Free Yours Again (River City Series) by Dee Burks Page A

ranch.”
    His
expression told her he clearly didn’t believe a word she said.
    “Do
you believe me?”
    “Nope.”
    She
hadn’t expected a different answer, but still part of her hoped for one. She
held his gaze. “Okay, if that’s the way you want it, that’s fine.”
    She
stepped closer until she almost touched him. “But make no mistake. I am staying
even if that means you spending every waking minute wondering what I’m up to,
or wh o I’m with .”
     
     

 
     
     
     
    Chapter 7
     
    “Went
a little over the top, don’t you think, sweetheart?”
    Samantha
ignored Charlie as the wagon bumped along toward town. Taos assigned Charlie as
her temporary guardian with strict instructions not to let her out of his sight.
    Taos’s
reaction didn’t surprise her. She couldn’t believe the words had come out of
her own mouth. Stud services? Really! As if she would even have the nerve to
mention such a thing in front of anyone else. It couldn’t be taken back now,
and it put her in a very awkward position.
    She
had to do something to make him think she was going to consider it just to
stall him from booting her into the street. The man acted like women were the
enemy. She crossed her arms and swayed in rhythm with the wagon. This
predicament was entirely Taos’s fault. If he had just believed her there
wouldn’t be an issue at all.
    John
was deadly serious about his treat, and she knew it. The farther away she got,
the more worried she was about her aunt. Who would take care of her if John
tried to use her as some sort of leverage? She was a tough, determined woman, no
doubt—but John was a killer.
    “You
weren’t really serious, were you?”
    She
looked over at Charlie. Apparently there was some doubt in his mind. Maybe she
was more convincing than she thought. She squinted and looked hard at him. Same
hazel eyes, dark thick hair, and devilish grin. Just as she remembered.
    “What?”
    “How
can you still be the same person you always were, and your brother be totally
different?”
    Charlie’s
gazed at the horizon as the first signs of town came into view. “He’s not that
different. He’s just been through some rough times.”
    “Rough
times?” They must have been horrible to make him this nasty. Maybe her ranch
had been a hardship on him. That hadn’t occurred to her. “You mean trying to
run both spreads?”
    “No.
Now that he’s good at.” Charlie paused and shuffled the reins back and forth
between his fingers. “Why do you want your ranch so bad right now?”
    “I
don’t, I said that.”
    His
head snapped around. “Then what was all that this morning?”
    “Taos
said I couldn't stay. The only other place I can go is my own ranch, but
there’s no one there to protect me. Mattie won’t know where to find me if I go
anywhere else. We agreed that I wouldn’t contact her just in case John was
intercepting her mail, and we highly suspect he has been.” She stared into
Charlie’s incredulous eyes. “I thought I would be safe with Taos. What was I
supposed to do, let him kick me out like a sack of rotten potatoes?”
    “Taos
wouldn’t have kicked you out.” He shook his head. “He thinks you just want the
money and the land. All you have to do is convince him you don’t. Problem
solved.”
    “I
tried that and he called me an out-and-out liar! How do you expect me to change
his mind?”
    “Hm.
Got a point there.” Charlie thought for a minute. “He’s not one to back down
easily when he makes a decision either.”
    “So
I gathered. I do plan to convince him, but I wouldn’t mind making him suffer a
little first.”
    Charlie
seemed worried. “You’re not going to make me suffer too, are you?”
    “Nope.”
She grinned. “Just him.”
    Charlie
steered the wagon up and over the bank of the dry creek she’d crossed last
night. It had been almost dark then, but now she could see the land was truly
parched. The grass was thin and mostly dead. Large areas of what was