Read Online The Texan's Dream by Jodi Thomas - Free Book Online

once. With a ranger and an interpreter along, the guards would never bother accompanying them past the gate.
    Kara drifted into sleep with her head resting against the cold window. She dreamed of being home where there was always a warm fire. After her mother died, Kara took over the cooking and cleaning for her father. She always thought of him as her family, but he talked of his wife as “all he’d had in the world.” He became more and more involved in work, expecting Kara to work part-time at the bakery and take care of the house.
    As the train rolled on, she dreamed of working at the bakery in the predawn hours … of walking home with bread so fresh the aroma filled her lungs with every breath … of making tea before waking her father and sitting by the fire, warming while she had her bread and tea.
    Kara awoke slowly from the peace of her dream. Memories of home faded as the smell of leather drifted across her senses. She moved slightly and felt the softness of Jonathan’s coat against her cheek. Raising her head slowly, she looked up into his sleeping face. He seemed to have had no objection to her using him as a pillow. As carefully as she could, she straightened away from him, trying not to wake him.
    The rain still fell, making the day beyond the window gray and the compartment seem smoky. Kara blinked in the dim light and looked across the small space to where Wolf was stretched out on the other seat. He looked relaxed, or as relaxed as a man wearing an arsenal could. When her gaze reached his face, she was surprised to see him awake.
    “Have a nice nap?” Wolf asked with almost a laugh. “You must have a clear conscience, little lady, because you sleep solid as a rock.”
    “What do you mean?” Kara had always been kidded about how solid she slept.
    Wolf stretched. “Well, we made two stops and not even the whistle woke you. After the first stop, Jonathan just rolled you beneath his arm so you’d be more comfortable, and you didn’t even stir.”
    Kara blushed. “How much farther?”
    “Another hour. Maybe two with the rain.”
    Wolf’s low, southern voice was friendly enough, but he made her nervous watching her. He was not a man easily fooled, she’d guess. He might be able to see that she was running from something rather than looking forward to going somewhere.
    “You said you were a Texas Ranger?” she asked, not wanting him to be the one to ask any more questions.
    Wolf nodded. “I tried to retire. My wife hates for me to be gone from home. But last year the Legislature created two new forces of rangers to deal with the trouble along the frontier. Raids are still a problem, but it seems the greatest threat to Texas is Texans. We got as many outlaws as we got buffalo.”
    He straightened and leaned closer to her. “All the newspapers tell of the Indian raids that killed almost a hundred last year in the Panhandle alone, but there are towns where the sun can’t come up unless there’s been at least one shooting.”
    Kara didn’t know whether to believe him or not. She had a hard time picturing a state filled with outlaws. She’d never seen a buffalo and, until yesterday, she couldn’t remember ever meeting a Texan.
    “Are you sure you want to do this, Miss O’Riley?” The way he said her name made her think he was already counting her as an outsider in their game. “Jonathan and I can get Quil’s son out somehow if you don’t feel right about going along.”
    “I agreed.” She glanced at Jonathan. “Did Mr. Catlin tell you someone took a shot at us when we left the hotel?”
    “He did,” Wolf answered. “Said it might be his neighbor, Wells. The old man’s tall as an elm and crazy as sap. He’s too mean to die, and if he’s the one causing all the trouble on Catlin’s ranch, it’s only a matter of time before we catch him.”
    Kara had to be honest. “What if it were someone else? Someone who wanted me dead.”
    Wolf smiled. “Why would anyone want you dead?” The last words of her father drifted back to her. Trust no