The Reluctant Bride Read Online Free PDF

smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
    Henry’s expression grew apoplectic. “We don’t want your kind around. You’ve got no business here. Get back to your mountains and stealing cows.”
    Russ’s eyes seemed to grow dark and hard. “You’ll regret those words one of these days.”
    “Are you threatening me?”
    “You’re a fool to let Stocker tell you what to do and how to think. My old man wasn’t worth much, but he used to think you were one of the few men in Boulder Gap with some backbone. Now catch up with your wife before she starts thinking you’re hanging around me so you can ogle Miss Gallant.”
    Henry swelled up like a blow toad, turned on his heel, and stalked off.
    Tanzy noticed several other people in the restaurant had been listening intently to this exchange. “I hope you’re going to explain why everybody hates you so much. I’m not a woman who hankers after company all the time, but I’ll have to think twice about marrying a man who seems to inspire virtually universal dislike.”
    “It’s Stocker Pullet’s doing. I can’t blame him for hating me for killing his brother, even though it was a fair fight, but it was ten years ago. It’s time to forget it. But he feels I’ve dragged the Pullet pride through the dirt—it’s the only time anybody ever stood up to his family and made them pay for what they’d done—and he won’t be able to forget it until he runs me out of Colorado.”
    Tanzy felt some of her bright hopes begin to fade. Russ had killed a man. It didn’t matter that it was a fair fight. The only thing that allowed her to continue to hope was that the killing had happened ten years ago. That was plenty of time for a man to change, plenty of time for feelings to cool.
    “Will you leave?” she asked.
    “No. This is my home as much as it is his. But it’s not something you have to worry about. I haven’t caused any trouble since then.” He smiled reassuringly. “I’ve become a model citizen.”
    Tanzy had an uneasy feeling despite his assurances. Maybe Russ had put the past behind him, but it didn’t sound like Stocker had. Back home no one forgot a killing. Ever. It carried over from father to son, spilled over to include uncles and cousins. Anyone who married into the family was expected to take up the feud. It could last for generations and destroy dozens of lives. It was just about the worst thing she could think of.
    But it took two people to feud. As long as Russ refused to fight, she didn’t see what Stocker could do. “I’m glad to know you’re such an upstanding citizen,” Tanzy said, “but I have a condition to make.”
    “You should have told me about any condition before I paid for you to come out here. What is it?”
    “I don’t want to have any children.”

Chapter Three
     
    Russ had never heard of a woman who didn’t want children. He considered having children a part of having a wife. In his mind a family came as a unit, the parts inseparable from one another. “Why don’t you want children?” he asked.
    “Do you?”
    “Of course. What man doesn’t?”
    “Some men don’t. Why do you want them?”
    “I have to have somebody to leave the ranch to.”
    “You can leave it to your wife, your hands, your local school district, even your church.”
    “Why would I work so hard to build a ranch, then leave it to strangers?”
    “So you could make a good living for yourself and provide your wife with a few luxuries. It’s also a way to prove to people you’re a success, a way to prove you’re just as important as Stocker Pullet.”
    None of that appealed to him. It wasn’t that what she said was wrong, but somehow not having children left a hole in the middle of everything. He didn’t need children to run the household or do the work on the ranch. It would be easier to hire someone to do those jobs. So why did he want them? Certainly not to wake him up in the middle of the night crying, or to waste his money on gambling or