The Cowboy Takes a Bride Read Online Free Page A

and slipped on your boots to come out here to kick the horse trough and yell at her for dying, lost your balance, and fell in. It was too much trouble to get out, so you just stayed there.”
    Ila knew him too damn well. Becca had bought the garish horse trough at an estate auction a few months before her accident. They’d disagreed about the appropriateness of horses drinking from a gold-plated trough, but Becca had won the argument and the trough stood as a symbol of her triumph. When it came down to it, Joe had never been able to refuse his wife anything.
    “Amazing powers of deduction, Deputy.”
    “You’re an uncomplicated guy, Joe-Joe.”
    She had a point. He’d gotten so drunk he spent the night in his underwear in Becca’s horse trough. Simpleton behavior, true enough. “I miss her something fierce, Il.”
    “I know you do.” Ila’s tone softened. “I do too.”
    Joe pulled a palm down his face. “And now Dutch.”
    “You gotta move on. Jose ain’t the answer.”
    “I know,” he said morosely, and bent to pick up the tequila bottle. The morning breeze was cold on his wet skin, and his teeth chattered. Perversely, he liked the discomfort. He had the privilege of being uncomfortable. Becca and Dutch did not. “But for about half an hour last night, I managed to drink every nerve ending into submission.”
    “Becca wouldn’t want you grieving so hard.”
    “Sure she would. Becca loved attention.”
    “I’ll give you that,” Ila conceded. “But we’re talking about your mental health here. Just accept that there’s a bigger plan for your life, even though you can’t see it yet. You’ll love again someday.”
    “I’ve had my shot at my one true love. It’s why I’ve thrown my heart and soul into cutting. I was lucky to have Becca for what time I had her. Lightning doesn’t strike twice.”
    “Tell that to Cooter Johnston. He’s been hit by lightning three times.”
    “Because the man doesn’t have sense enough to come in out of a thunderstorm.
    Ila cleared her throat, eyed the tequila bottle in his hand. “That’s a bit like Fort Knox calling the horse trough gold.”
    “I suppose it is.”
    “I’m just saying it’s narrow-minded to assume you only get one shot at this love business,” Ila said. “You might find something even better than what you and Becca had.”
    “What do you know?” he groused, his feelings still too raw. “You’ve never been in love.”
    A strange expression crossed Ila’s face. “Clueless,” she muttered.
    “What?”
    “I said maybe you should stand closer to Cooter.”
    “You want me to get struck by lightning?”
    “Maybe a lightning bolt would get through your thick skull.”
    “Tell me again, how come you’re here?” Joe asked, irritated and a bit confused. Outspoken Ila wasn’t normally cryptic.
    “Excuse me for being worried about you. I know how close you and Dutch were. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”
    He did value her friendship and he had no business taking things out on her simply because she was here and Becca wasn’t. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m being a tool.”
    “Not disagreeing with you.”
    Joe folded his arms over his chest, nodded toward Dutch’s ranch. “Wanna bet on how long it takes Little Bit to turn tail and run?”
    “You’re on.” Her grin forgave him. “A Benjamin says one look at the inside of Dutch’s cabin, and she’s outta there before noon.”
    “I don’t know about that. She might be feistier than she looks. I’ll give her till Monday.”
    “You think she’ll spend even one night in that cabin? Did you not see her? Designer sweater, trendy yoga pants, fake nails, expensive haircut? Horseshoe to a doughnut, at the very least, she’ll hightail it back to Jubilee to the Motel 6.”
    “If she spends one night in the cabin I win,” he said.
    “Deal. Now go put some pants on before I run you in for indecent exposure.”
    I la left Green Ridge feeling down in the dumps.