Fancy Pants (Only In Gooding Book #1) Read Online Free PDF

his place.
    Tim Creighton watched the boy lollygag toward the house.
    Pancake shuffled over. “ What was that?”
    “That,” Tim said in a funereal tone, “is Fuller’s kin.”
    “How in the devil did Fuller happen to get saddled with a nephew like that?” The bunkhouse cook wagged his head from side to side in disbelief. “He’s prissier than any of the Richardsons’ six daughters!”
    Tim grimaced.
    “His chin is still smooth as a baby’s tail.”
    “I noticed.”
    Pancake yammered on. “Get a stiff wind going, and he’ll be teacup over toenails. I got a look at his hands. Smooth as silk, not a callus on ’em. I’ll bet he ain’t never done a lick of work.”
    Figuring he ought to put an end to the honest assessment, Tim said, “He’s young.”
    “Yup. Voice still cracks. ’Bout all the good he’ll come to in life is maybe bein’ a preacher. Knows fancy words and fine manners that’d make him a natural for that callin’.”
    Tim shot Pancake a wry look and didn’t verbalize his thoughts. Much as he wanted to, it wasn’t right. After all, that puny pup was his partner’s nephew. This called for loyalty and discretion. “I can’t let Fuller come home to that pitiful excuse. We’re going to start whipping him into shape.”
    “Miracles take more time than that.”
    “I don’t know about miracles, but I do know about men.”
    “Boss, you’re gonna have to look long and hard to find enough material in that kid to scrape together anything manly. I’ve seen women who looked more like a man than he does!” Pancake chortled softly. “Startin’ with Widder O’Toole.”
    Tim broke into a fleeting smile, then glanced back at the house and grimaced.
    “When Fuller gets back and catches sight of that pathetic excuse for a nephew, whatever cure he got in Abilene’s gonna fly right outta the window.”
    “That’s not going to happen.” Tim’s face tightened. “I’ll do something.”
    “What’s your plan?”
    Tim’s voice took on deadly resolve. “Whatever needs to be done will get done. It’s going to be mighty unpleasant, though.”
    “That’s plain enough to see, and I have eyes in my head.” Pancake tacked on, “I’ve seen two-bit chippies with more taste in their clothes.”
    “Clothes can be changed.”
    Spitting a small stream of tobacco at a dandelion four feet away, Pancake demonstrated admirable targeting skill. “Doubt he’s half as useful as one of them chippies.”
    Tim compressed his lips for a grim moment. There were times when life just handed you nothing better than a boil on the backside when you had to ride all day, and this was one such time. It galled him, but Tim Creighton wasn’t a man to shirk his responsibilities or abandon his friends. He muffled a groan at the thought of what the next days would bring and resolved, “We’re going to start whipping him into shape.”
    “Awww, Boss!”
    “The Bible tells us to bear one another’s burdens.”
    The cook’s face darkened. “That’s just one more reason I don’t warm a pew. Besides, if you’re quotin’ the Good Book, you might as well pay close attention to what it says. There’s a world of difference between bearing a burden and weathering a catastrophe.” Pancake flapped his hand toward the house. “That kid’s a catastrophe.”
    Eyes narrowed, Tim gave Pancake a piercing glare. “No job ever got done without being started, and we don’t leave things undone at Forsaken.”
    “Someone’s likely to get hurt.”
    “I’m painfully aware of that possibility.” Tim’s voice didn’t betray the acid churning in his belly over that very fact. “It’ll fall to me to work with the kid until Fuller shows up.”
    Pancake let out a bark of a laugh. “Should I take wagers on which of you gets buried fastest?”
    “Try, and I’ll see to it that you’re in a casket first.”
    “Fuller’s too old to handle this one. Betcha he ropes you into finishin’ the job.”
    “There’s where you’re