The Cowboy Claims His Lady Read Online Free PDF Page B

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    â€œI’ll never drink whiskey again,” Lyndie moaned.
    â€œIs it the whiskey you regret, or the man?” Hazel asked.
    â€œOh, please say it’s the whiskey.” Ebby clucked. “Even old hens like us dream about men like Bruce Everett.”
    Lyndie eyed both women woefully. “I was set up. And which one of you did it? Was it—Hazel?” she accused.
    Hazel smiled like a Cheshire cat. “Live life to bursting, I always say. But I didn’t think you’d go and do it the first minute you were off the yoke, dear. Still, you’re a McCallum through and through. You’ll find your way. We McCallums always do.”
    â€œHazel, promise me for the rest of this trip that you’ll refrain from mentioning the words whiskey and men. ”
    Lyndie wobbled to her feet, clad in pink satin pajamas of her own label. The memory of the night before was coming to her in waves like the water from a gristmill. She recalled the awkward silence in the pickup as Bruce drove her to the Lazy M. It was almost as if Mitch and Katherine had been in the truck cab with them, casting their pall. After a chilly farewell, she’d crawled to her bed, vowing to forget about Bruce Everett forever.
    And then the nightmares came.
    She’d had them all night long.
    She’d be at the grocery store, the accountant’s, in line for a movie—then she’d look down and see herself as if in a mirror. Her white T-shirt was wet and transparent, outlining each half-dollar mauve nipple, and her sodden hair was plastered against her forehead like a water nymph.
    But what was worse than the rush of self-consciousness and the gasps of the onlookers was the emotional crash that followed.
    She’d cover herself, but everywhere she ran to hide, she found Bruce Everett and his chilled gaze drilling into her, and the word that forced her back into feeling, thinking, yearning womanhood.
    You.
    She clamped her eyes closed and tried to erase it from her mind. Opening them again, she glanced at Ebby and Hazel and announced, “I’d better check work. I’ve got a lot to do before noon, when we’ve got to go to that—that—” she shuddered at the thought of seeing Bruce Everett again “—that dude ranch.”
    â€œNoon?” Ebby exclaimed, giving Hazel a raise of her eyebrows. “It’s two hours past that and then some. We thought maybe you never slept in New Orleans—vampires and all that kind of stuff.”
    â€œWhat?” Lyndie grabbed the silver alarm clock next to the bed. She nearly screamed in horror at the time. “I had an investors’ meeting online ateleven.” She put her aching head in her hands. “Now I’ve messed everything up.”
    â€œDear, cheer up. You’re on vacation. Forget about that shop for now. You’ve got the dude ranch to go to,” Hazel comforted.
    â€œBut I might have lost a whole pool of potential investors. There goes my expansion plans. There goes everything.” Lyndie wanted to cry.
    â€œThe only expansion plan you should be thinking about is your horizon. Go out there, dear, and have fun at the ranch.”
    Lyndie moaned anew. “Even that’s gone to hell. According to the Mystery Dude Ranch schedule, we were supposed to have our first trail ride at two. Now I’ve missed it and I’ll be…” She cringed. “… noticed. ”
    Ebby shrugged. “Young people nowadays. You’re all just a bunch of flapdoodles.”
    Hazel held out her hand to Lyndie. “C’mon, gal. You’re a McCallum. And McCallums never know defeat.”
    Lyndie got out of bed, but she had the sinking feeling she’d regret it. It was the kind of day that she expected even her horoscope to read: Do not venture beyond the covers for destruction awaits you.
    And certainly, after her experience with her father’s cheating, and then with Mitch, there was