Read Online Cowgirls Don't Cry by Silver James - Free Book Online Page B

was jealous. It was an emotion that would take some getting used to.
    He started the truck, backed up until he had room to turn around and headed toward the main road. He had a lot to think about.
    * * *
    Cassie waited until she heard Chance drive away before she kicked off her boots and peeled out of her wet jeans. The man was a player. She knew that with every feminine instinct she possessed. Serial daters. That’s what her best friend in Chicago called guys like him. Hopping from bed to bed. Their smart phone containing a contact folder simply labeled “Easy.” The last thing she needed or wanted was to hook up with an Oklahoma cowboy, even if he had a fine ass, gorgeous build and a face that could melt the South Pole. Cowboys wanted cowgirls, and she no longer fit that description.
    Standing in her bra and panties damp from more than rain, she turned a slow circle. Her room. Which hadn’t changed a bit since she left for college ten years before. Trophies and buckles littered the top of her dresser with a couple of framed photographs stuffed among them. In one, she stood next to Barney, her first horse. She barely reached the top of his front leg, despite the hat jammed on her head. She proudly held her first championship buckle, even though she hadn’t even been big enough to mount Barney without a boost at the time. In another, she sat behind her dad’s saddle, her arms around his waist. In a third, she posed with a saddle she’d won.
    A tap on her door sent her scrambling for her robe. She shoved her arms through the worn flannel sleeves and tied it at her waist. “C’mon in, Uncle Boots.”
    The door swung open, creaking a little. “We need to talk, baby girl.”
    Cass nodded. “Let me grab a shower first?”
    He nodded, turned and shuffled down the hall to the living room. She dashed to the bathroom. Though she would have preferred to stand there until the hot water tank emptied, she showered quickly and dressed in clean jeans and a fresh T-shirt. When she was ready, she went out to the living room and settled on the couch. Boots sat in his recliner looking uncomfortable. Cass wet her bottom lip with a nervous swipe of her tongue and felt way too much like a teenager caught making out.
    “You still planning on selling out?”
    Selling
out
? That sounded almost ugly, and disloyal—and not at all what she anticipated for a topic. “I’m not a rancher, Uncle Boots. I need to sell the place to pay Daddy’s debts. And to give you a cushion so you can find a little place.”
    “This ain’t about me, Cassidy. This is about you. About the heritage your daddy left for you. About who you are deep down.”
    She clasped her hands together and shoved them between her knees as she leaned forward. Staring at her bare toes, she gathered her thoughts. “I’m not a cowgirl, Uncle Boots. Haven’t been since I left for college.”
    “Then why did you go round up the horses when the storm hit?”
    “Because it needed doing.”
    “Would a city girl have gotten soakin’ wet to move them into the barn?”
    “Just because I knew what was the right thing to do doesn’t mean I want to run this ranch.”
    Boots leaned back and stared out the front window. “Ben went lookin’ for a colt. A very special colt. For you.” He held up his hand when she started to speak, and his words cut through any argument she might offer. “Just hush up and listen, Cassidy.” His eyes returned to the scenery outside. The silence stretching between them wasn’t comfortable, but Cass remained quiet.
    “Your daddy knew you didn’t want to stay here. He hoped you would, but he knew deep down that you had to go off and see the world. He did the same thing.” He glanced in her direction. “He lived on the road for a good many years. And then he met your momma. She put down roots here. Deep ones. Then you came along. So he settled down. He built this place fence post by fence post. At one time, Morgan-Baxter Rodeo Company supplied