Six White Horses Read Online Free

You knew he wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of telling me."
    "That sounds as if I tricked you into going," he said with mock reproval.
    "You did and you know it!" Patty shook her head and stepped into the small kitchen area. "We can't afford to lose a hundred dollars on a silly bet like that and I couldn't stand a week of Morgan's gloating. I suppose he is the stock contractor at our next rodeo?"
    "Well, yes, actually he is," her grandfather admitted reluctantly.
    "Your little maneuver was successful," she sighed. "I am going to Kelly's, but you're going with me. I'll need some moral support—so don't you go off in some corner with Lefty."
    "There's a towel and washcloth in the shower," he told her. There was a pause as he darted her a twinkling glance and added, "And I laid your yellow outfit on the bed just in case you decided to go."
    "Just in case, huh? Sometimes , gramps, you're positively exasperating!" Patty declared as she walked into the miniature bath area on the side of the trailer.
    "I take after my granddaughter," he called after her.
    Twenty minutes later she was tucking the opaque flowered blouse into the waistband of the matching lemon yellow slacks. Her dark brown hair was brushed free of its braid to hang loose and tickle her shoulder blades. The casual style alleviated the tomboy image, but the lightly applied lipstick, mascara and eyeshadow couldn't dim the youthfully open look to her features.
    With a resigned shrug, Patty turned away from the mirror. She couldn't compete with the sophisticated perfection of the blond model who was Lije's wife. Although she did have a grandfather who maneuvered her into impossible situations, she didn't have a fairy godmother who could suddenly transform her into a raving beauty with the wave of a wand.  
    Besides, hadn't she learned already that Lije didn't see her as anything more than the little girl next door? She wished she could despise him for the way she had wasted all those years waiting for him. It might make it easier to get over him. But she couldn't and didn't. She just kept right on loving him as though nothing had changed.
    "All right, grandpa," she said, as she walked through the tiny kitchen to the equally tiny living room of the trailer. "I'm ready. We'd better go before I change my mind."
    His shirt was buttoned and his jacket back on. The Western string tie was secured in its longhorn clasp. He set his ivory tan Stetson at a jaunty angle on his peppery dark hair.
    "There aren't any quitters in the King family," he smiled, and opened the trailer door.
    "I wish I were as sure about that as you are," Patty murmured as she followed him into the starlit
    The churning of her stomach was worse than anything she had experienced prior to a performance as they approached the entrance of the small tavern a few blocks from the arena grounds. Because of its closeness, it was frequented by a majority of the rodeo cowboys, those who weren't flying elsewhere to compete in another rodeo. That majority seemed to be there in force tonight, Patty decided when she and her grandfather stepped through the doors.
    The room was hazy with smoke, a gauze cloud that hung near the ceiling. The billiard tables in one corner were the scene of some good-natured baiting, the loud voices mixing with the laughter and chatter coming from the tables in the rest of the tavern. Overriding all of the din was a country dance band playing a popular song.
    "Do you see him here?" Patty whispered nervously.
    "He's sitting over by the dance floor. There's an empty table beside him. Come on," Everett King ordered.
    Her searching eyes found Lije easily. He was facing the door with his arm resting on the back of his wife's chair. Blake Williams, one of the leading professional steer wrestlers, was seated at the table with him, for the present commanding Lije's attention.
    But Patty wasn't interested in Blake Williams. All of her attention was centered on Lije, catching the loving glance he