Montana Sky Read Online Free PDF Page B

enterprises, but Willa couldn’t think of any. “Well, there’retwenty-four hours in a day. You’re going to figure that one out fast enough.” Tired, Will wandered to the window behind the desk. “What the hell am I going to do with the little lost bird?”
    “More like a crushed flower.”
    Surprised at the compassion in the tone, Willa glanced back, then shrugged. “Did she say anything to you about the bruises?”
    “I haven’t talked to her any more than you have.” Tess struggled to push away the guilt. Noninvolvement, she reminded herself. “This isn’t exactly a family reunion.”
    “She’ll tell Adam. Sooner or later everyone tells Adam what hurts. For now at least, we’ll leave the wounded Lily to him.”
    “Fine. I’m going back to LA in the morning. To pack.”
    “One of the men will drive you to the airport.”
    Dismissing Tess, Willa turned back to the window. “Do yourself a favor, Hollywood, and buy some long underwear. You’ll need it.”
     
    W ILL RODE OUT AT DUSK . THE SUN WAS BLEEDING AS IT fell behind the western peaks, turning the sky to a rich, ripe red. She needed to think, to calm herself. Beneath her, the Appaloosa mare pranced and pulled on the bit.
    “Okay, Moon, let’s both run it off.” With a jerk of the reins, Will changed directions, then gave the eager mare her head. They streaked away from the lights, the buildings, the sounds of the ranch and into the open land where the river curved.
    They followed its banks, riding east into the night where the first stars were already gleaming and the only sounds were the rush of water and the thunder of hooves. Cattle grazed and nighthawks circled. As they topped a rise, Will could see mile after mile of silhouette and shadow, trees spearing up, the waving grass of a meadow, the endless line of fence. And in the distance in the clear night air the faint glint of lights from a neighboring ranch.
    McKinnon land.
    The mare tossed her head, snorted, when Will reined in. “We didn’t run it out, did we?”
    No, the anger was still simmering inside her just as the energy simmered inside her mount. Willa wanted it gone, this tearing, bitter fury and the grief that boiled under it. It wouldn’t help her get through the next year. It wouldn’t help her get through the next hour, she thought, and squeezed her eyes tight.
    Tears would not be shed, she promised herself. Not for Jack Mercy, or his youngest daughter.
    She breathed deep, drew in the scent of grass and night and horse. It was control she needed now, calculated, unbending control. She would find a way to handle the two sisters who had been pushed on her, to keep them in line and on the ranch. Whatever it took, she would make certain that they saw this through.
    She would find a way to deal with the overseers who had been pushed on her. Nate was an irritant but not a particular problem, she decided as she set Moon into an easy walk. He would do no more and no less than what he considered his legal duty. Which meant, in Willa’s opinion, that he would stay out of the day-to-day business of Mercy Ranch and play his part in broad strokes.
    She could even find it in her heart to feel sorry for him. She’d known him too long and too well to think even for an instant that he would enjoy the position he’d been put in. Nate was fair, honest, and content to mind his own business.
    Ben McKinnon, Will thought, and that bitter anger began to stir again. That was a different matter. She had no doubt that he would enjoy every minute. He’d push his nose in at every opportunity, and she’d have to take it. But, she thought with a grim smile, she wouldn’t have to take it well and she wouldn’t have to make it easy for him.
    Oh, she knew what Jack Mercy had been about, and it made her blood boil. She could feel the heat rise to her skin and all but steam off into the cool night air as she looked down at the lights and silhouettes of Three Rocks Ranch.
    McKinnon and Mercy land had