Thunder Horse Redemption by Elle James Read Free Book Online Page B

dangerous trail her more immediate concern. She let Sassy choose her footing on the way up.
    She waited long enough to ensure Pierce made it out of the canyon. Thankfully, the shooter wasn’t watching for them. Neither were the other Thunder Horse men. Based on the angle of the sun hovering over the horizon, it was very early in the morning.
    If she was lucky, she could get in a good day’s work, despite having lost the day before to the attack. The cattle auction was coming up soon and she had to have her animals loaded and shipped before that day or she’d be in even worse shape financially than she was physically. The thought of the shooter still disturbed her, but it wasn’t as if she could go into hiding. She had a ranch to run.
    As Pierce and Cetan cleared the rim, Roxanne nudged Sassy into a canter, headed toward the Carmichael Ranch. She could hear Pierce and Cetanbehind her, but didn’t rein in to wait for them. She was in too much of a hurry to get home. Having been out of contact for over half a day, she wondered if anything else had gone wrong while she’d been gone.
    Thirty minutes later, she rode into the barnyard and dismounted.
    Before Pierce could climb down off his horse, Roxanne handed over Sassy’s reins. “Thank you for the use of your horse. You can go now.”
    Pierce’s lips quirked at the corners for a moment, but he quickly grew serious again. “You can’t dismiss me that easily. What happened with the shooter could happen again.”
    “Yes, it could. But you sticking around won’t change that. He didn’t hesitate to shoot at me in front of you before.”
    Pierce hesitated, his eyes narrowing.
    “I have four ranch hands and a foreman running around the place. If that man comes back, he’ll definitely be outnumbered. I’ll be okay. You can leave now.”
    Pierce didn’t budge.
    “Fine,” Roxanne said. “I’ll make sure I don’t ride alone and I’ll carry my own rifle.” She planted her fists on her hips. “Satisfied?” She shook her head. “You’d think I didn’t have a mind of my own.”
    “The man who attacked you didn’t give up easily. He might come back to finish the job.”
    “Let me worry about that.” She dropped her hands to her sides. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a ton of work to do, and I want to get it done before I head back out to check on Sweet Jessie.” Roxanne strode toward the barn.
    Nothing moved behind her, leaving her in no doubt that Pierce wasn’t heading home yet.
    “My brothers and I will ride out this afternoon and check on Sweet Jessie and the herd,” Pierce called out. “No need for you to do it.”
    Roxanne halted just outside the barn door and faced him, squinting up at him in the morning sunlight. “It’s my responsibility. I’ll do the checking.”
    “And we’ll be there to help. Three o’clock this afternoon. Don’t go out there until then.” He waited for her response, glaring down at her.
    “Three o’clock.” She turned to enter the barn, her gaze avoiding his. She’d go earlier, just to avoid the man.
    Pierce’s voice carried to her in one last attempt, “Maybe I should stay.”
    Her head poked out the door, her brows furrowing. “No.” With that final response, she entered the barn, refusing to go back out.
    She waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting inside the barn and for the sound of retreating hoofbeats to indicate the barnyard was clear of Pierce Thunder Horse.
    As the interior of the barn came into focus, she gasped, her heart fluttering against her ribs.
    Across the walls and doors, slashes of red spray paint marred the otherwise clean surfaces.
    “STAY OUT OF THE CANYON!”
    * * *
    W ITH S ASSY ’ S LEAD ROPE tied to his saddle horn, Pierce headed toward home, reminding himself he was no longer a part of Roxanne’s life. The fact that they’d come very close to making love had changed nothing—at least, it didn’t seem to have changed anything for Roxanne. It was a different story