To Love and to Cherish Read Online Free PDF Page B

my father can take it over.”
    â€œDo you think Norman will let him? Everybody knows your father is a lousy businessman. We also know he forced you to marry Noah so Noah wouldn’t kick him out.”
    Could her humiliation be more complete? “I don’t care what happens to the store. If Norman had any sense, he’d turn it over to Mae Oliver and Elsa Drummond. Nobody knows more about what everybody in this town likes, and their husbands would help them. If they put Ted Drummond behind the counter, every woman within a hundred miles would come in just to look at him.”
    Naomi laughed. “If he and Cassie got married, their children would be so beautiful they’d blind you.”
    Laurie grinned, but only briefly.
    â€œIf you could do anything you wanted, what would you really like to do?” Naomi asked again.
    â€œI’d like to own a ranch.” The answer surprised even Laurie. She didn’t know anything about running a ranch. Why would she want to own one?
    â€œAre you sure you don’t mean a farm?”
    â€œIf you mean like people had in Kentucky, no.” She was sure it was a ranch.
    â€œYou don’t have any money, and I know Norman would never give you money to invest in a ranch. Besides, the only rancher I know is Jared Smith, and he may not be here much longer. I heard Norman turned down his request for a loan to buy Herefords.”
    An idea struck Laurie that was beautiful in its simplicity. She had a lot of money no one knew she had. It was a guilty secret, but she’d kept it against the day when she had no choice but to use it. That day had come. She would lend Jared Smith the money he needed, and she would become his partner.
    ***
    â€œWhere are you going to find the money?” Jared’s nephew, Steve, asked. “If you don’t have it when the Herefords get here, the owner is just going to keep going.”
    â€œI know that,” Jared said. “I was sure that snotty-nosed banker would be happy to lend me the money, but somebody’s convinced him the only cows that will survive in the Arizona Territory are longhorns.”
    â€œI think you ought to give up on Herefords and keep the longhorns we have. We don’t know how those fancy cows will do out here.”
    Out here had a lot in common with where he’d grown up in Texas. It was hot, dry, and it would take thirty-five acres to support a single cow, but he had the advantage of a ready market in the troops at Fort Verde. He had seen his first Herefords in Virginia during the war. Their traits of economy in feeding, natural aptitude to grow and gain weight from grass, rustling ability, hardiness, early maturity, and prolificacy were exactly what he needed if his ranch was to be a success. But Herefords were scarce. It was pure luck that a man was crazy enough to attempt to trail a herd through Arizona to California. If he didn’t buy this herd, he might never get the chance again.
    â€œThey’ll do just fine.”
    â€œAre you sure he will sell to you?”
    â€œNo, but it’s a long way to California. Money in hand is better than money he can only imagine. If I can offer him an acceptable price, I believe he’ll sell me the herd.” But that was the problem. He was certain the man would only sell the whole herd. What would be the point of selling part of a herd if he still had to make the dangerous journey with those left unsold, especially when he’d get twice as much for them if he could make it to California?
    Jared had known leaving the army to invest in a ranch was a gamble. He had grown up in Texas and knew all about longhorns, but the previous owner had made only a small profit with only longhorns. Jared knew he needed good stock he could make still better through selective breeding.
    â€œWe don’t have the money, so you might as well stop thinking about it,” Steve told him. “Now we’ve got work to do. You