The Texan by Bobbi Smith

Author:Bobbi Smith
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781428505889
Publisher: Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
Published: 2009-08-18T20:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

George had stayed up at the house talking with the ladies for the rest of the afternoon, and when Miss Harriet invited him to join them for dinner, he’d gladly accepted. It was late afternoon, and they were just getting ready to sit down and eat when they heard riders come in. Thinking Emmie and Josh were back, George and Millie hurried down to the stable. The ranch hands greeted George, remembering him from his last visit to the Rocking R.

“Where are Josh and Emmie?” Millie asked them.

“They aren’t back yet?” asked a cowboy named Mike.

“No. We haven’t seen them since you rode out this morning,” Millie said.

“We found what we thought were two different trails, so we split up. They rode with Burley”

“Did you find any sign of the rustlers?” George asked.

“We didn’t turn up anything. I hope they have better luck than we did, but I doubt it.”

“Why’s that?” Millie asked.

“There’s a bad storm rolling in,” Mike told them, pointing to the northwest.

They looked that way to see ominous black clouds on the horizon.

“And that’s the direction they were riding. From the look of things, I’d say what ever trail they were following got washed out.”

“So they should be back soon,” Millie said hopefully, worrying about her friend.

“Not if they got caught in the bad weather,” he explained. “They’ll have to hole up somewhere until it passes, and if the storm lasts until dark where they are, we won’t see them until morning.”

“They won’t be in any danger, will they?” Millie asked worriedly.

“This kind of storm can be dangerous, but Josh and Burley know what they’re doing. They’ll make it back all right.”

Millie felt a little relieved at Mike’s confidence in the two men, and she told herself Emmie was in good hands with Josh. “Thanks.”

“Have you seen Steve?” Mike asked, puzzled that the other man wasn’t there.

George looked down at Millie. “Go on up to the house. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Millie looked a little stricken and quickly hurried off, leaving George to explain to the other hands what had happened.

A short time later, George returned to the house and joined Millie and Miss Harriet for dinner. When the chaperone heard the news about Emmie being caught in a storm, she immediately began to worry—about Emmie’s safety and her reputation.

“Don’t worry” George assured her. “Your Emmie will be safe with Josh.”

“She will, Miss Harriet. I know it,” Millie agreed.

Millie’s quick defense of Josh surprised George, for he knew she’d known his brother only a short time.

As sunset approached, they heard the distant rumble of thunder, and those gathered at the ranch house accepted that they probably wouldn’t see Emmie, Josh, or Burley anytime that night. George and Millie decided to go outside on the porch to watch the storm move in, while Miss Harriet chose to observe it safely from a sitting room window.

“Thank you for inviting me to dinner to night,” George said as he and Millie stood together at the top of the steps.

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