Read Online Pete (The Cowboys) by Leigh Greenwood - Free Book Online Page B

been shot, wouldn’t have lost his money, and wouldn’t have found himself in the middle of a murder plot with all the guns aimed at him. He didn’t like it one bit, but he couldn’t leave Anne to the mercy of an unknown killer, especially if that killer was sleeping only two bedrooms away.
    But he was in even more danger. If they’d tried to kill Peter once—and he didn’t know that there hadn’t been other attempts—they’d try again. He would have to tread very carefully if he wanted to stay alive.
    Maybe he would lock his bedroom door tonight.
    “You look like you’ve been in a fight,” Dolores said when Anne entered the kitchen the next morning. She smiled wickedly. “It must have been some wedding night. You going to tell me about it?”
    “It’s not what you think,” Anne said, pouring herself a cup of coffee and taking a big swallow of the hot liquid.
    “From the looks of you, it’s a lot more.”
    Anne sat down at the table. She needed time to still her shaking limbs. She’d finally dropped off to sleep sometime during the night, but her entire body ached. She’d been relieved to find Pete gone when she woke. “Where’s Pete?” she asked.
    “He and Eddie rode out at dawn. If that man intends to get up this early every morning, we’ll have to start going to bed earlier.”
    “Did Belser go with them?”
    “No. He came down later. He was in a foul mood. From the look of him, he got in a fight and lost.”
    “He burst into our bedroom last night without knocking. Pete punched him in the face, knocked him right back into the hall.”
    “Belser didn’t come back fighting?”
    “No.”
    “Your Pete has turned out to be a real eye-opener. From what your uncle said, I was worried Belser would run you both off inside a month.”
    “Pete’s changed.”
    “He must have.”
    “He said he takes after his mother’s side of the family.”
    “Must have been a handy bunch of people to have around. Now tell me about you. I can tell you didn’t get much sleep.”
    It was on the tip of Anne’s tongue to tell Dolores she suspected Pete might not be Peter. But if he wasn’t, where was Peter? What had stopped him from arriving at the ranch as he’d promised? Something must have happened to him, but she couldn’t believe Pete would hurt Peter. If she did, she couldn’t have slept in the same bed with him.
    She’d lain awake for hours trying to decide whom to tell, what she ought to do. But now that it was morning, she hesitated. She had to admit that worry for her own position was at the root of it. If she swore Pete wasn’t Peter, then he would be thrown off the ranch and Belser would inherit. Belser would throw her off, too. The minute that happened, her uncle would haul her off to old man Cyrus.
    The consequences of telling on Pete were certain. He would have no future at the Tumbling T, but she wouldn’t have one either.
    What if she didn’t tell on him? What if no one ever found out? She was no longer lying frightened in the dark, next to a man she didn’t know. She’d had time to think. She didn’t know what Pete was doing there, but wouldn’t it be better to try to find out? Maybe Peter had sent him. It didn’t seem like something Peter would do, but it was obvious Pete was better at handling difficult situations than Peter would have been. Maybe Pete was the man from Texas Isabelle had hit with the log. That would explain why he knew so much about ranches.
    Peter must have sent him. Pete knew a lot about everything.
    “Pete said we needed time to get to know each other,” Anne said. “He said he wouldn’t claim his marriage rights until I was ready.” He hadn’t said anything about claiming them at all. Didn’t that mean he was sent by Peter, that Peter was coming later when all danger was past?
    Dolores’s disbelief was obvious. “I never heard of a man doing such a thing. You sure there’s not something wrong with him?”
    There was absolutely nothing wrong with Pete.