A Fallow Heart Read Online Free PDF Page B

agonized sound and ripped her arm free of Grady, only to dive at Cooper.
    “Jo Ellen!” He caught her before she could tumble headlong down the stairs.
    She wrapped her arms around him and clung. “Smell so good,” she slurred and kissed his neck.
    “Jesus,” he rasped, trying to dodge her seeking hands and mouth, and failing, all the while making sure they both didn’t crash against the railing.
    “For God’s sake. Jo Ellen !” Grady once again ripped her away from Cooper. “Quit groping Coop.”
    “Coop?” she repeated the name and frowned as if she didn’t think that title should apply to him.
    Grady pulled her up a step, making her stumble. Cooper lurched forward to steady her, but her brother threw him a blazing scowl. “I’ve got her from here.”
    Cooper swallowed and nodded, reversing backward until he reached the ground floor.
    “Thank you, Gerhardt,” Grady added a moment later, though he sounded a lot more dismissive than he did grateful. “But if either of my sisters ever need a ride home again. Just call me, okay. I’ll come get her.”
    Cooper nodded, duly noting he’d been put in his place. He lingered, watching Grady haul Jo Ellen up the stairs. As soon as they reached the second-floor landing, she looked back.
    Seeing him below, she waved her fingers in a sad farewell. He waved back; mouthing the words, don’t forget .
     
    * * * *
     
    Cooper woke before the sun rose the next morning. More than ready to get the day underway, he finished his chores early, feeding and watering the calves even before his mom had breakfast on the table. In fact, she was just setting a plate loaded with fried eggs and sausage links in front of his father as Coop pushed his way inside the back door.
    Both his parents looked up as he entered. With an apprehensive gulp, he paused to wipe his boots on the welcome mat.
    “My goodness, you’re up with the cows,” Loren Gerhardt praised as her eyes lit with motherly adoration. She smiled at her youngest child before turning back to the stove and readying a second plate. “And here I thought you stayed out late with your friends last night.”
    Coop flushed. “I did.” He stopped by the sink to wash his hands before he took off his hat, rested it on the back of his chair, and slid into the creaking, old wooden seat next to his father. “But I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d get my chores done early.” As soon as he sat, his mom placed another heaping plateful of breakfast in front of him. He grinned his thanks and dug in.
    “Well, that works out just fine for me,” his dad spoke up. “Because I need you to bale the lespedeza in the south field today. Maybe you can get it done before the weather turns too hot.”
    Coop’s grin faltered. His fork paused halfway to a link as he glanced at his father. “But I had plans this morning.”
    Jo Ellen’s sweet face flittered through his head as he recalled how she’d looked up at him last night when she’d told him she would remember their kiss, and promised she’d break up with Untermeyer for him.
    His insides went black just thinking that name. Coop had always suspected Pretty Boy and Jo Ellen had sex, but hearing her admit it last night landed like acid in his stomach. And on top of that, he had to hear how much she didn’t like sex with Untermeyer.
    Cooper shuddered. Poor Jo Ellen.
    He wasn’t a Casanova by any means. He’d only been with two different girls. But he’d never hurt either of them, and one had been a virgin. He wanted to rip Pretty Boy a new one for causing Jo Ellen any kind of pain.
    Oh, who was he kidding? He wanted to kill the guy for defiling her at all, even if she’d loved Untermeyer’s touch.
    “Well, if you have plans this morning, then bale the field this afternoon,” his dad grumbled before he took a sip of his black coffee. Coop shook himself back to the present and eyed his father as the old man added, “Doesn’t matter to me if you want to work in the hottest part