Read Online The Cowboy Who Broke the Mold by Cathleen Galitz - Free Book Online Page B

room, his desk turned away from the rest of the class because his teacher believed “Indians” didn’t have the mental capacity to keep up with their white classmates. Left with a demeaning set of building blocks, he had been abandoned to his own devices. An- gry, rebellious and innately clever, it was little wonder he turned his teacher’s hair prematurely gray. Bitter memories of his alienated youth served to reinforce his determination that his own children be accorded the best education possible—despite any innate prejudices some damned Eastern transplant may harbor about their her- itage.
    And so it was with the same sense of rebellion that characterized his own difficult adolescence that Judson Horn turned his horse in the direction of the school— the very day after the new teacher’s volatile warning to stay away. Though there were miles and miles of fences to inspect before bringing the summer herd down to winter pasture, it was the particular stretch bordering school property that Judson decided to check first. By God, nobody was going to keep him from becoming involved in his children’s education.
    Nobody.
    Washakie, the big black stallion that Arthur Chris- tianson had left to him, pranced high-handedly through the tall, yellowing grass. Thoughts of his father causedJudson’s chest to tighten as old conflicts blew across the open plains of his heart. How many times had he wished the man who had sired him had given him the thing he had desired most—his name.
    Accepted as neither white nor native, Judson had plowed his way through a difficult childhood with both fists ready for action. His mother was of little help, al- lowing her son to shoulder the burden of his mixed parentage and her drinking problem as best he could. It wasn’t that she hadn’t loved her son; she’d simply wal- lowed her life away waiting for the man of her dreams to return, reclaim his family, and live happily ever after.
    Judson had remained the old man’s shameful secret well past his mother’s death, unacknowledged until ter- minal illness compelled Arthur Christianson to make swift recourse with his past. A cruel smile curled Jud- son’s lip at the thought of Harmony’s founding father explaining to God from the depths of hell how leaving all his worldly goods to his blue-eyed half-breed bastard should, by all rights, procure his way into heaven.
    Though Judson knew money couldn’t buy the way to heaven, it had damn sure bought him a measure of po- lite respectability that had been absent in his life since the day his birth certificate had been stamped “father unknown.” Judson not only inherited one of the finest ranches in the county but also dear old dad’s seat on the school board. And while it was true that he had initially been appointed to his position upon Arthur Christianson’s death, he had taken that responsibility so seriously that he had later been elected by his colleagues as chairman of the board. That the very- first issue on which they had sided against him was the hiring of some wet-behind-the-ears, sassy Easterner certainly stuck in his craw.
    Looking over a strand of sagging barbed wire, he caught a glimpse of Ms. Raben surrounded by a gaggle of happy children. It was near the close of the school- day, and they were hanging Popsicle-stick birdhouses from every low limb in the surrounding vicinity. Aspen leaves rustled softly like forgotten dreams, and a gentle breeze carried the sound of a woman’s tinkling laughter.
    Judson was keenly aware of the subtle changes taking place in the new schoolteacher. For one thing she had abandoned her fine dresses for jeans and tennis shoes. Observing the tight fit of demin over feminine curves, he felt the sudden stir of desire. It made it damned hard to remember just how much he disliked his children’s teacher. In fact, the warm pressure pushing against his jeans was almost enough to make him forget the sting of a whip across his back.
    Seeing the smile