The Reluctant Wrangler Read Online Free PDF Page A

everybody?” she asked with a grin.
    “Then you won’t be disappointed in these.”
    Nikki stared out the window as they drove into the main part of town. It had been years since she’d been in Desperation. But before arriving at the Bent Tree to apply for the housemother job, she’d stopped in the small town and had immediately liked it.
    Main Street in Desperation wasn’t much different than other small towns, with buildings of varied architecture and color snuggled next to each other. It was a pretty town, clean and well taken care of, as if the people there loved it. Somehow she’d missed seeing the café, but she’d enjoyed a pleasant hour in the Sweet & Yummy IceCream Parlor, one of several businesses housed in the historic old opera house. She’d been impressed with the renovations that had been done to the entire building.
    People she’d encountered while enjoying her ice cream had been friendly and open, encouraging her to visit again, as had those she’d asked for directions to the O’Brien ranch. She hoped she would be in the area long enough to consider it home. But that was something she couldn’t count on.
    She turned her attention to their destination as Mac pulled into a diagonal parking space in front of a building proclaiming it was the Chick-a-Lick Café. Nikki again quickly got out of the truck. He met her at the front and they stepped up onto the sidewalk together.
    “Dusty McPherson’s wife, Kate, makes the rolls and desserts they sell here,” he explained, opening the door of the café for her and letting her pass inside. “She’s a good friend of the O’Briens.”
    “And this Dusty is Tanner O’Brien’s partner?”
    “They own a rodeo stock company,” Mac said, his voice lowered, once they were inside.
    Although Nikki hadn’t learned a lot when researching the O’Brien family, she did know that she and Tanner shared the same parents. But while he had known his father, she hadn’t. Her mother hadn’t talked freely about her marriage to Brody O’Brien, only that she’d been far too young to get married and, even more, to start a family. That revelation hadn’t come until Nikki was in her teens and had begged her mother for years for information. Even her grandmother was tight-lipped about it.
    “Nikki, this is Darla,” Mac said as they reached the counter, and introduced her to the young woman behindit. “Nikki is the new housemother and riding instructor at the boys’ ranch.”
    A voice from the other side of the room reached them. “Some people don’t want those good-for-nothing boys anywhere near our town.”
    “Ignore them,” Darla whispered.
    Nikki greeted her, and while Mac gave the order, she looked around the café. It was typical small town, with several tables and a few booths along the walls. The long counter ran the depth of the room from front to back, with the cash register near the door. Two customers were sitting in a booth, both scowling, and another man sat on one of the swivel stools at the counter. She noticed he was looking at her.
    “Don’t mind those two old biddies,” he said, waving a hand at the booth. When she smiled at him, he nodded. “You’re new in town.”
    “Just this week,” she answered.
    “You working at the boys’ ranch?”
    “I’ve just begun, but I hope to stay a while.”
    “Well, now, you couldn’t ask for a better family to work for. Tanner and Jules are good people, and so are Rowdy and Bridey.”
    “I’ve only met Jules,” she explained.
    “That’s right,” he said, slapping his hand on his thigh. “Tanner and Dusty are off to a horse sale. You’ll meet the others soon enough, and I’d bet my life that you like them.”
    “I’m sure I will, if they’re anything like Jules.”
    On the other side of her Mac took two big boxes from Darla and joined them. “Rowdy is the Rocking O ranch foreman. Bridey is Tanner’s aunt and the one who stocks the refrigerator for us.”
    “I’ll have to remember to