Read Online Texas Mail Order Bride by Linda Broday - Free Book Online Page B

sir.”
    â€œYou must think I’m a foolish old man.”
    â€œQuite the contrary. I think you’re still very much in love with your wife,” she said softly.
    â€œSometimes the yearning for her smile, the sound of her laughter, eats inside me with such a fierceness that I can barely stand it.”
    â€œI feel the same about my mother.” Even though Phoebe Dandridge had never shown a lighter side.
    â€œWhen did she pass over, if I’m not too bold?”
    â€œChristmas Day.”
    â€œThen your grief is as fresh as my own.” He clutched her arm. “Will you help me up?” Then he added, “Please. Before a customer comes in?”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    â€œStop with this ‘sir’ business. I’m John. Plain and simple.”
    Letting him rest his weight on her, she helped him to his feet.
    What a surprising day. First Cooper had tried to mend burned bridges, and now Mr. Abercrombie was allowing deep emotion to show through his stern facade.
    Delta had a feeling she may have reached a turning point with both men.

Nine
    Cooper rested his long frame against the oak bar at the Lily of the West. Rand stood beside him, idly fingering a brass ring with over two dozen keys on it. Cooper had never known why his brother carried so many keys. He just knew Rand had started collecting them as a boy, snatching up every one he ran across.
    â€œMight as well spit it out, Coop. What’s stuck in your craw?”
    â€œDid I say something was?”
    â€œDidn’t have to. I can recognize when you’re looking for someone to whip. I ain’t blind, you know.”
    Cooper shot his brother a glare. “Delta Dandridge told me she took supper with you last evening. I think you owe me an explanation.”
    Rand straightened to his full height. His words came out smooth as velvet but left in no doubt the layer of steel underneath. “I don’t owe you a damn thing. Reckon my dealings with Miss Dandridge are a private matter. I didn’t do anything wrong. Just because you’ve had your nose out of joint since she arrived doesn’t mean mine has to be.”
    â€œI want you to leave her the hell alone.” Cooper knew full well Rand’s reputation where lovely females were concerned. He could list a whole slew of them who’d had their hearts broken by his lothario middle brother. Delta Dandridge would end up just another conquest. That fact sat like soured milk in Cooper’s stomach.
    â€œI don’t exactly care what you want, brother. She’s beautiful, charming, and has a sharp mind. I intend to see her whenever I take a notion, whether it rubs you the wrong way or not.”
    Tension so thick Cooper could cut it with a knife lay between them. Finally, he allowed a tight smile. “If that’s the way you feel.”
    Rand’s glare could’ve melted snow off a mountaintop. “It is.”
    â€œThen all I have to say is watch out. The lady has quite a temper. Don’t come running to me when she gives you a piece of her mind. I warned you. And you’d better not show her anything but respect either.”
    While he still thought Rand should abide by his wishes, Cooper recognized that his brother had a right to his own opinion. Rand was always the one who had to figure things out for himself and dared anyone to interfere.
    Now that the set-to had passed, Rand put down his keys, lifted his beer, and took a gulp. “How are things at the ranch?”
    â€œI just came from ordering enough barbed wire to fence off the Long Odds.” Cooper told him about the newest dead cow and how it didn’t wear any kind of brand.
    â€œAnd you now believe someone is deliberately trying to spread this disease?”
    â€œSure looks that way.” And if he didn’t catch the culprits soon, he’d lose every single thing he had in this world that meant anything.
    By the time Cooper left the saloon, it was