[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Harwood. Sure, he d come up with the job for Heidi spur of the moment. But he and Jacob had talked about
finding another teen to come out to the ranch and work part-time with Ryder. As the ranch grew, they d
need more and more folks.
Jacob had jumped at the idea. It would give him a little more time with the business end of ranching
and boarding.
When his phone rang right after breakfast, and he d heard Gillian s voice, for a minute, he thought he
might still be asleep. Had he been dreaming, though, she d have been curled up next to him, not letting him
know they were on the way to the ranch. He d just hung up with Gillian, when the phone rang again.
Just couldn t live without me, he said.
But instead of Gillian answering it was his dad. Hello to you too, son.
56 www.samhainpublishing.com
Wrong Turn, Right Cowboy
Dad. His excitement and anticipation evaporated quickly. He set his empty plate in the sink and
moved into the living room. How are you doing?
Better than you, I think. Your aunt told me about your accident.
Quint groaned and mumbled, Big mouth.
She didn t mean to tell me. She thought you already had.
He balled his fist at his side. I m fine. No big deal.
Someone tries to run you over
It was an accident. Her car got the brunt of the damage. And Gillian wasn t trying to run me down.
Hence the term accident.
You re on a first name basis with the woman who ran you down?
Quint scrubbed his hand over his face. The man never listened to a word he said. Did you need
something, Dad?
I spoke to Craig. A spot has opened at the firm.
Dad.
Hear me out. He could bring you in on a temporary basis and once you complete your degree you
could move up to junior partner in three years.
Thanks but no thanks. I m happy where I m at.
As a ranch hand?
Your sister s husband is a ranch hand.
Jacob owns his own ranch.
Now he does. But not when they met. Quint tucked the phone in the crook is his neck and grabbed a
clean shirt from the laundry basket next to the small sofa and folded it. You didn t have a problem with
ranch hands then.
You have so much potential, son.
And I m squandering it away in a hole of a town in the middle of nowhere. Yeah. I know. He folded
another shirt. We ve had this conversation.
His father sighed. If history repeats itself, you ll get bored eventually and quit, just like everything
else you ve done. I just have to bide my time.
I m glad you have so much faith in me. Quint dropped the next shirt back into the basket. Look,
I ve gotta go. Tell Mom hi for me. He hung up before his dad could comment.
Quint sat in the leather club chair and ran his hands through his hair as he took a deep breath. He
shouldn t let his dad get to him, but always, always when they spoke, he was right back there in high
school, his algebra average teetering on failing and him missing out in the state championship. Forget the
fact that he d maintained a B in every other class. He d only played ball to make his dad happy. Sure, he
was okay at it, but it didn t give him the thrill that working with horses, working on a farm did.
www.samhainpublishing.com 57
Denise Belinda McDonald
His dad seemed to forget that his great-grandfather had eked out a decent living for his family
working his farm.
Half an hour passed as he sat there. Pity party over, man. He stood and snagged his straw cowboy
hat then headed for the corral.
Heidi and Gillian stood at the gate. Heidi rubbed Mallow s nose while Gillian eyed the horse
skeptically. She turned and looked at him. Oh, hey. The keys jangled on the end of her fingers. What
time should I pick her up?
Um, I can bring her home. Ryder stepped out of the barn.
Quint had watched how the teens kept eyeing each other. He should check with Missy and ask if she d
like him to talk with the boy.
Gillian frowned. Okay. She backed away. I guess I ll see you.
Hang on a sec, will ya?
She nodded.
Quint motioned the teens to follow him into the barn. Ryder, show Heidi the basics. Where we keep
the feed and the other supplies. Once he had Ryder and Heidi working, he went looking for Gillian.
Things whirled around in his head, things he wanted to say to her, ask her. But after his conversation with
his father, he didn t know up from down.
What the hell was he doing?
He didn t know this woman from Eve, and as his father pointed out, her introductions left him
sprawled on the ground and his foot wedged under the front of her car. It was a miracle he and Mallow
weren t hurt worse.
Then the damn flood where he broke her wrist. He shook his head as he crossed the corral back to
Gillian. He d felt so damn guilty he d moved her and her kid into his home vacant though it may be and
offered the girl a job. Hell, he d even hinted to Manny just that morning that he could use someone to help
him out at the garage. When the older man had pointed out there were no new prospects in town, he
causally reminded him of the newest transplants. He d done everything short of carrying a banner in front
of the man s garage with the words HIRE GILLIAN .
If kissing her hadn t all but melted his spurs he d just blow off everything and treat her like any other
gal in town, with polite indifference. But something in him couldn t push back and let well enough alone.
Which scared him more than anything else.
When he came back to Gillian s side, she lowered her voice and glanced toward the barn where the
two teens had their heads bent close as they fiddled with a couple of curry combs. I thought the whole
point of offering Heidi the job was to keep her occupied and her mind off of Ryder.
I never said they wouldn t be working together.
Gillian released a heavy sigh. I don t think this is such a good idea.
58 www.samhainpublishing.com
Wrong Turn, Right Cowboy
He should just hand the teen back over to her mother. But the clawing feeling of Gillian leaving town
and never seeing her again tore at his gut. Give it a day or two. See how it works. I guarantee they ll be
too busy to even think about each other.
She gnawed on her lower lip and leaned to look past him and at the barn. Fine. She turned abruptly
and walked to her car without a backward glance. But if anything goes wrong, it s your head.
www.samhainpublishing.com 59
Chapter Seven
Gillian stood at the counter and looked in her all-but-empty wallet. Last twenty dollars. She paid for
the small bag of groceries.
