Read Online To Court a Cowgirl by Jeannie Watt - Free Book Online Page A

which is why most ranchers calve in February. March at the latest. We’re missing out in some ways by calving in April and May, but making up for it in others.”
    Jason frowned at her. “It’s got to be nerve-racking, going to work and wondering if your cows might need a midwife.”
    â€œThat’s just how it is for a part-time rancher.”
    â€œDo you think you’ll ever become a full-time rancher?”
    â€œNo. As soon as one of my sisters comes home, I’ll move elsewhere.”
    â€œOut of the Eagle Valley?”
    â€œMaybe. But definitely off the ranch.”
    â€œYou don’t like it here?”
    â€œI didn’t say that.”
    â€œNo,” he agreed. “You didn’t.”
    But her tone and her body language had. After reminding herself that she didn’t need to protect herself from Jason, that he wasn’t the enemy, she said, “The ranch and I... We have our differences.”
    Jason took another slow sip of coffee and when Allie didn’t expand on her answer, he said, “My dad and I have our differences. I guess it happens to everyone.”
    Allie smiled in acknowledgment, glad for the shift of subject. She was the only Brody sister who had issues with the ranch, but she was also the only sister to suffer tragedy there twice. One quick and devastating and the other slow and torturous.
    â€œThat’s life. So...how has the Eagle Valley changed since you left?”
    â€œI have been back a time or two.” He smiled ruefully. “But not that many. Mostly I was training or playing.” He stopped, as if analyzing his past, then his clear aqua gaze met hers. “A lot has changed. For one thing I miss the old movie theater. That new thing at the edge of town is ugly.”
    â€œYes. I guess it was going to take too much money to bring the old theater up to code, so they shut it down.” Allie had also loved the historic brick theater with the balcony and classic early-twentieth-century woodwork. “You’re right. The new one isn’t the same.”
    They finished their coffee while discussing the safe topic of local changes, and Allie told herself more than once that since she wasn’t all that fascinated by hands, she could stop studying Jason’s—but it was better than looking at his face as they spoke and finding herself thinking that he was simply too damned good-looking for words.
    Finally Allie pushed back her chair and started tidying up the table, carrying the coffee cups to the counter. “I need to get going,” she said on an apologetic note. “I have to visit someone in the hospital.”
    â€œAnd I need to get to work.” He started for the door, then stopped. “Do you have many more pregnant cows?”
    â€œFourteen.”
    â€œYou know that you can call me anytime you need help.”
    â€œThank you.” She smiled politely at him. What else could she do?
    After Jason had gone, Allie finished wiping the table, then rinsed the cups. She did everything she could to keep from slowing down long enough to acknowledge that being around him shook her. She wasn’t supposed to be thinking about guys. She was recovering from a guy. She needed to be thinking about making a future and not letting the ranch disintegrate while she was in command, as it tended to do.
    After the kitchen was back in order, she grabbed her purse and went out to her car. She was going to see Kyle—and not because she felt guilty not doing it.
    As she drove to the hospital, she told herself that this was a good thing to do. A way to prove to herself that she was done with that chapter of her life. Because she really had to move on past this bitterness. It was going on two years and she still felt anger toward the man—both for the promises he hadn’t kept and for the crappy things he’d done after the divorce.
    Kyle, as it turned out, looked terrible. Two black eyes, a swollen