Cowboy on the Run Read Online Free PDF

right here in the middle of the corral. Perhaps such an extreme display would bring out some better advice from her father. She toyed with the idea childishly, sparing a heated glance at the porch.
    Her six year old son had now joined her dad. The boy and his grandfather were lost in conversation, unaware of her. In an instant, her anger waned. She had to smile, her son was dressed too silly not to.
    Gage, adorned in a colorful attire of red, white and green, looked ridiculous. The child wore an oversized red and white checkered shirt, and a pair of dark green jeans, at least an inch too short. On his feet shined the patent leather red and white cowboy boots belonging to his sister. All of which he retrieved from the bag she’d set aside to drop off at Goodwill.
    His outfit was topped off by one of his grandfather’s worn out cowboy hats, adding its own flair to the ensemble and swallowing his entire head. The boy certainly had a style he could call his very own.
    The boy also has a daddy.
    The thought shot through her like a lightning bolt, making her heart skip a beat. Gage was the spitting image of Nate with his dark head of curls and intense blue eyes. Her son, however, was sweet and tolerant, blessed with an easygoing, enduring patience. He did have Nate’s love for animals, especially horses, and by inheriting his grandfather’s gentle nature, he’d been graced with a gift, calming the spirit of even the most uneasy animal.
    On the other hand, his twin sister was the complete opposite. So much in fact, it was hard to believe they were related, much less twins. Jade, with her stubborn streak and independent attitude was a force to be reckoned with. Even from her first breath, the child had been a handful, demanding she be born two minutes before her brother.
    Whereas Gage was a mirrored reflection of his father, Jade was a smaller, identical replica of Jessica with large green eyes and dimpled smile. Regardless of the fact she looked exactly like her, she had Nate’s headstrong, unyielding audacity accompanied by a need to prove something to the world.
    An uproar of angry clucks and flapping wings escaped the chicken coop, continuing through the barn, and Jessie smirked. Jade was up to her usual antics. No doubt, the impetuous girl was attempting to surprise Rosita with dinner, a skill set she had accomplished by watching William with eagle eyes. Being raised on a farm, her children weren’t squeamish about the role farm animals played.
    In total agreement, a hen released a very loud protest and Jessie giggled, unable to stop herself from laughing. She was impressed. This would make the second chicken Jade had caught this week.
    As if on cue, her daughter came out of the barn, victoriously displaying a flustered bird. The child was persistent, another trait she’d inherited from her father.
    The twins also shared something else with their father—neither knew about the other. And now he had stampeded back into her life, her children’s lives. It wasn’t fair.
    He’d left her without as much as a glance behind him, without the decency to say goodbye. The old anger twisted her insides. She owed him nothing...zip, zero, nada, not even the time of day.
    Jessie kicked at the fence post with the toe of her scuffed boot. He had already taken all he was ever going to get from her. She would be damned if he was going to come back into her life and break her or her children’s hearts. Besides, he would be gone before the week was over, and she refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing the effect his little visit had on her.
    “Over my damned body,” she swore out loud.
    “Over your damned body...mommy?”
    Jessie glanced down to see her daughter, the proud hunter, smiling up at her. One hand planted on her hip, the other clinging tight to tonight’s dinner. The chicken, half the size of its triumphant captor, no longer struggled in her child’s relentless grip.
    Jessie couldn’t help but smile. She studied