How to Marry a Cowboy (Cowboys & Brides) Read Online Free PDF Page A

off the handle. He was listening, paying attention, and he was refreshingly calm.
    “Right after I sold it, a man came into the emergency room after a minor fender bender. He was charming and I was very vulnerable. I fell in love with the wrong man, plain and simple.”
    “Until last night, and then you ran away from him, right?” Mason said in a tone she couldn’t read.
    “No, until he turned out to be a control freak who liked to use his fists when he was angry, which was pretty often. I tried to break up with him, but that didn’t work. He was a violent man with a wicked temper, and there was no way out of the relationship with him. So I disappeared. It took a while to put everything in place, but when I walked out of his house, it was pretty smooth sailing. I dropped the first name and became Rose Boudreau and moved to West Texas. Got a job in a library in a different town from where I lived. Yesterday we were having a bridal-dress show for a fundraiser at our library, and he showed up.” Even in her own ears, Annie Rose’s voice sounded hollow, like it was coming out of a long tunnel.
    Mason listened, but the story sure sounded far-fetched. His heart felt like he could believe her; his head wasn’t convinced yet. “And you became a runaway bride?”
    She nodded. “I was wearing a bridal gown, but I wasn’t a bride. Believe me, I’m not sure I’ll ever wear one of those for real. When I disappeared the first time, I planned ahead, so that if I ever had to do it again, it wouldn’t be so difficult or scary. I drove straight to my storage unit and picked up my suitcase. When I got to the Sherman exit, I noticed a black SUV and thought it was following me. So I turned off at the next exit, went through a little town called Savoy, and the SUV kept right behind me. Then he turned off into a driveway and a woman ran out the door to greet him and I knew it had been a case of paranoia.”
    “Where is your car?” Mason asked.
    He was still unsure, but her face seemed to open and she was looking right into his eyes as she told her story. She looked sad, too, adrift, and he knew that feeling all too well.
    “There’s a lot of curves in this part of the state. I didn’t make one and had an up-close and personal talk with a big old tree about a quarter of a mile back up the road. The one right close to a nice deep farm pond.”
    “That’s my property.” He nodded, still suspending judgment. She could be a fantastic liar or a damn good actor.
    “Well, my car is at the bottom of that pond. I hit the tree, veered off to one side, and barely had time to bail out and grab my purse and my suitcase from the backseat before my car went into the water. I only meant to rest a little while on your porch, but your girls found me before I woke up,” she said.
    “What is his name? The stalker? I have a right to know that if I’m going to hire you,” Mason said.
    “Nicholas Trahan.”
    Mason shook his head. “Nicky Trahan is well known all over Texas and Louisiana. Everyone knows he’s got a temper, and his family calls themselves the Cajun mob. How in the hell did you get mixed up with him?”
    “Like I said, he was in the hospital where I worked. He’s a smooth talker and a hard hitter, and I had no idea who he was or what he was until it was too late. Nobody leaves Nicky and lives to brag about it. So that’s my story, and I was thinking maybe Doc could go ahead and give me a ride to the bus station in Sherman when he comes to the party this afternoon. I’ve been enough bother to you, and I understand if you don’t want me to stay, even for two days.”
    Mason wasn’t afraid of Nicky Trahan. Most men who used their fists on women wouldn’t think of raising them to a man, but still he had to think about his girls. He didn’t have to make a decision right then. He had a couple of days, and he did know a man who was pretty handy at checking things out. He wanted to believe this woman, who was looking down at her