Read Online Wyoming Woman by Elizabeth Lane - Free Book Online Page A

based on images of life in the West. With luck and hard work, I can have a successful career right here in Wyoming.”
    Luke was silent for a long moment. Then he shook his head. “Images of the West!” he snorted. “I can just picture that. The chuck wagon at sunset! Buckaroos around the old corral!”
    â€œStop insulting me, Luke,” Rachel said quietly. “I’m not the naive little fool you think I am.”
    â€œYou want images, Rachel Tolliver?” he said, his vehemence swelling. “I could show you images thatwould burn themselves into your mind for the rest of your life! Animals shot, trapped, crippled, or lying dead around a poisoned water hole. And more—more than a fine lady like you would even want to think about.”
    Rachel flinched against the leaden impact of every word he spoke. Another image flashed through her mind—a hand tugging down a crimson neckerchief to reveal a dark young face. A face she loved.
    She had heard enough of Luke’s bitter words to make her stomach churn. But far worse was the idea of what he had left unsaid. He had intimated, with a cutting scorn, that she was too gently reared to deal with the full truth of what was happening. But Luke didn’t know the half of it. He had no idea of what she’d seen, or how the sight of her darling brother’s face had left her gasping for breath like a fish flung out of its element.
    She had to know. She had to know everything, even if it broke her heart to hear it.
    â€œTell me,” she demanded, her fingers tightening around the worn leather strap of his belt. “I want to hear the worst.”
    â€œWhy trouble your pretty head with such an ugly story?” Luke’s defiant question infuriated her. Only the lamb, so warm and peaceful between their bodies, kept her from shouting at him.
    â€œThis country is my home and my family’s home,” Rachel said in a level voice. “Whatever’s going on here, I need to understand it.”
    Thunder filled the silence as she waited for Luketo answer. When he outlasted her patience she pressed him again.
    â€œWe’ve had a few sheep in these parts since I was in pigtails,” she said. “I can’t say there was ever any love lost between sheep men and ranchers. But what I saw today—there was never anything like that before! What in heaven’s name happened? Was it something you did?”
    He laughed at that, a deep, bitter release that quivered through his taut body, so that she felt it more than heard it. “I’d pay good money for the answer to that question, lady. All I’ve ever asked of my neighbors was that they leave me alone. As long as I kept my sheep off their land, most of them, including your father, did just that—until about three months ago. That was when the raids started.”
    A vision of the masked riders flashed through Rachel’s mind. Had it been Jacob or Josh she had seen with them? Was it possible that both of them were involved in this mess? And what about her father? Morgan Tolliver was a peaceful man, but if pushed far enough he was capable of anger. Was he capable of violence as well?
    Rachel’s fingers tightened around Luke’s belt. She felt dizzy, as if she were spinning in space with nothing solid to support her. For months she had dreamed of coming back to the safe, secure place she called home. But the home she remembered was gone, to be replaced by a nightmare world of danger, doubt and uncertainty.
    â€œDo you have any idea who’s behind the trouble?”she forced herself to ask. “Have you recognized anyone—any of the raiders?”
    He shook his head, and she felt an unexpected surge of relief. “Most of the time I don’t see them. But when they do show themselves, they always have their faces masked. The fact that they care that much about being recognized makes me think they’re locals—and there’s a