Read Online Printer in Petticoats by Lynna Banning - Free Book Online

this county ’bout came to gunplay.”
    â€œThis,” she said, patting his arm where he’d shoved up the sleeves of his baggy sweater, “is an even more wonderful idea.”
    â€œCriminy,” he muttered as the office door slammed. “Guess I’d better mosey on down to the mercantile and get some more cartridges for my forty-four.”
    * * *
    Cole trotted Dancer alongside Teddy MacAllister’s roan mare as they rode toward the Sorensen ranch. The minute they reached the edge of the spread, Cole reined up.
    â€œWant to trade mounts, Teddy? I mean Ted?” The boy was trying so hard to grow up it made Cole’s insides hurt.
    â€œSure do, Mr. Sanders.” The boy slipped off his roan and clambered up onto Cole’s Arabian. They rode in companionable silence for a mile before Teddy spoke.
    â€œKin I ask you something, Mr. Sanders?”
    â€œWhat about?”
    â€œGirls.”
    Cole disguised his surprise with a cough. First Noralee and now Teddy. Guess he was the “go-to” source for youngsters wondering what life was all about. “Fire away, son.”
    Teddy thought for a long minute. “Well, uh, how do you know when a girl likes you?”
    Cole coughed again. “Most times you don’t. You have some particular girl in mind?”
    â€œUm, yeah. Her name’s Manette Nicolet. She’s French. Talks foreign words all the time.”
    â€œAnd what do you do?”
    â€œAw, I can’t talk French. Sometimes I bring her bugs ’n’ stuff.”
    â€œBugs?”
    â€œYeah. She likes crawly things. Insects, you know?”
    Cole rolled his eyes. “Interesting female.”
    â€œYeah, and she’s real pretty, too.”
    â€œFigures,” Cole said under his breath.
    â€œSo, how do I know if she likes me?”
    Cole pulled the roan into an even slower walk and sucked in a gulp of air. “You don’t, Ted. You might never know how she feels about you. But if you’re smart, you’ll treat her real special, no matter what.”
    Teddy thought for a few minutes. “Is that what you do?”
    â€œWell, yeah. If I get the chance, that is.”
    â€œMiss Jessamine’s kinda temperamental, huh?”
    Cole barked out a laugh. “Kinda.” God, was it that obvious he was attracted to the Sentinel ’s prim and proper editor?
    â€œMy advice,” Teddy said with a conspiratorial wink, “is to bring her some bugs.”
    When Cole rode back into town with the boy, he couldn’t help glancing at the front window of the Sentinel office. Bugs, huh? He’d have to give Teddy’s suggestion some thought.
    He reined his sleek Arabian to a stop and approached the hitching rail just as Jessamine stepped out of her office and hailed him.
    â€œCole, I need to talk to you.”
    â€œWhat’s up?” he asked carefully.
    â€œI have an idea.”
    Cole rolled his eyes. “Not another one. Eli told me about the Sheepmen’s Summit meeting last spring.”
    â€œEli talks entirely too much. Get down off your horse and listen for a minute.”
    He swung down and stood with the reins in one hand. “Okay, I’m listening.”
    Jess tried not to watch his supple fingers holding the leather lines. “Your candidate and my candidate are just trading insults in your newspaper and mine. What if they met face-to-face and argued in person?”
    â€œA debate, you mean?”
    â€œExactly. What do you think?”
    â€œGood idea,” he said with a nod. “When? The election’s getting close.”
    â€œNext Monday night? At the church meeting hall. We could—”
    â€œArrange for a moderator,” he finished for her. “Someone—”
    â€œLike Matt Johnson, Ellie’s husband,” Jess interrupted. “He’s a federal marshal, and—”
    â€œHe’d be armed,” Cole inserted. “Nobody would dare speak