Read Online Wild Horses by Claire McEwen - Free Book Online

Nora last night just trying to take her in. She’d always been pretty, but now she was so much more. Grown-up and strong and fiery underneath that same veneer of calm. Her gray eyes were darker than he remembered. Stormier. Her brown hair was longer, wavy and bleached by the sun, framing her face, which had lost some of its girlish fullness. The new angles suited her. She’d been furious with him in the bar last night, and remote, determined to hold him at a distance. And he knew he should respect that. But her down-to-earth beauty had grabbed him by the heart and twisted, wringing out all those memories he’d tried to lay to rest. He’d loved her. And while talking with her last night he’d vividly remembered all the heat that had been between them once. They’d been so alive, so in the moment together. Devouring knowledge, wandering mountains, exploring the world and never, ever getting enough of each other.
    Until he’d learned the truth about his own family. And in his anger and rebellion, he’d messed up everything.
    And now it didn’t matter what he might want. Clearly there could be nothing between them anymore. Nora despised him. She saw him as the pampered trust-fund kid he used to be. Which was exactly how he’d come across.
    â€œI won’t cause her any more trouble,” he promised. “I screwed up back in college and I screwed up last night. I won’t mess up a third time. There’s nothing to worry about.”
    Wade looked relieved. He pulled his cowboy hat down over his shaggy hair. Evidently he was growing out his military buzz cut. “Good,” he said. “Now that we got that over with, do you want go fishing this weekend?”
    Now, that was the perfect way to end an awkward conversation. Todd grinned—part relief, part excitement. “That would be great. These past couple years have been so busy, getting the machine repair business going, and my ranch set up. I haven’t had much time to get to know many different fishing holes. It’d be awesome to get out there with a local.”
    â€œWell, my knowledge is a little dated,” Wade admitted. “I’ve only been back a couple weeks and there hasn’t been time for fishing. But probably not much has changed. How about I swing by and pick you up from your work Sunday evening? That’ll give us a couple hours of daylight to nab a few trout.”
    â€œSounds good,” Todd said. He turned back to his truck, then paused. “You want any help grading this driveway?”
    He saw Wade’s shoulders stiffen a little, wary of anything that smacked of charity. “Maybe eventually,” he said. “Right now I kind of like it. Keeps the nosy folks of Benson from paying any calls.”
    Todd laughed. “You’re probably right about that. But it’s also hard on your truck. Think about it. I’m happy to help.”
    â€œI appreciate that,” Wade said.
    â€œAnd I’m not sure Nora mentioned it, but I work with mustangs. I adopt horses caught in government roundups and I train them to be good stock horses.”
    â€œShe didn’t say anything, no.”
    Relief shot through him. If Nora hadn’t told her brother he worked with mustangs, she wouldn’t have mentioned the other night when he’d set a bunch of them free. “Well, I sell them for the original adoption fee I paid the Department of Range Management. If you need horses, you can’t beat the price. And you’ll be giving a mustang a new lease on life.”
    â€œThat doesn’t seem like a sound business plan you’ve got going on there,” Wade said, studying him.
    â€œIt’s not meant to be a business. Just something I care a lot about. When you get to a point where you’re ready for some horses, I hope you’ll consider mine.”
    â€œI’d be happy to,” Wade said. “Sounds like a good cause and a great