Free Tame a Wild Wind by Cynthia Woolf

grandmother they will ever have.    They couldn’t have any better either.   You’ve seen how she dotes on them.”
    “I know.   She tries to be all blustery with them, but all they have to do is turn on the charm and she’s feeding them cookies and milk.   I’m not complaining mind you.   It also works to get little girls to let go of your neck.”   He laughed at the memory.
    The rattle of the buckboard was the only sound for a while.   Sam was still awed by the beauty of the countryside, alive with color here in early June.   Columbines, Indian paint brushes, bluebells, and honey suckle dotted the valley floor.   The June grass was high in the meadows.   Long enough to tickle a horses belly when you rode through it.
    The Rio Grande river ran next to the road and was high due to the spring run off.   He supposed someday he’d take it all for granted but it was so different than the dusty Texas town he’d lived most of his life.
    Sam wanted to say what was on his mind, but instead he asked about Michael.   He needed to know what kind of relationship she had with her first husband.   She mentioned him a lot, he needed to convince her it was time to move on.
    “Tell me about your husband.”
    “Michael was a good man.”   She got a kind of dreamy quality to her eyes as she continued.   “I met him eleven years ago this summer.   He was kind and gentle.   Something I’d never known from a man before.”   She looked away, the dreaminess gone.   “You see, I lived with my brother John.   I’m sure Cat and Duncan told you about him.   He was the reason Cat’s father asked Duncan to come back.   John was causing all kinds of problems.”
    “Yes.   I remember.   Duncan said he was obsessed with Cat and thought there was gold on part of the JC ranch’s land.   Duncan ended up having to kill him.”
    She nodded her head.   “John’s greed is what got him killed.   The gold was fool’s gold.   John was the biggest fool of all.”  
    “I’m sorry for your loss.”
    “Don’t be.   I lost John when he was a boy.   I’m not sorry to have lost the man he became.   He wasn’t a good man and betrayed me most grievously.   You see, I was assaulted by one of Johns employees.   A man named Roy Walker.   Did Duncan tell you about him as well?
    “He did.   Said he disappeared during all that mess and just before Duncan was forced to kill John.”
    “That’s right.   But before he disappeared he assaulted me.   And John did nothing.   Absolutely nothing.”
    “How could he do nothing ?   It was one of his employees for God’s sake.   At the very least he should have fired the man and had him arrested.”   Sam barely contained his rage, not only at Cassie’s attacker but at her brother, too.
    “He said he needed him and that those things happen.   Michael convinced me otherwise.   He knew about the attack and didn’t blame me, like John did.   He assured me it was not my fault.   I was twenty-four years old and the most naïve person you can imagine.   I’ve learned a lot over the years.   I’m not naïve anymore.”
    “I think you’re very capable.”
    Cassie laughed.   “It’s not exactly what a woman wants to hear from a handsome man, but I take it as a compliment.”
    “It is one.”   Sam put the reins in his right hand and reached across his body to take her chin and lift it with one gloved knuckle.   “I’m sure all the men tell you how beautiful you are.   That you have the silkiest blond hair I’ve ever seen.   And if I’m not careful, I could get lost in your blue eyes.”
    She didn’t laugh now.   “Truly?”
    “Truly.”   He leaned in close and let his lips touch hers ever so lightly.   He didn’t want to scare her just wanted her to know he was interested.   “I’ve been dying to do that for weeks.”
    “Sam.”   Cassie sighed.   Then she pressed in closer.   She returned and deepened the kiss then broke away.   “We