Montana Sky Read Online Free PDF

older,” Will tossed back, and had the pleasure of seeing that nice shaft strike home. “And your mother was a bottle-blonde showgirl with more tits than brains.”
    Whatever Tess would have done or said in retaliation was broken off when Lily burst into tears.
    “Happy now?” Tess demanded, and gave Willa a hard shove.
    “Stop.” Tired of the sniping, Adam seared them both with a look. “You should both be ashamed of yourselves.” He bent down, murmuring to Lily as he helped her to her feet. “You want fresh air,” he said kindly. “And some food. You’ll feel better then.”
    “Take her for a little walk,” Bess told him, and got creakily to her own feet. Her head was hammering like a three-armed carpenter. “I’ll put dinner on. I’m ashamed enough for both of you,” she said to Tess and Willa. “I knew both of your mas. They’d expect better of you.” She sniffed and, with dignity, turned to Nate. “You’re welcome to stay for dinner, Nate. There’s more than plenty.”
    “Thanks, Bess, but . . .” He was getting the hell out while he still had all of his skin. “I’ve got to get on home.” He gathered his papers together, keeping a wary eye on the two women who remained in the room, scowling at each other. “I’m leaving three copies of all the documents. Any questions, you know where to reach me. If I don’t hear from you I’ll check back in a couple days, and see . . . And see,” he ended. He picked up his hat and his briefcase and left the field.
    In control again, Willa took a cleansing breath. “I’ve put sweat and I’ve put blood into this ranch from the day I was born. You don’t give a damn about that, and I don’t care. But I’m not losing what’s mine. You figure that puts me over a barrel, but I know you’re not walking away from more money than you’ve ever seen before, or hoped to. So that makes us even.”
    With a nod, Tess sat on the arm of a chair and crossed her silky legs. “So, we define terms of our own for livingthrough the next year. You think it’s a snap for me to give up my home, my friends, my life-style for a year. It’s not.”
    Tess gave a quick, sentimental thought to her apartment, her club, Rodeo Drive. Then she set her jaw. “But no, I’m not walking away from what’s mine, either.”
    “Yours, my ass.”
    Tess merely inclined her head. “Whether either one of us likes it, and I doubt either one of us does, I’m as much his daughter as you are. I didn’t grow up here because he tossed me and my mother aside. That’s fact, and after being here for a day, I’m beginning to be grateful for it. But I’ll stick the year out.”
    Thoughtfully, Willa picked up the whiskey Lily hadn’t touched. Ambition and greed were excellent motivators. She’d stick, all right. “And at the end of it?”
    “You can buy me out.” The image of all that money made her giddy. “Or failing that, you can send the checks for my share of profits to LA. Which is where I’ll be one day after the year is up.”
    Will sampled the whiskey again and reminded herself to concentrate on now. “Can you ride?”
    “Ride what?”
    With a snort, Will drank. “Figures. Probably don’t know a hen from a cock either.”
    “Oh, I know a cock when I see one,” Tess drawled, and was surprised to hear Willa laugh.
    “People live here, they work here. That’s another fact. I’ve got enough to do handling the men and cattle without worrying with you, so you’ll take your orders from Bess.”
    “You expect me to take orders from a housekeeper?”
    Steel glittered in Willa’s eyes. “You’ll take orders from the woman who’s going to feed you, tend your clothes, and clean the house where you’ll be living. And the first time you treat her like a servant will be the last time. I promise you. You’re not in LA now, Hollywood. Out here everybody pulls their weight.”
    “I happen to have a career.”
    “Yeah, writing movies.” There were probably less useful