A Cowboy's Heart Read Online Free PDF

rain and her hair hanging over her shoulders, still damp. She smiled as he sat down next to her.
    â€œI’m not trying to hijack your life.” He signed as he whispered, because he didn’t want Janie to overhear and misinterpret.
    â€œI know.” She pulled on her second boot and sat back. “I just need for you to know that I’m not incapable of doing this by myself. I don’t mind you living here, or even helping out.”
    â€œI know that.” He glanced at his watch. “I have to visit my dad. But I need to talk to you about something.”
    â€œFollow me out to the barn. I need to check on a young bull that I have there. He has a cut on his leg. I think he got into some old barbed wire.”
    He nodded and reached for his boots. As he put them on, Willow walked into the kitchen. He could hear her telling Janie that she was going to check on a bull, and then she’d drive him back to his place to get his truck.
    A few minutes later they walked out the door. The sun was peeking out from behind clouds, and the rain had slowed to a mist. The breeze caught the sweet scent of wild roses, and it felt good to be home.
    The dog, Bell, ran from the barn and circled them, stopping right in front of Willow before rolling over to have her belly rubbed. Willow leaned to pet the animal and then she turned her attention back to him.
    â€œSo, what did you need to talk about?”
    â€œMy nephews.”
    â€œYou have nephews?”
    â€œTwins, they’re four years old.” He stopped, rubbing a shoulder that hurt like crazy, thanks to the rain and sleeping on the floor. “My sister is being sent to Iraq.”
    â€œClint, I’m sorry.” Her voice was soft, her accent something indiscernible with only a hint of Oklahoma.
    â€œShe wants me to take them while she’s gone.”
    Her gaze drifted away from him, and she nodded. Shadows flickered in her eyes and he wondered what put them there?Him? The boys? Something from her own life? What made a woman like her give up everything and move to Oklahoma?
    Maybe she’d found what she was looking for here, with Janie, and cattle? He could understand that. He’d lived in cities, small towns, and here, on land that had been in his family for nearly one hundred years. He preferred this place to any other.
    â€œIt won’t be easy,” she spoke in quiet tones, “for any of you.”
    â€œNo, it won’t. But I wanted to make sure it’s okay with you. Now there will be me and two little boys underfoot.”
    She smiled. “Of course it’s okay. We’ll do whatever we can to help you out.”
    â€œI appreciate that.” He headed for the barn, following her, and still wondering what had put the shadows in her eyes.
    But he didn’t have time to think about it, to worry about it. He had to think about his dad, and now about Jenna and the boys.

Chapter Three
    C lint walked through the halls of the nursing home, not at all soothed by the green walls that were probably meant to keep people calm. Even with his dad here and in bad health, Clint still felt like the kid that never knew what to expect. That came from years of conditioning. His dad had been the kind of drunk that could be happy and boisterous one minute, and angry enough to hurt someone the next.
    As much as he wanted to convince himself that the past didn’t matter, it did. And forgiving mattered, too. Forgiving was something a person decided to do.
    He’d made his decision a long time ago. He’d made his decision on his knees at the front of the little country church he’d gone to as a kid. He’d found faith, grabbing hold of promises that made sense when nothing else had.
    But being back here brought back a ton of feelings, memories of being the kid in school who never had a new pair of jeans or a pair of shoes without holes. He’d always been the kid whose parents didn’t show up for programs or