The Lonely Heart by K.M. Mahoney Read Free Book Online

go, saddlebags heavy with sandwiches, chips and cookies. Lots of sandwiches, chips, and cookies. The boys always worked up impressive appetites. Tommy www.total-e-bound.com

    THE LONELY HEART K.M. Mahoney 34
    alone could put away a half-dozen sandwiches and still have room for more. The man was a bottomless pit. If Grady had known how much the former bull rider ate before he hired the man, he might have thought twice about his offer.
    Micah greeted them with a bright smile. Tommy smacked the man on the back of the head as he headed straight for the food, ignoring the loud protest that followed.
    “What’d you bring us today, squirt?” he asked Josh. The big man waggled his eyebrows, leering comically at the bags secured to the back of the boy’s saddle. Josh laughed and shook his head, waving a finger.
    “Patience isn’t really Tommy’s strong point,” Micah drawled.
    “No kidding,” Grady replied dryly. “I would never have guessed.”
    His comment earned a sharp look from Micah. His hands had all been giving him similar looks lately. It was damned odd.
    Tommy reached up and swung Josh off Jackson, bouncing him in the air a couple of times before setting him on his small feet. The kid looked like a real cowboy now, decked out in heavy jeans and miniature dark brown boots, with an adorable little cowboy hat covering his wild hair. Isaiah and Grady had taken him shopping his second day on the ranch. It had been a blast, picking out clothes for their budding ranch hand. Something about those little boots and hats…
    It made Grady long for his own miniature cow hand. Not that such a thing was likely, but it didn’t keep a guy from wishing.
    “Where’s Isaiah?” he asked, dismounting and unlatching the saddle bags secured to Dixon. He swung the heavy leather satchels off and slung them over his shoulder. Nearby, Micah was doing the same with the bags on Jackson.
    “He and Joseph are clearing out the gully a couple miles west. They should be back soon.”
    “We don’t have to wait for them, do we?” Tommy asked, hands already reaching out greedily. Micah moved out of range, smacking the back of Tommy’s hand when it got too close.
    Josh shook his head, rolling his eyes. He smirked at Tommy, making a little motion with his hand.
    The three of them burst out laughing. Isaiah had been right, that first day. The kid could be so darn expressive that, more than once, Grady had forgotten he couldn’t talk to them.
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    THE LONELY HEART K.M. Mahoney 35
    “I’m not that bad,” Tommy protested. But he was grinning widely as he said it. “Most of the time,” he added.
    This time it was Micah’s turn to roll his eyes. “So you weren’t the reason Joseph put that padlock on the kitchen door?” he asked.
    Tommy scowled. “Darned cowboy. I got him good for that one, if you’ll remember.”
    “Now this is a story I haven’t heard,” Grady said.
    Micah and Tommy had brought the truck out today. Tommy pulled some blankets out of the cab and they spread them out, settling down in the bed of the pickup to eat their lunch.
    Sitting on the ground now left a man with a distinct chill in his butt. It wouldn’t be long before the boys would start staying closer to the main ranch and eating their lunches at the bunkhouse.
    Micah laughed, handing Josh a roast beef sandwich wrapped in cling film. “You haven’t? Tommy’s got this habit of getting up in the middle of the night and clearing out the pantry. Joseph woke up one time too many to find us out of the necessities—you know, bread, bacon—”
    “Eggs, chicken, ham,” Tommy added around a mouthful of chips. “You know, the basics.”
    “So, anything edible.”
    “Pretty much,” Micah said. “Joseph got this big-assed padlock and locked up the kitchen. You should have heard Tommy. He kept us up most of the night, moaning about hunger pains. It’s amazing how much he can whine for such a big guy.”
    Tommy snorted. “I resent that. I