Carter (Remington Ranch Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

But she didn’t want to leave Autumn in the lurch—her sister’s career was dependent upon her own. She didn’t want to let Clay down either. He’d been so good to her and he had such faith in her. Much as she didn’t want to let them down, she did want to see what might happen between her and Carter. And the only way to do that would be to decide that she was going to stay right here. How could she get involved with him if she knew she might have to break things off and go back to Nashville? He’d loved and lost before and it had broken his heart. She had no intention of being the woman who put him through that a second time.
    Cassidy patted her shoulder. “Take a little time. You’ll work it out. I’ll help if you want me. Just…” She looked toward the door at the sound of the guys laughing out on the deck. “Don’t take too long. I’d hate to see Carter get hurt.”
    Summer nodded sadly. So would she.
    “I’d hate to see you get hurt, too. And I think the longer you put off making your decision, the more likely that is. Be brave. Be honest with Carter; be honest with Autumn. You’ll work it out. But for now, put a smile back on your face and give me a hand.”
    “Okay.” Summer was happy to make herself useful rather than carry on with this conversation which was making her so uncomfortable. Cassidy had made her realize that she had to make some decisions sooner rather than later. She was going to have to direct the flow of her life instead of just waiting around to go with it.

Chapter Four
     
    Carter watched Summer as she chatted with Cassidy. Dinner had been wonderful. Cassidy was a great cook, although she had claimed Summer was much better. Now they were all sitting out on the deck over the river enjoying a glass of wine. He didn’t normally like to drink at all when he was driving, but he figured one glass was fine. Cassidy was asking Summer about her sister and Carter felt like he was prying, just listening to them. He knew Summer thought the world of her sister. He also knew that Autumn was a much tougher nut than Summer. Well, he didn’t actually know that. He just assumed it. She was Summer’s business manager, and he had read a couple of articles that mentioned her as a shrewd businesswoman.
    Right now Summer was telling Cassidy about all the juggling Autumn had done to clear the schedule while she rested her voice, and to make sure none of her plans were canceled, they were simply postponed. It brought it home to him again that her life and her career were awaiting her return. The roller coaster he’d been riding since he learned she was coming back plummeted down again. What had he been thinking earlier, about risk and potential reward? There was no potential for reward if he got involved with Summer. He’d be setting a sure course toward heartbreak. She’d leave once she had her voice back and he’d be left behind.
    “Have you heard anything from Beau lately?” Shane’s question interrupted his train of thought.
    He nodded. “I talked to him a couple of days ago. Just about business, though.”
    “Has he said anything about Dad’s plans with the ranch?”
    Carter shook his head. All the brothers were waiting for their father’s announcement about how he wanted to divide up the ranch between them. Carter was fine with whatever happened. So were Shane and Mason, but Beau wasn’t happy about it at all. They knew that their dad wanted to divide the ranch five ways; between the four of them and Chance. Beau was dead set against Chance being included, even though he’d been like a fifth brother for many years now. “Like I said, we only talked about the rental houses and he wants me to work on one of the properties he’s putting up for sale. He knows I play dumb when he starts talking about Chance. Why do you ask?”
    Shane sighed. “I ran into him in town the other day. He was ranting about it as usual. It seems he’s not happy about much of anything at the moment. He’s