The Cowbear's Curvy Valentine (Curvy Bear Ranch 5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

reason with her mother was a lost cause.
    “Figure what out? You’re a lawyer. It’s what you do. Your father and I didn’t pay good money to send you to Yale to have you give up after losing your first case. How many others have you won?” her mom asked.
    “I don’t know, somewhere between fifty and a hundred,” Abby guessed.
    “See, you’re good at your job,” her mom said, sounding somewhat calmer. “They’ll take you back. Now get on a flight and come home.”
    “I drove my car,” Abby said.
    “Whatever. Just get yourself home as soon as possible.”
    “No,” Abby blurted.
    Stunned by her outburst, she froze. She never said no to her parents. She’d always done everything they’d wanted, from cramming her five-year-old feet into tight ballet slippers to taking the bar exam. She’d spent her entire life doing what everyone else wanted her to do—no, expected her to do—well, not anymore. For once, she was going to stand up to her mom, even if it made her stomach do flip-flops.
    “Abigail Ann Holt, do not smart mouth me,” her mom snapped.
    “What about what I want?” Abby yelled. “Maybe I don’t want to be a lawyer anymore. Maybe I never wanted to be one.”
    “Don’t you want to carry on the family tradition?” her mom asked in a genuinely hurt voice. “We could have thrown a debutant ball and married you off to a rich man. You could have been a socialite, but you were too smart for that. It would have been a waste. Don’t let one court case ruin your whole life.”
    “Can you just give me some time?” Abby asked.
    “Fine. You get one more day, then you need to come home.”
    “A week,” Abby challenged.
    “No. That’s too long. What will the press say? CNN has already staked out your father’s office. They’ve assaulted him with questions every morning for the last few days. He’s hardly able to get through the crowd of reporters. They all want to know how his daughter could let a child predator go free.”
    Being punched in the gut couldn’t have hurt more than her mom’s last comment. As her knees buckled, she slumped back onto the bed.
    “I have to go, Mom,” she whispered before hanging up.
    She dropped her head into her hands and sobbed. Did her own mother think she was responsible for Drake’s acquittal? Maybe everyone thought she’d failed. She cried until anger bloomed in her chest. She’d never wanted to be a lawyer to begin with, but her parents had pushed her to graduate at the top of her class in every grade from first through law school. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done something that she wanted to do.
    The sudden impulse to go out and do something for herself for the first time in her life brought her to her feet. But what? What did she really want to do?
    Paint.
    As a child, she’d loved painting animals. She was on a ranch full of animals just waiting to be painted. So what if it was a childish act of rebellion? She wasn’t going back to Texas until she was damn well good and ready.
    Now, where in the heck was she going to find a paint set?
     
    ***
     
    Cody swept the kitchen floor and then dumped the contents of the dustpan into the trash. He’d spent all morning helping Madison around the B & B. Although she claimed she was feeling better, Mack had made her promise that she’d stay off her feet for the rest of the day. She’d grumbled for a second, then had given in after Cody had volunteered to do the housework for her.
    He would have helped her regardless, but this gave him the opportunity to bump into Abby. Provided she ever emerged from her bedroom. The last time he’d snuck up the stairs to check, the door had still been closed. Maybe she was too embarrassed to come out after the situation in the spa. She didn’t have anything to worry about. He didn’t intend to repeat that scenario again.
    Although the memory of her soft lips flooded him with a rush of desire so intense that his body instantly tightened in response. Who