Just Down the Road Read Online Free PDF Page B

drove toward town. He had the good sense not to say a word. He just sat, his shoulder almost touching hers in the small car, and ate the egg sandwich.
    When she pulled into the parking lot, he climbed out and yelled, “Thanks for the ride,” as she rushed away.
    An hour later, when she told Georgia Veasey about how he’d walked right into her house and made himself at home in the kitchen, Georgia laughed.
    “Tinch grew up on that land. I’m guessing he’s been walking into the Rogers house all his life.”
    “It’s my place now,” Addison said. “And from now on I’m keeping the doors locked. If I never see Tinch Turner again, it’ll be too soon.”
    Georgia shrugged. “When he comes in to get the stitches removed, I’ll take care of him. He’s a good man on bad times. You might want to get to know him.”
    “Thanks, but I’m not looking for a man, period.” Addison had never said anything to anyone in Harmony about being married in her teens or how her father’s determination to direct her life had driven her to Harmony, but Nurse Veasey must have sensed something was broken inside her, and she’d been kind enough not to rush in and try to fix it.
    Georgia had offered her friendship without strings. She’d probably noticed that Addison lived at the hospital and slept at a rented house she had leased fully furnished. She had no social life except dinner after work with Georgia and her husband now and then.
    When Addison got home that night, she found a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs on her porch. No note. He knew she’d know who they were from. It wasn’t a peace offering, it was simply replacing what he’d taken.
    She looked to the south and saw a single light shining in the barn beside his house. Somehow the light made her feel even more alone than she already was, but alone was a great deal better than the hell of her marriage or living closer to her father.

Chapter 6
     

     
    M ONDAY
    S EPTEMBER 12
    T URNER R ANCH
     
    T INCH WORKED WITH THE M ATHESONS’ HORSE UNTIL LONG after dark. All day he’d felt lousy. Not only did he have a headache and a hangover, but he’d made a fool of himself yesterday. Any nitwit would know not to walk into a strange woman’s house and start cooking breakfast. She probably thought he was a product of too much inbreeding in this town. What had he figured, that she’d be happy he’d cooked her eggs? That it would be a peace offering so she wouldn’t look at him as if she’d seen his picture on a
Wanted
poster?
    Hell no.
    The lady had big city written all over her, and he’d just proven to her that she was living next door to a hick. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d stopped halfway to town and made him get out so she could run over him.Probably the only reason she hadn’t was because she was on duty and would have to be the one to patch him up.
    “Crazy thing is,” he said to the horse, “from the way I acted, speed bumps are about my equal in brain cells.”
    The animal tried to nip at the brand on his jeans pocket, and Tinch decided even the horse didn’t want to visit with him.
    He’d heard of women who hate men, but he could never remember being so close to one. He felt sorry for the first guy who accidentally touched her. She’d probably slice his fingers off with a scalpel. She was pretty, in a plain kind of way, if you liked washed-out women with no hairstyle or makeup. And she was jumpy too, like a newborn colt in a lightning storm.
    Tossing the brush in the tub, Tinch led the horse into the first stall. Another few days and the animal would be gentle enough to take back to the Matheson place for their little girl to ride. He’d worked with the palomino for three months, and she was ready to join the family. The wounds where the animal had been mistreated by her first owner had healed, but the scars were still there beneath the hair.
    He had no doubt that little Saralynn Matheson would show the horse only kindness and her uncle Hank