Free Elly: Cowgirl Bride by Trish Milburn

father’s betrayal, Janie’s secrets and her own yo-yoing feelings about Will all collided inside her and caused a sob to break free only to be followed by several more. The stunning view before her grew blurry as she finally allowed herself to cry. She slammed the heels of her hands against the steering wheel, letting the anger and hurt come out any way it could find an exit.
    After a few minutes of indulging her self-pity, she dried her tears on the sleeve of her jacket and stared out across the valley below. She would not lose this land or her family, no matter what happened. She was a Cody. She’d fight for it if she had to.
    Something didn’t feel quite right about her train of thought, and she sat in the silence of the surrounding mountains trying to figure out why.
    Because Mark had never struck her as the type to make a money grab, no matter how much he struggled. Of course, she’d never wanted for anything because of a lack of money, so how could she know how someone in that situation would truly think? When he’d found out about his true parentage, had he looked at the Cody wealth and felt only resentment? Like he’d been robbed of what was rightfully his? In a way, did he feel like her—like part of her life had been a lie?
    She wondered why he and Janie hadn’t said anything after they found out? How had the truth finally been acknowledged by both Mark and Elly’s father? And what had Janie meant by knowing before Mark?
    Elly closed her eyes and massaged her temples. The combination of crying, too little sleep and too many questions bombarding her brain was giving her an unbearable headache.
    Deciding to push it all as far away as possible and focus on work, she put the truck in gear and headed for home. Thinking about the situation wasn’t going to change anything.
    The deed was already done.

Chapter Six

    Will finished going over the financial documents for Cottonwood Enterprises so he’d have a firm grasp on what was at stake if Mark Hansen was indeed J. W. Cody’s biological son. He’d known the Codys were wealthy, but he hadn’t realized to what extent. No wonder Elly and her brothers had their own plane and often flew to rodeos instead of spending days on the road. They didn’t have to.
    But sometimes they did. And they didn’t mind getting their hands dirty either, as evidenced the day before when he’d bumped into Elly while she was in town picking up a load of feed. She could have had Slim, Big Ben, Paco or any number of employees perform that task, but she’d done it herself.
    He sat back in his chair and stared at the phone on his desk. How many times had he almost picked it up to call her? She was upset, and he wanted to shield her from everything that was causing her pain. But he couldn’t do that, could he? Not when he was involved in the situation that was causing her pain, that would keep reminding her of what her father had done.
    It wasn’t a good idea to get any more involved with Elly Cody.
    Delia walked into his office and deposited a roast beef sandwich on his desk. “You look like you could use a nap.”
    “Not a bad idea,” he said.
    She plopped down in the chair across from him and pulled a large order of onion rings from the paper bag she held. The hot, greasy smell made his mouth water.
    “So, you going on the trail ride this weekend?” she asked then took a bite of her first onion ring.
    “What trail ride?”
    “The Last Chance over on the Cottonwood. I figured you’d heard about it since you’ve been over there some.”
    The Last Chance Trail Ride. How many times had he wanted to go on that as he’d been growing up? He couldn’t then, but those obstacles no longer stood in his way. He didn’t even need an invitation. It was open to anyone who owned or could borrow a horse, an event to bring together the community before winter started throwing punches.
    Hadn’t he just told himself to leave Elly be, that it was best for everyone involved?
    “Don’t