Read Online Dove in the Window by Earlene Fowler - Free Book Online

brother-in-law of yours.”
    “Former brother-in-law. Technically, we’re not related anymore.”
    His green eyes crinkled at the corners.
    I pointed a finger at him. “You just keep quiet.” Emory did know me better than anyone else. “Yes, he does still feel related to me and yes, I think of Jack every time I look at him. I’m confused enough without your nonverbal comments, thank you very much.”
    “Just enjoying the show. Better than General Hospital.”
    “There will be no show. Gabe has agreed to keep his distance, and I’ll try to see Wade as little as possible. Things will be fine.”
    Emory just nodded and smiled that irritating, superior smile.
    I showed him a fist.
    “Oh, go play, cowgirl.” He shooed me away with his hand. “I myself have no need to prove my masculinity by emasculating young bovines, so I’ll visit the kitchen ladies and offer my superlative taste-testing abilities.”
    I headed out to the barn where all the men and a few of my girl cousins were congregated. Most of my relatives had brought their own horses, and for a little while there was a flurry of activity while everyone tacked up and received their assignments from Daddy. With this many people riding, gathering fifty or so calves would be a cinch—finding them in a couple of hours instead of all day as it would have taken three or four riders. Plenty of time to play cowboy without getting too dirty for the barbecue at two o‘clock.
    Gabe was talking to my uncle Clarence and Sam, discussing the price of some Black Angus yearlings Clarence had just sold at auction. That showed how hard Gabe was trying to get along with my relatives, because he hadn’t eaten beef for years and found my family’s obsession with it a bit tedious at times.
    “Hi,” I said, going up and giving him a kiss. “Going to ride with us?” He knew I was just teasing. Gabe was an excellent horseman, a talent that had surprised me when I found out about it, but he disliked riding and, like Emory, didn’t care for any ranch work that involved cattle.
    “Think I will,” he said.
    My eyes widened in surprise.
    “I’ll take the Honda ATV, then,” Sam said. “You can have Rebel.”
    “Thanks a lot,” Gabe said. “Does he come with AAA coverage and a cellular phone in case we need a tow truck?”
    “I see you’ve heard about him,” Sam said, laughing.
    Wade rode up on Gigi, Dove’s quarterhorse, then quickly moved into a group of my relatives when Gabe gave him a hard look.
    “That was rude,” I told Gabe as we adjusted our saddles and found out our assigned area, the old hunter’s cabin and barn at the back of my dad’s two-thousand-acre ranch. A creek ran across the back of the cabin where certain mama cows liked to hide among the overgrown brush. Gullies and washes were Badger’s specialty. An eight-year-old, quick-footed paint gelding I’d bought six years ago and trained myself, he loved to climb up and down hills so much that I’d threatened to rename him Jeep.
    “What?” Gabe asked innocently and smiled his devastating smile.
    “You wouldn’t get away with near what you do if you weren’t so good looking,” I grumbled, tightening Badger’s girth.
    Before we could argue further, a brand-new shiny black Ford half-ton pickup pulled up beside us with Bobby Sanchez driving. His two female passengers were members of the artist’s co-op. They slid out of the front seat and walked over to us.
    “Hey, Parker, Olivia,” I said. “Isn’t this a little early for you guys? Nice truck.”
    “Hey, cow-woman, where’s the beef?” Parker twisted a piece of her straight brown hair around one long finger. Cut in a shoulder-length pageboy with thick, even bangs, her hair was as nondescript as she was. From the first time we met, she reminded me of that girl in everyone’s school who was always the teacher’s pet because she was so obedient and quiet. But anyone who got to know Parker Leona Williams (so named because her mother loved