Her Texan Temptation Read Online Free Page B

medicine, he noticed the walls were badly in need of a fresh coat of paint, and the floor looked as if it was a lot older than his twenty-eight years.
    Deke figured that the house was easily over seventy years old, and sadly, it showed. Mary Beth’s father sure hadn’t taken much interest in keeping the place up. Shaking his head, Deke thought the entire ranch needed a dreadful amount of work before it would begin to look decent. The barn was missing shingles, and the machine shed desperately needed a new coat of paint.
    He’d only been home for a short break from the rodeo, but that had been long enough to hear the rumors of Mary Beth’s struggles to keep the ranch afloat since her father’s death. And now her only ranch hand had quit. How was she going to manage alone—especially since she’d injured her ankle?
    Logically Deke knew Mary Beth’s problems shouldn’t concern him, but he couldn’t help thinking about how hard it was going to be for her. She needed help. And, after all, he was her neighbor. Maybe lending her a hand would go a long way toward making amends for treating her so badly.
    Remembering the stray cattle that still needed tending, as he continued to poke through her cabinets, he grabbed the phone receiver off the wall. His sister-in-law, Ashley, who was married to Ryder, answered on the third ring. Deke asked her to let one of his brothers, Ryder or Jake, know about the strays and the fencing so they could get someone out there to handle the problem. Then he explained that Mary Beth had hurt herself, and he was going to hang around awhile to be sure she was okay.
    That done and unable to find any medicine, Deke left the kitchen and headed toward the bathroom. A quick search of the old wooden cabinet in the bathroom turned up a bottle of over-the-counter medicine. He filled a glass sitting on theside of the sink with water, then went in search of a couple of pillows to make her more comfortable.
    As he walked down the narrow hallway, he noticed that all of the bedroom doors were shut. He started to go into what he remembered as Mary Beth’s room, but instead turned toward the room her father had used, figuring she’d moved into the larger room after his death. As soon as he stepped inside, he halted in his tracks.
    The musty, unused smell hit him as he scanned the room. The faded, drawn curtains filtered a smattering of light from the late-afternoon sun. He flipped the switch, bathing the room in soft light from a ceiling fixture covered by a square of milky-white glass.
    The room was clean and tidy. A little too neat. The closet door was shut, the bed undisturbed. Still, something didn’t quite seem right.
    Then he saw them. A pair of man’s shoes in the corner of the room.
    Deke’s heart stopped. Did Mary Beth have a man living with her? No, that didn’t make sense. If a man was living here, where was he? Who was he? Irritation at someone sharing her bed, however illogical, twisted his gut. Then he paused.
    If she was living with someone, he would have heard about it for sure. Old Mrs. Weaver, Crockett’s worst gossip, would have made sure the entire town knew about it.
    Deke sniffed the stale air. Curious, he moved farther into the room. A man’s gold wristwatch rested on a wooden tray on the dresser, along with a small amount of change and a large pocket knife. He frowned as he studied the articles.
    Opening the closet door, Deke found it half-full of a man’s clothes. The floor of the closet was filled with boxes and shoes. The shelf above held more boxes. What the hellwas going on? He checked the dresser drawers, and most of them held piles of neatly folded shirts and pants, tainted with the fragrance of time. In the adjoining bathroom, he discovered more unsettling clues. Though clean, it looked undisturbed. An array of shaving lotion and cologne covered almost one whole side of the small countertop. A toothbrush hung in a rusting metal fixture.
    Then he realized that the room