Free The Rancher by Lily Graison Page A

the way she did and
knowing what he was about to do, Alex was going to be a handful for
weeks to come.
     
    He took a deep breath, smiling
to lessen the blow. "I like her, Alex. I'm just going to ask her to
supper."
     
    She tried to interrupt but he
held up his hand, stopping her. "In the hotel restaurant. I know
I'd be asking too much to bring her back here so for now, I'll go
to town when I want to see her."
     
    That horrified look on her face
grew. "You mean this ain't no one time thing?"
     
    He shook his head.
     
    Her shoulders dropped, her arms
fell away from her chest and she looked as if he'd killed every one
of her beloved critters. "You're going to court her, ain't ya
pa?"
     
    "If she'll let me." He grinned.
"And probably even if she don't."
     
    Alex huffed out a breath and
turned, walking down the stairs, her steps heavy and forlorn. He
watched her cross to the front door and leave the house without
another word. He sighed and followed her.
     
    She was sitting on the steps
when he walked outside, her head hung. Holden sat down beside her
and waited.
     
    It took her close to ten minutes
before she looked up. Her eyes were glassy and he knew she was
fighting tears.
     
    "I don't want no new momma."
     
    "I know you don't." He smiled
and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his
side. "If I had my way, your momma would have never left us. She'd
be in the house, fluttering around the kitchen and making a fuss
about something she'd burned." Kissing the top of her head, he gave
her a small squeeze. "But, we can't change the past, Alex. We just
have to move on and live our life to the best of our ability."
     
    "You gonna ask Miss Montgomery
to marry you?"
     
    He already had, in a round about
way, but didn't dare tell Alex. He smiled and stood up. "Let's not
get ahead of ourselves. I'm just going to ask her to supper. Talk
to her a little bit." He turned to look at her. "If you're lucky,
I'll realize I don't actually like her all that much and that she
turns into some foul creature when the moon is full."
     
    Alex brightened and stood. "She
probably does. Some horrid beast with two heads."
     
    "Let's hope not. Hard to tell
what she'd do to me if that was the case."
     
    He left her standing on the
porch, worry etching her face in troubled lines. He knew the moment
he decided to head into town Alex would take issue with it but he'd
lived the better part of ten years doing nothing but seeing that
she had the best of everything he could give her. He'd stayed home,
tending to her while his brothers headed to town every weekend to
visit those ladies in the saloon and not once had he regretted it.
He'd do whatever it took to make Alex happy but he couldn't give on
this one thing.
     
    Truth was, he'd watched so many
people happily go about their lives and envied most of them. He
envied his brothers, all married now and planning their futures,
making room for babies, and a part of him died every time he saw
how happy they were. He wanted that too. He wanted it for Alex. He
wanted to see her smile. To become the kind of woman her mother
would be proud of and he couldn't do that alone. He needed help and
the woman who could help him do that was an ornery piece of work
but she stirred his blood and made his long neglected body ache in
ways he couldn’t ignore anymore.
     
    He wanted her. Plain and simple.
Waspish tongue and displeasing disposition that Laurel Montgomery
had, he wanted her. And he aimed to have her whether she liked it
or not.
     
     
    * * * *
     
     
    Laurel had just rounded the
schoolhouse when she saw him and tried to duck back around the
building. He smiled at her and she sighed. He'd seen her.
     
    She took a moment to compose
herself, inhaled a few steadying breaths and wondered how she'd be
able to lash out at the man again. It killed her every time she
did.
     
    Two full months in town and
everywhere she looked, there he was. She nearly sighed just
thinking of him. He was