Love Finds You in Sundance, Wyoming Read Free

saddle, blood soaking his arm. He gripped the saddle horn with the other; the reins lay useless on his horse’s neck.
    Another report erupted from Hinson’s rifle and an explosion of sound followed, as Rangers, posse, and outlaws emptied their guns across the expanse. The rifle in Hinson’s hands bucked, and the lead Texas Ranger tumbled from his horse’s back, disappearing under the hooves of the stampeding cattle.
    Angel sat frozen as her uncle’s horse made his way toward her, seeming intent on reaching his pasture mate. Bella neighed, and Angel broke from her stupor. She dismounted, tossed her reins over her horse’s neck, and stepped to José’s side as Rio drew to a stop.
    “Uncle! How hard are you hit?” She caught Rio’s reins.
    “Not bad. Leave now, while they are busy with the posse.” Blood oozed from between his fingers.
    Angel yanked open her saddlebag. She withdrew a clean shirt and moved close to Rio. “Let me tie this around your arm. You’re losing too much blood.”
    He grunted, held out his hand, and wrapped the shirt around the wound. “Knot it for me.” He raised pain-filled eyes.
    She tugged at the end of the fabric. “There. Promise me you’ll be careful.”
    José gave her a tight smile. “I’m too tough to kill, m’ija. Your mother called you that. Do you remember? She always said that she named you Angel after taking one look at your sweet face on the day of your birth. And your papa, he called you pequeña—little one. Remember them, and remember me—your family.”
    “I won’t leave you. I’ll go back to the banda, and we’ll stay away from Hinson.”
    “No! Hinson grows too powerful among the men. He fears me, but he’s the kind of snake that will strike when your back is turned. If the posse wins this battle, you would go to jail along with the rest of us.” José fixed a firm gaze on her. “Ride fast and go far. Stay on the path the cattle have made for now, then veer off when you hit rocky ground. I’ll keep an eye on Hinson—make sure he doesn’t follow.” He laid his spurs into Rio’s sides, and the big gelding bounded forward.
    The renewed gunfire and the shouts of men brought her back to her immediate danger. She eased her horse deeper into the brush, knowing she should leave. Uncle, be safe.
    Hinson had moved to the far side of the herd, engrossed in a gun battle with two men from the posse. Three of the outlaw band tried to head off stampeding cattle, two lay sprawled on the ground, and the sixth crouched behind a stand of mesquite, firing at another Ranger.
    Angel’s gaze returned to her uncle, trotting his horse across a small clearing, his rifle raised. She wanted to pull her own rifle from its sheath and turn it on Hinson, the good-for-nothing who’d turned her life upside down. But she’d made a promise, and she’d keep it.
    “Come on, girl.” She nudged Bella forward, then slumped in her saddle, numbness permeating her body. She laid her knotted reins on her mare’s neck and rested her hands on the horn, trying to still the shaking.
    Her uncle had been her only family for the last ten years. She had memories of her parents, but not many. José had raised her like his own daughter and showered her with love and attention. Spilling blood wasn’t new to her, but the memory of her uncle’s wound caused bile to rise in her throat. She pushed it down and picked up the reins. This wasn’t the time to grieve.
    Angel headed toward the rising sun, praying the intense rays of early morning light would blind anyone who looked her direction. Hopefully the men were too engaged in staying alive to notice her weaving through the brush several hundred feet from the action.
    The men’s shouts grew fainter, and she could no longer see anyone from the posse or the outlaw band. Only a small number of straggling cattle milled about when she bent forward over Bella’s neck, urging her into a canter.
    Angel glanced at the sun. At least an hour had passed and