Noah Read Online Free PDF

again.
She hadn’t told anyone in Laramie about her ad for a husband, but she’d already
vetted the unattached men in town and there was certainly no one local she had
any intention of marrying.
    Levi was more like a brother to her than
anything else. Of course, he fit the bill, everything she’d asked for—came from
a family of ranchers, kind, and she had no doubt in her mind that he would be unyieldingly
faithful to the woman lucky enough to capture his heart.
    She glanced over at the man and stared for a
long moment.
    Nope. Nothing. There wasn’t any kind
of spark or feelings, other than brotherly affection, when she looked at him. She
shrugged. Besides, Levi worked for the railroad and she needed someone who
could plant his roots right here in Laramie and help her run the ranch.
    “I’d better get back,” Stella said with a sniff.
“The pastor is letting me stay in the room at the back of the church tonight. I
just can’t bring myself to go home. Not now.” Stella’s solemn face returned as
she brushed past Kate, blowing her nose as she bustled toward the small, newly
erected chapel—so out of place against the backdrop of several all-night
saloons.
    As she turned around, Mr. Dixon, the town undertaker
scuttled down the boardwalk toward the cabin turned gallows, holding out his
lantern, his measuring tape dangling from his pocket.
    It’s done , she reminded herself again as she
joined the others where the horses had been tied. She was pleased to see that
her mount and another she didn’t recognize had been strapped to a buckboard
with lanterns dangling on either side.
    She glanced at each of the men now surrounding
her, her eyes stopping momentarily on the stranger Levi had brought with him. There
were definitely sparks with him. He tipped his hat and smiled, revealing
straight, white teeth—a feature hard to come by this far west. Her belly did a
little flip-flop inside.
    Who is he?
    “You fellas had any supper?” she asked, forcing
herself to look away from the mysterious man who’d caught her interest. “Fannie
made fried potatoes and ham. I’m sure there’s still some left in the kitchen.”
    Emmett Callahan had hired the woman to help
Kate learn how to cook. With all of the duties the ranch required of her, Kate
had neglected to be a good domestic student. She was grateful, however, that
Fannie had agreed to stay on after her father died—something that most of the
ranch hands had refused to do. No one wanted to work for a woman out here.
    A coyote howled and Kate glanced out into the
vast darkness beyond the town. She didn’t hear if any of the men had responded to
her earlier question as her attention was now focused elsewhere.
    Though the moon was full, it sat too low in the
sky to provide much light for the ride home. Her heart beat fast and her
shoulders tightened. The urgency that had fueled her journey into town had
fled, and she had to remind herself that she would be surrounded by able-bodied
men. There was nothing to worry about. The ranch wasn’t far. It was only the
dark. The dark couldn’t hurt her.
    “Ready?” A low, warm voice asked at her side.
    She jumped.
    “You startled me.” When Kate looked up, she was
greeted by Levi’s friend with the sultry eyes. She glanced down at his extended
hand and bit her bottom lip as she slid hers into its warmth.
    He helped her up onto the seat, then turned to say
something to Levi, who’d already mounted a horse much too short for his long, muscular
legs. It didn’t suit him.
    Kate gathered the reins and waited.
    “Excuse me, ma’am.” The gentleman with the white
smile and perfect jaw climbed up next to her on the wagon seat and handed her
an additional lantern.
    He’s driving me home?
    Her mother would turn over in her grave if she
knew that Kate had allowed herself to be unaccompanied in the front seat of a
buckboard with a man whose name she didn’t even know, let alone letting him
drive her home. She held up the lantern to