Ellie's Legacy Read Free Page A

horse to the fence. Ellie’s
interest in watching waned. “Pa, do you suspect Dude and his sons had something
to do with the bullet that almost parted my hair?”
    “It wouldn’t surprise me none,” Ty butted in. “They’ve let
it be known they mean to own this land someday, but it’ll be over my dead
body.”
    “I don’t believe your name is Pa,” she snapped. “Don’t you
have a horse to break?”
    It riled her when Ty acted as though the ranch belonged to
him. Why didn’t it bother Pa? He stood there and beamed over anything Ty did or
said. Pa didn’t seem to notice how much Ty annoyed her, or maybe he just didn’t
care.
    If the frown etched on Ty’s face was any indication, he
cared. Ellie tried not to look smug, but if she annoyed him in any way, it
pleased her. At first, she’d been smitten with his rugged good looks, but when
his bossy attitude surfaced, he suddenly became less appealing. His refusal to
admit she could ride and rope with the best of them insulted her.
    She focused her attention solely on her father. “Pa, why
don’t we go into town and get Sheriff Gamble?”
    “That’d be a waste of time. Well, I’ll betcha—” Ty answered.
    “Like I said, Pa, the Sheriff?” Ellie scooted along the
fence rail, situating herself between the two men and turning her back to Ty.
    Ben grasped his chin between thumb and forefinger, appearing
to ponder the suggestion. “Well, Ellie, if you’d let Ty finish his sentence, I
think he and I agree. The Sheriff can’t pin anything on Dude and his sons
without a witness, and nobody saw nothin’ .” Her pa
peered around her at Ty. “Am I right, son?”
    Son? Ellie rolled her eyes. Pa
actually said the word. She wanted to scream, but mustered enough strength to
stifle her frustration. “But, the Sheriff could always get a posse together and
show…”
    “There ain’t nothing to show.
Listen to your pa. The Sheriff isn’t stupid, and as for a posse…well, there
aren’t too many men who want to make an enemy of the Bryants. Besides, we can’t
even prove it was them.”
    He cut her off again. Damn him! Her fingernails bit into the
palm of her clenched fist. Ty paused long enough for his lips to curl into that
annoying grin that drove her crazy–the one that always appeared when he held
the reins.
    He leaned on the fence rail. “We’ll handle this ourselves. Hopefully, the men will turn up somethin’.”
    Ellie’s face burned, and it wasn’t from the sun. Why did her
father always let Ty have the final word? With hands on her hips, she swiveled
around and glared down at him.
    “Well, Mr. Bishop, as usual, you seem to have all the
answers. While you might be afraid of the Bryants, I’m not. I won’t let them
run roughshod over me, or Pa. You sit back and plan how to take care of things,
and I’ll actually do something.”
    “And what might that be?” Ty scoffed. “You’re just a girl.
You’d best leave things to the men.”
    With a “humpf,” she jumped down from the fence and strode
toward the house. It took biting her tongue to keep her thoughts inside.
    He ought not to act like he cared. She knew better. He only
wanted the ranch, but his time as foreman was limited if she had anything to
say about it.

 
 
    Chapter Two

 
    Ellie stormed into her room, slammed the door and tossed her
worn cowboy hat onto the bedpost. She plopped on her stomach atop her soft
feather bed, and heaved a loud sigh.
    Resting her chin in her palms, her brow furrowed. “That man
is so darn infuriating! I just don’t know what Pa sees in him,” she muttered
through clenched teeth. Talking to herself had become
a usual occurrence, and she did her best grumbling in private.
    She rolled over, stretched out across her colorful patchwork
quilt, and clutched a pillow to her chest. Her mind spun in a million
directions, while she tried to think of what to do to prove herself just as
capable as Ty, when it came to ranch business.
    Rolling onto her stomach