Her Texan Temptation Read Online Free

the cattle,” she stated when she could no longer hold her silence.
    “I’ll make sure they’re taken care of,” Deke assured her. “But first, we need to do something to get that swelling down. Stay put.” His threatening look dared her to disobey.
    “This is ridiculous.” Mary Beth examined her ankle. “It’s not that bad.” Still, she didn’t get up. “Besides, I don’t have to be on my ankle to round up cattle.”
    “What if you have to get off your horse?”
    “It won’t hurt me to walk on it for a little while.”
    “Yes, it will. I don’t think your ankle’s broken, but it might be a good idea to get it x-rayed.”
    Mary Beth mentally reviewed her dwindling bank account. A visit to the doctor would cost precious money she didn’t have to spare. “I don’t need it x-rayed. It’s just a sprain.”
    “Well, I’ve had a lot of sprains, and I’ve learned enough about treating them to know that the first twenty-four hours are the most important. If you don’t get the swelling down, it’ll take even longer for it to heal.”
    She huffed. Deke ignored her and started opening and closing the drawers in the kitchen cabinets. Mary Beth looked around the dismal room and cringed. A path wasworn across the faded cream-colored vinyl floor, and at best the gas stove could be called a relic. The yellow-flowered curtains sewn by her mother years ago were shabby, bleached by constant morning sun. Mary Beth could still remember the day she’d helped her mother hang them. Sadly, it was the last thing Della Adams had ever done before she’d taken ill.
    Having just graduated high school, Mary Beth had set her sights on leaving Crockett. It was a blow to her plans when her mother had become sick. Mary Beth stayed home to care for her, and it had been months before the doctors had discovered her cancer. Della had fought the terrible disease for six years. They’d driven countless times to San Antonio, then later to San Luis once the new hospital had opened.
    But the cancer had continued to spread, leaving her mother with little energy to fight it. And when she’d lost her mother, Mary Beth had lost her best friend.
    What must Deke be thinking? she wondered. Her cheeks colored slightly as she sat in the dumpy room watching him. His family’s ranch, the Bar M, was large and prosperous, a far cry from the failing acres of Paradise.
    Because her days were now spent trying to care for the livestock and the land, Mary Beth hadn’t had the time, or the money for that matter, to fix up the inside of the house. She done her best to tidy the small place when she’d first returned home, but sparing the time had been difficult. Nowadays, she rarely had energy at the end of the day to do more than pick up behind herself.
    Hearing that her father had been hurt after being thrown from his horse, Mary Beth had made arrangements to take a leave from her job and come home and help him. Upon arriving, she’d learned that he’d broken several ribs and his leg. One of his ribs had punctured a lung, and becausehis health was poor, he’d developed pneumonia. Unable to fight it off, Hank Adams had died shortly after she’d arrived.
    The slamming of yet another drawer drew her attention. Mary Beth found herself watching Deke’s rear end as he moved around the room. His worn jeans encased his butt in a tight, all-too-appealing fit. She gritted her teeth, hating that he still had an effect on her.
    “What are you looking for?” she demanded when he continued to peruse her cabinet drawers. His quick movements were maddening when she just wanted him gone.
    “A cloth or something to put some ice in.”
    “They’re over there.” She pointed to a drawer across the room.
    Deke looked in the direction she indicated, then walked over and yanked open the drawer. “This’ll do.” He pulled out a frayed white dishcloth with multicolored stripes, crossed the room to the old refrigerator and opened the freezer door. Reaching inside,