The Reluctant Rancher~Badlands (Contemporary Western Romantic Suspense) Read Free Page B

ride. She had learned to live frugally without expectations of more than she needed. When she inherited the sprawling ranch complete with horses, cattle, cowboys and miles of grassland and pastures under tillage, she had been less than enthusiastic.
    Only her conviction that her aunt had been murdered had kept her in Langston, Texas. But that was before Breckenridge T. Ryan wooed her with his many charms. He had managed to work his way into her heart in spite of the fact that she had a fiancé waiting for her in Houston, as well as the promise of a fellowship to do medical rese arch, which had been her dream.
    She had fallen in love, not only with Breck, but also with the small town and its inhabitants. She was content with her practice and felt a great sense of responsibility to the townsfolk and those living in the outlying area. They depended on her for their well-being. Since she began to practice in town, old Doc Parker had ostensibly retired and was enjoying his passion for fly-fishing. But he still came in half a day every week to keep up with some of his long-time and very devoted patients.
    Cami closed the door to her office and went to the front reception area where Reba, her nurse was conversing with Loretta. They seemed to be in deep conversation. When Cami stepped into view, both women stopped talking abruptly. Loretta busied herself with shuffling papers and Reba stepped back, folded her ar ms across her chest and sighed.
    “Am I interrupting something?” Cami asked.
    “No—No, we were just…” Loretta began.
    “Oh, heck. You caught us.” Reba shrugged. “We were gossiping about E.J. Kincaid and his father…Just wondering if the kid was going to carry on in his dad’s footsteps and change into a land-grabbing bastard…or if there was a chance he might turn out to be an asset to the community.” She heaved another huge sigh. “I’m thinking that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. E.J. is a big, good-looking peacock like his dad.”
    Loretta looked up from her papers, her face flushed. “But that just doesn’t make any sense. There are plenty of good kids from bad families and I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt.”
    Cami nodded. “E.J. has never been anything but nice to me, so I’m with Loretta. Let’s not lump him together with Eldon just because his last name is Kincaid.”
    Loretta smiled brightly. “That’s right. Give him a chance to prove himself.”
    Reba raised her eyebrows. “Not convinced. He was probably just buttering you up so he could get his grubby paws on your property. The Kincaids are like that. If you’ve got land, they want to it.” She shot a dark glance at Cami. “After all, didn’t Eldon murder Silky so he could get her property?”
    Cami shook her head and side-stepped the question. “Who knows?” She turned to Loretta and asked, “What time is my first appointment tomorrow?”
    “Eight-thirty. Sara Beth Jessup is bringing the baby in for a checkup…and you’re busy until lunch time. Then you and Reba can trek out to old man Forster’s place to check on him and the missus.”
    Cami grinned. Only in Langston did the doctor actually make house calls with a little black bag and a rough and ready nurse by her side. “See you ladies tomorrow morning. Cut E.J. some slack, Reba. He’s not such a bad guy.”
    She pushed out through the door before Reba could make a come-back. Cami knew far too much about E.J. Kincaid. Perhaps more than he knew about himself, and she was sworn to keep his secrets. She climbed into her car and experienced a twinge of guilt, knowing that she kept this secret from her own husband. But Breck, being an attorney and an officer of the court would be bound to turn her information over to the proper authorities…and it would serve no good purpose. She had used her knowledge to leverage Eldon into making a confession to her Aunt Silky’s murder and at the time, that was all she'd cared about.
    At least that was