Free The Rancher's Bride by Stella Bagwell Page A

killed him. The stress of it all. Of course his cigarettes and fondness for Kentucky bourbon didn’t help matters.”
    Tomas Murdock had liked to play the horses. Harlan had been aware of that. But apparently the older man’s playing hadn’t stopped at just horses. Now Rose and her sisters were paying for his sins. It wasn’t fair, or right. But what could Harlan do about it?
    “I’m sorry, Rose. Really sorry.”
    She closed her eyes and as Harlan studied her pale face, it was all he could do not to crush her against his chest and bury his face in her hair. The urge didn’t make sense to Harlan. After the death of his wife, he’d vowed never to marry or even allow himself to love again. So why was this woman making him feel things he didn’t want to feel?
    “I didn’t tell you all this to gain your sympathy,” she murmured.
    “No. But I’m glad you did,” he said softly.
    Her eyes fluttered open just in time to see his face drawing near. Her mouth opened in surprise but she didn’t have time to get the word no past her lips. Suddenly he was kissing her. Again.
    Rose couldn’t help herself. She clung to him, tasted him, then sighed when he finally lifted his head and gently trailed his finger down her cheek.
    “Good night, Rose.”
    Too shaken to speak, Rose watched him disappear into the darkness.
    “Good night, Harlan,” she whispered brokenly.

Chapter Five
    A few moments later Rose pulled herself together and went into the house. All was quiet as she walked through the dark living room, then down the hallway toward her bedroom.
    “Rose?”
    The whispered sound of her name had Rose pausing, then glancing in the open doorway of the nursery. A soft night-light illuminated Chloe’s silhouette.
    “Yes, it’s me. Are they both asleep?” she asked as she tiptoed into the twins’ room.
    Chloe turned away from the white wooden cribs. “I just put them down. I think they crawled across the living room thirty times before they finally wore down.”
    “They like being mobile,” Rose said with a weary smile. “Just wait until they start walking.”
    Chloe chuckled softly. “Look out, Aunt Kitty. She’ll probably drop ten pounds.”
    “By then I expect we’ll have to hire someone to help her. Aunt Kitty might be young and agile for her sixty-twoyears, but chasing after two toddlers would be hard on a woman of any age.”
    Chloe glanced over her shoulder at the sleeping babies. “I know. I just hope by then we can come up with the money for extra help.” She looked back at her sister. “Speaking of help, where have you been?”
    Out on the porch kissing our neighbor, Rose thought wildly. Aloud she said, “Harlan just brought me home. It was dark by the time we finished moving the cattle. And then his daughter wanted me to stay and eat pizza.”
    Chloe’s brows shot up. “And you did?”
    Rose took Chloe by the shoulder and guided her out of the nursery. “It would have been unneighborly to have refused, don’t you think?”
    She headed down the hallway to her bedroom and Chloe walked along with her.
    “I don’t know about that. But it surprises me that you stayed to have supper with someone you hardly know. Especially when you told me last night that Harlan—what was it?” She thoughtfully tapped a finger against her chin. “He bothered you.”
    Rose spread her hands in a helpless gesture. “Well, he does bother me.” Dear Lord, he did more than bother her, she thought, he’d taken total control of her senses. “But Emily was a big help moving the cattle today and she practically begged me to stay and eat.”
    “Hmm,” Chloe mused aloud, “you must like the girl.”
    Rose entered her bedroom with Chloe still close on her heels. “I do. Her mother has been dead since she was a little thing and it’s just been her and her daddy ever since.”
    “How sad for her.”
    “Very.”
    “And sad for Mr. Hamilton, too,” Chloe added.
    Rose tossed her hat onto a stuffed armchair, then in