Montana Wrangler Read Online Free PDF

your condo.”
    â€œIt’s small, all right?”
    â€œHow small?” he demanded.
    â€œOne bedroom plus a home office,” she admitted grudgingly. “It will do until I can sell and buy a bigger one.”
    â€œThat ought to be cozy.” He snatched off his old work hat and speared his fingers through his hair. She seemed to honestly believe she could take on the responsibility for a twelve-year-old, move him hundreds of miles away from the only home he’d known and everything would work itself out. Not likely!
    â€œIt’s getting late.” She glanced over her shoulder toward the house. “I think I’ll go back inside. Good night.”
    â€œWait!” He didn’t want to stop sparring with her. Challenging her to think things through. He hadn’t yet convinced her taking on parental responsibilities for Bryan wasn’t such an easy thing to do. “When are you planning to leave?”
    â€œEarly Monday morning. I have to be at work Tuesday.” She took a few steps toward the porch.
    â€œYou’re taking Bryan with you?”
    â€œI, um, I suppose so. I might not be able to get time off to come back.”
    That was crazy. Jay had to stop her. “No, you can’t do that. You’re not officially his guardian until a court says so.”
    She cocked her head. “I have Krissy’s letter. That gives me the authority—”
    â€œHe only has two more weeks of school before summer vacation. You can’t pull him out now. That would break his heart.”
    â€œI can’t stay here for two more weeks. My boss would have a fit.” Her voice tightened. “We’ve got a big medical conference scheduled for next weekend.”
    â€œIf your boss is the right kind of guy, he’ll understand. Besides, two weeks will give Bryan time to get to know you and you to get to know him.” The lowered slope of her shoulders suggested he was finally getting through to her.
    Hat in hand, he approached her slowly. “I understand you cared about your sister. And you care about Bryan, too. Give the boy a chance to know you, and yourself time to work out whatever steps you have to take to be his official legal guardian.”
    She held his gaze in the starlight for a long moment as though she wanted to say something important. Instead, her jaw tightened. “I’ll think about it.” Whirling, she hurried up the steps and into the house.
    Jay jammed his hat on his head. He wasn’t anything to Bryan except his friend. Grandpa Henry should be fighting on the boy’s side. Not going along with Krissy’s cockamamy idea of letting Paige raise her son.
    So why was the idea of the boy moving away bugging him so much?
    He thought of the son he’d lost, the tiny baby who had never drawn his first breath. The boy he’d dreamed of having. He’d planned to teach him how to ride. How to raise the best-bred quarter horses in the West. To live and work on the ranch he’d sold after Annie and the baby had died.
    He’d wanted to teach his son to track animals through the woods. To hunt and fish.
    But he’d never had the chance.
    He scrubbed his face with his hand, remembering all of his dreams that had never come to pass. He hadn’t been able to bear the thought of remaining on the ranch after he’d lost Annie. Not with all the memories that haunted him.
    Bryan wasn’t his own flesh and blood. But there were times, he admitted, when the kid looked at him with such—was it hero worship? Or could it be love? Despite himself, Jay had relished those moments.
    However well-meaning Paige might be, he didn’t want her to take Bryan away.
    And he had no idea how to stop her.

Chapter Three
    J ay had given Paige plenty to think about, which resulted in a restless night. Her head was still spinning with all that she had to do when she woke the next morning.
    She dressed in a black wool skirt and fitted