Free Taking the Bull by the Horns by MJ Fredrick

and backing toward the cab of his truck. She folded her arms in front of her and watched as he drove off with a wave out the driver's side window.
    And then he was gone and she was left to face the congregation, all lined on the sidewalk, watching.
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Chapter Eight
    "You did get in late last night,” Gertrude chided when the three women filed into the house after a silent ride from church.
    Lavender rubbed a hand over her stomach as if that would relieve the tension tightening it. “You didn't notice this last night?” She was determined to remain casual about this as she walked to the fridge for eggs and sausage.
    "I didn't realize you'd been making a fool of yourself with a rodeo cowboy."
    Lavender bent over to retrieve the cast iron skillet from the cabinet beneath the stove, struggling to find words to defend herself. Heck, why should she have to defend herself? “Why shouldn't I have some fun?"
    "Having fun is one thing, but making yourself an idiot over a man is something else.” Gertrude gave her daughter a pointed look, which Eleanor ignored as she spooned coffee into the filter. “Has he promised he'll be back?"
    This time, Lavender glanced at her mother. “I know better than to believe those promises."
    "It's different with a man, when sex is involved,” Gertrude said in the most matter-of-fact tone Lavender had ever heard her use.
    Lavender's face heated. She did not want to discuss sex with her mother and grandmother. She never had in the past and didn't want to start now, with the memory of Taylor's touch so fresh.
    "Do you want breakfast or not?” Lavender clanged the pan against the burners. “I have a right to a life, to not being lonely, okay? I deserve to be held, to be touched, to feel beautiful and wanted. And if I never see him again, if he never comes back, I have how he made me feel last night."
    Gertrude sat at the table, her jaw set. “You've already been hurt so much."
    "No one has that power anymore.” But even as she said it to the two women who stared at her, she knew it wasn't true. Taylor had already breached her defenses.
    * * * *
    Taylor pulled his truck up in the circular drive in front of his ranch house, shut off the ignition and just sat.
    He'd never had a hard time leaving an event, never spent an entire drive thinking about the woman he left behind.
    What was different about Lavender?
    Her acceptance of him, for one thing. After her initial reluctance to get to know him, she hadn't cared that he was a rodeo rider, didn't know about his former life, just accepted him for who he was.
    That made it easy to be with her, to tease her, to coax out that pretty smile, that fun personality that seemed to be buried under all those layers of loneliness.
    He looked through the dirty windshield at the mountains edging his ranch, framing his dream house.
    His empty dream house. God, he knew what loneliness was.
    He pulled the door handle and shoved his shoulder against the truck door. It creaked open and his housekeeper appeared on the wraparound porch, wiping her hands on her jeans, glancing at the truck in alarm. He didn't usually park this truck up here, usually left it at the stables with the trailer, but he had been too weary to walk up from the stables.
    "Mr. Creighton? Are you all right? We were getting worried. Are you hungry? Dinner will be in a couple of hours, but if you need—"
    He held up a hand to stop the flow of words and hefted his bag onto his shoulder. “I'll just get a sandwich or something later, Mrs. Bennigan. Don't go to any trouble."
    Her lips tightened in disapproval, reminding him of Gertrude. “It's what you pay me for.” She reached for his duffle.
    He relinquished it reluctantly. What would she think of the shirt Lavender had shredded? She'd probably throw it away and think he was a man-whore. At the last minute, he closed his hand around the strap.
    "There's a few things I need out of here."
    "I'll bring them to you."
    "I'll just