Choices Read Online Free Page A

in the distance, the silver ribbon of the Yellowstone snaked through his land, and the jagged peaks of the Crazy Mountains stood stark against the bright morning. The dots of color in the white pastures were most likely his cattle, brought down for the winter from the high summer pastures.
                  She turned away, excited to explore. All she did done last night was unpack, take a long bath, and eat the meal that a silent ranch hand brought over. It had been one of the two she had seen when she first got there, the Small One, as she liked to think of him. She opened the door to his tentative knock, and he just stood there, the food on a plate extended in front of him. Abby reached out and took it, said Thank you, and he just turned around and got into his truck and left. Strange. She was becoming accustomed to the reaction she was getting from people here at LM Ranch.
                  The meal turned out to be good old fashioned stew in thick gravy, with biscuits piled up on the side. She had eaten it with great gusto, it having been a long time since she had eaten comfort food like that.
    Now, she ran downstairs, and put on a pot of coffee, then went to the back of the cabin. Another bedroom and bath lay along the hall, including a little alcove with a built in desk and internet hook-up. She looked into the bedroom, and saw it had a little deck through a set of French doors. The downstairs bathroom was just like the one upstairs, with a soaker tub and separate shower. All in all a very comfy and surprisingly luxurious cabin. The furnishings were not high-end, but very stylish, and the flooring was real hardwood, not laminate.
                  Abby got a coffee cup out of the cupboard, and poured a cup. She drank it black, needing no extras. She had always felt like a freak at Starbucks, surrounded by people ordering half-caff, non-fat, something or other, and then she would get up to the front and order coffee, black. People stared. She opened cupboards, familiarizing herself with what each one held, then opened the refrigerator. Nothing in there but leftovers from last night. She grabbed two biscuits and tossed them into the toaster oven. They would serve for breakfast, until she could get into town and pick some stuff up. She thought about picking up some heavy duty clothes, also. The ranch offered riding and hiking, but other than her hiking boots, she didn’t have a good winter coat other than her ski parka, and her jeans were designer, not meant for Montana snow.
                  She stood at the counter, sipping her coffee, and felt some stress leave her. She hadn’t thought about Steve in almost 15 hours, and her dreams sure had nothing to do with him. Thinking about that, she moved to the great room, and turned on the gas logs. She moved to sit on the floor in front of the hearth, immediately thought about her dream from last night, and switched to the deep, comfy chair and ottoman.
    She looked out over the stream in back, and tried to think about nothing. Unfortunately, her mind was not meant for idleness. Her thoughts ranged from her cheating, conniving ex-husband to Logan McKinnon, who she barely knew and found almost unbearably attractive. Steve was who she needed to forget, her first, and so far only, love, who had taken her trust and love and stomped them into the ground. She felt a brief stab of pain when she remembered how it felt to find out about his mistress, when the woman had the temerity to show up at the townhouse on Beacon Hill looking for him.
    From there on the next year was a blur of lawyers, accusations, and pain. She pressed a hand to her heart, as if she could stop the ache there from spreading, but it was no good. She wasn’t the kind of woman to recover quickly from betrayal from the man she had loved, but she wasn’t a quitter. She would get her life back, maybe go home to White Fish, open up a business, or just stay on the ranch and help