Last Chance Cowboys: The Drifter Read Online Free Page A

occasion when he dared to go against his wife’s orders. So maybe Eduardo had left the lamp burning. But other than the light and the wind rustling through the cluster of paloverde trees that sheltered the courtyard, there was no sign of movement that Maria could see. The night riders would be out watching the herd grazing nearby while the others slept. With some of the problems she and the other small ranchers had experienced lately, they had agreed to keep their combined herd closer to one of their ranches. That way if trouble came, the night riders could sound the alarm and help would be close at hand. She’d followed that advice, but still she had an uneasy feeling.
    â€œWhat are you doing up?” Amanda asked, her voice raspy with sleep.
    â€œI thought I heard something.” Maria moved back to her bed.
    â€œMama?”
    Maria had been so engrossed in wondering if the stranger might be up to something that she hadn’t thought about her mother. Constance Porterfield not only wandered through the rooms of the sprawling house during the day, but lately she had also developed the disturbing habit of wandering out into the night. The night before Roger quit, Constance Porterfield had been found in the family cemetery sound asleep, leaning against the marker for her husband’s grave. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she admitted and once again shoved her bare feet into her slippers.
    â€œI’ll go,” Amanda said wearily, padding barefoot across the room and leaving the door open as she went down the hall to their parents’ bedroom. After only a moment, she was back. “Sleeping soundly,” she reported. “And yes, I checked to be sure.”
    â€œIt’s probably just the wind and the storm coming,” Maria said. “Let’s get some sleep.” Casting one last glance at the light from the barn, she returned to her bed and pulled the covers over her.
    â€œWhat did you think of the drifter?” Amanda asked.
    â€œI didn’t. Now go to sleep.”
    â€œI did.” Amanda giggled. “He’s really good-looking. Don’t you think? I mean, he’s so nice and tall, and that hair and those eyes.”
    At sixteen, Amanda had taken to looking at every available male as a potential candidate for courtship. Exactly when her younger sister might have had the opportunity to observe the drifter’s eyes was a mystery to Maria—one that promised to add to her trouble getting any sleep.
    â€œWhat about his eyes?”
    â€œThey sparkle. Especially when he smiles.”
    â€œAnd just when did you have the occasion to observe his sparkling eyes and smile?”
    There was a long silence.
    â€œAmanda?”
    â€œI was in the barn when he came over from the bunkhouse, all right? That’s not exactly a crime, is it?”
    â€œIt depends. What did he do?”
    â€œOh, he was ever so polite—even a little shy. He took off his hat, introduced himself, and begged my pardon for startling me, and…”
    â€œYou know his name?”
    â€œChester Hunter, but he said he goes by Chet. I mean, is that not the most perfect name for him? Chet—strong but friendly-like.”
    Maria was well aware that she should have been reminding her sister of the dangers of becoming overly friendly with hired help—not that this Chet was, but still. On the other hand, she wanted to hear more. “And what did you do?”
    â€œIntroduced myself, of course. ‘I am Amanda Porterfield,’ I said, and then I told him he could call me Manda .”
    Maria could not help but laugh. “No one calls you that.”
    â€œWell, I think I might just insist that all of you do. It suits me. Amanda is far too formal.” She pushed herself higher onto her pillows—a sure sign she was settling in for a long talk. “He asked me about you.”
    Outside the open window, the wind had picked up. A horse whinnied, and