Wild At Heart Read Free Page A

fiancé, but betrayal and anger scalded away her tears.
    A trip out west sounded better and better with every turn of the carriage wheel as it bumped along the brick road.

two
    A hairy tarantula skittered across the top of Adam McFarland’s head. He jerked and tried to lift his hand to brush it away, but his arm felt weighted down, his body sluggish to react. A loud train whistle and the feeling of his body slipping sideways on the bench jarred him fully awake. He shoved out his left arm to halt his slide and grabbed his new Clay Barton felt hat lying on the seat next to him before it slid into the aisle. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as the Northern Pacific clattered and shimmied its way west.
    Though he knew he’d only been dreaming, Adam’s head itched as if the spider were actually there. He scratched the top of his head, his hand encountering something light and fluffy. Looking upward, he let out a quiet groan. Now he remembered. Ever since the pretty gal with the garishly frilly hat had taken the seat behind him, Adam had warred with those stupid feathers. He pivoted back around, resisting the urge to yank them off the woman’s hat. He knew his thoughts were unmannerly, but a man shouldn’t have to fight birds on a train ride.
    He struggled to keep from smiling as he imagined the woman’s face if he were to toss her hat in the air and shoot off the offending plumage. Why did a pretty gal think she needed a headdress to improve her appearance? He shook his head, glad his twin sister, Anna, was more levelheaded and practical.
    Adam stared out the window as the flat landscape of North Dakota gradually yielded to the bumps and mounds, which would soon reveal his beloved badlands. He didn’t leave home often and missed the rugged beauty of the area where his family’s Rocking M Ranch was located.
    The contract he’d received while in Chicago was safe in his jacket pocket, but he tugged on the lapel anyway for a quick glance. Art dealer and gallery owner, Trenton Howard, had been far more excited about Adam’s drawings of the West than he’d expected. He’d bought all ten, right out of Adam’s portfolio, and commissioned him to draw a dozen more, with the promise of a gallery showing and future business if the pictures sold as he thought they would.
    Scratching his head again, Adam wondered how he’d break the news to his sister and brother that he’d be leaving. He’d dreamed for years of traveling farther west and maybe even down south to Texas, where his family originated, to sketch pictures of cowboys, ranch settings, and even some Indians.
    Anna wouldn’t like him leaving. As twins, they’d always been close. His hardworking brother, Quinn, kept the ranch running well but was quiet and preferred to be alone more than socializing with his family.
    Would Quinn listen to Anna during her chatty spells? Would he hug her when she was lonely or discouraged?
    The view of his mother waving good-bye at the depot after his visit in Bismarck stayed with him. She felt pulled between her children and her own needy mother, but with her children all grown now, she had decided her mother needed her more. Anna would be disappointed to learn she would be staying in Bismarck awhile longer tending their grandmother who’d broken her leg.
    Adam looked out the window at the scenery whizzing past. Quinn would do what he needed where Anna was concerned, of that Adam was certain. His older brother wasn’t the most affectionate person in the world but had been a father figure ever since their pa died years ago.
    For the first time, Adam considered what leaving the ranch meant to him. No more family. No familiar bed to sleep in at night. And no more of Leyna’s delicious German cooking.
    Adam scratched the top of his head. Sure, there were things he’d miss, sacrifices to be made, but still the adventure of traveling called to him. Lured him like a honeybee to a flower or a lost calf to its mother. His fingers tingled as