The Cowboy Takes a Bride by Lori Wilde

Author:Lori Wilde
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Azizex666, Fiction
ISBN: 9780062047762
Publisher: Avon
Published: 2012-03-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

There’s magic and then there’s miracles, they ain’t the same thing.

—Dutch Callahan

Mariah drove back to the ranch on a celebratory high. It was her day off from the Silver Horseshoe, she had fifty thousand dollars in the bank, she was within weeks of making all her dreams come true, and the first person she wanted to tell about it was Joe. He hadn’t been at Clover’s party because he was too busy training Miracle.

Her life had been a series of disappointments, but this time she wasn’t going to let anything stop her. She’d found herself unwillingly plunked down into a lemon grove, but that meant she had all the tools she needed to open a lemonade stand, and that’s exactly what she intended on doing.

Bloom where you’re planted.

Something Dutch used to say to Cassie when he’d drag them to yet another dead-end spot. “Bloom where you’re planted.”

So now you’re living by the gospel of Dutch?

Hey, the man must have done something right. Everyone in Jubilee loved him.

She pulled to a stop outside the ranch house at Green Ridge and got out of the truck.

Joe was in the corral sitting in a cutter’s slump on Miracle’s back and they were playing a game of can’t-get-past-me with a curly-haired Hereford calf.

The calf dodged left, so did Miracle. Then the calf would dart right, but Miracle was a step ahead of it. Back and forth, over and over. Frustrated, the calf bawled for its mama.

She walked toward the corral fence. Joe hadn’t seen her yet. His attention was glued to the calf. He wore a blue chambray shirt open at the collar, and the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing those ropy forearms thick with dark black hair. Chaps covered his strong legs, and his black cowboy hat was cocked back on his head. Watching the man and horse move as one sent a wave of emotion swimming through her. It was like the most beautiful dance in the world.

Joe Daniels was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. She couldn’t tear her eyes off him. As if he could feel her staring, Joe glanced up, met her gaze, grinned, and sent Mariah’s heart reeling sideways.

Don’t. Watch out. He’s just like your dad. So wrapped up in cutting horses that there is no space in his life for anything else.

He reined in Miracle, allowing the calf to cross the corral to its mother, and slipped from the stallion’s back. Doffing his hat, he crossed the distance from the middle of the ring to the fence where she stood watching.

“Hi,” he said, sounding breathless.

“Hey.”

“What’s got you looking so smiley?”

“It’s a go.”

“A go?” He ran a hand through his rumpled hair, then pushed open the corral fence, and came out to join her.

“The wedding chapel, transforming the barn into a reception hall, my wedding planning business, all of it. I got the loan. Well . . . after Clover cosigned the note for me.”

“So it’s official. You’re staying in Jubilee?” Did his voice sound hopeful or was it merely her imagination?

“I’m staying in Jubilee,” she confirmed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.