Wedding at Rocking S Ranch by Kathryn Albright

Author:Kathryn Albright
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-05-02T15:14:11+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

He’d seen her go down, crumpling in a heap. She pulled back from the post, looking disoriented, her blue eyes too big for her face—a face that was white.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, angry with himself. If she couldn’t handle the branding with the calf he’d rescued a few days ago, why had she hung around to watch this time? And this time had been brutal. Roth had been brutal. She had been so still that he hadn’t known she was watching until he saw her sink to the ground. She was a strong woman. The fact that she’d traveled to Kansas on her own proved that. But she’d been through a lot over the past year, and a person could only take so much.

“Here, let me help you up.” He grasped her and helped her to her feet. She wobbled a little. She couldn’t walk like this. She was still in shock. He swept her up into his arms.

“I can walk!” she protested, pushing weakly against his chest.

“I know,” he said in a tone that also said it didn’t matter. He wasn’t about to put her down. She’d only drop to a heap on the ground again.

He started for the house. The faint scent of soap on her skin caught his attention, and he marveled at its presence in the midst of the overpowering stink of cow and leather and sweat that carried on the breeze.

Slowly, she slipped her arms around his neck and relaxed against him.

* * *

“What were you thinking?” he murmured as he strode past the stable. He didn’t expect an answer. He climbed the steps and deposited her gently on the porch swing. “I’ll get you some water.”

“No. Don’t go...” She reached out, a hand to his forearm, stopping him. “Wolf? Why must you hurt them so? They are just babies. Isn’t there another way to separate them?”

She sounded so innocent, so very fragile, as if one more cry from a calf would undo her completely. At least the color was coming back to her face. “It’s how things are done. How they’ve always been done. It’s a part of ranching.”

“It...it’s barbaric.” A tear slipped down her cheek.

He wanted to hold her again—for no other reason than to comfort her. Would she accept it from someone like him? There was a world of difference between them, and it came down to money and privilege and position in this world.

He sat beside her and set the swing into a gentle, slow rock. “You think of a better way, and I’ll get it done.”

She wiped away her tear. “I believe you would.”

Then she surprised him by leaning her head against his shoulder.

“Cassandra,” he said, noticing again that she rubbed her abdomen. She didn’t seem to realize she was doing it. “What’s really going on here?”

“I don’t know. Suddenly, I just couldn’t bear the bawling of the calves and the smell of burning hair.” She raised her head slightly. “I suppose I’ve ruined everything. The men will think they have an emotional female for a boss.

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