Shifting Calder Wind Read Online Free Page B

with her deep brown eyes. “Didn’t you know that?”
    “I confess I was totally ignorant of the cause,” Monte declared in mock regret.
    Laura’s eyebrows furrowed together in a perplexed frown. “What does ig’rant mean?”
    “The word is ignorant,” Jessy corrected, enunciating it carefully. “And it means he doesn’t know.”
    “Oh.” Satisfied, she bent her head over the coloring book. “Grampa can tell you about it when he gets back.”
    “I shall make a point to ask him,” Monte replied with a slight bow in the child’s direction. A series of whoops, clumps, and vocalized bang-bangs came from the living room. Monte arched an eyebrow. “I do believe a shootout is in progress.”
    Jessy paused to listen. Long ago she had learned a mother’s trick of blocking out sounds of boisterous play, allowing only cries of pain or panic to filter through. “Trey and Quint,” she said, needlessly identifying her son and nephew. “I think the posse finally caught up with the outlaws.”
    His mouth curved in an amused smile. “And who is the outlaw?”
    “Trey, of course. Being a sheriff would be much too tame for him.”
    Monte laughed as he was meant to do, ending with a mild shake of his head. “I don’t think you quite realize how very much I enjoy spending time here. I suspect I miss my own family. My brother and his wife have three very rowdy youngsters—older than yours, of course, and all boys, full of pranks and rough-and-tumble play. I find myself looking for an excuse to come here. I fear that I will ultimately wear my welcome thin.”
    “I wouldn’t worry about that,” Jessy said, dismissing the suggestion. “You will always be welcome at the Triple C.”
    “And I promise that I will do my best not to take your hospitality for granted.”
    His air of formality had a tongue-in-cheek quality to it that made it easier for Jessy to tolerate. She had always been a down-to-earth person, frequently speaking with a man’s bluntness.
    She did so now. “To be honest, when I first met you, I assumed that if there was anyone in Montana you would want to spend time with it would be Tara.”
    He feigned a shudder of distaste. “Please,” he dragged out the word in emphasis, “don’t tell me I made that poor of a first impression.”
    It was so dryly said, with so many undertones of criticism of Tara that Jessy laughed warmly and richly. If nothing else, the fact that Monte shared her dislike of her late husband’s first wife was enough to endear him to her.
    “It wasn’t anything you said or did,” Jessy assured him. “It was merely an assumption on my part.”
    “Frankly, I don’t know if Tara is fascinated by my brother’s title or hopeful that I might introduce her to the current Earl of Stanfield.”
    Laura sat back on her heels, bright-eyed with excitement. “Is Aunt Tara coming tonight?”
    “No. She’s off on a trip somewhere.” Thankfully, Jessy added to herself.
    “Is she in Texas with Grampa?”
    “I don’t know where she went this time, honey,” Jessy replied, despairing that her daughter would ever get over her idolization of Ty’s first wife.
    The corners of Laura’s mouth turned downward. “I want a red dress like this one.” She referred to the picture she was coloring. “If Aunt Tara was here, she’d get me one.”
    “I don’t want to hear you asking Tara for one, Laura,” Jessy warned, mollified that maybe it was only the presents Tara showered on the twins that attracted Laura to the woman.
    Suppressing a smile, Monte inquired, “How old did you say she is?”
    “She will be four.”
    “Ah, that explains it. She is nearly a woman grown.”
    “And very particular about what she wears. Everything has to match.” Even worse, she loved dresses. Jessy blamed Tara for that. As a child, Jessy had been too much of a tomboy to ever want to wear a dress. Her daughter’s desire for anything and everything feminine was totally alien to her.
    “Good news.” Cat