Much Ado About Miners by Jacquie Rogers

Author:Jacquie Rogers [Rogers, Jacquie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Camp Rogers Press
Published: 2015-01-06T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

A few hours later, Kade visited the livery to inspect the horses Kirkpatrick had brought in for the ladies.

“What can I do for you, McKinnon?” The livery owner ran his hand down a horse’s leg and picked up the front hoof. “Need to fix this shoe.”

“Tell you what, Kirkpatrick, I’ll make sure reports of your wife and your dog stay out of The Owyhee Avalanche if you run an honest deal with these ladies.”

“Hell, McKinnon, you know I run a square business here. I’m not about to risk my reputation.”

“I just want to make sure those four ladies know you run an honest business after they’ve ridden their horses for a week or two.”

Kade couldn’t decide whether to make himself scarce, or stick around to make sure the ladies ended up with decent mounts. On the one hand, his sister probably wouldn’t want him there—maybe Iris didn’t, either. On the other, he’d seen that none of the four ladies had any idea how to judge good horseflesh.

Just as he had made up his mind to keep his eye on the situation from a distance, Edward Hewett walked in, twirling his cane.

“I see my fiancée isn’t here yet. I wonder if my father didn’t give her the afternoon off as promised.”

The mere sight of Edward made Kade grind his teeth, and the fact that he was such a pleasant chap made it all that much worse. “A bank is no place for a woman to work, anyway.”

“Well, she seems to enjoy her job and she’s very good with numbers. From what I can see, her business sense surpasses most men’s, including mine—my father’s, too, although he’d never admit it.”

“She’s one smart lady.”

Edward shrugged. “She’s smart at books, all right, but she doesn’t have much sense sometimes.”

Kade’s annoyance sparked into anger but he didn’t react. Instead, he studied the man Iris had chosen for a husband. “She has enough sense to marry a banker’s son.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Whatever it is that she sees in me, I have no idea, but if I were a woman, I’d want a strong man who is smart and brave—one who was man enough to stand up for those weaker than him. And most of all, she ought to be looking for a man who attracts kids and cats.”

“Sounds like a pretty tall order.”

“Oh, about six foot two, I suppose.”

“Old joke. And you don’t have to worry—I don’t poach in other men’s territory.”

“That all depends on what you consider to be another man’s territory. In my case, I’m quite aware that my future wife is in love with another man, but she won’t admit it nor will the object of her affection.”

Iris loved another man? He hadn’t seen her associate with anyone except the Hewett men and Sidney Adler, Edward being the only bachelor among them. Edward couldn’t be referring to Kade because even after their kiss, she still insisted on continuing her engagement. So was there another man he didn’t know about?

“I guess she knows what’s best for herself.

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.