Free Heart of Texas Vol. 2 by Debbie Macomber Page B

away his worries, but his hopes had died a humiliating death, thanks to Glen Patterson.
    Why any woman would choose some cowboy over him was beyond Richard. Clearly Ellie had no taste. In the beginning he’d been drawn to the inheritance her daddy had left her, figuring he’d talk her into marrying him, get his hands on the money and then skip town.
    As time progressed and he came to know Ellie, he’d actually found himself thinking about sticking around and making a go of life in Promise. Money in the right places would put an end to his current troubles. For a while he’d toyed with the idea of getting involved in local politics. Promise could use a mayor like him, not some hick but a man with an eye to the future. Then maybe for once he’d be able to stay out of trouble, make a new life for himself. Start over. But un fortunately it hadn’t panned out.
    Standing, Richard glanced at his watch. He hadn’t moved here yet, so he had to be conscious of the time. Although hissister and brother hadn’t said much, they were aware of his absences, and he didn’t want to arouse their suspicions.
    Richard headed to where he’d parked the pickup. After several failed attempts, he’d found a new way into the town, one that didn’t necessitate a long walk.
    The wind whistled behind him, a low plaintive cry that sent shivers down his spine.
    â€œOh, no, you don’t,” he said. Naturally there’d been talk about ghosts in Bitter End. The one time he’d brought Ellie with him, she’d been squirming out of her skin in her eagerness to leave. She claimed it was a feeling she had, a sense of oppression. His sister had said she, too, could feel something weird in the old town.
    Yeah, right.
    Not Richard, at least not until that very moment. The wind in creased in velocity, whistling as he walked away, his back to the main street.
    â€œI don’t hear anything, I don’t feel anything,” he said aloud, more in an effort to hear the words than to convince himself.
    The sensation, or whatever the hell it was, didn’t dissipate until he was safe inside his brother’s dilapidated truck. With the doors locked Richard relaxed, suspecting he’d viewed one too many episodes of Tales from the Crypt.
    As he drove off, another thought entered his mind.
    Caroline Daniels.
    He had no real interest in her himself, but he could have her and he knew it. His brother was sweet on Caroline; that was easy to guess, just from the way Grady looked at her. It might be rotten of him, Richard thought with a grin, but he sure did love to play the spoil sport.
    His brother had as much charisma as an overripe tomato, yet Grady was the one sitting pretty on a prosperous ranch, livinghigh, while Richard had to worry about where his next meal was coming from. Some things in life just weren’t fair, and if he wanted to even them out a little, he could see no harm in it. Besides, he sub scribed to the idea that, regardless of the star he was born under, a man made his own luck. Or, at least, enhanced it.
    â€œYou don’t know how good you’ve got it, big brother,” Richard said. It shouldn’t be hard to lure Caroline away from Grady—and it didn’t hurt any that her kid was crazy about him. Kids had always liked him, and Richard had encouraged them. For some reason a lot of people put stock in their kids’ opinions and preferences. As far as he was concerned, it didn’t matter a damn what some kid thought, although he didn’t mind using a child to manipulate the parent.
    Maggie was a great example. She preferred him over Grady, which made him the leading man when it came to winning her mother’s affections. He found Caroline kind of irritating, though; he didn’t care for the way she looked at him.
    What he enjoyed most of all was playing himself off against his brother. He loved it when he could frustrate Grady, but his older brother made