The Great Jackalope Stampede Read Online Free PDF Page A

state of Arizona.” He tipped the brim of his cowboy hat at her. “You have a nice day and drive safely.”

Chapter Three

    Saturday, September 29th
    By the time Mac Garner rolled into the Dancing Winnebagos R.V. Park late Saturday afternoon, his forearms were on fire from trying to bend the steering wheel with his bare hands for the last hundred miles. It was that or cram one of his work boots in Deborah Morgan’s big, fat mouth. An air horn blasted through a megaphone would be less grinding on his nerves than Claire’s mother’s relentless bitching.
    He stopped in front of his Aunt Ruby’s General Store and killed the engine. “We’re here,” he said, staring straight ahead while willing her to get the hell out of his pickup.
    Deborah peered out the window at the old two-story house that doubled as a store, her upper lip curling with a sneer. “Your aunt really needs to add a fresh coat of paint if she wants to impress customers. Something to make the place look less like a rundown sha—”
    Mac slammed the pickup door on her words. His girlfriend’s mother or not, he’d had his fill of Deborah’s complaints about her father, her two younger daughters, and the state of Arizona in general. He suspected the only reason she’d bitten her forked tongue about Ruby most of the way to Jackrabbit Junction was because she’d known he’d have stopped and kicked her out of the pickup.
    She was wrong, though—he wouldn’t have stopped, just opened the door and shoved her out. A firm foot to her ass would have done the trick, a washboard-rutted road somewhere down near Cochise Stronghold the perfect spot.
    The General Store’s screen door swung open as he climbed the porch steps. His aunt walked out, wearing a faded denim shirt with a dishtowel draped over her shoulder.
    “Hi, honey,” Ruby greeted him in her soft Oklahoma drawl and dropped a peck on his cheek. “I’d ask how you are, but that scary look in your eyes says plenty.”
    “Only for you,” he said under his breath, pointing his thumb at where Deborah was climbing down from his pickup. “Not for anyone else in this world would I spend two hours in an enclosed space with that … that …”
    “Watch what you say about my new stepdaughter,” Ruby whispered while barely moving her lips. “She may be your mother-in-law someday.”
    The family dynamics resulting from his aunt marrying Claire’s grandpa often left him shaking his head. Deborah was now his step-cousin, making Claire not only his girlfriend but his first cousin once removed, and all of that was before he’d even figured out how to get Claire over her commitment phobia and agree to be his fiancée. Some days he felt like he’d walked onto the set of a western rendition of Li’l Abner. Right now his brain was craving some of Mammy Yokum’s Yokumberry Tonic.
    “I need a beer.” He headed inside the store, noticing the strong odor of nail polish in the cool air.
    Speaking of Claire, where was she? It’d been too long since he’d had her all to himself without one family member or another interrupting, interfering, and screwing up any chance of getting her alone and naked. With her older sister living under his roof for the last month, sleeping on the other side of the wall from his and Claire’s headboard, most of his nights had ended up with the only action under the covers involving Claire’s knee ramming into his thigh. He had half a mind to kidnap Claire and drag her to one of the rundown motels up the road in Yuccaville for some R-rated fun.
    “Hi, Mac.” His cousin Jess sat on the stool behind the wooden counter, painting her toenails pink.
    “Hey, kid.” He headed over to the wall of coolers and grabbed two cans of beer. Cracking one open, he chugged it down barely tasting the hops. He carried the empty soldier and the second unopened can over to the counter, tossing a few bills down. “Where’s Claire?”
    “Out back working on the new bathrooms. The roof is almost