Free Maureen McKade by A Dime Novel Hero Page B

with Jake, but his obsession to own the ranch rankled her. Hero or not, he had no right coveting her home.
    After a few moments, Kit followed after Jake. She found him helping Johnny unsaddle Treasure and rub her down. He gave Kit a startled look, then turned his attention back to Johnny. She scooped a handful of oats into Treasure’s feed box and waited for Jake and Johnny to complete their task.
    “Always remember that your horse’s well-being comes before your own,” Jake said to Johnny. “He’s been the one working to carry you all day while all you’ve done is sit on his back. So before you eat or sleep, you take care of your horse.”
    “Even if I’m really tired?” Johnny asked. “Ma says I get crabby when I’m tired.”
    Jake smiled down at the boy. “Even if you’re really tired and crabby. Because without your horse, you’ll be alone and on foot. And believe me, you don’t want that to happen.”
    With Johnny serving as a buffer between them, Kit and Jake walked back to where Zeus was tied.
    “I’d best get back to town,” Jake said, unwrapping the reins from the post.
    “Do you have to?” Johnny asked, his face downcast.
    Jake hunkered down beside the boy. “Don’t look so sad, kid. I’ll be back in a few days.”
    “That’s forever. Why don’t you stay here, like Charlie and Ethan? There’s room for him, isn’t there, Ma?”
    Jake glanced up at Kit’s gaping mouth. “I’ve got my own room at Freda’s, and I’ve got a job in town. You think about what I taught you, okay?”
    “Okay,” Johnny agreed reluctantly, then he brightened. “Thanks for teaching me how to ride. I had lots of fun, and I think Treasure liked it.” He frowned. “But I don’t think Toby did. He doesn’t like to be locked up in the shed.”
    “Until you’ve had a few more lessons, Toby will have to stay there when I’m teaching you.” Jake straightened, and smiled at Johnny. “You’re a fast learner, kid.”
    Jake mounted Zeus, and looked down at Kit. “No hard feelings?”
    She shook her head. “Not on my side.”
    “Good. Next time you’re in town, drop by my office.” He waved, then wheeled his palomino about, and headed back toward Chaney.
    Kit dragged her attention away from his receding figure. “It’s past chore time, Johnny.”
    “I did good, didn’t I, Ma?” Johnny asked excitedly.
    “You did better than good.”
    With a grin, the boy scurried off.
    Unease rippled through Kit. Her son liked Jake; he liked him too well. If Jake was using Johnny and his riding lessons as an excuse to try to talk her into selling the ranch, Johnny was bound to get hurt. The Jake she’d known wouldn’t have done something so underhanded, but there was a sharper edge to this Jake. She had noidea how far he would go to acquire his father’s former ranch.
    Charlie joined her, banishing her somber thoughts. “I seen Cordell with Johnny. Watchin’ them, a person might think they were father and son,” he remarked.
    Kit opened her mouth, then abruptly closed it. “A person
might
think that.”
    “Iffen you’re hiding something from Cordell, I’d think twice about it,” Charlie said. “A man like him ain’t gonna take kindly to secrets involvin’ him.”
    Kit studied her observant hired man a moment and sighed. “Jake would be miserable if he had to settle down in one place.”
    “Why don’t you leave that up to Cordell? He doesn’t seem to be in a big hurry to shake Chaney’s dust from his boots.”
    Kit’s muscles tensed. “What happens to Johnny if he does decide to leave? I won’t lose him, Charlie. Johnny’s all I have.”
    “Don’t you be frettin’, Miz Thornton. Mr. Cordell won’t be hearin’ anything from me. You got my word on that.”
    Kit squeezed his work-roughened hand. “Thank you.”
    She turned away from the corral and walked toward the copse of trees that hid the house from view. Her steps as heavy as her heart, she followed the worn trail.
    Was the resemblance