Read Online Cowboy Seeks Bride by Carolyn Brown - Free Book Online Page B

pockets bulging over those big breasts that had poked into his chest the night before.
    “Good morning,” she said.
    “What’s so good about it?” he grouched.
    “It’s not raining and I smell breakfast cooking. Two good things,” she said.
    He did a half snort, half humph and tied the rope knots around his bedroll. “We’ve got the Comanche thing today.”
    “What’s that?” she asked.
    “Didn’t Carl give you an itinerary?”
    She shook her head. “He said that I didn’t need anything that would cloud my ideas. I did do some extensive research back when I came up with the idea. Aren’t Comanches Indians?”
    Coosie laughed as he flipped plate-sized pancakes in a big cast-iron skillet. “Comanche is a town probably about eleven or twelve miles north of where we are right now. We’ll be doing a parade through the town in the middle of the afternoon since it’s one of the big things on the historic Chisholm Trail. The newspaper folks will take pictures and maybe even corner one of us for a few quotes. My main concern is getting to the service station with a water hose so I can fill up the barrel. We’re getting low and it’ll be a while before we are in another town.”
    “Oh, I remember now. It was called Tucker at first and the town site was north of where it is now. Are we going through town? Won’t that take us off the real trail? Is there a possibility there’s an old saloon or bank or something still standing that was built during the cattle run days?” she asked.
    “So you did some homework,” Dewar said.
    “Had to in order to make this all happen to begin with,” she said.
    Dewar glanced at Haley. Had he dreamed the kiss from the night before? “The town is real big on being part of the Chisholm Trail and they’ve asked for a parade. When we move the cattle out of the fields and start up the highway, you’ll ride point with me. Coosie will bring up the rear in the chuck wagon. Buddy and Sawyer will herd from the east side and Rhett and Finn from the west side. If we all keep in our place it should be fairly easy traveling.”
    “Why do I ride point?” she asked.
    “Because the people in town are all going to want to see the person responsible for bringing a reality television show through their town. Think of it as being the queen of the rodeo,” Dewar said.
    Coosie slapped a pancake on a plate and handed it to Haley. “Syrup, butter, and sausage patties are on the table. Help yourselves.”
    “So why all the worry about going through town?” she asked.
    Rhett raised his hand. “I’m done with breakfast. I’ll answer that one. We’ve got one rangy old longhorn bull that hates loud noises and ninety-nine more head of cattle that could stampede at the drop of a hat. Think about glass window fronts, the sides of the street packed with people watching the trail run. Now add in a lot of yelling kids, dashing out into the street to see if they can touch the horns on our big bull. It could go smooth. It could be a total disaster.”
    “Ah, the stuff reality shows are made of,” Sawyer said. “You going to finish the drive if you get a broke leg in a stampede?”
    “I’ll finish it if I have to ride on the horns of that bull,” she smarted off. And by golly, she would, too.
    ***
    Haley snuck looks toward Dewar as he ate that morning. She’d awakened with a smile and touched her lips to see if they were still as warm as they’d been when she went to sleep. He’d awakened grouchy. Did that mean he was sorry he’d kissed her?
    She hung back when they started out.
    Coosie looked straight ahead and didn’t offer anything at all. It looked like another long morning with nothing to think about but the kiss, and that was dangerous territory.
    “Tell me about you and Buddy. Are y’all brothers?” she finally asked.
    Coosie flicked the reins to get the horses to move along a little faster. The land had more rolling hills than the day before and they weren’t too keen on pulling