Wild One: 3 (Caden Kink) Read Online Free

to know how to keep herself safe. When Deidre felt like being fair, she figured they might be right. She had to admit she’d done some scary things, such as taking off in a beat-up ranch pickup and running all the way to San Antonio last summer.
    In the crisp, cold air, a familiar aroma of exhaust fumes and manure perfumed the road with the essence of home. Deidre spurred the palomino and caught up with Bye, who’d reined in his eager mount at the junction of a private ranch road and the farm road to Caden, the county seat.
    “We’re glad you’re home, Funny Face.” Bye held Vampire back so they could trot along side by side.
    “Me too,” she said, smiling at the nickname her brother had given her years ago. Being home again felt better every day, but she was still unsure she felt as though she truly belonged. So much had changed since their mom had died.
    Soon she spied the courthouse in their path, a white limestone relic of a slower, more peaceful time. Deidre knew every nook and cranny in the small town where she’d gone to school for thirteen years. She hoped she’d still be welcome to eat open-pit barbecue and drink Texas-brewed draft beer at The Corral, after the brawl she’d caused the last time she’d been there. Since Four had paid for the damage, though, she was pretty sure that Mac would welcome her with open arms.
    “Everything seems pretty dead today,” Bye commented as they tied their horses to the rail in front of The Corral.
    “Yeah.” When she glanced along the street she saw the new red Lexus two-seater Bye had given Karen for Christmas, Doc Baines’ tired-looking SUV and a late-model black Toyota Camry she assumed must belong to some elderly patient, because it was parked in front of Doc’s office across the square from The Corral. Otherwise the street was empty. “It looks as though we may be the only ones at The Corral today.”
    “I’ll call Karen to come downstairs and join us in case you think you’ll get bored with my company.” Bye grinned. “I imagine Doc Baines’ new associate will be coming in for lunch. His name is Les Fourchet. Nice guy, about thirty, just finished his training. He’s from Natchitoches, Louisiana—it’s south of Shreveport.”
    “A Cajun?” Deidre pictured a swarthy guy who spoke with the lilting accent that had captivated her when she’d visited friends in New Orleans.
    “I didn’t ask. But he is single, and he has no attachments as far as I know.”
    Deidre’s defense antennae went up. An unattached doctor, young and single, sounded just like the boring sort of man her family members would love her to take up with. As much as she longed to be loved, she wanted excitement, and she’d learned that nice guys tended to finish last in that department.
    On the other hand, it might be interesting to consider this guy instead of rebelling just because she thought he might be Bye and Four’s choice. “Is this new guy in town the reason you so readily agreed to come here with me today?” she asked, trying to sound more annoyed than she was.
    “No ulterior motives, sis, I promise. Vampire needed exercise and I wanted to come here and enjoy a few minutes with my busy wife.” Bye held the swinging door for Deidre and followed her inside the nearly empty bar and restaurant.
    * * * * *
     
    Stomping snow off his boots before going inside the office from the landing strip at the edge of town, Les set down his bag and took off his jacket. Damn it was cold, but at least the snow had stopped and the wind didn’t seem quite as frigid as it had for a week, since Christmas afternoon. His eyes ached from over an hour looking out over the brilliant white landscape from the cockpit of Doc’s Piper Cub, so he sat at his desk and laid his head on his forearms for a moment before switching on a lamp, putting on his reading glasses and continuing the endless chore of familiarizing himself with Doc Baines’ antiquated patient record-keeping.
    After an hour he’d