Free Not the Marrying Kind by Christina Cole Page A

worry about. The little brat was always hiding,
eavesdropping, and coming up with new schemes to bribe her
unfortunate victims. When she thought again of her little sister’s
careless remarks to the ladies at church, Kat turned beet-red.
    “Calm down,” Lucille urged, keeping her
voice low. “How are you going to get out of it?”
    Kat cast a wary look over her shoulder. No
sign of Mama or Emily Sue. She sighed. Might as well tell Lucille
the truth. The whole truth. For some reason, Kat hadn’t wanted to
say anything about Joshua Barron. She didn’t want to talk about her
hopes of running the Rocking P with his help, and she wouldn’t dare
utter a word about this crazy new idea coming into her head about
maybe setting her cap for the man, as they called it.
    No, she didn’t want to say a word about
Joshua Barron. Kat wanted to keep him all to herself. She didn’t
want Lucille asking a lot of questions…or worse, still, getting any
ideas of her own about the man.
    “It’s a long story,” she began, weighing
each word carefully. “To keep it short, Pa and I made an agreement.
He’s hired a new foreman to take Mike’s place, and he’s giving me a
chance to prove that I’m capable of running the ranch.”
    “What happens if you can’t handle it?”
    “I have to marry Reverend Kendrick.” When
she glanced into the mirror, she saw Lucille’s reflection staring
back, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. “But I won’t fail. I can’t.” Kat
swallowed hard, nearly choking on all the doubts that now filled
her head and heart. Even with Joshua’s help, her responsibilities
at the Rocking P were overwhelming. Her determination would be
stronger, she vowed.
    Lucille tapped a neatly-manicured finger
against her chin. “On the other hand, what if you succeed?” She
came over, picked up the comb, and quickly set to work arranging
artful curls. “What happens then?”
    “Life will go on just as it always has.”
    “No, Kat, it won’t. Your folks are moving
into Sunset. I heard them talking to my parents about it. Your
father’s made up his mind.” She hesitated. “He’s already found a
house in town. Seems he’s also made up his mind that you’re going
to marry Reverend Kendrick.”
    Kat shrugged. “They can move to town if they
want. I’m not going with them. I’m staying right here on the
Rocking P.” She lifted her gaze to the mirror, her eyes meeting
Lucille’s. “This is my home, and I’m not leaving it.”
    Lucille put down the comb. “But you can’t
stay here on your own. Be sensible about this.”
    “I’ll hire a housekeeper. And a cook.” Once
the government paid for the beef, she’d be able to employ the help
she needed. Joshua would move into the bunkhouse, and…oh, my!
Joshua staying in the bunkhouse? The thought unnerved her.
    The heat shooting through her nearly knocked
Kat from the bench. A strange excitement tickled her toes and stole
through her body, making her limbs go suddenly loose and limp.
Every inch of her skin tingled.
    At once, she saw the fallacy in her thinking
and knew beyond any doubt that Emily’s claims of sabotage and
trickery must be true. Pa would never allow Kat to remain at the
Rocking P—alone—with a foreman and a crew of rowdy ranch hands. A
single woman at the mercy of a half-dozen roughneck cowboys? No way
in hell.
    Her hands clenched into fists. Her muscles
stiffened. Let Pa conspire against her all he wanted. It wouldn’t
work. Somehow, she’d pull this off, by God! She looked at Lucille,
noticed the puzzled expression on the girl’s face, and realized her
friend had been talking. Lucille seemed to be waiting for an answer
to some question.
    “I’m sorry. What did you say?” She did her
best to push aside her unsettling thoughts.
    “Never mind.” Lucille waved her hand. “I was
pointing out how ridiculous this whole idea is, but I know you’re
not going to listen,” she said as she returned to the wardrobe and
flung the doors open again.