For Love of a Cowboy Read Online Free Page B

to knit when she had the patience and the time, and the colors were a delicious blend of soft pinks and purples through to peacock blue and back again.
    “Hi, I’m Ness.” The voice came from behind her. “Sorry about the phone call. What can I help you with?”
    Willow turned to return the greeting and instantly noticed something she hadn’t seen before. While the woman was tall and slender, she was also very definitely pregnant.
    “Willow Phillips,” she replied, putting out her hand to introduce herself properly. “I’m new to town. I love your store and particularly this.” She gestured to the shawl. “Did you knit that yourself?”
    Ness smiled. “I did. Are you a knitter, too?”
    “I am. I do a range of my own hand-dyed yarns. I was hoping I could show you some of my stock and that maybe you would be interested in taking some on consignment?”
    Ness looked rueful. “I’m pretty heavily inventoried at the moment, as you can see but, please, show me what you have. I never turn down an opportunity to look at something new. Maybe we can work something out.”
    Willow hastened to oblige and removed the samples she’d brought from her pack. Ness expressed her delight with appreciative sounds, her hands quickly going to the yarn and the knitted samples and inspecting them.
    “These are good. Better than I expected.”
    “Than you expected?” Willow repeated, confused.
    “My brother, Booth? I understand he picked a lot of these up off the road out of town for you after you had your accident last night?”
    A hot blush suffused Willow’s cheeks. And had he also told her that Willow was an incompetent driver at the same time? Ness patted her gently on the arm.
    “Don’t worry, he can be a bit abrasive at times. I don’t imagine he was overly friendly?”
    “Not friendly, no, but he was helpful,” she felt compelled to say.
    And he had been. He’d helped her out of Daisy, he’d collected her yarn and he’d called for the tow truck. He just hadn’t been all that happy about it.
    “It’s just his way.” Ness sighed. “I really wish I could take some of your stock, Willow, but I don’t have the space right now.”
    Willow felt her hopes plunge to the soles of her boots. She reached for her things and started to pack them back in her bag. “No problem. It was worth a shot.” She took in another breath then let it out carefully. “I noticed you’re looking for help in the store?”
    “Are you interested?” Ness asked, the regret in her eyes brightening a little.
    “Who wouldn’t be? This is heaven.”
    Ness laughed. “You have an accent. Australia?”
    “No, New Zealand. My mom was a Kiwi but my Dad is American. I’m here to meet him, actually.”
    “Oh, so you have dual nationality. That’s great.”
    Willow didn’t do anything to disabuse Ness of the idea that she was eligible to work in the U.S. It pained her to have to resort to subterfuge, but with repairs to be made on the bus, she had to find an income stream to supplement the small stash of cash she’d arrived with, and quickly. There was no way that the money she’d put aside for this trip would stretch to repairs. As it was, it didn’t look like it would last her very much further than the end of the next couple of weeks, especially as she had no idea how much longer she’d be able to sleep in the van. Paid accommodation would make a nasty dent in her budget. She’d counted on being able to get in touch with her father before she ran out of money.
    Ness went into a spiel about the store and how long she’d owned it, gently rubbing her swollen belly as she did so. “As you can see, Junior’s not too far from making his appearance—he’s due mid-September—and I find my energy levels are definitely flagging. That and with the booth I’ve booked at the county fair, well, I guess I’m just overreaching a little. Tell me a bit about your experience.”
    Willow plunged straight in, skirting around the fact that most of