Free A Texan's Honor by Leigh Greenwood

knew.”
    They enjoyed another good laugh.
    â€œI can’t tell you how good it is to see you again,” Emily said. “With Dad being sick and trying to send me off to Boston, I haven’t had a good laugh in months. And don’t
you
tell me I shouldn’t stay on that ranch after he dies. We’d never see each other if I went to Boston.”
    Ida had been like a mother to Emily during thetime her own mother was sick and the first years after her death. Emily had been pleased when a small inheritance enabled Charlie to give up his job as their foreman to buy his own ranch, but she’d sorely missed the company of Ida and the children.
    â€œI do worry about you,” Ida said. “I know how lonely it can be out here.”
    â€œSo do I.”
    â€œOf course, if you could convince that handsome young man to stay . . .”
    â€œDon’t even think of it,” Emily said, covering her mouth to keep from laughing. “He might have grown up in Texas, but you should have seen him last night drinking brandy like he’d been born to it.”
    â€œYou’re rich enough to buy him all the bandy he can drink.”
    â€œIda Wren!” Emily exclaimed. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were suggesting that I marry him.”
    â€œWell, he is mighty attractive.”
    â€œI’m not sure I even want a husband, but if I did, I certainly would look for more than a handsome face.”
    â€œHow about the rest of him?”
    Fortunately, Emily was spared having to explain her blushes by the noisy entrance of Bret accompanied by Joey and Buddy.
    â€œMr. Nolan says he’s going to sleep out with us,” Joey exclaimed.
    â€œHe’s got his own bedroll and everything,” Buddy added.
    â€œHe said he thinks the sorrel mare’s colt is going to be faster than Bounder,” Joey said.
    â€œYour father will be delighted to hear that,” Ida said with a wink at her son. “He thinks the same. But you’re not to make Mr. Nolan feel guilty for putting you out of your bed.”
    â€œIt’s something I haven’t done in a long time,” Bret said. “I used to like it.”
    The man was continually surprising Emily. He arrived without a hair out of place, then practically encouraged a dirty orphan to attach himself to him. At dinner he acted like an aristocrat, then turned up the next morning dressed like a cowhand. Now when he had a bed to sleep in, he’d decided to sleep out. And where had he found time to buy a bedroll? And why had he done it?
    â€œNow, I know you ladies probably have a lot to catch up on, so I asked the boys to show me around the ranch.”
    â€œWouldn’t you like to rest up a bit before supper?”
    â€œI need to stretch my legs after being in the saddle all day.” He cast Emily an amused glance. “I wouldn’t want to embarrass myself by stumbling over my own feet.”
    â€œSupper will be ready in less than an hour.”
    â€œJust give me time to wash up.”
    â€œWhat do you make of that?” Ida asked after the door closed behind Bret and her sons.

Chapter Five
    An hour later, after Emily had helped Ida and Clara get supper on the table, Emily was still distracted by Ida’s question. It seemed the longer she knew Bret, the less she understood about him. She’d come to consider herself something of an expert when it came to men. After all, she’d been surrounded by them all her life. She’d cataloged their strengths, memorized their faults, and worked out their patterns of behavior and the reasoning behind them. Bret didn’t fit any of her preconceptions about men.
    Her confusion had increased when Bret and Charlie came in for dinner. Charlie fitted perfectly into her schematic for the average male. He was better than most, but he was a Texas cowboy through and through. Now he was acting as if Bret was his best buddy.
    â€œI wish you