Broken Road Read Online Free PDF Page B

apology,” Devil muttered stiffly.
       It dawned on him that she was trying to be the bigger person from their little fight last night. It hadn’t even come to mind that she would try and say sorry for it for it had been the truth and he had said hurtful things as well. He didn’t even stop to think that he hadn’t he might not have been the only one stung by the words thrown between them.
       It had hurt that she spoke the truth about a woman never wanting him. Only one woman had ever made it into his life and she had only been after his money. Oh how much that had hurt after she left him. She had ran off with his only cousin two months after she had gotten him around her pretty little finger. No woman had ever wanted him and no one ever would.
       Then why did he want this one to want him so badly? He slammed those thoughts back up again and looked at the girl in question. She was staring at him, waiting patiently.
       He growled at her softly and set to work on her hand and arm when Red came back in with the medical kit.
       The silence between them grew till he could no longer take it and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.
       “I’m sorry,” Winthrop said gruffly wrapping the gauze bandage around her wrist a final time. “I’m sure the food would be delicious, but we better get you up to the hospital.”
       Devil jerked away from him as if he had slapped her.
       “NO! No hospital, no doctors, no needles.” She was shaking so hard that her teethed started to chatter.
       No, I will never go back unless I am dying. I hate those places!
       No, she hated hospital s . How many times did she have to go to those places after her father had beaten her nearly to death? She would not go. Never again.
       Winthrop watched as she backed away, shivering so hard she almost fell over. It wasn’t hard to guess that she was afraid of the place and hated the hospital.
       He held his hands up in surrender. “Fine, no hospitals, but you have to keep an eye on that so it doesn’t get worse. You have to watch a burn like that.”
       Devil slowly felt the memories that tried to grip her let go and she nodded slowly. Devil walked to the back of the chair she had been sitting in at the table and settled behind it, using it like a shield. She fingered the ancient craved wood of the chair slowly, trying to think of how to say what was on her mind.
       This man was like no other. He made her soft and she hated that, but she would have to start somewhere to find her voice around him. What better then for this?
       “Are you okay,” Kip asked quietly. The other cowboys behind him nodded in question.
       Devil smiled at them. “Yes, I am fine now, thank you. Would you mind leaving us alone for a moment?”
       Soon they all filed out, looking first at her then the food with a mournful glance.
       “Why did you ask them to leave,” Winthrop asked her.
       “I wanted to talk to you about watching Lilla for a little while today,” Devil began slowly, mulling over her words.
       Mr. Canter looked surprised for a moment then he turned cautious.
       “Why?”
       She fidgeted and he noticed it. She was nervous, very nervous.
       “I have to go to town and get my stuff and I need to find someone to pull out my truck from the ditch down the mountain rode. It won’t take to long I promise,” she said in a rush. No reason to let him have doubts early.
       This man made Devil nervous. He was tall, strong, and had a bit of a temper that could make him mean. He had rare moments but not very many. Yet still she hadn’t decided if she hated him or liked him, and she liked very few men.
       She had no idea how her sweet older sister could have fallen in love with such a man and have his child.
       He took a long moment to take in when she said and to think about it. Finally he shook his head.
       So it was a no go.
       “You’ll stay here. I’ll send one of my men