Ellie's Legacy Read Free

muscle alongside Ellie’s neck throbbed with
pain.
    “I doubt the varmint will try again,” Ty assured Ben. “I
think it was meant to scare us.”
    “Us?” she mumbled beneath her breath.
    If she was a hornet, she’d sting them both. They acted as
though she wasn’t even there. For heaven sakes, she was the one almost hit. If
the bullet had been meant to scare someone, it worked. Her neck ached as though
she’d been hit. She massaged the stiffness out of her jaw while her gaze darted
around the perimeter of the yard. Her near miss was an experience she didn’t
want to repeat. She inched closer to the barn and out of clear shot range.
    Next to the white washed building, Ty opened the gate to the
corral that confined the stallion he’d been breaking. The black measured at
least sixteen hands, had regal bloodlines, a long flowing mane and a shiny tail
that almost grazed the ground. At Ty’s approach, the stallion snorted and
nodded his head nervously, pawing the ground with a front hoof.
    Ellie understood the horse’s distrust. Critters had a way of
judging character that was most often right. A snake would likely cause the
horse to react in the same manner. She poised herself on the top fence rail,
waiting for the amazing Mr. Bishop to put on a show, or at least, include her
in the conversation.
    Her father leaned against the rough-hewn fencing and patted
her leg, but his admiring gaze remained firmly locked on the young man taking a
rope from the fencepost and approaching the animal. Ty stopped, and while
expertly twirling his lasso, glanced up at Ellie. “You must be pretty shaken
up. That bullet came mighty close. Maybe you should go in and lay down for a
while.”
    She glared down at him, feeling anger flaring its way up her
neck. “Don’t you worry about me, Tyler Bishop; I’m perfectly capable of taking
care of myself. And for your information, I stopped taking naps years ago.
Besides, I’d rather be out here watching ol’ Blackie show you he’s the boss.”
    Ty’s lips thinned. He started to speak, but turned his
attention back to his horse.
    Luckily, he moved his attention back to the stallion. Ellie
stood ready with a whole slew of comments to fling at him if he dared engage
her. While he might be her father’s choice as foreman, in her opinion, Ty acted
too dang high-handed.
    She thought back to the day he rode in on his gaunt-looking
mount, in search of work—a drifter, a nobody . Her
father hired him on the spot. In her opinion, and to her dismay, Ty quickly
captured her father’s heart and assumed the role of male heir. Now, two years
later, she found the whole thing bothersome.
    Ty slipped the noose over the stallion’s head. She wished
the animal would bolt and drag him. Nothing too injurious, just a little dirt
and a few scrapes.
    She had to find a way to get rid of him, or at least, knock
him down a peg or two. The ranch was her father’s dynasty and it was only right
that someday down the line, Ellie would take her place as owner. Pa had worked
hard to build Fountainhead, not Ty.

    Her gaze drifted to the flowing landscape. Nestled in the
Cumberland Mountains—just above Sparta, the ranch, aptly named, Fountainhead,
provided water to all the adjoining land by hosting the spring that fed the
streams and rivers. Bon Air, the area surrounding their acreage, had grown
quickly, with more and more people settling every day. Rumors spread by
newcomers boasted of the railroad coming.
    Pa was fair-minded, but there were always those who wanted
more than their share and got angry when they didn’t get it.
    Like Dude Bryant, their nearest neighbor.
    Ever since he and his sons had moved onto the mountain, he’d
set his sights on every other piece of land in the area. He saw Ben’s ranch as
the hub of the empire he wanted to build.
    Thoughts of the Bryants drew her back to the present. Why
hadn’t she thought of it? Surely, they were the ones behind the gunshot.
    So far, Ty had only led his