Unusual Inheritance Read Online Free

As she got closer she could see that the men were branding
some young cattle. As she approached, a man looked up and his
expression was frightening. He said something quickly to the men
and met her head on. Even with him on foot and her on a horseback
the man seemed a force to be reckoned with. Stormy recognized the
ranch hand as Nate Spartan, one of Jake Renner’s men.
    Nate Spartan walked to where Stormy sat upon
her mare. “What are you doing way out here, Miss Calder?”
    “I wanted to see what you and the men were
doing,” she replied honestly.
    “Well as you can see we are just branding
some of the cattle.” His voice cracked as he attempted to control
his irritation.
    “I thought our cattle were out in the south
pasture right now. Where did these come from?” she asked.
    “Strays”, he replied.
    “So you have strays, right here in this very
spot, every week?” Stormy asked, looking him straight in the
eye.
    Nate looked straight back. “Yep, every week
some of these young ones wander out here and we have to round them
up. You obviously haven't ever worked on a ranch, have you?” He
asked, trying to insinuate she didn't know how things worked.
    Stormy, seeing his clenched fist decided not
to press the issue anymore. She took a look around and spoke to a
few of the men, but to no avail. None of the men offered much in
the way of conversation. Before leaving she watched as the men
branded a couple of calves just to let them know they weren’t
running Stormy Calder off. Something just didn't look right but she
wasn't sure what it was. As she looked at the branding iron and
heard the sizzle it made again the animals hide, it made her
cringe.
    Quickly Stormy started the ride back to the
ranch but soon slowed the mare’s gate as the wind blew her dress up
and over her head on more than one occasion. The wind had been at
her back on the way out and she had left the ranch so fast there
was no time to don a pair of pants.
    “To blazes with
this,” she voiced out loud; then proceeded to tie her
skirt up around her waist. There she was, riding with only her
underpants between her and the saddle. The howling winds and hooves
of the gray mare covered the sound of another horse fast
approaching from behind. Stormy looked to her right and Jed
suddenly appeared. That lop sided grin of his spread from ear to
ear.
    She reined the gray mare to a stop. “Do you
always have to appear when I'm indisposed?” She yelled at him.
    “Well gosh darn it, it ain't my fault you are
always parading around me in your underpants!” He yelled back.
    Hastily she untied her dress and let it fall.
“Where did you come from? Were you back there with those ranch
hands? I didn't see you.”
    “No, I was just coming back from checking the
north fence line. Why?”
    “It seems that some of the guys are branding
cattle way out here,” she replied.
    “Out here! Why they should....well, I mean
they probably have a good reason for it. I'm on my way back to the
ranch so I'll just ride along if that's okay. We'll go slowly so
you won't be tempted to show me your underpants again,” he teased
her.
    At first Stormy was mad but when she realized
Jed was just having a little fun at her expense, she surprised
herself and him by laughing as well.
    The rest of the ride back was very pleasant
and Jed Rivers wasn't all that bad to hang out with, she surmised.
She just wondered if she could trust him. There was something he
and Jake were hiding. She just wondered if they were connected.

Chapter Six
    Whatever was going on at the ranch would have
to wait. It was time to go back to Cedar Wells and pack up her
other belongings, such as they were. She also needed to tell her
laundry customers she wouldn’t be back. In the short time she had
been at the Double LL it already felt like home. After this last
trip, Cedar Wells would be nothing more than a memory.
    The stairs gave their familiar creek as
Stormy headed down to supper. Jake, Jed, and Katy Marie