The Taylor Ranch: Cade Read Online Free PDF Page A

him.
    Well,
she was going to whether he liked it or not.
    “I
think I’ll do that right now.”
    “I’ll
see you at supper.”
    “And
don’t be late because it’s another one of your favorites.”
    He
touched the brim of his cowboy hat and walked away.
    April
parked the truck and went inside and through to the kitchen where she saw the
slip of paper her father had mentioned, under a magnet in the shape of the
state of Montana that April had made when she was six.
    She
removed it, walked over to the phone and dialed the numbers. Since the kiss,
she’d become more confident about talking and reconnecting with him. A woman
knew when a man still had feelings for her, and this time no Ben Parker and his
deals were getting in her way.
    “Hi, Cade Mallory speaking.”
    “What
was all that about?”
    She
didn’t say who it was because she was sure he knew.
    “It
was a foolish impulse and I shouldn’t have done it.”
    “Didn’t feel foolish to me.”
    “Well,
you weren’t the one on the receiving end of hurt and pain.”
    He
did still carry a grudge and she couldn’t blame him one little bit, but maybe
when he heard the true story he’d understand.
    “Cade,
I’d like to…”
    “Look
I thought us saying hello was a good thing, so there’s no awkwardness when we
run into one another, which being in Pine Creek we’re bound to do. So now we’ve
done that with this phone call, and we’ve even thrown in a kiss for good
measure, so I think that pretty much takes care of it.”
    “No
it doesn’t. Not in my books. Cade, I have to tell you what happened and why I
walked away from you.”
    “April, it’s water under the bridge. I’ve moved on. I have my
ranch and I’m seeing someone right now, so like I said let’s be civil when we
see one another and leave it at that.”
    The
purring noise in her ear told her he’d cut her off.
    She
sat down still cradling the phone in her hand, pushing it into her chest as the
first tear fell onto her cheek.
    Fool to come
back.
    How
arrogant of her to think that because Cade was living just down the road, they
could pick up where they left off. He had
someone. Her father had been wrong about there not being a girlfriend.
However, he wasn’t to blame because her dad wasn’t really into gossip, and who
was seeing who and sleeping with which person in town didn’t interest him in
the slightest.
    Maybe
she’d leave Pine Creek for good this time. She’d miss the ranch and her father
all over again but she couldn’t go through years of wondering, every night when
she went to bed, if she’d hadn’t made the deal with Ben how things could have
turned out for her and the only man she’d ever really loved.

 
     
    Chapter Six
     
    He’d
been so good at being strong and putting on a different persona so people
couldn’t see that he’d almost fallen apart when April had married Ben, that it
was almost second nature to him now.
    Yes,
he’d moved on with his career, hence him buying his own ranch. That much was
true. However, him seeing someone … a total lie . He’d tried dating, even
giving in to well meaning friends who’d set him up on
blind dates. Despite some of the women being cute and nice, his heart would
always belong to April Dubois.
    He
hadn’t slept with another woman since she’d left his life. Not
that he hadn’t wanted sex, but he didn’t think it was fair to make love
to a woman while wishing April was the person underneath him.
    He
threw the saddle over his horse, secured it under its belly and got on, riding
out into the pasture and beyond. Cade dug his heels into the side of the horse,
willing it to go faster, and hoping the wind whipping by his ears would clear
away the thoughts of her.
    Wishful
thinking.
    Cade
slowed the horse down again. He’d go back to the house and his paperwork. Order
some supplies and get absorbed in all the boring stuff … that should do the
trick. He rode the horse back into the stables and fifteen minutes later