Read Online Daisies in the Canyon by Carolyn Brown - Free Book Online
Authors: Carolyn Brown
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no, thank you. Abby would rather stay on the ranch than go meet the neighbors this week. By her calculations, when they got this truckload of hay unloaded, there’d be another one to do. Then late that evening it started all over again. Forget the running in the morning. She’d be getting plenty of exercise with ranching and she could get an extra hour of sleep—provided that the nightmares stayed away.
“I’ll go to church with you,” Bonnie said. “I’d like to meet the people here in the canyon and get acquainted since I’m plannin’ on bein’ here a long, long time.”
“I’ll honk one time. If you don’t come out the door at the count of five, you can find your own way,” Rusty said.
“Hard-ass, ain’t you?” Abby smarted off.
“Darlin’, he’s just protecting his interests. He promised to teach us. He didn’t promise to like it or to baby us. He and Ezra are cut from the same cloth. He’d probably drown his girl babies,” Shiloh said.
Rusty chuckled. “Naw, I’d sell them to the gypsies that come through here in the spring every year. Ain’t no use in drownin’ something that could bring in a few dollars.”
Abby decided right then that she liked Rusty. He had a sense of humor. He didn’t turn her insides to mush like Cooper. She damn sure didn’t have visions of stripping his clothes off and having wild passionate sex with him. And that was a good thing.
Shiloh threw her last bale on the truck and crawled over the side to get it situated right on the top of the others. “Don’t want y’all bitchin’ at me because I didn’t do the job right.”
“Are you ready to go back to Arkansas?” Abby asked.
“Hell, no! I might not be superwomen like you two but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to throw in the towel the first day,” she said.
“All right ladies, time to move this wagon train out so we can come back and do it again. Who’s going to milk the cow and who’s going to feed the hogs and gather the eggs? I figure there’s a job for each of you. You can keep that job every day, or you can switch off. They’re minor jobs, but when it comes to working cows or deliverin’ baby pigs, you’ll all have to learn that part.”
Abby raised her hand. “I’ll take care of the hog feeding.”
There was no way in hell she was going to admit that she hated chickens and didn’t know jack shit about milking a damn cow.
“I’ll take the milking every morning. I’ve done it many, many times,” Bonnie said.
“Your trailer on a farm?” Abby asked.
Bonnie’s head bobbed once. “My grandparents had a little bit of land and they deeded an acre over to Mama. They’re gone now, but they did some small-time ranchin’ and farmin’. After they were gone, one of Mama’s boyfriends fancied himself a rancher. He had a milk cow and a pen full of goats. He didn’t like to take care of them, so the job fell on me.”
“That leaves me with chickens. I can do that,” Shiloh said. “My grandmother had a henhouse when I was a little girl. I used to gather eggs. I guess it’s like riding a bicycle. You never unlearn the art once you get it down.”
Abby paced from the living room through the kitchen to her bedroom and back to the living room. The house was empty with both Shiloh and Bonnie taking Rusty up on his offer to go to church. Finally she stretched out on the sofa, leaned her head back on the arm, and shut her eyes.
Of course a picture of Cooper popped into her head. He wore that leather jacket and his cowboy hat and snow fell on his sexy facial hair. If only there was a button she could push to delete the damn scene, but it was burned into her brain as surely as if it had been branded there.
“Branded,” she groaned. According to Rusty, they’d have to help with that job, too. Her nose snarled at the imagined scent of burning hair.
A knock on the door brought her to a sitting position. The second one took her to her feet. There was no peephole, so she eased it open
“I’ll go to church with you,” Bonnie said. “I’d like to meet the people here in the canyon and get acquainted since I’m plannin’ on bein’ here a long, long time.”
“I’ll honk one time. If you don’t come out the door at the count of five, you can find your own way,” Rusty said.
“Hard-ass, ain’t you?” Abby smarted off.
“Darlin’, he’s just protecting his interests. He promised to teach us. He didn’t promise to like it or to baby us. He and Ezra are cut from the same cloth. He’d probably drown his girl babies,” Shiloh said.
Rusty chuckled. “Naw, I’d sell them to the gypsies that come through here in the spring every year. Ain’t no use in drownin’ something that could bring in a few dollars.”
Abby decided right then that she liked Rusty. He had a sense of humor. He didn’t turn her insides to mush like Cooper. She damn sure didn’t have visions of stripping his clothes off and having wild passionate sex with him. And that was a good thing.
Shiloh threw her last bale on the truck and crawled over the side to get it situated right on the top of the others. “Don’t want y’all bitchin’ at me because I didn’t do the job right.”
“Are you ready to go back to Arkansas?” Abby asked.
“Hell, no! I might not be superwomen like you two but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to throw in the towel the first day,” she said.
“All right ladies, time to move this wagon train out so we can come back and do it again. Who’s going to milk the cow and who’s going to feed the hogs and gather the eggs? I figure there’s a job for each of you. You can keep that job every day, or you can switch off. They’re minor jobs, but when it comes to working cows or deliverin’ baby pigs, you’ll all have to learn that part.”
Abby raised her hand. “I’ll take care of the hog feeding.”
There was no way in hell she was going to admit that she hated chickens and didn’t know jack shit about milking a damn cow.
“I’ll take the milking every morning. I’ve done it many, many times,” Bonnie said.
“Your trailer on a farm?” Abby asked.
Bonnie’s head bobbed once. “My grandparents had a little bit of land and they deeded an acre over to Mama. They’re gone now, but they did some small-time ranchin’ and farmin’. After they were gone, one of Mama’s boyfriends fancied himself a rancher. He had a milk cow and a pen full of goats. He didn’t like to take care of them, so the job fell on me.”
“That leaves me with chickens. I can do that,” Shiloh said. “My grandmother had a henhouse when I was a little girl. I used to gather eggs. I guess it’s like riding a bicycle. You never unlearn the art once you get it down.”
Abby paced from the living room through the kitchen to her bedroom and back to the living room. The house was empty with both Shiloh and Bonnie taking Rusty up on his offer to go to church. Finally she stretched out on the sofa, leaned her head back on the arm, and shut her eyes.
Of course a picture of Cooper popped into her head. He wore that leather jacket and his cowboy hat and snow fell on his sexy facial hair. If only there was a button she could push to delete the damn scene, but it was burned into her brain as surely as if it had been branded there.
“Branded,” she groaned. According to Rusty, they’d have to help with that job, too. Her nose snarled at the imagined scent of burning hair.
A knock on the door brought her to a sitting position. The second one took her to her feet. There was no peephole, so she eased it open
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