Read Online Moon Over Montana (McCutcheon Family Series Book 5) by Caroline Fyffe - Free Book Online

next to the door. When she was little, the sight fascinated her for hours. Each brand was a story in itself.
    As the only girl in the family, she’d been strictly forbidden to enter the bunkhouse without permission from Lucky—and only Lucky. It was the cowhands’ domain. They deserved privacy after long hours in the saddle. This was the only rule she’d been smart enough to know there would be hell to pay if she broke, and she never had.
    A barrage of lively voices inside meant the men were up and eating, and perhaps hadn’t heard her first request to come in. She knocked again, this time with the heavy horseshoe knocker in the middle of the door. Just as she was about to give it another go, the door opened and she smacked Lucky in the face.
    Surprised, the bunkhouse cook grabbed his nose and yelped.
    She let out a cry of dismay and snatched back her hand.
    “Lucky, I’m so sorry!” She put her arm around his middle and they walked a few feet into the bunkhouse.
    Chairs scraped back as all the men stood. “Miss Charity!” A surge of warm happiness squeezed Charity’s heart.
    “Let me see,” she pleaded, still trying to see Lucky’s face. She pried his hands down. “I hope I didn’t give you a bloody nose.” Relieved when there was no blood in sight, she let go her held breath.
    He blinked several times and scrunched his nose. “No harm done, Miss Charity,” he said, wiggling it around, and then feeling it with his fingers. “Welcome home.”
    “I’m sorry to barge in on you like this.” She was unable to keep her smile from her face. These men had practically raised her. She loved each and every one. “Please sit down and finish your breakfast before your flapjacks get cold. I just wanted to be the first to tell you—Brandon and I are finally getting married. You’re all invited.”
    A happy cheer went up. Lucky pulled her into an embrace. “That’s darn good news, honey bear. We’re all tickled pink.”
    One by one, the cowhands sat back down at the long rectangular table filled with food. A platter of potatoes, mixed with red onion and chilies, was next to a large bowl of scrambled eggs. Toast was piled a mile high, and every plate already had a flapjack or two. A red-and-white plaid napkin hung from each man’s collar, whether he was dressed for the day or was still rumpled from sleep. Roady Guthrie, shaved and spit shined, smiled at her and nodded. The hand they called Uncle Pete, even though he was no relation, still had a chin full of whiskers. John Berg and Smokey finally swallowed what they’d been chewing before she’d barged in, and wiped their mouths with a napkin. Francis stood out like a sore thumb. His mouth, stretched tight in a line, and his eyes, a cool, frosty gray as he regarded her, made her uneasy.
    Charity took them in. “You already knew? I can tell by your expressions.”
    Lucky nodded. “Yep. I can’t fib to ya. Roady came back from Luke’s last night with the good news. But it don’t matter who tells us, just that the event is happening. When’s the day?”
    “As soon as we can pull together all our plans. Probably a month, or sooner. We would have done it last night, but Mother wanted some time to plan a wedding, me being her only daughter.”
    Francis stood back up. He took the napkin from his neck and dropped it beside his plate. “I told ’em too, Miss Charity. Even before Roady did. I ran into Brandon last night in the saloon, talking with Fancy Aubrey.” He raised his eyebrows, as if wanting to make sure she grasped his meaning—that it was more than just talk.
    A hush fell across the room like a wet blanket on a newborn pup. Who was Fancy Aubrey? And why was Brandon speaking with her?
    “I tried to get a word in edgewise, you know, to ask about you , but they were in some deep conversation and didn’t see me for several minutes. I never did find out what was so all-important that the rest of us couldn’t hear.” He shrugged. “Oh well. Guess