A Rancher for Their Mom (Rodeo Heroes) Read Online Free

limited at best. The nightmare of Mr. Moore being knocked out this morning, landing on his right arm and dislocating it, sat in the forefront of her mind. Whom would she hire to replace him? Everybody else had their own ranches to care for, their own fields to plant. “You’re not tied up this week at the rodeo?”
    “I explained to the boys that I have morning chores that I need to do first, but I can be here before seven. That was fine with them.”
    She wanted to tell him no. She didn’t need her boys getting any more involved with a traveling cowboy, but one look at her sons’ precious faces and she knew she couldn’t throw away their effort to help.
    Todd worried his bottom lip and Wes reminded her of a cat waiting to catch a mouse. The thought of the boys going out and hiring Joel to help with the planting made her heart swell with pride. She knew she couldn’t refuse.
    “Then I guess you have a job.”
    The boys jumped with excitement. Cora didn’t know what was happening, but she joined the celebration.
    The grin on Joel’s face made her fingers tingle, which scared her. Maybe she should back out now, before disaster struck. But as soon as the idea formed, she glanced at her sons. Could she crush their enthusiasm?
    “Now, you’ll need to tell me what you want done,” Joel said, breaking into her internal debate.
    “Don’t worry,” Wes piped in. “Mom’s good at telling people what to do.” He said it so casually he didn’t notice the smile on Joel’s face or the wide-eyed look on his mother’s.
    * * *
    “So these are the horses you picked up from the Landers ranch.” Jack Murphy walked up to the corral housing the new stock.
    When Joel returned earlier with Sadie and Helo, Jack had been in Amarillo. “Yup, these are the horses.”
    Jack rested his boot on the bottom rail. “They’re a little young.”
    “True, but I think the lady needed the money.”
    Jack’s brow wrinkled. “She say that?”
    “Not exactly, but looking around, I could see things needed repair.”
    Jack rubbed his chin. “I worried about that when Vernon died. He talked to me when he was sick, asking me to keep buying from the Circle L Ranch. I agreed with him, wondering how his daughter-in-law could run that ranch by herself, having three little kids.”
    A perfect opening. “I guess that’s why April’s sons hired me to help this week.”
    “What?” Jack sounded as if he’d swallowed a frog.
    “When I went to get the feed earlier, I saw the family. The boys slipped around the back while I was loading and hired me for the week. Apparently, their hired hand had an accident between the time I was there in the morning and when I saw them at the feed store in the afternoon.”
    “They hired you?” Jack asked.
    “They did. I told them I’d have to finish chores here before I could go out to their place, but they were okay with the setup.” Joel faced his boss straight on. “You okay with that?”
    “Works for me. At least you’ll have something to do with yourself instead of hanging around here, complaining you’re bored.”
    “What? Was I that much of a problem?” Joel asked.
    “Hank was afraid he was going to have to babysit you this week and didn’t know what he was going to do. He’s a cook, not a babysitter, and planned on telling you you needed to take up knitting.”
    “I couldn’t have complained that much.”
    Jack’s brow arched.
    “Knitting?”
    Both men grinned.
    “How well did you know April’s father-in-law?”
    “April?” Jack’s smile widened.
    “Hey, a little background would help me understand what’s going on and the situation there.”
    “Okay. We went back several years. Vernon loved the rodeo but loved his ranch more.” Jack shook his head. “Kinda funny how his daughter-in-law took to ranching like a duck to water, but his son—
    “Vernon said he never saw someone love ranching like April. She was a natural. There was nothing around the ranch she wouldn’t do, or