Read Online Sleepless in Montana by Cait London - Free Book Online Page A

for a man who kept his pride and would
certainly lose it if he lost his family homestead.
    “We’ll get him out of this jam,” Mitch said
quietly. “The old man deserves better.”
    “He’s not losing Kodiak land,” Aaron stated
firmly.
    They looked at each other, hounded men who
would protect Ben, even as they disliked how he had treated them as
youths.
    Hogan didn’t like the idea of helping Ben,
because he knew the battles it would bring—but he wasn’t letting
the land go. All those years ago, when Dinah moved out, Hogan had
managed accounts Ben forgot to pay.
    At fourteen, Hogan already knew how to
bargain for credit, and how to make payments. Ben had cursed and
fought the credit idea, nursing his pride. But he knew cattle and
the land, and with Hogan working beside him, the ranch had stood
firm.
    At fifteen, Hogan was winning track medals,
making straight “A’s” and working past midnight on Kodiak accounts.
Sometime in those hours, he had worked on the ranch beside Ben.
Hogan wondered if Ben would ever forgive him; the son taking
matters into his hands, saving the ranch from the auction
block.
    Ben had resented Hogan’s strength. Ben had
never once said, “I’m proud of you.” But there was admiration and
pride in just one flash of those hard blue eyes.
    It wasn’t Ben Kodiak’s way to show emotion,
or give compliments, or tenderness for that matter, and Hogan
hadn’t expected hugs.
    “Cow piles,” Mitch said flatly. “I’ve always
hated ‘em. Give me a city street any day.”
    “Tractors at dawn.” Aaron groaned the words.
“Physical ranch work, not a nice sweet office and an accommodating
staff. How I love to walk into the office and have some pretty
young thing hand me a cup of coffee and a smile. I like to smell
their hair in the morning, just after they’ve washed it. Starts my
day off right. Barn manure doesn’t have the same appeal.”
    “I’m betting on that ladies’ man-charm, bro,”
Mitch said. “Old Snake did a good job training you.”
    Hogan couldn’t resist riffling Aaron and
Mitch’s smooth waters. “She’ll want to learn how to shoot, if she
doesn’t know already.”
    Mitch sat up, instantly wary. “Carley and
Dinah can knock the eye out of a fly.”
    “Damn. He means Jemma,” Aaron muttered in a
doomed tone and sank lower into the cushions. “We’ll all be
dead.”
    “Shot in the butt, or hooked in the butt.
Gentlemen, which do you prefer?” Mitch offered dramatically.
    Hogan stared off into the night and thought
about Carley’s stalker. He was out there now, and he’d waited,
practicing on those three women. A hunter who had waited, he wasn’t
going away. “He’ll come, and we’ll be waiting.”
    He looked at his brothers. “I guess there’s
just one thing to do....”
    Aaron chafed his hands together, grinning at
Hogan. “Play poker. By the way, old man, Jemma says you never laugh
and that you’re not fun.”
    Hogan raised his eyebrows and leered. “She’s
got it wrong. Women like me, boys. I’m a charmer.”
    “Oh, man, she’s already gotten to you,” Mitch
said, laughing so hard he rolled off the couch. “She says you’re
the worst caveman of the lot... worse than Ben.”
    “I’d think she could adopt another family, or
stand still long enough to make her own. She’s had guys after her,
but she either scares them off, or she’s running too fast for them
to catch up. If she starts that hugging stuff, I’m riding out,”
Aaron promised darkly. “Yeah, Hogan, you’re all worked up, looking
like a thundercloud. She cut right to the chase, didn’t she? Laid
you open and bleeding, and she probably walked away without a
scratch.”
    “Back off.” Hogan promised himself that Jemma
wasn’t getting to him again.
    With a feeling of grim determination, the
brothers settled down to enjoy their last night before returning to
the Bar K, Ben, and the shattered shadows of their lives.
    *** ***
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Three

    Ben Kodiak sat