How to Lasso a Cowboy Read Online Free PDF

somewhere until the rain ended. If so, she’ll be home soon.”
    â€œWhere would she hole up? This land is so flat a grasshopper would have trouble finding a dry spot to hide.” Johanna stood so rigid her back might break if a breeze blew by. “Be logical, Cooper; we already have Winnie making no sense, we don’t need you falling prey to a weak mind.”
    Cooper had no doubt her anger was directed toward him, for she’d obviously waited for him to come home with the answer and he had disappointed her. The one thing Johanna hated more than trouble was having to deal with it herself.
    â€œEat before you go.” Emma hurried to the kitchen and brought his meal. “Ten minutes won’t matter. You look dead on your feet. While you eat, Johanna and I will search the house and barn again. Maybe we’ll find a clue. If she’s been kidnapped, surely she won’t be deflowered in the few minutes it takes you to eat a bite.”
    â€œEmma, don’t even think of such a thing,” Johanna snapped. “Talking about her constitution was bad enough and now this.”
    â€œAll right, sister. Maybe our Winnie just went for a walk and got caught up in one of those flash floods Cooper isalways worrying about. If it could wash away a cow, it could drown Winnie. She is probably floating down toward the Gulf by now.”
    Cooper raised an eyebrow. “That’s right, Emma. Look on the bright side.”
    He downed a few bites of his meal while the sisters tried to think of other dire fates that might have happened to “poor Winnie,” as she was now referred to.
    When he finished, Cooper headed out to saddle a fresh horse. As he walked from the barn a few minutes later, he thought he heard a wagon.
    Cooper waited in the shadows. If trouble was riding in, he would just as soon whoever approached not know he was watching.
    The noise grew louder, drifting in the damp breeze. Mixed with the jingle of the harnesses was Winnie’s laughter.
    Cooper let out a long breath and waited. The buggy pulled into the light shining from the windows. He smiled.
    It appeared the Apaches were bringing Winnie back.
Chapter Five
    Â  JOHANNA AND EMMA were on the porch when Woodburn pulled his rickety old buggy up to the house. Cooper could make out three people crammed into the shadows of the small carriage. He watched from the drizzling darkness as the Yankee climbed down and helped Winnie to the ground.
    There was no mistaking Woodburn, even in the dark. Thin as a willow, favoring his right leg, his head bowed as if apologizing for stepping foot onto a man’s land without permission. Cooper would have to search hard to find a reason to like the man.
    â€œThank you, Mr. Woodburn,” Winnie said as he held her arm until she reached the solid first step.
    The Yankee didn’t seem to hear her as he turned and reached in the boot for a box.
    Winnie rushed nervously onto the porch where her sisters stood, openmouthed and staring. “Mr. Woodburn, I’d like you to meet my sisters, Miss Johanna and Miss Emma.”
    Johanna recovered first. She folded her hands tightly in front of her and closed her mouth.
    The store owner removed his hat and made a slight bow but Winnie gave him no opportunity to speak. “Mr. Woodburn was kind enough to give me a ride home from town. I waited, hoping the rain would stop, but when twilight came, he insisted.”
    Emma glared at the strange man, then addressed her youngest sister. “And how did you get to town, Winnie?”
    Cooper moved closer. He wasn’t sure he cared for the Yankee bringing his sister home, but he knew he didn’t like the way Emma talked to Winnie, as though she were a child.
    â€œI walked.” Winnie giggled. “And had quite an adventure, I must say.”
    Emma planted her fists on her hips. “Everyone knows it’s been cloudy and windy all day. Did I forget to mention that before you decided to