Once a Father Read Online Free PDF Page A

mustangs. Dog Track or some damn—”
    â€œShut up, Dad.”
    â€œWhat?” It was his turn to be horrified. “What did you say to me?”
    â€œYou heard me. Do you want to lose the rest of your leases?” She tuned in to the sound of the visitor’s footsteps, but she held her father’s full attention with a cold glare.
    â€œLooks like somebody spilled her milk.”
    â€œIt was going to be ice cream.” Mentally Mary switched the light off in one room and turned it on in another as Logan mounted the porch steps. “Mother, have you met Logan Wolf Track? Logan, Audrey, my mother. You know my father.” Logan glanced at her on the way to shaking her mother’s hand, and she reminded him, “You know who he is.” With her boots covered in what would have been strawberry ice cream, she didn’t feel like saying the name.
    But Logan acknowledged him with a profferedhand. Then he turned to Mary. “Let’s go pick up our horse.”
    â€œNow?”
    â€œYou signed us up. Sally says it’s first come, first served. You wanna ride over there with me, or do you have other—”
    â€œWhat horse?” her father demanded. “You’re not bringing any horses here.”
    â€œI’m sorry, Logan. My father’s a little cranky. He just received some news that didn’t sit well with him. We weren’t going to bring our horse here, anyway. Were we?”
    â€œNope.” Logan glanced at the mess and gave a perfunctory smile. “Wild horses are real sensitive.”
    â€œYou mean you’re really doing it?” Audrey rose from the glider. “You entered that contest? Are you a horse trainer, Mr. Wolf Track?”
    â€œAmong other things,” he said.
    â€œCan you give me a minute to clean this up?” Mary moved to pick up the overturned stool, but Logan was closer, and he beat her to it. She got the bucket.
    â€œYou go on, Mary. I’ll just hose off the porch.”
    Mary set the bucket on the stool and turned to give the stay signal. “You’re not hauling hose, Mother.”
    But Logan was already halfway down the steps. He’d spotted the hose rack, and he was wasting no time. He unlooped the hose, reached over the railing, handed Mary the nozzle and waited for her signal toturn on the water. Her parents watched silently as though they were the visitors. Maybe she and Logan were already a team. Together they made short work of the porch mess.
    â€œCome with us, Mother,” Mary offered after Logan turned off the water. She felt like a teenager about to head out on her first date. “We’re going to pick out our horse.”
    â€œOh, no.” Audrey glanced at Dan, who scowled back at her. She smiled. Actually smiled. “I have so much to do. I’m still going to make ice cream if anyone’s interested.”
    â€œDamn right somebody’s interested,” Dan grumbled.
    â€œWe can do that when I come back. You don’t need to be cranking.” Mary danced down the porch steps and met Logan at the bottom. “Do you like homemade ice cream?”
    â€œI didn’t know it came homemade.”
    â€œGive me a ride round trip, and I’ll treat you to a taste of heaven.” He looked at her as though her head had just turned into a hot fudge sundae. “I’m not kidding,” she said. “You’ll never go back to the ordinary stuff in a box.”
    â€œHaven’t even gotten much of that lately.” She choked back a laugh as he nodded toward his pickup. “Round trip it is.”
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    She was an interesting woman, all right. Becoming more interesting by the minute. Logan hadn’t beenaround too many women when he was in the army. Just his luck. He could’ve used a lot more training in that department right about that time in his life. He’d been a skilled hunter and a Golden Gloves champion boxer when he’d enlisted, but