Read Online Be My Texas Valentine by Jodi Thomas, DeWanna Pace, Linda Broday, Phyliss Miranda - Free Book Online Page B
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he should go in one direction.
At one house the woman followed her out to her wagon and handed her a ball of blue twine. “Tie it in a bow on each bedpost and you’ll sleep many years with this one.”
Valerie took the yarn guessing Brody would laugh at her if she tried such a thing.
When she stopped to have an early lunch with her father, he commented that people were leaving good luck charms with him.
“How you getting on with this one?” he asked.
She remembered a week after she’d married the first husband, she’d been too proud to beg to come home, but her father must have seen her sorrow. With the second husband, Samuel, it was more a long shot from the beginning. They barely knew each other and the mating between them had been fast and mechanical.
She hadn’t loved either of them, but she’d done her duty and mourned them both.
“He’s a hard worker,” Valerie said to her father when she realized she hadn’t answered. She wanted someone to talk to. “He cares about me, Papa. Little things, like he doesn’t start eating until I sit down, and he’s kind. He worries about me. He even made me buy gloves. And he kisses me, not because he thinks he should or out of duty, but just because he wants to.”
Valerie knew she was rambling, but she had to get all that was Brody Monroe put together in her mind. One thing he was not. He was not going to be just a partner she could walk away from after a year. He’d proved that this morning when he’d kissed her good-bye.
Her father nodded his head as if he were reading his daughter’s mind. “I saw that, even from the first. Men like him, they’ve been damaged by the war. Hurt bad in more ways than just the body. They may never say the words, but I think he loves you or, at the least, he’s willing to try his best.”
She shook her head. “Four days married and he left me to go finish a job for Boss.”
“When it’s done, he’ll stay around. If you want him?”
She smiled. “I want him, Papa.”
An hour later when she got home, she was a little surprised Brody wasn’t waiting for her. She spent the day cleaning house and planning a garden. By nightfall, when he wasn’t home, she grew worried.
Finally, after midnight, she went to bed alone. She spent the night worrying about what might have happened to him, and by dawn, she had the buggy ready at first light. She didn’t know where he was, but she knew two things. He didn’t stay away of his own will, and she didn’t plan to sleep until she found him.
Dead or alive, she’d bring Brody Monroe home, where he belonged.
Chapter 8
Brody spent the night leaning against a huge rock that had wedged his leg so completely against the solid wall of the canyon he couldn’t move. Hours ago, he’d climbed over the barricade he’d built to check on the cow and her calf before spending a few hours moving rock so he could get them out. Only, when he was almost all the way down, he slipped, causing an avalanche tumbling after him. His right leg slipped between two rocks and others piled down on top, bruising him all over and making it impossible to move enough even to get a grip on any rock so he might try to free himself.
He spent a few hours yelling for help, then trying to reach his Colt, but it was no use. His voice grew hoarse and the back of his hands were scraped and bleeding. As nightfall came, he tried to sleep, conserving his energy so he could fight to get free at first light. He knew no one would be coming for him. No one on the Double R knew where he was, and if they did, he doubted any of the cowboys would search. He’d always been invisible to them.
If he was lucky, his horse might go back to the barn. It had been her home for over a year. If she was hungry enough, she might wander back. Then at least Caleb would know he’d been on the ranch. He might come looking, but with all the miles of open range, he wouldn’t have much luck at finding one man hidden behind a wall of
At one house the woman followed her out to her wagon and handed her a ball of blue twine. “Tie it in a bow on each bedpost and you’ll sleep many years with this one.”
Valerie took the yarn guessing Brody would laugh at her if she tried such a thing.
When she stopped to have an early lunch with her father, he commented that people were leaving good luck charms with him.
“How you getting on with this one?” he asked.
She remembered a week after she’d married the first husband, she’d been too proud to beg to come home, but her father must have seen her sorrow. With the second husband, Samuel, it was more a long shot from the beginning. They barely knew each other and the mating between them had been fast and mechanical.
She hadn’t loved either of them, but she’d done her duty and mourned them both.
“He’s a hard worker,” Valerie said to her father when she realized she hadn’t answered. She wanted someone to talk to. “He cares about me, Papa. Little things, like he doesn’t start eating until I sit down, and he’s kind. He worries about me. He even made me buy gloves. And he kisses me, not because he thinks he should or out of duty, but just because he wants to.”
Valerie knew she was rambling, but she had to get all that was Brody Monroe put together in her mind. One thing he was not. He was not going to be just a partner she could walk away from after a year. He’d proved that this morning when he’d kissed her good-bye.
Her father nodded his head as if he were reading his daughter’s mind. “I saw that, even from the first. Men like him, they’ve been damaged by the war. Hurt bad in more ways than just the body. They may never say the words, but I think he loves you or, at the least, he’s willing to try his best.”
She shook her head. “Four days married and he left me to go finish a job for Boss.”
“When it’s done, he’ll stay around. If you want him?”
She smiled. “I want him, Papa.”
An hour later when she got home, she was a little surprised Brody wasn’t waiting for her. She spent the day cleaning house and planning a garden. By nightfall, when he wasn’t home, she grew worried.
Finally, after midnight, she went to bed alone. She spent the night worrying about what might have happened to him, and by dawn, she had the buggy ready at first light. She didn’t know where he was, but she knew two things. He didn’t stay away of his own will, and she didn’t plan to sleep until she found him.
Dead or alive, she’d bring Brody Monroe home, where he belonged.
Chapter 8
Brody spent the night leaning against a huge rock that had wedged his leg so completely against the solid wall of the canyon he couldn’t move. Hours ago, he’d climbed over the barricade he’d built to check on the cow and her calf before spending a few hours moving rock so he could get them out. Only, when he was almost all the way down, he slipped, causing an avalanche tumbling after him. His right leg slipped between two rocks and others piled down on top, bruising him all over and making it impossible to move enough even to get a grip on any rock so he might try to free himself.
He spent a few hours yelling for help, then trying to reach his Colt, but it was no use. His voice grew hoarse and the back of his hands were scraped and bleeding. As nightfall came, he tried to sleep, conserving his energy so he could fight to get free at first light. He knew no one would be coming for him. No one on the Double R knew where he was, and if they did, he doubted any of the cowboys would search. He’d always been invisible to them.
If he was lucky, his horse might go back to the barn. It had been her home for over a year. If she was hungry enough, she might wander back. Then at least Caleb would know he’d been on the ranch. He might come looking, but with all the miles of open range, he wouldn’t have much luck at finding one man hidden behind a wall of
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