Morning to ya, Ms. Gillian. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl freetocraft.keep.pl
Harwood. Sure, he d come up with the job for Heidi spur of the moment. But he and Jacob had talked about
finding another teen to come out to the ranch and work part-time with Ryder. As the ranch grew, they d
need more and more folks.
Jacob had jumped at the idea. It would give him a little more time with the business end of ranching
and boarding.
When his phone rang right after breakfast, and he d heard Gillian s voice, for a minute, he thought he
might still be asleep. Had he been dreaming, though, she d have been curled up next to him, not letting him
know they were on the way to the ranch. He d just hung up with Gillian, when the phone rang again.
Just couldn t live without me, he said.
But instead of Gillian answering it was his dad. Hello to you too, son.
56 www.samhainpublishing.com
Wrong Turn, Right Cowboy
Dad. His excitement and anticipation evaporated quickly. He set his empty plate in the sink and
moved into the living room. How are you doing?
Better than you, I think. Your aunt told me about your accident.
Quint groaned and mumbled, Big mouth.
She didn t mean to tell me. She thought you already had.
He balled his fist at his side. I m fine. No big deal.
Someone tries to run you over
It was an accident. Her car got the brunt of the damage. And Gillian wasn t trying to run me down.
Hence the term accident.
You re on a first name basis with the woman who ran you down?
Quint scrubbed his hand over his face. The man never listened to a word he said. Did you need
something, Dad?
I spoke to Craig. A spot has opened at the firm.
Dad.
Hear me out. He could bring you in on a temporary basis and once you complete your degree you
could move up to junior partner in three years.
Thanks but no thanks. I m happy where I m at.
As a ranch hand?
Your sister s husband is a ranch hand.
Jacob owns his own ranch.
Now he does. But not when they met. Quint tucked the phone in the crook is his neck and grabbed a
clean shirt from the laundry basket next to the small sofa and folded it. You didn t have a problem with
ranch hands then.
You have so much potential, son.
And I m squandering it away in a hole of a town in the middle of nowhere. Yeah. I know. He folded
another shirt. We ve had this conversation.
His father sighed. If history repeats itself, you ll get bored eventually and quit, just like everything
else you ve done. I just have to bide my time.
I m glad you have so much faith in me. Quint dropped the next shirt back into the basket. Look,
I ve gotta go. Tell Mom hi for me. He hung up before his dad could comment.
Quint sat in the leather club chair and ran his hands through his hair as he took a deep breath. He
shouldn t let his dad get to him, but always, always when they spoke, he was right back there in high
school, his algebra average teetering on failing and him missing out in the state championship. Forget the
fact that he d maintained a B in every other class. He d only played ball to make his dad happy. Sure, he
was okay at it, but it didn t give him the thrill that working with horses, working on a farm did.
www.samhainpublishing.com 57
Denise Belinda McDonald
His dad seemed to forget that his great-grandfather had eked out a decent living for his family
working his farm.
Half an hour passed as he sat there. Pity party over, man. He stood and snagged his straw cowboy
hat then headed for the corral.
Heidi and Gillian stood at the gate. Heidi rubbed Mallow s nose while Gillian eyed the horse
skeptically. She turned and looked at him. Oh, hey. The keys jangled on the end of her fingers. What
time should I pick her up?
Um, I can bring her home. Ryder stepped out of the barn.
Quint had watched how the teens kept eyeing each other. He should check with Missy and ask if she d
like him to talk with the boy.
Gillian frowned. Okay. She backed away. I guess I ll see you.
Hang on a sec, will ya?
She nodded.
Quint motioned the teens to follow him into the barn. Ryder, show Heidi the basics. Where we keep
the feed and the other supplies. Once he had Ryder and Heidi working, he went looking for Gillian.
Things whirled around in his head, things he wanted to say to her, ask her. But after his conversation with
his father, he didn t know up from down.
What the hell was he doing?
He didn t know this woman from Eve, and as his father pointed out, her introductions left him
sprawled on the ground and his foot wedged under the front of her car. It was a miracle he and Mallow
weren t hurt worse.
Then the damn flood where he broke her wrist. He shook his head as he crossed the corral back to
Gillian. He d felt so damn guilty he d moved her and her kid into his home vacant though it may be and
offered the girl a job. Hell, he d even hinted to Manny just that morning that he could use someone to help
him out at the garage. When the older man had pointed out there were no new prospects in town, he
causally reminded him of the newest transplants. He d done everything short of carrying a banner in front
of the man s garage with the words HIRE GILLIAN .
If kissing her hadn t all but melted his spurs he d just blow off everything and treat her like any other
gal in town, with polite indifference. But something in him couldn t push back and let well enough alone.
Which scared him more than anything else.
When he came back to Gillian s side, she lowered her voice and glanced toward the barn where the
two teens had their heads bent close as they fiddled with a couple of curry combs. I thought the whole
point of offering Heidi the job was to keep her occupied and her mind off of Ryder.
I never said they wouldn t be working together.
Gillian released a heavy sigh. I don t think this is such a good idea.
58 www.samhainpublishing.com
Wrong Turn, Right Cowboy
He should just hand the teen back over to her mother. But the clawing feeling of Gillian leaving town
and never seeing her again tore at his gut. Give it a day or two. See how it works. I guarantee they ll be
too busy to even think about each other.
She gnawed on her lower lip and leaned to look past him and at the barn. Fine. She turned abruptly
and walked to her car without a backward glance. But if anything goes wrong, it s your head.
www.samhainpublishing.com 59
Chapter Seven
Gillian stood at the counter and looked in her all-but-empty wallet. Last twenty dollars. She paid for
the small bag of groceries.
Morning to ya, Ms. Gillian. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]