Debra Holland - [Montana Sky 02] Read Online Free PDF Page B

animated face. Until their trip west, Daniel hadn’t seen many blond, blue-eyed children, and Samantha could tell her son was smitten to speechlessness.
    She hid a smile, nudging him forward. “This is Daniel.” She waved toward a stall. “Introduce Christine to Chita.”
    Stepping forward to lean over the stall door next to Christine, Daniel said, “Chita is my very own horse. Mama gave her to me on my last birthday. She’s my best friend.”
    Wyatt slanted a humorous look at Samantha, then looked at his daughter. “Christy, I’m going to help Mrs. Rodriguez and Daniel herd the little horses to ol’ Ezra’s ranch.”
    “Little” instead of “midgets.” Samantha heard the word and wanted to smile.
    “Please,” said the child, “may we come with you? Pa’s good with horses.”
    Wyatt quirked an eyebrow at Samantha as if daring her to refuse. The creases around his eyes deepened, and the sensual threat in his smile shot straight to her heart. His stare challenged her. “That is if she’ll have us.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    Rounding the bend of a tree-shaded hill, Samantha slackened the reins of the harness. Her brown Falabella, Chico, tossed his head, his black mane flying. At the little stallion’s side, gray Mariposa slowed. Tucked between Samantha and Maria on the buggy seat, Daniel bounced up and down. “Look, Mama, I can see the house.”
    They’d arrived. Samantha’s arm muscles burned with strain. Driving the buggy on the hilly Montana terrain took a greater toll on them than the flat grassland near the hacienda
.
Not that Don Ricardo had ever allowed her to go very far—another way of keeping her in his control.
    She glanced over at Wyatt Thompson. The big man on the brown gelding towered over the two little horses he led. He’d stayed away from her on their ride to the ranch, which suited her just fine. Her annoyance still simmered beneath the surface. She had no desire to have it flare up again. Perhaps he felt the same. His black hat shadowed his features, and the few times he’d looked over at her, his face had remained expressionless. At least now he showed no trace of his earlier disdain.
    Christine rode her pony beside the buggy. Underneath her blue wool coat, her kilted-up pink calico skirt exposed mended gray woolen stockings and high-button boots. As the pony trotted, Christine’s blonde braids, tied with matching pink ribbons, bounced against her shoulders. Over the course of their journey, excitement sparkled in the child’s big blue eyes. She’d asked athousand eager questions, which Daniel answered, and the children were fast becoming friends.
    If it weren’t for Wyatt’s presence, Samantha would have relaxed and enjoyed herself. She tried to focus on the scenery around her: skeleton trees budding with feathery spring leaves, velvety tips of grass poking through the mud, the arching blue sky, but her awareness kept returning to the man.
    He was a magnificent male specimen, so much larger than most South American men. On his powerful gelding, Wyatt topped Manuel, riding on a rented Appaloosa, by a foot. Manuel led the other two miniature horses, and, from time to time, the two men exchanged a few words of broken English or Spanish. Thankfully, Wyatt didn’t seem to feel the same prejudice shown by Mrs. Cobb. His bad opinion of her precious Falabellas was enough.
    She tore her gaze away from Wyatt, taking stock of her ranch. On the other side of a rushing river, several small outbuildings clustered around a large barn with peeling brown paint. A large corral and a small one circled between the barn and the house.
    Samantha knew Ezra had originally built the house for an Eastern bride, but she’d died before their marriage. Samantha had always thought the story of Uncle Ezra’s lost love was so sad. But after Juan Carlos’s death, she had a greater empathy for him. Now Samantha prepared herself to find a bachelor’s neglected house, reflecting the emptiness of his life.
    They