The Cattle Drive [The Armstrong Brothers of Cedar Creek] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read Online Free PDF

beautiful sight, he began to think of his days growing up in Montana. How he and his father would get up early in the morning, have coffee together, and then head out to survey the ranch. Michael loved growing up on Crossfire Ranch. It was one of his fondest memories.
    His father was a hard bastard of a man, always grooming him and his brothers for the family business. Never once did the man attend a school play, science fair, or football game.
    Money.
    His sole job was to make money, and he never let his boys forget that.
    When Michael decided to go to Notre Dame for college, their strenuous relationship hit a new level. His father ranted for weeks, and then one night, their fight escalated to fists being thrown. Michael left that night, turning his back on the ranch and his father.
    The disagreement came to a volatile conclusion when Michael was only two months into his freshman year and he got the fateful call from his mother. A girl he had known about in high school was pregnant. It was generally nothing new to find some girl in a precarious state, but it wasn’t that she was pregnant that got his attention. It was who his mother said was the father.
    It was then that Michael made the decision to drop out of school and take care of her baby. When Henry’s mother died in childbirth, Michael’s mother called all of her sons to help. Because of the actions of one lustful night, Michael took on the responsibility of being a single father of a little boy. With help from his brothers, and his mother trying to keep the secret, Michael packed up the little infant and left.
    After five years he finally managed to graduate from college from Illinois State University with a degree in engineering, and he soon took a job with one of the leading engine producers in North America. Michael had made a good life for him and his son, but always, in the back of his mind, he feared for the little boy.
    It was six months ago when he received the call from his mother, saying she needed his help once again. The time for running had ended, which brought Henry and him to Texas. To observe and help if needed. Taking a deep breath, he sighed and slowly opened his eyes.
    There in the distance was a beautiful black Appaloosa running fast and furious across the wide open land. Sitting on top of that magnificent creature was a creature as wild as the horse. The way she rode that animal, he could tell they were one and the same, a fearless creature who belonged to no one. Her long brown hair flew behind her as she rode that horse hard, and in a flash of the rising sun, she was gone.
    Michael sat there thinking he had imagined that beautiful creature, but when he heard the horse gear up and neigh, he knew it wasn’t a mirage. Walking over to his truck, he had this funny feeling deep in his gut as he turned around to see the horse, and the woman who rode it stopped about a hundred yards in front of him.
    He stood there staring at her. Her hair shined brightly in the morning light, and when she looked at him, he felt a strange case of déjà vu. He tipped his hat to her, and she quickly turned the horse, giving it a swift kick of her boot, and then they were gone.
     
    * * * *
     
    Michael spent the rest of the morning putting up the fence, and at one point, his son came drove out to him with his lunch.
    “Hey, Dad, are you hungry?”
    “Yeah, thanks.”
    “Guess what? I met our neighbor.” Curious, Michael looked at his son, who handed him his sandwich.
    “Really?”
    “Damn, Dad, she is absolutely gorgeous. Long brown hair, and her eyes, oh my god, a man can get lost in those green eyes. She came over riding this beautiful black horse and introduced herself. Her name is Rachael. She said welcome to the neighborhood.”
    “Black horse, you say?” Michael said coolly to his son.
    “Yes, Dad, a black horse. Are you even listening?”
    “Hum,” Michael said, acting as if he wasn’t interested. Not doing it effectively, Henry knew something was