The Rancher Takes A Bride Read Free

last two years. They both knew it was a way of avoiding a subject they didn't agree on. "I'm busy with the ranch right now."
    For a moment she just stared at him. She sighed. "You must admit, Miss Severin is a stunning creature."
    Stunning didn't begin to describe her. More like a curvaceous stick of seductive dynamite. One wrong move, and he'd go up in flames.
    The memory of her glossy brown curls, framing a face that was almost ethereal, left him wondering what she looked like underneath that red dress that dipped low, revealing the curve of her breast. Travis reminded himself that it wouldn't matter if she were prettier than Molly Riley's highest-priced whore. She was still a cheat and a liar, even if her emerald eyes teased of hidden promises and enticing pleasures.
    He shrugged his shoulders, trying to appear indifferent. "What does it matter what she looks like? She's cheating people out of their money. She's deceiving them."
    "Travis Burnett, everything in your world is black and white. If you'd been born a woman, you would understand her plight."
    "What plight? Seems to me like she's got it pretty easy."
    "A man has choices he can make as to how he's going to earn his living. A woman can either get married or become a cook, a laundress, or a soiled dove. If she's real lucky, she might get a job as a schoolteacher or a governess. But most women choose marriage."
    "Maybe." If he didn't divert her attention, he'd be hearing the lecture on getting married and producing an heir. "But do you really believe she saw Tanner?"
    For a moment his mother's bottom lip trembled with indecision. Exasperated, she stood—all five feet, three inches—and came around the desk to stand in front of her son. "I don't know for certain."
    "Yes or no, Mother?"
    "There you go again, speaking in absolutes."
    Travis stared at her and frowned with annoyance.
    "I can't give up and admit your brother is dead. I have to try everything I can to find him, even unconventional ways if that's what it takes."
    Travis hung his head and shook it from side to side in disbelief. His sensible mother believed the little cheat!
    One visit and somehow Desirée Severin had gotten her money-grabbing hooks into his mom.
    "Then hire another investigator. Just don't go see Desirée Severin again. She's a cheat, a beautiful fraud who wants to separate you from your money."
    "She's compassionate and friendly, and she soothed poor Mrs. McLaughlin's grief. She made the woman feel good for those few minutes. And for the first time in a long time, I've felt hope at finding out the truth about Tanner." She sighed. "I'd be doing the same if it were you. I still miss him terribly."
    "We all do, Mother. But we don't hold séances to try to contact him."
    "Maybe we should." She looked him square in the eye and with a defiant shake of her head said, "We could invite her to dinner. Maybe if you got to know her, you'd feel differently."
    A jolt of pure shock almost knocked Travis out of his chair. He reacted instantly. "That's crazy!" Throwing up his hands, he took a calming breath. "Miss Severin, if that is her real name, comforted your friend by lying, by pretending to be able to speak with her dead husband. Tanner is dead or else he would be home. No one can speak with him. She's after your money, Mother!"
    "Oh, Travis. When did you become so suspicious of everyone?"
    Slowly he rose from the chair, a fierce sense of protectiveness encompassing all six feet of him as he towered over his petite mother.
    "You know, Mother, even Father agreed you were stubborn and likely to do what you wanted whether he approved or not I don't want to see you taken advantage of, so I'm going to insist you stay away from Miss Severin."
    She lifted her chin. "You're my son, not my keeper."
    "I don't care. If you see this woman again, I'll go straight to Tucker and together we'll make sure we close her down."
    "But she's not doing anything wrong. She's helping people. Why can't you show a little