Never Love a Cowboy Read Online Free PDF Page A

horses.
    Jessye rose to her feet, brushing the dirt off her backside and smiling at Abbie. “I can’t imagine with your husband’s education that your children don’t think he talks right,” she said.
    “It’s not the words so much as the way he pronounces them. They find his accent peculiar,” Abbie admitted. She was the only woman in Fortune who’d ever made Jessye feel welcome. It was the reason she’d helped pick her cotton during the late summer.
    “Do you find it peculiar?”
    “No,” Abbie said wistfully. “I love his accent, but then I love everything about him.”
    “It’s good that they think of him as their pa.”
    “It’s not hard, when he gives them so much attention. Watching him with the children is like watching you with Micah just now. You would make a wonderful mother, Jessye.”
    The anguish of inescapable regrets threatened to pummel her. She held it at bay with thoughts of Harry’s offer, an offer other men had made as well: the joining of bodies without hearts. “That’s not likely to happen, Abbie. A woman needs a husband to have children, and I’m the kind of woman men proposition for the night, not for life.”
    “Don’t sell yourself short, Jessye. You have a lot to offer.”
    A lot of baggage that she didn’t think any man in his right mind would willingly help her carry.
    “You just haven’t met the right man,” Abbie added. “You should meet a lot of men on this cattle drive.”
    Jessye felt Harry’s disconcerting gaze settle on her. She ignored the desire to stare him down, turned slightly, and pressed her shoulder against the post. “I’m not searching for a husband. I’m looking for independence.”
    “I can’t believe you’re actually going on this adventure,” Abbie said, her voice laced with excitement.
    “I was afraid Harry might get his hands on the money and gamble it away before they got the cattle to market,” she admitted.
    “You don’t trust him, then?” Abbie asked, surprised.
    Jessye glanced down at her boots. “I don’t trust him with money. Don’t think he’d hurt me, though. If he tried, I’d shoot him.” She lifted her gaze. “How well do you know him?”
    “Not well at all. He and Grayson are friends, but Harry hated picking the cotton, and he seldom came to visit.”
    Jessye snorted. “I remember him sitting in the shade more often than not.”
    Abbie smiled warmly. “Grayson used to get so angry when he did that.”
    “Can’t say as I blame him.”
    “Grayson said Harry was a master at cards, so his deft fingers could pluck the cotton more quickly. It was amazing to watch.”
    Jessye felt as though someone had just spun her until she was dizzy. Were they discussing the same man, the same thing? “I’m talking about Harrison Bainbridge, here.”
    “I know. He and Grayson had a pact. Harry didn’t want to pick the cotton, but he agreed he would fill as many bags as Grayson did. So when Harry’s bag was full, he’d sit in the shade until Grayson caught up.”
    Jessye turned and stared at the fields, thinking back to the long, hot, arduous days of summer. “I never saw him with any full bags,” she said quietly.
    “Grayson used to tell him that if he’d just continue picking, we’d all be finished that much sooner. Harry didn’t think he should have to do more than his share. I couldn’t really complain, when he matched Grayson’s efforts, which was more than I did.”
    Jessye felt the prick of guilt as she remembered Kit’s defense of his friend last night. He was still angry. His greeting this morning had been clipped and extremely British. Harry, on the other hand, seemed to hold no ill will toward her. Was that because he recognized that she was correct in her assessment of him, or did he have plans to manipulate her as easily as he did cards?
    “He’ll have to do more than his share on the cattle drive,” she said absently. “Can’t have any slackers.”
    “I told Grayson he should go with them, but