Fortune's June Bride (Mills & Boon Cherish) (The Fortunes of Texas: Cowboy Country, Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page B

face. She replaced the receiver and folded her hands together, leaning across the desk toward Aurora. “You found yourself a Rusty for the noon show,” she advised. “Get him to finish out the day. After that, we’ll see.”
    Aurora nodded quickly. “Thanks, Diane.”
    The other woman shooed her away with a flick of her fingers before looking at the applicants waiting in her chairs. “You,” she barked at the middle-aged woman sitting closest to her. “Can you yodel?”
    Aurora quickly ducked out of the office while the applicant was still stammering.
    Being cast as Lila was one of the brightest spots in Aurora’s life right now. If that meant somehow talking Galen into repeating his part in the role of Rusty three more times that day, she was going to do it.
    Even if it meant offering to take care of his ranch chores herself!

Chapter Three
    “N o way.”
    It had taken her a solid hour, but Aurora had finally found Galen out by the Twin Rattlers.
    The roller coaster was the premier attraction at Cowboy Country, and after a start plagued with mechanical difficulties, it was now running perfectly. The line that wound like a serpentine around the base of the behemoth attested to its popularity.
    “No way,” he said again. “I agreed to play Rusty once, and that was enough for me.”
    “Galen,
please
. If you don’t, they’re going to cancel the rest of today’s shows.”
    “And what happens if Joey’s not back tomorrow? Or the next day?”
    “Diane says they can probably bring in a performer from another one of their locations.”
    “Probably.” He gave her a steady look. “That’s not a certainty.”
    “No,” she agreed unwillingly. She absolutely didn’t want to share with him just how easily the management could supplant one production with another. “It’s not a certainty.” Her hands latched onto his forearm. “But you did a
really
good job as Rusty,” she said quickly. “And it wasn’t as awful as you thought it would be, was it?”
    His gaze flickered over her hands. “I’ve got other responsibilities, too, kiddo,” he said almost gently.
    “I’ll help,” she promised even more quickly, letting go of him. She hadn’t even realized she’d grabbed him like that. But now her palms felt all warm and tingly. “You know I’m a good ranch hand. One of me is equal or better to two of someone else,” she added. “Daddy’s always telling people that. You know he is.”
    “Why is it up to you to find a replacement for this Joey fella?”
    “It isn’t,” she admitted. There was an entire production team, headed up by Phillip Dubois. And he wouldn’t care any more than Diane did
which
show ran in
Wedding
’s time slots, as long as something did. She chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment. “I’m helping to pay for Mama and Daddy’s cruise with the money I’m earning here,” she finally admitted.
    It was true. But it wasn’t the only reason why keeping
Wild West Wedding
going was so important to her.
    Somehow, she just couldn’t bring herself to admit to him that being in those four performances every day was about the only thing she looked forward to these days. It would make her sound about as piddlin’ pathetic as she’d been feeling until the role of Lila came along.
    He exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, hell, Aurora.”
    Relief swept through her. She very nearly grabbed him again, but managed not to. “You’ll do it, then?”
    He nodded, though he didn’t look any too happy about it. “I’ll do it for
today
,” he cautioned.
    “Today will do,” she said quickly. “Today will do just fine. And, uh, I meant it. About helping you out at your place. Whatever you need, I’m your girl. I can get Daddy to drop me by, or once they go on their trip, I’ll be able to use the ranch truck.”
    His eyes sharpened a little. “You don’t have your own transportation?”
    She cursed her nervous blathering. “Until I started working here, I didn’t