To Wear His Ring Read Free Page B

letters. Then all she had to do was stuff, lick, stamp and mail the envelopes.
    Gil put on the stamps for her. He watched her curiously. Once, when she looked up into his eyes, it was like an electric shock. Surprised, she dropped her gaze and blushed. Really, she thought, he had a strange effect on her.
    “How do you like your job so far?” he asked.
    “Very much,” she said. “Except for the taxes.”
    “You’ll get used to doing them,” he assured her.
    “I suppose so.”
    “Can you manage John’s load and mine as well, or do you want me to get a temporary to help you?”
    “There isn’t a lot,” she pointed out. “If I get overwhelmed, I’ll say so.”
    He finished stamping the envelopes and stacked them neatly to one side. “You’re very honest. It’s unusual in most people.” He touched a stamp with a floral motif. “My wife was like that.” He smiled. “She said that lies were a waste of time, since they got found out anyway.” His eyes were far away. “We were in grammar school together. We always knew that we’d marry one day.” The smile faded into misery. “She was a wonderful rider. She rode in the rodeo when she was younger. But a gentle horse ran away with her and a low-lying limb ended her life. Jenny was only a year old when Darlene died. Bess was two. I thought my life was over, too.”
    Kasie didn’t know what to say. It shocked her that a man like Gil would even discuss something so personal with a stranger. Of course, a lot of people discussed even more personal things with Kasie. Maybe she had that sort of face that attracted confidences.
    “Do the girls look like her?” she asked daringly.
    “Bess does. She was blond and blue-eyed. She wasn’t beautiful, but her smile was.” His eyes narrowed in painful memory. “They had to sedate me to make me let go of her. I wouldn’t believe them, even when they swore to me that no means on earth could save her…” His fingers clenched on top of the envelope and he moved his hand away at once and stood up. “Thanks, Kasie,” he said curtly, turning away, as if it embarrassed him to have spoken of his wife at all.
    “Mr. Callister,” she said softly, waiting until heturned to continue. “I lost…some people three months ago. I understand grief.”
    He hesitated. “How did they die?”
    Her face closed up. “It was…an accident. They were only in their twenties. I thought they had years left.”
    “Life is unpredictable,” he told her. “Sometimes unbearable. But everything passes. Even bad times.”
    “Yes, that’s what everyone says,” she agreed.
    They shared a long, quiet, puzzling exchange of sorrow before he shrugged and turned away, leaving her to her work.

Chapter Two
    K asie was almost tearing her hair out by the next afternoon. John’s mail was straightforward, mostly about show dates and cancellations, transportation for the animals and personal correspondence. Gil’s was something else.
    Gil not only ran the ranch, but he dealt with the majority of the support companies that were its satellites. He knew all the managers by first names, he often spoke with state and federal officials, including well-known senators, on legislation affecting beef production. Besides that, he was involved in the scientific study of new grasses and earth-friendly pesticides and fertilizers. He worked with resource and conservation groups, even an animal rights group; since he didn’t run slaughter cattle and was rabidly proconservation, at least one group was happy to have his name on its board of directors. He was a powerhouse of energy, working from dawn until well afterdark. The problem was, every single task he undertook was accompanied by a ton of paperwork. And his part-time secretary, Pauline Raines, was the most disorganized human being Kasie had ever encountered.
    John came home late on Friday evening, and was surprised to find Kasie still at work in the study.
    He scowled as he tossed his Stetson onto a rack.