Free Betrayal by Robin Lee Hatcher Page A

sagging spirits. And it would be good to spend an afternoon with the Collins family.
    I keep to myself too much .
    It wasn’t easy to break a habit honed by years of practice. Julia had become used to sticking close to home, not socializing with her neighbors, staying inside the borders set for her by her husband. She’d only been able to become friends with Rose because Rose hadn’t been cowed by Angus. Rose had driven her wagon into the yard, every year or two with another daughter in tow, and plopped herself down for a visit, ignoring the scowls Angus sent her way.
    Bless you, Rose Collins .
    “Julia.”
    She turned toward Hugh, who had exited the house behind her.
    “You sure I should go with you next week? I know Mr. Collins didn’t come here meaning to ask anyone but you.”
    “Peter was right. Rose will be delighted to have you come.Besides, I want you to meet her. You’ll like her a great deal. Everyone does.”
    Hugh glanced in the direction of the road, his expression thoughtful. Silence stretched between them, and Julia thought their conversation was at an end. But before she could walk away, he said, “Would you mind telling me something?” He looked at her again. But it was more than just looking. He seemed to see her.
    “If I can.”
    “What made you change your mind about me?”
    “Change my mind?”
    “When I rode in ten days ago, you were wishing you had your rifle to point at me. Now you’ve got me working here and eating at your table and calling you by your Christian name. Why? You don’t know me from Adam.”
    He was right, of course. She didn’t know much about him beyond his name and his willingness to work hard. Yet she wasn’t sorry that she’d asked him to stay on. “I’m not sure why,” she answered at last.
    He studied her with his dark eyes, as if trying to see beyond her words to a truth she didn’t know herself.
    Suddenly uncomfortable, she turned and stepped off the porch. “I’d best take care of Teddy.” She walked toward the gelding, putting an abrupt end on the conversation.

TEN
    Hugh could ride a horse as well as most and he could shoot a rifle with some accuracy. However, he was by no stretch of the imagination a cowboy. Still he thought he could take to the life of a cattle rancher. There was something satisfying about getting up with the chickens, eating a hearty breakfast, and then riding out to check the fences and irrigate the land where the cattle grazed. There was something good about falling into bed at night, exhausted but knowing he’d done what he’d been hired to do. Maybe he wouldn’t feel the same way after a month. Maybe he’d be more than ready to move on. But for the present, as his second week on the ranch drew to a close, he was glad to be working and living on Sage-hen.
    The afternoon had grown surprisingly warm by the time Hugh rode his horse into the barnyard on Wednesday. Sweat trickled down his back, dampening his shirt, and he was in need of a long drink of water to wash down the day’s dust. Julia’s horse, Teddy, grazed in the nearby paddock, but Bandit was nowhere to be seen. Unusual. The dog was normally quick to see who had ridden into the yard.
    Hugh unsaddled his horse and turned the gelding into the paddock with Teddy. Then he carried the tack into the barn. It wasthere he found Julia’s spaniel, sitting at the bottom of the ladder to the loft, staring upward.
    “What is it, fella?” Hugh asked as he set his saddle on the rack. Then he heard Julia’s laughter from above.
    Bandit whined.
    “Julia?”
    A few moments passed before she appeared at the top of the ladder. “Come up and see. We have a new litter of kittens.”
    “I didn’t know you had a cat.”
    “Neither did I.” She disappeared from view, her soft laughter trailing behind her.
    He couldn’t resist climbing the ladder if only to follow that delightful sound. In the corner of the loft, a motley calico cat — her long hair matted — had made a nest for