Rough Road Home (The Circle D series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

markers pass on the road, then glanced at the speedometer. His fingers tapped on the armrest until he couldn’t stand it any longer. “The speed limit’s seventy-five. On these open stretches, you can easily do ten over.”
    “Hmm, I’ll bet you can.”
    Maybe she didn’t think a truck this size was built for speed. With a custom turbo diesel engine, the ol’ machine cruised great. “Don’t worry about the truck. She’s used to the highway.”
    “I’ll bet she is,” Rachel replied, her gaze glued to the highway.
    “Look,” he said as the pain increased in his temples. “Making time is the name of this game. If you want to get rid of me fast, try driving like you mean it.”
    The rigid smile he was fast growing to hate appeared. She fingered the headset draped around her throat. As she settled the earpieces in place, she glanced at the speedometer, then pushed the control for cruise. Nick looked at the setting and groaned. Seventy-three.
    “Cowboy.” She settled back in the seat, her right hand fumbling with the player tucked in her waistbelt. “You don’t want to talk and you don’t want to listen to music. You don’t like the way I sit in the seat, you don’t like the way I drive. Frankly, I’m tired of listening to all your grump. Now, like everyone’s grandmother used to say, ‘if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t talk at all.’”
    She clicked a button and lights flashed on the player. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll ‘plug in’ as you so aptly suggested back at the hospital, and enjoy the trip.” She stared straight ahead, the wooden smile fixed in place. “Casper, Wyoming, here we come.”
    Nick stared ahead as the hum of the engine filled the cab. She was right. He’d been as ornery as an old bull penned away from the herd. Normally, he could shut out people and situations he didn’t want to acknowledge with relative finesse. He’d walked through masses of fans and not seen a one. He’d even driven cross country with Buster McKnight a time or two and had been able to ignore enough of the cowboy’s self-indulgent boasting to remain friends.
    He pulled his hat low and settled against the door. The late afternoon sun filtered through the tinted windows and washed over her face with a glow. Her irksome smile had disappeared leaving her lips soft and full. Rachel Hill was easy on the eyes, as long as it was on the sly. She should have plugged in a long while ago. He glanced at the clock incorporated in the stereo system and slumped. He’d only known her an hour. At this rate, he’d be strung tight as a wire by the time they reached Casper. Good thing he had a week before the rodeo, he’d need the time to gather his wits and get rid of the blasted headache.
    He rubbed his forehead, the pressure of his fingers chasing the elusive throb. He hadn’t taken anything stronger than aspirin in years. Right now, he’d give his eye teeth for a dose of whatever it was he’d taken at the hospital. As the tires of the truck hit the gravel on the side of the road, Nick looked up, first at the barren landscape, then at Rachel.
    “Why are you stopping?” A pickup whizzed past them dragging Nick’s gaze with it. That guy was making great time.
    She pulled the headset off, shifted into neutral and set the brake. “Step out for a second and let’s get some air.”
    “I don’t need air.”
    She rolled her eyes heavenward and mumbled something under her breath before unfastening her seatbelt and opening her door. “Humor me, please?”
    Nick had a few mumbled words of his own to contribute. He unsnapped the seatbelt and slid out of the cab. Rachel waited for him as he stepped out.
    She offered her shoulder. “Free crutch service. C’mon, let’s get away from the diesel fumes.”
    The highway sat empty except for them. He looped his arm around her shoulders and steadied his balance. The warmth of her body offered an odd kind of comfort--strange sensation considering he