The Reluctant Cowgirl Read Online Free

elephant. With his face pressed against the soft toy, he prayed, words he’d prayed hundreds of times before.
    “Amen,” he whispered. He felt a split second of peace before doubt and anger flooded in. He shoved to his feet, frustrated with his inability to control his thoughts. All day long, he worked hard and concentrated on keeping things going on his small cattle farm. But when darkness came, anger—raw fury at Lindsey for turning his life upside down—came with it. Especially on nights like this when bad news was his only companion.
    He peered out of the window. In the distance, his mom and dad’s guard light emitted an eerie orange glow. They were good neighbors and normally they minded their own business. His friendship with them was one of the bright spots in his life. But their pain magnified his own. Next time, he’d have Sam meet him somewhere else or just tell him the news—or lack of—over the phone. No use in getting their hopes up over and over.
    He glanced upward at the blanket of glistening stars. Was she looking at the same stars? Was she scared? Had she forgotten him?
    ***
    Outside the theater after saying good-bye to everyone, Crystal automatically looked to the sky. Her daddy always told them that no matter where they were in the world, if they were lost at night, all they had to do was follow the stars. But after sundown in the Big Apple, the bright lights made it seem like day everywhere but in the darkest alleys. And there, the buildings were so tall that even the sky was obliterated by brick and mortar.
    She wrapped her jacket tighter around herself and walked faster. Almost as much as she missed her family, she missed the stars. Especially on nights like this. The strong March wind blew a stray flyer across her feet, and she instinctively recoiled then shook her head. Just thinking about home made her jumpy. Maybe that was why she knew her future was in New York City, not on a ranch in Arkansas.
    As she reached in her bag to grab her subway pass, her hand closed on the folded newspaper Tina had shoved in there. Once she was on the train, she slid into a seat and unfolded the paper. “ Making a Splash isn’t making much of a splash with audiences,” she read. “Herman Lowder’s play lacks—”
    Crystal frowned and skipped down to where her name was circled in red.
    “Despite the fact that Making a Splash flops like a fish on dry land most of the time, Lowder’s play has its moments. For instance, any moment where Crystal McCord has face time on the stage. Her performance seems so effortless that one has to wonder if she might really know what it’s like to be homeless and alone.”
    She stuffed the paper back into her bag. The last sentence was too close to true for comfort, but at least when her name had finally made it into the review, it wasn’t negative. She felt a strong desire to call someone. But as she went through her list—her agent, her roommate, her mother—she knew the one person she wanted to call wasn’t reachable by phone anymore. What was wrong with her tonight? Maybe the unexpected closing of the play had reminded her too much of other abrupt endings.
    She shifted in her seat and pressed in Brad’s number but hit End before it started ringing. Since she hadn’t planned on going to the after-party, she hadn’t texted him at intermission. And he hadn’t contacted her, either. It would do them good to just take the night off. She didn’t have an answer for him yet anyway, and if they got together tonight, he’d probably expect one.
    The subway jerked to a halt and she thrust the phone in her bag. Outside, she instinctively glanced at the sky again. To her amazement, two tiny lights flickered, higher than the city spires. Were they stars? “You feel small, don’t you, little guys?” she whispered. “This place is great, but sometimes it does that to you.”
    Ten minutes later, she slid her key in the lock and stepped into the two-bedroom apartment she