Cowboy's Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

sections, you could lose
cattle, or they could damage another's property and cost you to
repair. You need to bring your records up to date, make sure the
IRS is satisfied with the estimated taxes."
    He stopped. Her face was in
profile, but he could catch the glimmer of tears shimmering in her
eye. She stared over the herd, listening to him enumerate all the
things that needed to be done that he knew she hadn't a clue how to
handle. Maybe she'd see sense now.
    But a small corner of him felt like he had
just kicked a kitten.
    Kalli listened to him go on and on about
various aspects of a ranch. She didn't understand half of what he
was saying. All she could do was listen as the endless list
continued. How could she ever hope to manage a ranch? She was a
nurse. She was from Boston, not some wild western town where she
might have picked up some aspects of ranching by osmosis. She
hadn't a clue, and he knew it. Damn him, he knew it and still
continued relentlessly with his list of things to be done.
    It hurt. She had been amazed, then overjoyed
when she first learned of her inheritance. She had never expected
Uncle Philip to leave her anything. Kalli had been quite fond of
him, but except for letters and a few phone calls, she hadn't seen
him since high school. When she learned she had inherited the ranch
in Wyoming, she felt as if she'd won the lottery.
    Now she wasn't so sure.
    She cleared her throat, refusing to look at
Trace, refusing to let him see how overwhelmed she felt. "Is this
the whole herd?" she asked.
    He raised an eyebrow in surprise. He'd
expected her to want to go back to the house, think about all he
told her and start loading her truck. A glimmer of respect for her
began.
    "No. Some are over near the Flying Cloud.
Come on." He started his horse toward the west, kicked him into a
lope, and he ate up the distance. The sooner he was finished here
the sooner he could get back to his own place.
    Kalli was glad for the riding she'd been
doing in Boston since she found out about inheriting the Triple T.
Otherwise she would never have been able to keep up.
    Following Trace, the wind blew the tears from
her eyes. She eagerly studied the passing land, searching for a way
to remember where she was and how to get home. That much she'd
learned from Louis L'Amour.
    She also studied Trace Longford. He rode his
horse as if he was part of it. His long legs tightened around the
saddle, the muscles clearly defined in the indecently tight jeans
he wore. His back was ramrod straight, like an arrogant Indian
brave of old. Startled, with his copper skin and dark hair, she
realized he might be part Indian.
    Not necessarily, since her own skin was dark,
her own hair almost as black as his. But maybe. An Indian. On a
ranch in Wyoming. Dare she ask him?
    A few minutes later Trace drew to a halt on
the top of a small bluff. He swung his leg over his saddle horn and
leaned his elbow on it, watching as Kalli drew near. Involuntarily
she smiled at the picture he made. Now if he would only pull out a
sack of tobacco and roll a cigarette—
    "That's the rest of the herd. As far from
your house as it can get and still be on Triple T property."
    The cattle grazed slowly in the warming
morning. Beyond than, Kalli could see the endless stretch of barbed
wire fence.
    "You own the adjacent property?" she
asked.
    "Yeah. That's why I want your place, to
expand."
    "I must have other neighbors. I'll have to
meet them."
    He looked at her with those dark eyes and
nodded. "In time. You have too much to do right now. Socializing
will have to wait." Alyssa had never wanted to work, she had only
wanted to party. When Kalli finally realized she had to work first,
she'd be glad to sell the land and return to Boston.
    Kalli's temper flared again. How dare he
arrogantly tell her what she could or could not do? She was in
charge around here, not Mr. High and Mighty Acting Foreman Trace
Longford, and the sooner she made that clear to him the better.
    "I'll meet them