The Traveling Kind Read Online Free PDF Page A

a metal turner, then slid it onto the plate warming on the stove. Using a pair of tongs, he added a rasher of bacon and handed the plate to Charley. “The way I live, I have to be self-reliant. There is toast on the table.”
    The table had been set for two and Charley sat down in front of one of the place settings to eat this breakfast prepared by someone else. It was a novel experience, a definitely pleasant change of pace. She was spreading dewberry jam on her toast when Shad joined her at the table. Her glance ran over this apparently multi-talented man. Strength and raw vitality were a part of his smoothly hewn features, a smiling knowledge of life always lurking in his eyes. He had aroused her interest in him as a man, and also her curiosity about him as a person.
    “Where are you from originally, Shad?” She wondered about his background and what had prompted his restless life-style—never staying anywhere too long, always passing through to some other place.
    “I was raised mostly in Colorado.” He cut into his fried egg, not showing any reluctance to talk about his past.
    “Do you still have family there?” Charley tried to picture his parents and guess at their concern for their footloose son.
    Shad paused for the briefest of seconds then shook his head. “No.” His glance lifted from his plate to her, a frown of curious interest in his expression. “How long have you and your brother been running this place alone?”
    “Since we lost dad two years ago to a massive heart attack.” The passing of time had allowed her to speak of her father’s death with only a minor twinge of grief. “Our mother died five years before that, from pneumonia. Dad was never quite the same after she was gone.”
    “So now it’s just you and Gary.”
    “Yes.” She snapped a strip of crisp bacon in two and began munching on the smaller half.
    “And neither of you have plans to enlarge the family circle.” His chiseled mouth crooked in a doubting line. “I still find it difficult to believe you don’t have a boyfriend somewhere in the fringes of your life. It doesn’t seem natural.”
    Charley shrugged, aware of the flurry of her pulse as the conversation began to focus on her love life. “I’m sorry, but I’m not seriously interested in anyone.”
    “Ah.” It was a smooth, knowing sound and his eyes danced with it. “That’s the key to the puzzle, isn’t it? You may not be ‘seriously interested’ in any man, but there undoubtedly is someone who is interested in you.”
    She considered denying it, but to what purpose?
    “All right, yes,” she admitted with a vaguely challenging look. “So far I haven’t been able to convince him that I only care about him as a good friend and neighbor. . . . He thinks I’m one of those silly females who doesn’t know her own mind. As long as he’s patient and persistent, he figures that sooner or later I’ll come to my senses.”
    “He’s your neighbor?” The rising inflection of his voice made it a question.
    Her nod was affirmative. “Chuck Weatherby. He owns the adjoining ranch.”
    In her mind’s eye she pictured her would-be suitor. Pushing forty, he was of average height, his stocky build developing a paunch. Unlike Shad, hours in the sun had not given Chuck Weatherby a dark tan; rather, the fair complexion that went with his auburn hair had given him a perpetual sunburn. He was a good, solid man with unwavering loyalty and unquestionable devotion. There were many qualities about the man that Charley could admire, but he didn’t spark any romantic interest. His kiss didn’t stir her senses the way Shad’s had a little while ago.
    “Chuck Weatherby,” Shad repeated the name and followed it with a throaty chuckle. “Chuck and Charley?”
    An amused smile broke across her expression, laughing, too, at the combination of their similar names. “It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?”
    “I think a person could safely say it’s unusual,” he agreed with