Read Online A Walk in Heaven by Marie Higgins - Free Book Online Page B

train station? That dress she wore was something women wear when they’re going to a ball, for goodness sake! Her servant even dresses like she was living in high-cotton. That right there tells me Careen isn’t used to getting her hands dirty. She isn’t used to dirt at all. She’s used to having tea and biscuits three or four times a day, and stitching those things that women do, and walking through the flower gardens for entertainment. I highly doubt she has even smelled a steer, let alone touched one.”
    Peter clenched his fist. “There’s no reason for you to talk that way about her. She’s more of a lady than we’ve ever met around these parts, so she deserves more respect from you.”
    “Exactly.” Joshua nodded. “She’s a lady , which means she won’t be going with us on the cattle drive.”
    Silence took over the group; only the grunts of the cattle disturbed the hush. He glanced at Peter, who didn’t appear as angry now. Gage knelt on the ground with a rope as he softly whistled. Joshua couldn’t believe how the arrival of their sister-in-law had turned his brothers into love-struck fools. That girl was more trouble than she was worth.
    The problem was…she wasn’t a girl. Joshua figured her to be in her early twenties. And he still couldn’t figure out why such a pretty woman would advertise herself as a mail-order bride when she could have married easily.
    “We got another runaway,” Peter said, pointing to the calf run ning in the opposite direction.
    “I got him.” Joshua sprinted to his bay gelding and slung his right leg over the saddle. “Ha!” He urged the animal into a run even before his feet found the stirrups. A good fifty feet ahead, the calf kicked out little clouds of dust, weaving back and forth along the trail. Joshua quickly snatched his lariat from the pommel, readying it as he closed in on the animal. On instinct born of years of practice, he raised the rope, expertly flicked his arm and sent the line sailing through the air. Despite the calf’s erratic movements, the loop settled easily around it’s head. Joshua immediately tightened the loop, drew alongside and drove onto the angry beast. Struggling to subdue the animal’s flailing limbs, he pinned the calf to the ground, quickly tying off his front and back legs. Now to get him back to the herd.
    As his horse trotted back and he struggled carrying the insistent calf, Joshua realized how mundane his life had become. He pretty much did the same thing every day from sunup to sundown, from the first of May through the end of October. Even the months in between were the same as he spent them with his daughters. Perhaps that’s why he felt like he’d been in a rut lately. If given the chance, would he break and run for freedom for a new life like this calf had done? Like Matthew had done?
    Joshua dismissed the thought. He was not his brother. He wasn’t restless. He didn’t need to do anything else. Ranching was in his blood and what he loved. Sometimes he just wished something else would come along and make things a little different. Perhaps it was time to search for a wife. Chuckling to himself, he shook his head. That would definitely shake up his world. Regardless, his daughters needed a mother. Joshua’s own mother couldn’t raise them, although he knew she would if circumstances came down to it.
    When he’d been in town picking up his sister-in-law the other day, Joshua noticed an announcement for a barn raising . It had been a while since he’d attended one of those. It was a good way to meet the single ladies in the area as well as giving good Christian community service. He would definitely have to think about going.
    He brought the calf back to be branded, which Peter and Gage did quickly. Just as Joshua moved to pull in another calf, a scent drifted through the air. Both of his brothers stopped, lifted their noses and sniffed.
    Smoke.
    Joshua spun toward the house. A cloud of black smoke billowed from