Carter (Remington Ranch Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

sit in the tub and stare out the window at the mountain while she mulled it all through.
    ~ ~ ~
    When Carter got home, he let himself in through the back door. He kicked his boots off and hung his hat in the mudroom. He picked up the coffee mug he’d left on the kitchen table this morning and rinsed it out. What a difference a day made! This morning, he’d known that Summer was coming back and he was determined to stick to his plan to avoid her. Now here he was, not twelve hours later, and he’d already picked her up from the airport, told her she’d made him feel like the happiest guy on earth, and if that wasn’t enough, he was going back to see her later and taking her to dinner with his brother and Cassidy!
    He tidied the kitchen. He loved this house. He’d built it the third year the nursery did well. The nursery covered five acres, and when the five next door had come up for sale, he’d bought the lot and built his home next to his business. It wasn’t anything grand, but it was nice. It was his. He went out back and stopped to pet a cat who came curling around his legs. “Hey, Buster,” he said as he scratched behind his ears. “How you doing? Are you keeping the mice down for me?”
    Buster purred loudly in reply and rubbed his head against Carter’s leg.
    Carter smiled. “Yeah, right. I’ll fill up you guys’ food.” He left food out for a whole bunch of cats who hung around out here. He claimed that they kept the mice down, but in reality he was just a soft ass and didn’t like to admit it. He was so soft, in fact, that he’d turned one of sheds into a home for the cats. Buster had been the first stray to show up around here a couple of years ago. Carter had invited him to come stay in the house, but he didn’t like to be cooped up. Carter had taken to leaving food and warm blankets out in the shed—the shed that had a broken board where a cat could squeeze in if they really wanted to. Buster had made the place his home, and then he started inviting his friends over. Nowadays there were at least a half dozen of them who hung out on any given night.
    Once he’d filled up their food and made sure they had fresh water, he let himself back into the house. It was time to take a shower and figure out what he was going to wear tonight. He chuckled to himself—what was he, a girl? But it was important to him. He wanted to look good. He opened his closet and stared in there. It shouldn’t be important, but it was. He’d already proved to himself that he wasn’t going to be able to stay away from Summer. He’d already been more honest than he should have with her about how he felt. And she hadn’t been horrified. He knew she liked him. He was starting to wonder whether he should just keep being honest—with himself as well as with her. He’d spent ten years of his life avoiding women, trying to save himself from more pain. Maybe Summer was the one who would help him get past that? He knew that life didn’t happen without pain, but if you were going to take the risk, the potential reward had to be worthwhile. He couldn’t think of any greater potential reward than Summer. If he wasn’t prepared to take a risk on her, then he may as well hang up his boots right now.
    He closed the closet door again. He’d figure it out after his shower. For now he headed for the bathroom and set the water running. He needed to get cleaned up and hopefully wash some of his fear and confusion away.
    He pulled up back at her house at six thirty on the dot. She must have been watching for him; the front door opened as he climbed out of his truck. He smiled. She was so damned beautiful! She was small and fragile looking, but there was a strength about her, too. A strength he admired. She was dressed casual tonight in black jeans and a long white sweater. Her long blonde hair fell loose around her shoulders. She took his breath away. She waved and he started toward her, realizing that he’d been standing there staring