Cattle Baron's Daughter by S. Dionne Moore

Author:S. Dionne Moore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2013-08-12T04:00:00+00:00

nineteen

Ryan tied the dun to the back of the wagon and waited at the side for his mother to appear. When she did, her smile beamed brighter than the light from seven oil lamps. She wanted details of his time with Olivia, so he knew she’d forgive him for spending the morning with Hector Maiden and taking her to town late.

“So you must tell me when you are going out next.”

He groaned and thought about how Olivia had stalked away from him the previous evening. “I don’t know. Probably not for a long time.”

She touched her hand to his as she tamed her skirts with the other and hiked herself into the wagon. “You were a gentleman, I hope.”

Ryan took his time rounding the wagon. He might as well continue to answer the endless string of questions. If he grew silent, she would only dig deeper, prying open his shell much as he’d seen a sailor do to a clam once. The image made things bearable somehow, and his mother’s stream of speculation and advice over the few miles into town made one thing clear to him: she wanted grandchildren. Lots of them. And she loved him. Love, to her, translated to a life spent with someone. Only there was one problem, and he told her about it as soon as he’d helped her down into the street in front of the general store. “We’re not in love, Mama.”

She stopped, turned, and smiled. It was the grin of a woman sure of herself. “You will be, son. She’s a beautiful woman.”

“I thought you wanted me to marry for love, not for beauty.”

“Ah”—she shook her finger at him—“see? You are admitting that you have noticed how pretty she is. You see, I was talking about her inner beauty. You, on the other hand, are the one who notices her outward beauty.”

He didn’t respond. He should have known better in the first place. His mother could twist things around until his mind felt frayed like a used rope. He felt as if he’d scaled the Big Horns by the time he’d returned the dun to the livery and started back toward the ranch. And all because a little scrap of a woman knew him better than she knew herself. He wondered if all mothers had a way of turning their children inside out.

Bobby wanted him to go over the books. A task he wel-comed. He wanted to learn more about the holdings of the Lazy L and forget about women.

He slapped the reins against the horse’s rump to hurry her along. He needed to give more attention to the ranch. At the Y in the road, the right branch led to Sattler’s spread, the left to Laxalt land. He stopped the wagon and considered Olivia and their hasty parting. Phoebe’s words that she thought Olivia might be hurting over her father’s inattention stirred his mind.

Ryan blew out a breath and adjusted his hat more firmly on his head before setting the horse into motion at a good clip.

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