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

in her life.
    Lastly, we went to the feed store. They knew her
there, as well.
    “Good morning, Lydia!” The lady at the front desk
greeted her.
    “Good morning, Stacey. This is my daughter, Lexi.”
    Stacey looked surprised. Mom and I were used to
that. As far as looks go, our hair and eye and even skin tone were at opposite
ends of the spectrum. “Nice to meet you, Lexi. Will
you be in town long?”
    Not unless I become suicidal. “I’m staying for the
summer,” I told her. “I go back to school in August.”
    “Well I hope you have a good time in our little
town. It’s small, but the folks are really nice and it really has a lot going
for it.”
    I smiled. I doubted that this town had much of
anything going for it, but I wasn’t going to tell Stacey that. “I’m sure I
will,” I told her. “Thank you.”
    After Mom paid Stacey for her “usual,” the feed was
loaded into the truck by a couple of guys on the docks. Mom checked to make
sure it was alright and when she saw that it was, we
loaded up and headed back out to the ranch.

 
    CHAPTER
SIX
    MARK
    Lexi stayed locked in her room the rest of Sunday,
and on Monday morning, Dad and I went to round up some calves out of the back
pasture. That took most of the day and it was a long one. The work was a
welcome relief to piddling around on the ranch, but Dad was in another one of
his moods. He didn’t really talk to me at all the entire day, he just barked orders when he needed to. We stopped at one point to eat out
lunch and I tried to make conversation with him. He closed his eyes and leaned
his head against a tree, completely ignoring me. When we finished herding the
calves up to the front pasture, we cooled down and stripped the horses and put
them away. When we got to the house around seven p.m., Lydia was waiting for us
with dinner. She said that she and Lexi had gone to town and she’d brought back
chicken and all of the trimmings from the café. She’d even stopped by the
bakery and bought some of my favorite croissants. I hope my Dad knows how lucky
he is, but I doubt it. In his mind, he just deserves everything good that
happens to him.
    “Lexi’s not eating?” I asked Lydia as I devoured the
chicken.
    “She ate already. She asked me to tell you both goodnight . She had a headache so she went to lie down
early.” I looked at my dad. He was looking at me. I wondered if somehow he knew
she was avoiding me.
    “Oh, I hope she feels better,” I said.
    Lydia smiled and said, “I’m sure she’s just had too
much excitement and change lately. She’ll be as good as new after she gets some
rest.” Dad didn’t say a word about any of that…or anything at all during the
rest of the meal. Every once in a while I’d catch him glaring at me again. He
was kind of starting to piss me off. It was one thing to be ignored – I was
used to that. Even when I was a kid, if he was in one of his moods, he would
act like I was invisible. I was brought up mostly by
the ranch hands and yet he wonders why now I’m not quick to seize the
opportunity to be just like him.
    When we finished eating, I thanked Lydia for dinner
and went up to my own room. If no one was going to speak to me, I may as well
be alone. I watched television for a while and wondered what Lexi was doing. I
wondered if she was thinking about me. I know that this attraction between her
and I can never go anywhere. We’re not blood relatives, but it’s just too taboo. knowing it and accepting it, however, were two
different things. I’d never felt an instant connection to anyone the way I had
to her. Sparks literally danced between us when we were in the same room. Maybe
she had the right idea about avoiding me.
    The next day when I got up, I went out to help the
ranch hands feed the horses and medicate the three sick calves we had. There
was also some fences to fix…there was always something that needed doing. By
the time I got back to the house for breakfast, Dad was the only one