The Rancher's Bride by Stella Bagwell Read Free Book Online Page A

hidden beneath a thick covering of sagebrush. Because the grazing was so limited, Harlan’s cattle were scattered from here to yonder. It took all afternoon to gather the cattle, then drive them onto Bar M land.
    Dusk had fallen when the last calf scampered through the downed fence. Harlan watched the little Hereford catch up with its mother, then stepped down from his mare.
    Pulling a pair of pliers from his pocket, he said, “I’m going to wire the fence back together for right now. And in a few days I’ll put up a metal gate.” He glanced up at Rose, who was still mounted on her horse a few feet away from him. “If you don’t mind, that is.”
    A gate. He’d be connected to her land. She’d be connected to his. It was almost like a marriage between them and that was far too intimate a thought for Rose’s peace of mind.
    “If you want to put up a gate, it’s all right by me. But before you tie those wires back together, you’d better let me ride through so I can head back home.”
    Turning his back to her, he jerked on the tangled barbed wire. “You just stay where you are. I’m not about to let you ride all the way back home.”
    Rose wasn’t used to a man giving her orders. Even her father had always asked and never told her what to do. Pushing off her hat, she wiped at the grit on her face. Her shoulders were drooping and her legs aching from long hours in the saddle. Pie’s coat was caked with dust and stiff with dried, salty sweat. Amos had already flopped down in the shade a few yards away. The dog’s feet were sore and his sides were heaving with exhaustion. It would be better for her and her animals to hitch a ride home with him. Still,
    she hesitated. “Harlan, you took me home last night. I don’t expect you to do it again.”
    Harlan hadn’t expected her to do a man’s work today, either. But she had. And Harlan knew he would never forget that she’d done it for him. True, she owed him money and didn’t have much choice in offering him the land and water. But she could have left him and Emily to deal with their own cattle.
    “You’re too tired to ride home,” Emily spoke as she reined the Appaloosa alongside Rose. “Besides, we’d like for you to stay and eat supper with us. Wouldn’t we, Daddy?”
    Supper? Harlan never really cooked much, and Emily didn’t know how. He couldn’t remember a time they’d had someone stay to share a meal. What was his daughter thinking?
    He glanced over his shoulder at Rose. “Sure, we’d like for you to stay,” he said with feigned casualness. “If you can stand to eat microwave food.”
    “We have a pizza in the freezer,” Emily reminded him. “Will you stay and eat, Rose?”
    Rose glanced over at the girl. She’d worked tirelessly today. And now she was looking at Rose with such a hopeful, eager expression that she couldn’t bring herself to say no.
    “I guess I could stay. If it wouldn’t be putting you to any trouble,” she said, then glanced at Harlan. He’d already turned his attention back to twisting the barbed wire together. She wished she knew how he really felt about his daughter’s invitation. But it wasn’t as if she was a girlfriend coming over for a dinner date, she assured herself. She’d simply be a dirty cowhand eating a slice of pizza with her neighbors.
    “Oh, it won’t be any trouble at all. It’s going to be great,” Emily said with a happy grin.
    As the three of them rode over the sage-covered hills toward the Flying H, Rose’s gaze kept drifting over to Harlan. His shirt was wet with sweat and covered with so much dust that it appeared more brown than blue. His legs were long in the stirrups and he sat in the saddle with the ease of a natural horseman.
    If Rose had learned anything today, it was that Harlan was as dedicated to his ranch as Rose was to the Bar M. She respected him for that and she was beginning to think he could be trusted up to a point. But he had the power to take her home away from her.