”
    She handed the basket to Dotty. “I gathered the eggs.”
    “Well, that’s right nice of you. I was just fixin’ to either go or send Greg. There wasn’t enough in the fridge to make breakfast. Wipe your boots and hang up your coat on the rack over there,” Dotty said.
    Greg entered the kitchen through the foyer at the same time she came in the back door. He took one look at the basket of eggs and Dotty and asked, “Where did that come from? I would have gone to get them. You didn’t need to get out this early.”
    Dotty pointed at Emily.
    “I’m a witch. I knew that Dotty needed eggs so I snapped my fingers.” She snapped and a loud popping noise made him blink. “And presto, a baker’s dozen eggs floated down from the sky and filled that basket.”
    “Why didn’t you snap your fingers and milk the cow?” He smiled.
    “I did. You going to strain it or should I?” she asked.
    “You really do know about the ranching business, don’t you?”
    “Most of it. Gramps made me learn from the ground up and from the time I was a little girl. I never liked milkin’, but I can do it. How about you? Can you milk a cow?” she asked.
    “Nana made me learn from the ground up too. I was milking cows before I was a teenager,” Greg said.
    “Are the children up and around already? Are they arguing?” Clarice breezed into the kitchen. She wore jeans, sneakers, and a bright blue knit shirt. Her hair had been brushed back, and her eyes twinkled.
    Dotty smiled. “Oh, yeah, and I think the girl child is ahead of the boy child this morning. He’s going to have to get up earlier than usual to beat her.”
    Emily held up a palm. “Confession. I set my alarm clock wrong or I’d still be asleep. I won’t be up this early every morning unless Miz Clarice writes it into my job description, and I’m sure hoping she doesn’t make me milk cows. That’s my least favorite job on a ranch.”
    “So you aren’t brownnosing?” Greg teased.
    “No, sir. I like my sleep as well or better than anyone else,” she answered. “Now what can I do to help with breakfast?”
    “Stay out of my kitchen,” Dotty said. “You got the milk and eggs. That’s enough help for breakfast.”
    Clarice poured a mug of coffee and added two teaspoons of sugar. “Looks like I hired a good hand, right, Greg? Me and Dotty are going to be busy in the kitchen all day fixin’ dinner and finger foods for the domino party tonight. Emily, you are to go with Greg. He’ll put you to work doing whatever needs to be done. Greg, don’t you dare make plans for the evening. Madge and Rose are both coming and we need you.”
    “Why?” Greg asked.
    “We need an extra hand tonight. Emily is going to play and we’re going to do partners,” Dotty said.
    “Call Prissy,” he said.
    “I already did and she has other plans.”
    Clarice sat down at the table. “We love domino night, Emily.”
    “Maybe Emily doesn’t want to play,” Greg said.
    Emily looked at Greg and the heat in the room raised by twenty degrees. Did he feel it too, or was the physical attraction just on her part?
    Greg tilted his head to one side. Lord, even that was sexy. What was wrong with her? Sure, it had been a long time since she’d had a date, a long time since she’d been kissed, and even longer since she’d done anything else. But Greg Adams wasn’t the right cowboy for her to entertain such notions about. His roots were in Ravenna, Texas, and hers were eight hours away in Happy.
    “Do you play dominoes?” he asked.
    “I’ve played since I was a kid. Gramps loved his dominoes,” she said.
    “Marvin told me that he played with his grandparents when he was a boy,” Clarice said.
    Greg removed his glasses, wiped them clean on his T-shirt, and put them back on. “Did your grandpa let you win because you were the fair-haired daughter?”
    “Darlin’, I’ve never been called fair-haired, and believe me, I come from