Read Online Not the Marrying Kind by Christina Cole - Free Book Online Page A

who took
charge, stated their own opinions, and rarely paid any mind to what
a woman said.
    “With your father feeling poorly and all,
I’d say you’ve got a heap of responsibility placed upon your
shoulders.”
    “Right, I do.” She lifted the reins,
grateful for the familiar feel of the worn leather against her
fingers. “I figured we’d spend the morning getting you acquainted
with the ranch.”
    “Sounds like a good place to start.”
    She eyed his long legs, remembering his
awkward, limping gait.
    “You’re able to ride without that leg
bothering you, I hope,” she said with a slight nod of her head.
    “I’ll manage, don’t you worry about
that.”
    If nothing else, she liked the man’s
confidence. “All right, let’s head out. Just stay close to me
today.”
    For the next hour, they rode side-by-side.
Now and then Kat pointed out a feature of the land, and
occasionally Joshua raised a question. He seemed interested in
learning all he could about the ranch. Another sign, Kat thought. A
good sign, in her opinion. She could trust this man, could count on
him to fulfill his responsibilities.
    “You need to understand exactly what we’re
doing here,” she told him, “and why we’re doing it.”
    “You’ve got a beef contract to fulfill,
correct?”
    “That’s right. I suppose my pa told you all
about it.”
    “He gave me a little information, yes, but I
don’t know all the particulars.”
    “We’ve got fifty beeves due for delivery to
the reservation at month end. They’re scattered about the land
right now,” she explained with a sweeping gesture. “Over the next
week, our job will be to locate the fattest steers, round them into
a holding pen, and then when the time comes, we’ll drive the herd
to the corral, check them over, and move them on to the
reservation.”
    “Won’t be easy.”
    “No, it won’t, but we’ll get the job
done.”
    “Just the two of us?” He appeared skeptical.
His brows knitted together, and he cocked his head slightly.
    Kat laughed, amused as much by his
expression as by his words. “No, I’ll hire a few extra hands for
the drive, but, until then,” she added, “yes, it’s just the two of
us.”
    For some reason, that thought brought
another smile to her face.
    She liked Joshua Barron, she realized. And
as their first day together wore on, she liked him even more. He
struck her as open, honest, and definitely hard-working. He didn’t
talk much about himself, she noted, but she considered that a plus
rather than a minus. In her experience, limited though it was, most
men thought too highly of themselves and wasted a lot of words
trying to convince others of their importance. Instead, he seemed
more interested in her and her opinions.
    Yes, she liked Joshua Barron. With his help,
she’d beat Pa at whatever little game he was playing.
     
    * * * *
     
    “How’s everything going with Barron?” Kat’s
father asked a few days later. “Any problems?”
    “No problems at all. We work well together,”
she said.
    Truer words had never been spoken, and it
was a huge relief to Kat that she had no need to lie. Although
Joshua Barron might not have the quickness and agility of a man
with two good legs, it didn’t matter. Come to think of it, old
Mike, their previous foreman, had barely been able to get around
the ranch the last few months. Hiring Joshua had been a wise
decision, actually. Of course, she no longer had a half-dozen
capable ranch hands to count on, so running the ranch would still
be a difficult task.
    Her mother came in to the room, smiled at
her, then gestured toward the stairs. “It’s Thursday, don’t forget.
You’d better get washed up and put on something a bit more
suitable, honey. Reverend Kendrick will be here at seven, you
know.”
    “Yes, Mama, I know.”
    “By the way, Lucille is upstairs. She’s
waiting for you in your room.”
    Lucille McIntyre lived with her parents a
few miles south of the Rocking P. Although she and Kat