The Rancher and His Unexpected Daughter Read Online Free PDF

heat between them die down for the moment. “Unless she already knows how.”
    â€œOh, no,” Jenny protested.
    Janet jumped in to prevent the tantrum she suspected was only seconds away. “She doesn’t, but riding doesn’t sound much like punishment or work to me.”
    â€œShe has to be able to get around, if she’s going to be much use on a ranch this size,” he countered. “I can’t go putting her behind the wheel of a truck again, now can I?”
    He glanced at his watch, then at Jenny. “You ready?”
    Jenny’s chin rose stubbornly. “Not if you were paying me a hundred bucks an hour,” she declared.
    Janet thought she detected a spark of amusement in his eyes, but his expression remained perfectly neutral.
    â€œYou scared of horses?” he inquired.
    Janet watched her daughter, sensing her dilemma. Jenny would rather eat dirt than admit to fear of any sort. At the same time, she had a genuine distrust of horses, based totally on unfamiliarity, not on any dire experience she’d ever had.
    â€œI’m not afraid of anything,” Jenny informed Harlan stiffly. “Horses are dirty and smelly and big. I don’t choose to be around them.”
    Harlan chuckled at the haughty dismissal. “I can’t do much about their size, but I can flat-out guarantee they won’t be dirty or smelly by the time you’re finished grooming them.”
    Jenny turned a beseeching look in Janet’s direction. “Mom!”
    â€œHe’s the boss,” Janet reminded her.
    â€œI don’t see you getting anywhere near a smelly old horse,” Jenny complained.
    â€œYou’d be welcome, if you’d care to join us,” Harlan said a little too cheerfully.
    â€œPerhaps another time. I have to get to work.”
    â€œWhy?” Jenny asked. “You don’t have any clients.”
    Janet winced. The remark was true enough, but she didn’t want Harlan Adams knowing too much about her law practice, if that’s what handling one speeding violation could be called.
    â€œBusiness slow?” he asked, leveling a penetrating look straight at her.
    She shrugged. “You know how it is. I’m new to town.”
    He looked as if he might be inclined to comment on that, but instead he let it pass. She was grateful to him for not trying to make excuses for neighbors who were slow to trust under the best of conditions. Their biases made them particularly distrustful of a woman lawyer, who was part Comanche, to boot, and openly proud of it.
    â€œWhat time should I pick Jenny up?” she asked.
    â€œSuppertime’s good enough. You finish up at work any earlier, come on out,” he said. “We’ll go on that ride. I never get tired of looking at the beauty of this land.”
    Janet found herself smiling at the simplicity of the admission. She could understand his appreciation of his surroundings. Perhaps even more than he could ever guess.
    â€œMaybe I’ll take you up on that one of these days,” she agreed. She stood and brushed a kiss across her daughter’s forehead. “Have a good time, sweetie.”
    â€œIs that another one of those things you tell all your clients who end up in prison?” Jenny inquired, her expression sour.
    â€œYou’re not in prison,” Janet observed, avoiding Harlan’s gaze. She had a feeling he was close to laughing and exchanging a look with her would guarantee it. Jenny would resent being laughed at more than anything.
    â€œSeems that way to me,” Jenny said.
    â€œRemind me to show you what a real prison looks like one of these days,” Janet countered. “You’ll be grateful to Mr. Adams for not sending you to one.”
    Janet decided that was as good an exit line as she was likely to make. She was halfway to the front door when she realized that Harlan had followed her. He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed