WM02 - Texas Princess Read Free Page A

wasn’t there, but she’d nd out the truth soon enough. Unlike him, she liked going into town, and on most trips it seemed she talked to everyone she saw.
    Climbing back on the bay, he decided there was only one thing left to do. Like his Apache grandfather once told him. “When the truth only brings sorrow, wrap it in the comfort of a lie.”
    Now al he had to do was think of one before he made it back to Whispering Mountain.

chapter 2
    Y
    The noon sun burned down as Tobin rode into
    the McMurray ranch house yard stil trying to think of how he’d explain to his sister about breaking the medicine bottle. If he told the truth, she’d never understand why he ran from a ght, plus she’d be so angry she’d probably ride to town and take on the cowhands on behalf of her brother. He might not want to ght, but none of his siblings shared his hesitance.
    He noticed the wagon he’d pul ed up near the back porch was gone, tel ing him that Sage and Martha had carried lunch over to the men working on Travis and Rainey’s little cabin in the trees.
    When his brother married a few months ago, everyone thought the new bride and groom would stay in Travis’s room when they were home from Austin. But the newlyweds’ rst visit convinced Travis that having them stay in his smal room was a bad idea. Between his wife’s walking in on Tobin almost nude and Teagen’s complaining about the noises after midnight, there was no doubt the couple needed a place of their own.
    Travis picked a spot in a clearing surrounded by pecan trees and wel out of hearing distance of the main house. They slept on the ground for three nights before Travis decided exactly where he wanted his new home. Rainey drew up the plans, and he started building. A week later he was cal ed back to Austin to help with a trial, but he sent a couple men to get the job done as fast as possible.
    The workers were wel trained and no trouble. They slept in a tent beside the construction. The only problem seemed to be that Travis promised meals, and they had a habit of eating three times a day. The bunkhouse cook, who came every spring to cook for any hands, had retired to Galveston, leaving Martha and Sage to prepare meals for any men working on the ranch. Martha swore she’d have the grassland to the site worn to dirt by the time the men nished Travis and Rainey’s house, even though she only delivered their three meals once a day.
    Tobin looked in the direction of the clearing but couldn’t see the wagon returning. He jumped from his horse and headed straight for the barn.
    Glory lay in her stal , just as she’d been when he left. Her pale yel ow-brown mane blended with straw. It seemed as if she were vanishing a little more every time he saw her.
    “Hey, pretty palomino.” Tobin whispered the greeting he’d used for her al his life. “You want to stand up and say hel o?”
    Her ears twitched, but she didn’t move.
    He slid his hand along her sleek neck. The handkerchief he’d used to bandage his thumb was now soaked in blood, but Tobin hardly noticed the wound. If Glory didn’t move soon, he knew she’d be dead.
    “Come on, pretty girl, stand up for me.” He rubbed his hand down her long nose wishing he had just a little of the medicine left.
    When his hand crossed the end of her nose, she snorted and opened her eyes.
    Tobin smiled. “Morning.” He moved his ngers over her once more, and she snorted again when she breathed in his
    bloody bandage.
    He unwrapped his hand and let her smel the fresh blood.
    Glory huffed her disapproval.
    He gripped her head, making her smel again as a few crimson drops splattered over her.
    She jerked away, but he kept his hand against her nose. “You hate that smel , don’t you, pretty girl?” If he couldn’t get her to react to kind words, maybe it was time to make her mad. He released his hold, but kept his bloody hand close so if she breathed in, she’d be smel ing blood.
    For a second, he swore he