Stolen Little Thing (Little Thing Series Book 1) Read Free Page B

help, and I’ll help you in spite of your sass and stubbornness.”
    Before she could respond to him, he strolled back to his horse and mounted in one fluid movement.
    Luke shook his head and gathered the reins. He urged his horse forward. He realized she was angry with him, probably because he hadn’t written pretty things to her in his letters, asking how she’d been, or telling her that he missed her and thought of her. Her letters she’d sent in response were written with such coolness and distance, addressing him as Mr. Crosby and acting as though they were merely passing acquaintances. It made his anger rise even now.
    Esme watched him ride away, and tried to remember how long the trip to the ranch would take them. Astride a horse, it took her and Simon three hours, but with a large group of riders and a wagon, it would be a great deal longer.
    When her final case was loaded onto the back of the wagon, the group set off at a slow pace passing saloons, banks, mercantiles, and the barbershop. The town had grown, Esme realized, probably because of the new stockyard. Ranchers were coming from long distances to sell their cattle in town. It gave her a strange feeling to think she would be doing the very same thing someday, bringing her cattle to auction. If Uncle Simon, an aging and frail scholar, could turn a profit as a rancher, then there was no reason a robust and energetic woman couldn’t do the same. She would show Luke his help was unnecessary. Wouldn’t it be satisfying to throw that back in his face after he’d carried on in his letters that she couldn’t possibly manage?
    “You comfy on this wagon, Miss?” Nolan asked.
    “Fine thanks. I’d rather be on a horse by the way. If I had a mount, I’d be on it.”
    Nolan glanced at Luke who rode ahead of them. “Don’t know why the boss was so bothered that you were coming. You seem like a fine girl.”
    “That’s kind of you to say. I’m not sure why Luke feels that way. In his letters, he offered me a great deal of money for the ranch. I had the impression he was trying to pay me to stay away.”
    Esme glanced at him hoping he might offer a snippet of information about Luke, but Nolan merely smiled. He seemed kind and had a demeanor suggesting he was wise without being domineering. Maybe she could hire him to be foreman of Simon’s ranch. She bit back a smile. Wouldn’t Luke be fit to be tied if she stole his foreman?
    Once it became public knowledge that she’d inherited the ranch, Luke had written to her telling her of the travails that awaited her if she should come to Honey Creek. A single woman with no ranching experience would be an accident waiting to happen. Not only did ranching present risks, but men would line up to exploit her vulnerability, and he wasn’t going to live next door to her and watch it happen. Luke couldn’t have known how hard she’d fought for her inheritance and how her own flesh and blood tried to strong-arm her into relinquishing it. She’d been fighting for Simon’s ranch long before leaving San Antonio, and there was no way on God’s green earth she would sell to Luke or anybody else.
    The road led up a hill, and the team lowered their heads and strained against the harnesses until they climbed to the highest point. The top of the ridge held the breathtaking Hill Country views that Esme adored. Recent rains had turned the hillsides to oceans of sage velvet. The grasses waved as the wind flowed over them.
    By Esme’s calculations they would be at Luke’s ranch by early afternoon. The short trip to Simon’s wouldn’t take more than forty or so minutes more. She smoothed her hands over her skirt as a pang of nervousness hit. She wondered if Luke’s wife would come out to meet her. Would she be obligated to be friendly to the woman? The idea galled her.
    She heaved a sigh. Just a few hours more, she told herself.
    The road trailed along a ridge. Nolan did his best to steer the team around the muddier patches.