Cowboy for Keeps Read Online Free PDF

a job opening.”
    “Possibly. Let me make some calls on Monday.”
    “That’s really nice of you.”
    “When are you seeing him next?”
    “Tomorrow. We’re taking a trip into the mountains to view some
of Prince’s old stomping grounds.”
    “Honey, is that wise?”
    “Don’t worry, Mom. We’re taking the wagon, which is much safer
than riding horses. I’ll be fine.”
    “I don’t know....”
    “Trust me. Conner has seen to every precaution.”
    Marina marginally relaxed. “There’s a reason I always liked
him. Be sure and tell him I said hello. And call me the second you come down off
the mountain. I’ll worry.”
    Dallas smiled. “I love you, too.”
    She was convinced the trip would be uneventful, other than her
getting a lot of shots for the book.
    Dinner progressed comfortably and was soon over. “Let me help
you clean the kitchen, Mom. I can’t stay long. I have an early morning.”
    “You sound excited.”
    “I am. Great weather, fantastic scenery, fresh air. It’ll be
fun.”
    “Having Conner for company all day will be fun, too.” Her
mother winked, another nonverbal communication that Dallas pretended to
miss.
    She didn’t like admitting she’d been entertaining the exact
same thought.

Chapter Three
    “Easy does it, girls.” Conner walked behind the pair of
fully harnessed draft horses, the long reins gripped firmly in his hands.
Because the team was well broke and used to being hitched to a wagon, he was
able to accomplish alone what might normally require two men. “Come on,” he
coaxed. “Almost there.”
    Molly, the older of the pair, eased into position on the left
side of the wagon tongue. Her partner, Dolly, suddenly started veering the wrong
way.
    “Haw, haw,” Conner hollered, using the command to go left.
    Dolly obeyed and promptly changed direction, the chains on her
harness rattling like the ghost of Christmas past’s.
    Molly watched, head bobbing and tail swishing. When both horses
were lined up, Conner called out, “Whoa,” and let up on the reins.
    “Need a hand?”
    He glanced over his shoulder at the sound of Gavin’s approach.
“You can help me hitch them to the wagon.”
    While Conner attached the neck yoke to the collars, Gavin
hooked the trace chains to the doubletree.
    “You seen Ethan this morning?”
    “Earlier,” Conner answered. “He called to say he was heading
over to the rodeo arena. Clay’s new bull is arriving.”
    Like Conner, Gavin’s younger brother worked for their friend
Clay. And like Gavin, Ethan had recently added to his family, when his wife,
Caitlin, gave birth to a baby girl.
    Conner thought about Dallas being pregnant. Just about all of
his married friends seemed to be having babies lately.
    Except Dallas wasn’t married to Richard, and he and Conner were
no longer friends.
    Checking the britchens and back straps one last time, he tied
the mares to the hitching post. Eager to get started, Dolly pawed the ground
with her heavy hoof.
    Gavin came around the wagon to Conner’s side, stopping briefly
to unlatch and lower the tailgate. “Maybe you should wait for Ethan to get back
before you and Dallas leave.”
    “What for?”
    “He’s the expert and could go with you in case there’s a
problem.”
    “I know enough about wagons and driving a team to manage.”
    “Just a suggestion.” Gavin shrugged. “Or I can take her.”
    “ I’m taking Dallas.” Conner dropped
the ice chest he’d packed into the wagon bed, shoving it beneath the seat. “My
job, as I recall.”
    “No need to get riled.”
    “I’m not.” He tossed the rain ponchos and rope behind the ice
chest.
    “You’re throwing things around for the heck of it?”
    Okay, so maybe he was a little riled at the prospect of Ethan
or Gavin replacing him.
    “Ask her out,” Gavin said.
    That halted Conner in his tracks. “On a date?”
    “Yeah, on a date.”
    “You can’t be serious.”
    Together Conner and Gavin loaded several bales of hay into the
rear