Colorado Bride Read Online Free

of weeks. Nobody knows much about him.”
    Tm sure I’ll be quite safe. Now you’d better get started. Won’t you get into trouble if you’re late?”
    “Naw. There’s so many things that can go wrong, nobody except the home office expects you to be on time, and they’re too far away to know anything about it.”
    “Just the same, you’d better be going.”
    “I’ll be back in a couple of days to check on you. I wouldn’t want anything to cause you to leave and Baca to come back. I’m looking forward to sampling some of your cooking.”
    “I’ll see you get a first-rate meal,” Carrie promised and waved a cheerful good-bye. But when she turned back to the station and saw Baca leading three saddled horses from the barn, she felt anything but cheerful. Cody and Buck tied bedrolls to their saddles, then all three riders mounted and rode toward where Carrie still stood in the yard.
    “My orders said nothing about replacing you, Mr. Cody, or you, Buck. You still have jobs here if you want them. In fact, I will need your help to run the station.”
    “What kind of man would I be if I was to stay here?” Cody demanded, glaring at Carrie out of vacant, pale blue eyes. “I ain’t working for no woman.”
    “Me neither,” added Buck. “And you won’t find nobody else around here anxious to work for you.”
    “Won’t be no need,” Baca threatened. “She won’t be here long.”
    “My husband and I intend to make this our home, Mr. Riggins.”
    “Don’t make no difference what you intend. You ain’t heard the last of me. Nobody pushes Baca Riggins out of any place he wants to stay.”
    “I think you’d better go, Mr. Riggins, and take your friends with you. But let me give you a piece of advice before you go. No one pushes me out of any place I mean to stay either. I have a right to be here, I am here, and I intend to stay. If you value your good health, you won’t come back.”
    “Why you …” Baca’s eyes cut nervously to where Lucas still sat under the tree. He hadn’t moved, but the very intensity of his stillness signified his alertness. “I’ll be back,” Baca blustered, almost more for the benefit of his friends than Carrie. “This is my station, and I mean to keep it.” He spurred his horse forward, the others following quickly and Carrie had to move swiftly to avoid being showered with the dirt thrown up by their mounts’ flying hooves. In a very short time the three men had disappeared down the trail, and Carrie was alone.
    Carrie wasn’t sure what to do first, but she knew she couldn’t give way to the feeling of despondency that was creeping through her body like oil through a wick. She couldn’t be sure until she looked at the schedule, but she was certain there was another stage coming through sometime before night. That meant a hot meal had to be ready when it arrived, and she was the only one present to cook it. She certainly didn’t expect the sleepy cowboy under the tree to help, even if he could, which she doubted. With a weary sigh, she bent over to pick up one of the smaller suitcases. When she stood up again, she noticed an exceptionally tall young woman approaching from the direction of the manager’s cabin; she was a big-boned girl, generous of flesh, and rather plain but of a cheerful and open countenance. Carrie put her suitcase down again and waited, surprise and a feeling of relief flooding over her. At least she wasn’t alone.
    Til be asking your pardon for not offering to help you in that ruckus with Mr. Riggins,” the girl said in a heavy Irish accent, “but I thought for certain he meant to kill you, and I didn’t want him killing me too before he got the chance to cool down. Whatever did you do to make him leave? And what is a fancy-dressed woman like you doing in a place like this by yourself?”
    “I’m Carrie Simpson. My husband is the new station manager, and I’ve come ahead. As for the clothes,” she added with a blush, “they’re all I