A Cowboy's Touch Read Online Free Page B

unless they painted it and removed the basket.”
    “Or sold it somewhere.”
    “Possibly. But if that were the case, there’d probably be other stolen bikes, and the sheriff said there hadn’t been any.”
    Abigail questioned Maddy about her friends at school. She wasn’t so far removed from childhood that she didn’t remember how petty girls could be.
    The green hills rolled out before them, and Maddy turned off the gravel road, heading up one of them. The spongy ground gave beneath Abigail’s tennis shoes. Their feet swished through the grass, and Destiny’s saddle creaked and clicked with his movements.
    “. . . So I guess there are two girls at school who really don’t like me,” Maddy was saying. “I don’t like them much either, but Miss Greta says I have to love everyone because God tells us to—even if they’re stinkers.”
    Abigail tugged her ponytail. “They’re probably just jealous.”
    Maddy gave a rueful laugh. “Of what?”
    “Your beautiful hair and twinkling green eyes.”
    Maddy turned a smile on Abigail that warmed her heart, reminding her that the girl didn’t have a mother to tell her such things. She wondered about Maddy’s relationship with her dad. Even as the thought crossed her mind, her foot caught on something and she stumbled. “Whoops.”
    Maddy reached out, but Abigail had already recovered.
    “The ground’s pretty uneven,” Maddy said.
    “I should probably stick to sidewalks.”
    “Good luck with that.”
    They walked in silence for a few minutes, Abigail taking care with her steps.
    “So, do you think Haley or Olivia might’ve taken my bike just to be mean?”
    “Did they know what it looked like?”
    Maddy rolled her eyes. “Everybody ’round here knows everything about everybody.”
    “Well, I wouldn’t count it out.” Abigail checked her watch. Going on five. “You know where they live? Maybe we could drive by their houses. We could do it now.”
    “I have a bunch of chores, and Greta said to be home by supper.”
    “Oh, that’s right. Well, tomorrow then?”
    “Okay. What should I say at school tomorrow?”
    “Don’t even mention your bike.” Last thing they needed was a bunch of drama. “If someone from school took it, we don’t want them aware we’re looking for it.”
    Maddy shrugged. “Okay.”
    They reached the hill’s crest and stopped. Abigail scanned the miles of green hills that stretched into distant mountains. “It’s so vast. So beautiful.”
    “I thought you’d like the view. It’s my favorite. That’s the Absaroka Range, and the river down there is the Yellowstone.”
    Abigail stared in silence for a moment, taking in the colors and textures of the land. It looked so much like a painting she wanted to reach out and touch it. Behind her, Destiny whinnied. Abigail checked her watch. “It’s getting close to suppertime.”
    “Yeah, I should get back. You want me to take you back to Miss Lucy’s?”
    “I think I can find my way.” They turned and headed toward the gravel drive.
    When they were halfway down the hill, Maddy darted a shy look at Abigail. “Thanks for helping with my bike.”
    She was only doing what was second nature. First nature really. “You bet,” she said.

    Wade was doing the bills when Maddy entered the office. In her pink pj’s with her hair hanging in wet strings, she looked like the little girl he rarely got a glimpse of these days.
    “Aren’t you supposed to be in bed, squirt?”
    “Do I have to go to school tomorrow?”
    He planted his elbows on top of the bills. “Maddy.”
    “We’ll only clean out our desks. We never do anything the last couple days.”
    “Enjoy your friends—you won’t see much of them till fall. Besides, there’s been a glitch with the nanny. Wouldn’t be anyone here to watch you and won’t be all summer if I don’t do some quick thinking.”
    “I don’t need a nanny.”
    Wade rubbed his wrist where a rope had burned through the skin when he heeled an