Counting on Love (Contemporary Cowboy Romance) (Carson Hill Ranch series: Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

he waited to stop hurting. The pills couldn’t take the pain away, but at least they could make him sleep through it. Finally, Jacob slipped out of the room, too, back to work, back to doing all the things that Joseph missed about the ranch, even something as simple as cleaning out stalls.
    Seamus had waited for his twin on the landing outside Joseph’s room. Jacob startled when he turned around, closing the door behind him, only to find Seamus ready to pounce. “Jacob, we have to say something this time… now .”
    “I don’t know, Seamus, I hate running to Dad like little kids tattling on each other,” Jacob answered, looking sheepish but uncertain.
    “That’s exactly why we have to say something. This isn’t like we caught him sneaking out of the bedroom window to go meet up with some girl. This is serious business. He can’t even walk from the house to the barn, and then we find him sprawled out there on the floor like he’s broken his neck or something. Then the pills on top of it? Come on, Jacob! We can’t just keep this to ourselves.”
    “I don’t know,” Jacob hedged, his resolve crumbling under Seamus’ persuasive argument. Finally, he nodded, and they went downstairs together. They peeked in Bernard’s office to find him on the phone, but the looks on their faces must have spoken volumes. He waved them in and gestured to the sofa to wait for him to finish. Jacob closed the door before they sat, keeping this one piece of family business from the prying eyes of others.
     

Chapter Eight
    “Gracie, climb down from there, Casey and I want to talk to you!” Miranda called up to where her sister was known to hide. The hayloft had been the perfect spot for her to hide away and read now that the weather had taken a sharp dip. She had been known to spend her entire lunch break in the loft, hiding from the abundance of smelly boys on the ranch with a sandwich and her eBooks. Thank God for satellite Internet , Miranda thought with relief. Or that girl wouldn’t have any kind of entertainment out here .
    “Coming!” Gracie’s muffled voice echoed from somewhere above their heads. They smiled when they heard the scampering thud of her boots against the planks overhead, meaning she was running to see what they wanted.
    Miranda’s heart soared at the sound of her sister’s happy voice and eager movements. Bringing her to the ranch had been a huge disruption in the girl’s life, taking her half way across the country, away from school and her friends. But Miranda’s expression clouded for a fraction of a second when she also remembered that she had taken her away from the man who had almost succeeded in destroying her.
    “What’s up, guys?” Gracie asked, her head appearing in the square hole that let the hay bales drop down.
    “All the way,” Miranda said with a laugh. “I feel like I’m talking to a disembodied head when you pop up like that!”
    Gracie grinned and disappeared for a moment, then her feet emerged from the hole. She climbed nimbly down the wide wooden rungs that led up into the loft, jumping down the last few rungs and landing breathlessly in front of her sister and brother-in-law.
    “Okay. Now what’s up?” she teased.
    “Well, besides the color in your cheeks, you mean?” Miranda scolded playfully. “Remember, it gets really cold up there at this time of year. You promised you would come down before it got to the coldest part of the day.”
    “I know, I just lost track of time. But I had my big blanket, and a big thermos of hot chocolate Emily fixed me. By the way, I love that series you told me about, Casey!”
    He smiled down at her. “I’m really glad, but you’ll have to thank Anders. He’s the one who told me about it. I didn’t know how it would go over since it’s an action story, and I’ve never read them.”
    “What?! You’ve never read the Treewalker Saga?” Gracie shrieked playfully, clutching the sides of her head in mock disbelief before turning on