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

competitive gene stock. We don’t let anyone win anything. If I won, it was fair and square. Did your grandpa let you win?” Emily asked.
    “Hell, no! I was fifteen before I beat him. Thought I’d done inherited the moon and stars.” Greg chuckled.
    “Me too. I danced around the living room like I’d made a touchdown for the Dallas Cowboys. Do y’all play for beans or money?” Emily asked.
    “Big bucks,” Greg said.
    “Do I need to make a trip to the bank?”
    “Buy-in is fifty dollars. No bets less than five,” he answered.
    “Greg!” Clarice shook her finger at him.
    Emily smiled. “I think I can scrape up fifty dollars. Does it have to be in bills or can I use pennies?”
    ***
    Greg was on his way out of the house when Emily pushed away from a porch post. “Hey, I’d begun to think you were going to primp all day.”
    He tilted his freshly shaven face up to the rising sun. The light reflected off his glasses, making a halo above his head. “Did it do any good?”
    “You look just like you did when you left the breakfast table, except you are now wearing boots and a coat,” she said.
    “Well, dammit! I thought at least I smelled better. I used my best shaving lotion to impress you.” He grinned.
    Her heart skipped a beat. Was he serious or was he joking? Had he felt the attraction that morning at breakfast too? If he did, maybe she’d find a note on the fridge just for her some morning.
    She sniffed the air. “It’s okay, but I really did like the smell of bacon better.”
    “Well, then I’ll have to see about some bacon-scented shaving lotion. Hey, not to change this exhilarating conversation, but thank you for staying on, Emily. Nana’s got a new bounce in her step this morning. I think that computerized stuff really weighs heavy on her mind. I’m hoping by the end of the month she’ll let me hire someone on full-time when she sees how nice it is to have some help,” Greg said.
    “It seemed like the right thing to do. Gramps used to tell me that when I’ve done made up my mind about something and it doesn’t feel right, then I should try on a different decision to see how it feels. I tried to think about spending my month on the beach, but it just didn’t feel right. Then I thought about Clarice’s offer and there was peace in my heart,” she admitted. She didn’t say a word about his pictures being a big part of the decision. Hell’s bells, she hadn’t even told Taylor that part, and she sure wasn’t speaking it aloud right then.
    “I’m glad it didn’t. Now tell me, how much do you know about horses?” he asked. “I hate to ask you to do this, but the fellow who takes care of the horse barn called in sick a few minutes ago. I’ve got a full day lined up. I’m behind because I’ve been gone a week.”
    She didn’t give him time to finish. “I love horses. I’ll take care of the stables. Will I have time to exercise them?”
    He pointed to a pickup truck. It might have been pea green at one time, but nowadays rust covered more than paint and it was a toss-up as to whether the green was lichen or actual paint. The tailgate was gone, and the fenders looked like they’d been whipped with a baseball bat several times.
    “Hop in and I’ll drive you out there. You know how to handle a stick shift?”
    “I can drive anything that has four wheels,” she said. “Gramps said that I had to learn to drive everything on the ranch.”
    “Okay, then I’ll leave the truck with you and you can bring it back at dinnertime. Max can pick me up at the barn, and you’ll be on your own until noon,” he said. “Don’t worry if you don’t get the stalls all done this morning. I can help finish up after dinner. Albert and Louis both have the flu bug today. Just do what you can and we’ll play catch-up later. It won’t hurt the horses to go without exercise for one day.”
    She crawled into the passenger seat of the truck and watched him trot around the front to the driver’s