Free The Cowboy Who Caught Her Eye by Lauri Robinson

were joking or teasing each other.
    They weren’t.
    Carter had changed, though. Or maybe she just saw him differently. It wasn’t anything she could describe, but she was no longer concerned about him and Karleen, and that disturbed her more. It left her with little else to believe other than he really was a cowboy working his way to Montana.
    “Here, let me do that for you,” he said, wrapping a hand over hers, holding the hoe handle.
    The touch, the heat of his palm should have her pulling her hand away, but it didn’t. There was nothing uncomfortable about him touching her, no matter how hard she wished there was. She still didn’t want him here, but mustering up the ability to hate him was growing harder day by day.
    “I can do it,” she said. “I like hoeing.”
    He didn’t remove his hand. “Just let me finish this row for you.”
    “Why?”
    “Because it’s hot out here.”
    Of course it was hot out here, but it was hot inside the house, too. August was like that. Finding that argument useless, she said, “You’ll get your clothes dirty.”
    “I’ll be careful.”
    His fingers were moving, not pulling the hoe from hers, just rubbing the back of her hand. It was attention grabbing, that was for sure. He was good at coaxing people into doing what he wanted with mere words and subtle actions. She’d witnessed it, and as hard as it was to admit, admired it.
    “Do you know the difference between weeds and turnip leaves?” she asked, trying to sound aggravated.
    “I’m sure you’ll tell me,” he said.
    Snapping her head up, prepared to say she didn’t have time to tell him, the words dissolved on her tongue. Amusement twinkled in his eyes, and for the life of her, it wouldn’t let her look away.
    “Won’t you?” he asked.
    In the space of a single heartbeat a stimulating bout of mirth overtook her from top to bottom. It was so unexpected, Molly was unable to fight it, and had no choice but to give in, enjoy the moment.
    “You should do that more often,” Carter said.
    “Do what?”
    “Smile.”
    The moment of bliss faded as fast as it had arrived, leaving additional gloom in its wake. “Maybe I don’t have anything to smile about.”
    “What about Ivy and Karleen?” He caught her chin, used a fingertip to force her to look up at him. “They make everyone smile.”
    “Do you have a family, Carter?” she asked, truly wanting to know.
    He didn’t respond, not so much as a blink of an eye.
    She sighed. He’d never share such things with her, and she’d never share her problems with him, but she would tell him one thing. “Family are the very people we need to protect.”
    He still didn’t speak, but his dark gaze was strong, penetrating, and Molly wished she could deny how deeply she felt his compassion. He was so much more than a hired hand, he was a man. A real man. He did all the heavy chores, and he’d fixed the loose barn door, the leak in the roof over the back porch, and got rid of the hornets, but none of that meant as much as how he treated people. He not only knew how to handle customers, he was kind and caring toward Ivy. Claiming they didn’t bother him, he assured Ivy her dolls could stay in the cabin, along with the table and tea set, and that she could play in there anytime she wanted. He’d even joined in, pretended to drink tea and converse with the dolls one day.
    Molly had seen all this while hanging clothes on the line, and right now she felt the same kind of compassion he showered on Ivy raining down on her, as if he understood their plights in life. Ivy’s early loss of her parents, and Molly’s hidden burdens.
    What she wasn’t sure about was whether his compassion was laced with pity or not.
    “Let me hoe, Molly,” he said quietly. “Just this row. You can watch, make sure I don’t dig up anything except weeds.”
    He was already digging things up inside her. Things she’d sworn would never come to the surface again. The hoe left her grasp as she