Read Online Cowboy on the Run by Devon McKay - Free Book Online

funny how the ride led to the creek.
    Cutting the engine, she helped her daughter down, accepting the child’s desire to cool off and play in the water for a minute. Jessie’s gaze wandered over the ridge to Nate’s spread. She could hear the consistent sound of hammers and the cutting noise of a saw.
    Her heart skipped a beat. The horse, the hammering... Was he sticking around? And this time, would he follow through with his plan? Well, whatever the big plan happened to be this week anyway.
    Jessie’s stare focused on Jade. Her daughter played on the bank of the creek with both of her feet, shoes and all, in the slow moving water. The child splashed a handful of water in her direction, armed with a smile of pure joy.
    Nate’s smile.
    Damn it. She should have told him about the twins. But she couldn’t. Like a lioness with her cubs, Jessie embraced the dire need to protect her children at all costs. The heartbreak she’d suffered at his hands resurfaced again; she couldn’t allow him the opportunity to hurt them, too.
    But what if...what if he had changed?
    She shook her head. It was too hard to believe Nate wasn’t the same man who left seven years ago. Then, why did he have to come back? She avoided the real question—why did she still love him?
    Jessie coaxed Jade back onto the tractor with the promise of an ice cream cone, and they headed home. Pulling in to the barn, her view was drawn to William still stacking hay, while her father kept him company. Jade ran to her grandfather, embracing him with a big hug around his leg and a story about their adventure. He laughed, giving the little girl his complete attention.
    She shot a concerned glance at her longtime friend. He was wiping the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his forearm. The farm work had been catching up to the man who had been like a second father to her. His face was lined and weary. She should’ve been helping him stack the hay. She swallowed her guilt and walked up to him.
    William winked and flashed the kind of smile she knew had won Rosita’s heart. The two, although not married in the legal sense, were united in heart. They’d both started working the ranch in their thirties, and even though Jessie had only been a baby at the time, it was obvious the two were destined to be together. A fact proven by the twenty plus years they worked together.
    He lifted a bale of hay and stacked it on top of another as she grabbed a square and deposited it to the left of his row. She reached for another bale, but William, a man of few words, stopped her with four.
    “Rosita’s on a mission.”
    She knew what those words meant—avoid the woman at all costs. The petite beauty with dark hair and darker eyes had a fierce determination. If she set her sights on something there was little standing in the way of her accomplishing the goal.
    Jessie was curious about William’s warning, but decided not to delve any deeper. She thanked him for the heads up and started walking toward the house. Taking the caution in stride, she figured she could be in and out of the house, showered and ready for work in less than fifteen minutes.
    She was wrong.
    Rosita met her at the front door with two large glasses of iced tea.
    Steering Jessie to the front porch swing, she said, “You missed lunch. Come, sit a spell.” The housekeeper sat on the bench of the swing and patted the seat. The request, more a silent demand, left no room for discussion.
    Rosita took a long sip of her iced tea, waiting for her to sit before speaking. “You work too hard, Jessie. It’s not right for you to work your fingers to the bone like this day in and day out. Your father was the same way.” And look at him now .
    Jessie nodded her head in agreement, shifting in her seat. Finding the perfect position, she feigned relaxation.
    “You need a husband.”
    She opened her eyes with a start, staring in shock at the woman. Wincing, she read the clear disappointment etched on Rosita’s