Cowboy with a Cause Read Online Free PDF

believed in her talent. Olive had worked all day at the post office and then had often taken other part-time jobs to make sure Melanie could continue with her dance lessons.
    After Melanie had moved to New York, she and her mother had talked on the phone nearly every day. Melanie would get care packages from her mother with baked cookies and fuzzy socks and a little hard-earned cash tucked into an envelope. After several years of working, it was Melanie’s turn to send envelopes with extra cash to her mother.
    She wished her mother was here right now, to tell her to suck it up, to quit whining about lemons and get to work making lemonade.
    Olive had never been the type to indulge in any kind of self-pity. She was the strongest woman Melanie had ever known. Even when her husband had walked out on them when Melanie was two, Olive had tamped down her sadness and resentment. She had sucked back her tears and had set to work to build the best life she could for herself and her daughter.
    Since her mother’s death and with the onslaught of her medical condition, Melanie had never felt so alone. She told herself again and again that she didn’t want anyone in her life. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, and she didn’t want to need anyone, because she was certain there would never be anyone there for her.
    Still, when she heard the front door open and then close just after ten and the sound of Adam’s footsteps heading up the stairs, a strange sense of security filled her. She realized that at least for the rest of the night she was no longer alone.
    * * *
    He stood beneath the big maple tree in her front yard. Around him the darkness was complete; even the stars and the moon were hidden beneath a thick veil of clouds. At one in the morning even the dogs and cats of Grady Gulch didn’t stir.
    It was his favorite time to stand and look at the house and think of her.
    Melanie.
    Her name was a pressure tight inside his chest, half choking his breath from his body. It rang in his ears with a discordant chime that hurt his head.
    She didn’t belong here.
    He clenched his fists tightly as a surge of anger threatened to drive all reasonable thoughts from his head. What he wanted to do right now was break through her front door, take her from her bed and punish her.
    It wasn’t enough that fate had already chastised her for her ambition by putting her in the wheelchair. She deserved more punishment...so much more.
    It would be so easy to gaslight her, make her think she was losing her mind. He clapped a hand over his mouth to halt a burst of laughter that threatened to escape at the very thought.
    He could drive her a little crazy, make her doubt her own sanity and then take her and punish her for all her sins for good.
    He should have taken her last night or the night before. He’d had no idea that somebody would appear to rent part of her house. That complicated things.
    Still, he was a patient man, and he knew that if he watched and waited long enough, the perfect opportunity would present itself.
    He slowly uncurled his fists and drew a deep breath of the cool night air. As he moved away from the house, he was reminded that autumn was the time of death. He wouldn’t be satisfied until Melanie Brooks was as dead as the leaves that crunched beneath his feet.

Chapter 3
    A shrill scream pulled Melanie from her bed the next morning. In a panic she jumped into the wheelchair and left her bedroom, only to see Tilly racing down the stairway wielding a feather duster as a weapon, followed by a dripping wet Adam with just a towel wrapped around his waist.
    “It’s okay, I live here!” Adam exclaimed as he chased the frightened woman down the staircase. He spied Melanie and halted, obvious relief on his face. “Tell her,” he said to Melanie. “Tell her I’m not some crazy serial killer hiding out in a shower stall.”
    “Adam is renting the upstairs,” Melanie replied, surprised to feel her mouth threatening