Black Hills Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

part of small-town mountain living.
    She crawled out from beneath the canvas, spitting out the pieces of grass caught between her teeth.
    Yuck! And there was dirt under her inch-long nails. Good thing they were made of enamel, or they’d all have broken off by now.
    When she heard another bark, she surveyed the edge of the woods quite thoroughly, even going through a few of the trees and calling for the pup, but she didn’t see any sign of dog or man.
    Maybe her overworked mind was concocting a dog from nowhere. Hadn’t she lain awake in bed for nights before moving here, considering the worst the land could offer?
    Bears, wolves, mountain lions and who knew what else.
    God knew.
    The thought reassured her. She shook her head, dusted off her jeans and went back to work, pole by pole. And this time, glory be, it worked.
    She anchored the two opposite sides, then finished off the rest of the poles and pegs, too tired to even appreciate her success.
    In the end, it was a little wobbly, but it would do, at least for tonight.
    She’d never been so tired in her life. Every single muscle in her body ached, including some she hadn’t even known existed until today. It hurt even to breathe.
    It took all the force of her will to compel her exhausted, aching body to move. She went back to the truck and unloaded three large cardboard boxes full of food and a cooler of cold soda—her groceries for the month—and placed them next to the front door of her tent.
    She meant to put them in the two-room tent with her, but she was too weary to even consider it. They’d be okay where they were for the night.
    She wandered around looking for firewood for about ten minutes before yawns overtook her, and she decided she was too tired to eat, never mind to start a fire. She doubted if her brain could even recall how to make one, if she had enough wood, which she doubted.
    Oh, well. Hopefully it wouldn’t get too cold tonight. It was still early spring.
    She hoped it wouldn’t snow, although, with the way things had been going since she got here, she wouldn’t be surprised if it snowed five feet.
    Dragging her Eskimo-hood sleeping bag into the tent, she crawled into her warm cocoon and immediately felt drowsiness overtake her, clouding her mind and easing the ache in her limbs.
    Every other catastrophe would just have to wait until she had a good night’s sleep.

Chapter Four

    E rik trod carefully from Dixie’s campsite, but inside he was running. Running for his life.
    Fool woman. She’d grabbed her sleeping bag and headed for the tent without so much as taking care of her supplies! Didn’t she have even the vaguest knowledge of what it meant to live in the mountains? This wasn’t a secure penthouse apartment with a hulking doorman security guard to protect her—not to mention her food, gear and supplies.
    Not my problem.
    He repeated it over and over in his mind, but his heart didn’t agree. He scowled, annoyed with himself. But mostly, annoyed with her.
    He shouldn’t have been spying on her in the first place, he chided himself. He’d intruded on an intensely personal moment, one she’d be mortified over if she ever discovered someone had witnessed it.
    Heat crept up on his face, making his scowl deepen. He was no gawking teenager or Peeping Tom, even if the woman in question made his gut do a funny little dance when he looked at her.
    He should know better.
    She was going to have to learn the hard truth of how unprepared she really was, one way or another. Maybe a night alone in the woods was just what she needed to make her tuck her tail and run for the city.
    That’s what he wanted, wasn’t it?
    Yeah, he supposed he did, but not quite so soon. Not until he had two horses, at least. Which meant she had to last a half a year.
    No. It meant a whole lot more than that. It meant he’d have to keep her out of trouble for a half a year. Crazy, stubborn woman!
    He paused and looked back.
    Lucy sat down at his feet and