The Counterfeit Cowgirl Read Online Free PDF Page A

Felicity waited until Deborah was out of earshot before firing the opening salvo in their battle.
    “If you aren’t careful, you’ll just reinforce the ghost idea in those two little boys’ heads,” she said.
    “And what makes you an expert?” How dare this woman tell him how to run his household? “I’ll have you know — ”
    “I think you’d better hear some of the things they were telling me,” Felicity interrupted. “They think this ghost is punishing them because they were bad. That’s why their mother fled their own house to bring them here, and why their father hasn’t come to get them yet. They believe the bad ghost is what’s keeping their father away.”
    Aaron’s fists clenched with a mixture of irritation with himself and fury at Felicity for pointing out his failings so starkly. He should have insisted that he and Deborah sit down with the boys and explain why they were staying with Uncle Aaron for a while, and why their father wouldn’t be coming to visit anytime soon.
    Instead, he had let Deborah talk him out of it, and now look at the result.
    Felicity put her fists on her hips. “Pardon me for meddling in what obviously isn’t my business, but you can’t allow those children to live in fear like this.”
    He knew Felicity was right, but his need to protect Deborah was too strong. He hadn’t insisted when Deborah begged him to say nothing to the boys about uprooting them from their home.
    “Miss Clayton, my dealings with my nephews are not your concern,” Aaron said, through clenched teeth. “As you pointed out, this situation is none of your business.”
    “Really?” Felicity inquired brightly. “In that case, I’d better go speak to your sister about the matter myself. And present her with a bill for the housecleaning fees.”
    She was deliberately provoking him, Aaron realized. For some reason, that put heart into him.
    Felicity smiled sweetly and heaped fuel onto the burning fire within him. “If there’s one thing I can spot a mile away, it’s a tendency to be overprotective.”
    “You have a lot of nerve, you phony cowgirl,” Aaron exploded. “You never paid one bit of attention to your grandmother while she was alive, but the minute she dies, you swoop in like a vulture to take what few pennies she had.”
    “If that’s what you think, it’s no wonder your nephews are having such problems,” Felicity tossed back. “You’d believe anything anyone told you, no matter how nutty it was.”
    Aaron suppressed a twinge of caution. To be fair, Lureen was a real nutcase, what with her ridiculous political opinions and the signs she made and posted in front of her house or carried in front of businesses — but she’d been harmless.
    “I checked on the deed to this house myself,” he snapped, infuriated that he’d let Felicity’s comment get to him. “It was in your name.”
    “Is that right?” Her small smile riled him further. “It’s a pity you didn’t check on a few other things while you were at it.”
    “Like what?” Aaron roared. It felt wonderful to rip into a worthy opponent at last. “The only thing I’d have found out is how much money you were lifting from that poor old lady’s bank account.”
    “Or how much I was putting in?” Felicity asked, marvelously unaffected. “Do you know what your trouble is? You’ve jumped to a conclusion based on some half-baked facts, and now you’re trying to scare me into agreeing with you. I have just one question: What do you do when you find out you’re dead wrong?”
    “I’ve never been wrong.”
    Aaron couldn’t believe he heard himself shout such an enormous untruth. That just went to show how unaccustomed he was to giving way like this.
    “Oh, brother.” Felicity crossed her arms across her breasts and tilted her chin at a challenging angle. “Well, you may have scared everyone else around here into believing that whopper, but I’m immune to your scintillating charm.”
    “I’m not wrong