The Cowboy Code Read Free

window.
    He’s probably planning his escape route, she thought.
    The bunkhouse was certainly a few stories down from their apartment in SoHo. And here Danny didn’t have his own bedroom.
    Joe held out his hand to shake Danny’s. “I’ll see you later for grub. Make up your bunk and get settled in, and I’ll escort your aunt to the main house. When the others arrive, the boys will show you all around the ranch.”
    Danny shook Joe’s hand but didn’t meet his gaze, looking at the floor. Maggie tried to swallow the lump in her throat, saddened that Danny would freeze out the man who was his best shot at a fresh start.
    She willed herself to believe that coming here had been a good idea.
    As she followed Joe up the hill to the house, Maggie noticed that the rambling stone and log structure somehow fit perfectly into the landscape. A snow-capped mountain range and a copse of conifers peeked over the roof, completing the picture.
    Maggie stared in awe. “What a breathtaking house. I can’t wait to see inside.”
    There was still a fairly steep climb on a landscaped brick walkway to get to the front door.
    Joe smiled. “My father built it for my mother when they were first married. She’s Lakota Sioux, and he constructed the house with twelve beams, just like the Lakota teepee was constructed with twelve poles. And the door faces east, which represents the rising sun and a new day.”
    She’d been right. He was part Native American.
    She stole a glance at Joe. Effortlessly carrying her heavy suitcase and tote bag, he wasn’t even breathing hard. Every arm muscle bulged under his shirt. His thighs looked rock-hard under his jeans.
    His physical appearance made her heart pump faster, but there was so much more to Joe. He seemed to have a quiet dignity and an almost inner peace about him, as if he knew the secret of keeping centered. She hoped he’d share his secret with Danny, and her, too.
    Maybe Danny was right to worry. She was interested in Joe.
    But she wasn’t interested in him in a romanticway. He intrigued her, probably because he was just so different from the men she knew. That didn’t mean that they were going to start something, like Danny seemed to think.
    Not when her main concern was her nephew and getting him through Cowboy Quest.
    She might as well add herself to that. She had to get through Cowboy Quest, too, and she didn’t know the first thing about riding a horse or going on a cattle drive.
    But one thing she did know was that she was going to do her best and then maybe, just maybe, she and Danny would become a closer, happier and stronger family.

Chapter Two
    J oe felt the burn in his muscles from carrying Maggie’s suitcases up the hill to his house.
    Good. It took his mind off her—a little.
    She was a strikingly beautiful woman. Her hair shimmered like spun gold in the afternoon sun, and her green eyes were bright and sparkly. Even if he hadn’t already known from reading the probation department’s report, he could tell she was a dancer by the way she moved—graceful and light on her feet. She almost floated when she walked.
    She didn’t seem to be the type who could handle mucking out stalls, grooming horses or several days on a cattle drive.
    He opened the door to let her in. “Make yourself at home. My Aunt Betty is usually here in the office doing the record keeping and running my life, not necessarily in that order, but she’s visiting her sister in Tucson for a couple of months. So the place is all yours.”
    â€œI can’t imagine having this whole house to myself. This is magnificent, Joe. My apartment in New York can fit into it about forty times!” Her excitement faded. “But if I wasn’t here, you could have stayed in your home instead of at the bunkhouse.”
    â€œNo, I always bunk with the kids during Cowboy Quest. So make yourself at home.”
    The only other