The Rancher Read Free Page B

friend’s eyes boring holes into the back of her head.
    “He just told me it’s time to get married, is all.”  She closed the spigot and picked up the second pail, placing it on the elevated shelf to the left of the wooden faucet.
    “He thinks I’ll have a better chance at landing a man in Denver society with my aunt Iris than I do here.  She’s supposed to teach  me   to  be   more   refined   or
    something.”  Abby slid her carrying pole into the handles of the full water buckets.
    “So, why his sudden change?  Hasn’t he always said that no man is good enough for his little rancher girl? Not even the ever-so-perfect Mr. Alaric Johansson?”

    Lily tilted her head and batted hereyelashes.
    Abby’s feelings for the young boy she’dbelieved she’d loved had died a long time
    ago.  It had been ages since she’d thought about him.   Lily just wanted her to be happy, but she just couldn’t understand that the land made her happy.  The horses.  The ranch.
    “I don’t know what happened, but Papa’s been actin’ all strange like for the past few weeks.”  Abby positioned herself under the pole, attempting to balance the water evenly on her shoulders.
    She remembered the day, just after her ma died, when her father had defended her to Mrs. Patterson, the store keeper.  He’d said any man worth a grain of salt could see she was worth her weight in gold and

    if  the   fine   and   well-to-do  Alaric Johansson couldn’t see it, he wasn’t worthy of her. He’d told the nosy busybody that a truly worthy man would recognize her value straight away and wouldn’t make a lady wait, not even one day. His little rancher girl deserved only the best.
    So, why   had   he changed his mind now?
    “I don’t know,” she repeated.   Her words no more than a whisper this time. Abby pushed her legs into a standing position, the weight of the pails throwing her balance off slightly. She wavered.
    Lily ducked her head under the pole and rested it against her shoulders and together they heaved the buckets toward the stable.
    “Suddenly, he’s decided that working on a ranch is not fit for a lady and he

    wants something better for me.” Abby’s hands wrapped more tightly around the pole.  She shook her head and took a deep breath, hoping it would clear her thoughts and help her to focus on the task at hand.  It didn’t work.
    “I love ranching and he knows it. He’s the one who taught me how to ride and shoot better than anyone else in the territory... including him.   No, the SilverHawk was my mother’s dream and I am not about to back away from it.”
    When they finally reached the stable, they nearly dropped the buckets.  Abby had forgotten how heavy they could be when full.
    “Here, let us get those.”  Jim and Bert
    stood on either side of them and removed
    the buckets from the pole and dumped

them into Chester’s in-stall trough.
    Abby was grateful for the help, but thought it odd.   The hired hands rarely stepped up to help with her chores.  They each bowed awkwardly and smiled before leaving.  She glanced over at Lily who had a mile-wide smile plastered on her face.  She looked back to the hands and it dawned on her.   They weren’t helping with her chores, they were trying to impress Lily.
    Abby snorted as she took the brush off its hook on the wall.
    “So, are you really going to do it, then?” Lily asked casually as she sat down on a small wooden stool near the stable
    doors.
    “Do what?” Abby swung the stall door
    wide and walked into Chester’s stall to

    brush him.   When Lily didn’t respond immediately, Abby glanced up.
    Clay McCallister stood in the entrance of the stable.  Abby stopped brushing, but
    didn’t move.   She remembered a time
    when her father had been larger than life to her.   It hadn’t been that long ago.  Something had changed in the last little while and