Ride Me Cowboy #2 (The Cowboy Romance Series - Book #2) Read Online Free Page A

he tries so hard.”
    “He tries what?”
    “He tries to make his father proud of him. Rob is so
wrapped up in the fact that Mark wants to do his rodeo stuff instead of staying
put and being a rancher that he can’t see beyond that. When Mark is home on the
ranch, he works as hard as or harder than any one of the hands. Rob doesn’t pay
enough attention or he could see that kid loves this land as much as he does. When
he’s not at the ranch and he’s out on the circuit, I don’t doubt that he’s
working just as hard. But, the difference is that he’s having fun doing it and
that’s important. I don’t believe you have to do something you’re miserable
doing in order to make a good living. You remember that when you decide to
choose your major and your career. It’s going to be a lot easier if you choose
something you love.”
    “Like your piano playing?” I got nostalgic as I said that. She used to play for me all the time. I missed
that.
    She smiled. “Yes, like that. I never got rich and
famous, but I always loved my job. That makes it easier to go to work every
day. I tried explaining that to Rob about Mark, but he didn’t want to hear it.
I think Rob just had this idea in his head his whole life that Mark was going
to want to follow in his footsteps and run this ranch. He was disappointed when
he told him that he didn’t, which is understandable because Rob thinks of it as
a legacy that he built for his family and Mark is his only child. But I don’t
think he should hold the fact that it’s just not what Mark wants against him.
That’s just completely unfair.”
    It sounded to me like she and Rob had discussed this
before and maybe even heatedly. Mom had some strong opinions about how people
should treat their own children, with good reason, though. She had seen her
share of bad parenting in her life. She’d had to speak up then, and I doubted
that she was afraid to speak up now.
    “It’s funny, because he seems proud of him when I
hear him talk. Like at the rodeo when he was talking to people about Mark’s
ride.”
    “I’m afraid he’s able to communicate how he feels
better to everyone else,” Mom said. I thought about how hard that must be on
Mark since Rob was his only parent.
    “Well, maybe you being here will be good for them
both then,” I told her. She was really good at conflict resolution. Some people
were just born with it, I think.
    When we got to town, I was surprised to see that although
it was small, it seemed to have everything a person might need. I saw
restaurants and fast food places, a post office, and a large grocery store.
There were a lot of sporting goods stores and a big mill where Mom said they
made feed from corn.
    We went to the grocery store first. Everyone there
said hello to Mom by name. When she introduced me, they were all so nice and
welcomed me into town. I can see why she likes it here, I guess. I would get
bored in under a week, but I suppose my mother’s days of wanting to go out and
do things were mostly over, anyways. Then we went to the boutique where they
sold everything a country girl could need to create a wardrobe. I was going to
buy myself a skirt.
    “I’d like to buy you some things…”
    “Mom, you already do enough. I have plenty of
clothes.”
    “I know, but I can afford it and I want to do it.
There were a lot of times when you were growing up that I couldn’t splurge on
you. I could barely afford the necessities. Pick a few things out. I want you
to be comfortable here.” By the time we got out of there, my mother had bought
me three bags full of things.
    We stopped at the bakery, and she picked up some
croissants that she said Mark really liked. It was sweet how she included him
in everything, but that was her . She was one of the
most loving, kind people in the world and she would do whatever it took to make
me happy. I owed her the same courtesy. I was definitely going to stay away
from Mark. She didn’t need that kind of drama