Promise Them (The Callahan Series Book 6) Read Online Free PDF

this tonight, but this is a warning. If you’re not yourself in the morning, you and I are taking a trip into town to see Doc Pullman.”
    “Warning taken,” Nellie said.
    The door shut softly. She heard both Donovan and Mark in the hall asking questions, and Phyl’s firm voice telling them that all Nellie needed was some peace and quiet.
    Then blessed silence.
    She would be fine tomorrow and forget this day ever happened.
    She’d make sure Beau understood that not only was he to forget what happened, but after her apology, he was never to bring it up again.
    With that thought in mind, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
    Tried being the operative word.

Chapter Four
    Beau urged Taro into a trot. Gordon’s urgent cell phone call had apprehension curling in his belly. Another problem, he was sure, but Gordon didn’t elaborate, just told him to get to the far west fence line fast.
    It seemed that ever since the episode in the pond, each day brought another crisis. But the days of handling ranch problems hadn’t kept thoughts of Nell far from his mind.
    He should feel bad. One little kiss and Nell ran away faster than a colt. Truth be told, he couldn’t wait to kiss her again.
    What did that say about him?
    Was he a lecherous old fool?
    Or a man who couldn’t get a certain lovely woman out of his head?
    Taro jumped a ditch. Beau exhilarated in the ride. There was nothing like a fast horse and the wind on his face. The only thing better would be Nell in his arms.
    He wouldn’t go there. At least not now.
    She hadn’t been back since that day in the pond. Not that he blamed her. She was every inch a lady, and he’d probably scared the hell out of her.
    Up ahead, he saw Gordon and his sidekick, Joe. What were they doing? All Beau could see were the two men with a tractor and trailer and Gordon’s mount. Where was the emergency? No one seemed hurt. No cattle caught in wire or on the ground.
    He nudged Taro forward.
    When he pulled on the reins and Taro came to a stop, he slid out of the saddle. “What’s so important?”
    Gordon walked toward him with a slight swagger, a crooked smile on his face. Why had he ever hired this guy? Besides being arrogant, Beau didn’t like the look in his eyes. Though in his fifties, Gordon looked older. Sun had aged his skin a dark brown. Wrinkles lined his face. Dark eyes set close seemed to lack enthusiasm for his job. Perhaps Beau was making too much of the man’s shortcomings. Still, he wished he’d chosen better. At the time, he’d been desperate to get the ranch on its feet and needed someone who knew what the hell they were doing to run the place.
    “You have to see this,” Gordon said.
    Beau followed him to the fence. “What is it?”
    It didn’t take but a second to see why they were so upset. “Who did this?”
    “It was like that when I got here,” Joe exclaimed.
    Joe was a new hire—a young cowboy without a lot of experience who loved ranching. He was serious about his job, and Beau was willing to let him learn. So far, the baby-faced kid had proven to be a hard worker. His pleasant personality and perpetual motion made Beau like him in spite of his thin resume.
    “Joe called me as soon as he saw it,” Gordon said. “I hightailed it right over here. Thought you might want to see what we’re up against.”
    “Appreciate it,” Beau said as he examined the fence that had obviously been deliberately cut; clip marks shiny on the rusty wire.
    “I’ve been fixin’ fence ever since I got here, Mr. Beau. Looks as if someone’s goin’ to make sure I keep my job.”
    “Looks that way, Joe,” Beau said.
    He scanned the fence line. At least a half-mile of fence was down.
    He stepped away from his hired help, pulled out his cell, and called Donovan. “I know you’re busy, but we’ve just found where my fence has been vandalized. Do you think Dugan should take a look?”
    Dugan was Donovan’s brother and the sheriff. He was a good one, knew what was going