Rancher For The Holidays (Love Inspired) Read Online Free PDF Page B

going to be preserved for posterity, I want to look my best!”
    “I should have my suit dry-cleaned, too,” Uncle Steve said. “Only ever wear it to weddings and funerals.”
    “No suits allowed.” Ben smirked as he stirred hazelnut-flavored creamer into his decaf. “Seriously, I want to remember you just like you are today.”
    “Aw, Ben.” His aunt patted his arm. “You’ve always been like a son to us. Having you around more than makes up for not having kids of our own. I’m glad your mama was willing to share.”
    “Me, too.” Ben glanced away. Even two years later, he couldn’t keep the lump from climbing into his throat. “I miss her.”
    “I miss her, too,” Uncle Steve said, glancing away. “My little sister was the best.”
    The kitchen grew quiet for a few moments, and Ben couldn’t stop thinking that God must really have had it in for him. First his mom’s death, then Dad’s remarriage. And now, on top of everything else, the career Ben had fought so hard for had been ripped away.
    As if sensing he needed to change the subject, Aunt Jane picked up the gift certificate, a bemused smile tilting her lips. “Still can’t get over you doing this for us. Marley’s really going to set up her camera stuff out here?”
    “The ranch landscape will be the perfect backdrop.” Ben fought to shove down the niggling resentment, a side of himself he was growing to dislike more every day. “If we can decide soon on a date, she may be able to get it done before her after-school classes start up. Plus, it sounds like she’s really busy with this mission outreach stuff.”
    Uncle Steve sipped his coffee. “I heard they’re planning a trip to Candelaria the week before Christmas. Got a call from Marley’s pastor over the weekend asking if we’d let them use our RV.”
    “You should join Marley’s committee,” Aunt Jane suggested. “I’m sure they could use someone with your business sense.”
    Ben scratched his head. “What do I know about church committees? Anyway, I should be spending my time job hunting.”
    Aunt Jane rose and began putting plates in the dishwasher. “I thought you were taking some time to regroup before you jump back into the job market.”
    “I can’t put it off indefinitely.” Ben carried his and Uncle Steve’s empty coffee mugs to the sink. “I’m still paying rent on my Houston condo, and then there’s my expensive toy sitting in your driveway.” He nodded out the window toward his Mustang.
    “Maybe you should let the condo go,” Uncle Steve said. “You can stay with us as long as you like. Haven’t I always said I’d turn you into a rancher someday?”
    Ben couldn’t help but laugh at his uncle’s persistence. “You know I’m not cut out for country living.”
    Aunt Jane elbowed him. “Give it a chance and you might be surprised.”
    From the kitchen window, Ben glimpsed some of Uncle Steve’s white-faced Herefords grazing in a nearby pasture. As boys, Ben and Aidan had visited a few times when their uncle had been preparing to ship cattle off to market. Ben always got attached to a favorite cow and hated saying goodbye when it came time to load the trailer. For weeks afterward he wouldn’t touch a hamburger or steak, fearing it was his cow.
    He had a sudden image of Marley Sanders wolfing down her rib-eye dinner, and he laughed out loud.
    * * *
    Ben spent most of the following two days combing job-search sites for anything in his field. His aunt and uncle’s satellite internet connection wasn’t the fastest, but he didn’t have much choice unless he wanted to drive all the way into Alpine and find a coffee shop with free Wi-Fi.
    He had to admit, though, the backyard view while sitting at Aunt Jane’s kitchen table sure beat the gray walls of his former office cubicle overlooking I-635. Rolling hills and rugged mesas dotted with desert plants, cattle grazing on stubby tufts of grass, a couple of horses cavorting in the near pasture—the Whitlow