Read Online Never Love a Cowboy by Lorraine Heath - Free Book Online Page A

times he lost sight of it, then it reappeared as though by magic. The trees had lost their leaves to winter, and the bare branches snagged his clothing as he followed Jessye. When they passed into the clearing that surrounded a house, he took the lead. He drew his horse to a halt, dismounted, and tethered the reins to the porch railing. Beside him, Jessye followed suit.
    He slipped his hand beneath his duster and wrapped his frozen fingers around the cold handle of the revolver. He’d never used it other than to shoot cans. He prayed he wouldn’t be forced to use it tonight. Jessye stepped onto the porch. With a frustrated sigh, Harrison leapt over the steps and grabbed her shoulder. He felt her glare even though her hat brim shadowed her face.
    “We don’t know what we’ll find. Let me stand in front,” he insisted.
    He expected an argument, but she merely nodded, probably as anxious to escape from the cold as he was. He slipped in front of her and knocked. Lightning flashed in the distance, thunder rumbled, and a woman’s scream echoed on the other side of the door.
    Shoving him aside, Jessye pounded on the wood. Harrison jerked her back. “What do you think you’re doing?”
    “Someone needs help.”
    “You haven’t a clue—”
    The door flung open, and a man who looked as white as freshly fallen snow filled the doorway. Another scream ripped through the house, and the man blanched. “You know anything about birthin’?”
    “Not a thing—” Harrison began.
    “I do,” Jessye said as she sidled past the man and trudged inside.
    The man followed her, leaving Harrison with no choice but to do the same. He closed the door behind him, welcoming the warmth of the fire burning within the hearth.
    “You got some water heated?” Jessye asked as she removed her hat, gloves, and duster. She rolled up her sleeves.
    “Yes, ma’am.” The man fetched it for her, and she washed her hands.
    “How long has she been in labor?” Jessye asked.
    “Goin’ on two days.” The man turned his attention to Harrison as though seeking understanding. “I thought it’d be like a mare givin’ birth to a foal. Ain’t nothing like it at all.”
    “A woman isn’t a horse,” Jessye said, disgust woven through her voice. “Where is your wife?”
    “Back here in the bedroom,” the man said, leading the way.
    Jessye glanced over her shoulder at Harrison. “Wash your hands.”
    His stomach tightened at the command, and dread ripped through him. “Why?”
    “’Cuz I’m gonna need your help.”
     
    Harrison had grown up listening to his mother’s constant badgering. She’d never missed an opportunity topoint out that her second son was useless. Until this moment, however, Harrison had not understood the full measure of the word.
    Nor resented the fact that he was exactly that—useless.
    He hadn’t a clue how to bring a child into the world.
    But Jessye knew. The knowledge was evident in the defiant set of her chin and the calmness that settled within the green depths of her eyes. When she wiped the sweat from her cheek with a bloodied hand, a darkened brown smear remained. His gut clenched, and his only thought was, Thank God, it isn’t her blood .
    “Help her sit up, Harry,” Jessye ordered.
    He stared helplessly at the woman gripping the iron railings of the headboard. “I would think that is the last thing—”
    “She’s gonna need to bear down, and it’ll be easier if she’s sitting up some. Just put your arms behind her shoulders and help her up.”
    The determination in Jessye’s eyes had him wedging his arms between the woman’s back and the sweat-soaked mattress. He didn’t know how the woman’s trembling body could bear what was to come.
    “Oh, Lordy,” the woman moaned. “I can’t do this.”
    “Yes, you can,” Jessye assured her. “Just push down, push down as hard as you can.”
    He felt the woman straining, heard her grunts. It was all he could do not to bellow along with her. The