Read Online Tame a Wild Wind by Cynthia Woolf - Free Book Online Page B

If you are his friend then you too are a good man.”   He turned back to Cassie.   “I have your horse.   I was tempted to keep him but he is not built for the harsh conditions, our mustangs are.”
    “Thank you for catching him.   I was afraid that I’d lost him entirely.”
    “You are welcome.   You have always been a friend to me and my people.”
    Cassie nodded.   “I will see you again soon.”
    Cassie tied a rope to Samson.   For having been out all night, he was very calm and went along willingly.  
    *****
    They were so close to Cassie’s valley, she decided to show it to Sam.   She led the way to the valley that she and Michael had bought not too long after they’d married.  
    They came over a steep rise and Cassie stopped.   The valley spread out before them.   Pristine.   As yet untouched by human hands.
    “What do you think?   Michael first laid eyes on this land fifteen years ago.   After we got married we finally bought it.   We’d planned on raising the thoroughbreds here but that was before I inherited the place we have now.”
    It was a beautiful valley with a stream running along one side.   Aspen groves shone bright in the sunshine.   She remembered the first time she’d seen the valley.   Michael brought her here for a picnic one day.   She’d seen a herd of deer and a bull elk with his harem including several calves.   But most magnificent of the animals she’d seen that day was a cougar.   The big cat was stalking it’s prey, one of the young deer.
    The cat was magnificent.   With a flash of power he turned ninety degrees, pounced, grabbed the deer’s neck and brought it down.   They’d been down wind and the scent of blood left a metallic taste in her mouth.
    Cassie had stared, mute with fascination and horror.   At once it was beauty and grace, then blood and brutality.
    Necessary for survival never just for fun.   She’d lived in these mountains long enough to know there were men who would kill a bull elk for it’s bugle teeth and leave everything else to rot.   Such a waste of an animal.   Hundreds of pounds of meat that could have fed a family all winter, left to spoil in the sun and rain.   It disgusted her.   Even though scavengers would feast on the carcass for days it still appalled her.
    *****
    Every Saturday for the last four weeks, Sam had gone to Creede with Cassie and the kids.   They didn’t usually stay overnight so Sam was surprised when Cassie said, “We’re getting such a late start today, I’d like to stay overnight in town if you don’t mind.   I know it’s an imposition on you but I’d hate to drive back here in the dark.   It’s not worth the risk to the horses.”
    Okay?   He’d been dreaming of just the two of them being together.   Maybe now would be that time.   He loved the kids but they did take up a lot of time.   Time he could be spending with their mother.   Time he could be spending courting her.   If she could forget her dead husband long enough to let him to court her.   He didn’t begrudge her her memories but she was still a young woman with a full life and a lot of love ahead of her.   If she’d just let it happen.
    Going to town would give him an opportunity to talk to her alone and that wasn’t an opportunity he was going to waste.  
    “No, that’s great.   It’ll be good for you to have someone else cook and you need the break from the chores.   Do you stay at Peabody’s boarding house or at the Creede Hotel?”
    “I always stay at Mary Peabody’s if possible.   She has clean rooms and the best food in town.   We can order our supplies at Sadie’s and pick them up tomorrow.”
    “Sounds good.   Will the kids be coming with us?”   Please say ‘no’.   He really wanted it to be just the two of them
    “No.   We have to get grain for the horses as well as our regular order.   There won’t be room for them, so they’ll stay here with Bridget.   She is the closest thing to a