Yours Again (River City Series) Read Online Free Page B

reproach.
“I’m sure they will find someone who cares for them and settle down, but I am
not going to marry one of them. Ever.”
    Mertie
Mae lowered her voice, “Well, perhaps we can come to another arrangement. No
need for you to get into the same situation as before.”
    Taos
actually thought about popping her one right on that hawk-bill nose of hers.
Not that it would do the rumors about him any favors. What kind of mother
basically sells off her children to save livestock?
    Taos
towered over the woman, purposely crowding her, “If you are planning to sell
your daughters’ virtue to the highest bidder that is your business, but don’t
expect me to be one of those bidders.”
    Mertie
Mae sputtered, “Well, I never! I had no such thing in mind. Come on girls.” She
stomped out of the mercantile and he turned back to Mr. Hardin, who had a hard
time concealing his grin.
    Mr.
Hardin winked, “I added a few of those lemon drops Tommy likes so much, if
that’s okay.”
    Taos
nodded and picked up his order, leaving without another word. He packed the
items carefully in his saddle bags and grabbed the saddle to swing up. He
glanced up at the bluff that rose about fifty feet above the town at one end of
Main Street.
    The
bluff had the best view in the whole valley of the surrounding mountains. He’d
never understood why the town had decided to reserve that prime spot for the
dead, but they had. The last time he was up there was his father’s funeral. The
old man wanted to be placed next to his wife instead of on the ranch, and
they’d honored that request. Taos hadn’t been back up there since.
    Taos
thought he caught a movement or glint of something on the bluff, but as he
stared he didn’t see anything. Another moment passed and suddenly a small woman
came into view.
    The
sun glinted off golden hair the color of spun silk. That was what he’d seen. He
didn’t recognize her as someone from River City, but with all the new people
coming in, it could certainly be someone he just didn’t know yet. She must
be paying her respects , he thought until she spread her arms wide and
twirled around, an angelic expression on her face.
    His
breath caught for a moment as he stared trying to make out her face. Whoever
she was, she’d put old Mertie Mae’s girls to shame, not that it was all that
hard. That woman had gotten more desperate with each passing week as more
people came to River City. While it expanded the available pool of possible
suitors, most were dreamers still looking to make their fortune, not landowners
who’d already made theirs. And that was what Mertie Mae had in mind as
son-in-law material.
    He
frowned. Pretty women coming to town would not be good news for Mertie Mae’s
matchmaking, but it also made Taos very wary. He’d been the victim of feminine
wiles before and he’d be damned if he fell for it again even if the woman
looked like an angel straight out of heaven.

 
    Chapter 4
     
     
    Samantha
walked back to town and quickly rented a horse from the livery, setting out to
the north. She hadn’t ridden astride in nine years, but it felt good to feel
the horse beneath her body as it ran. She yanked the pins from her hair and
tossed them into the wind, allowing her hair to flow in the breeze.
    They
raced across the valley as the last rays of sun dipped behind the clouds and shadows
crossed the land. Just the feel of wind rushing past her body filled Samantha
with a sense of freedom and control. It was a remembered feeling that she only
now realized she had missed.
    She
reined the horse to a stop at a creek bed that crossed the valley, surprised
that it was dry. She’d never remembered this creek being dry, and certainly not
at this time of year. She looked around and realized the grass the horse ran
through was dry and crisp as if there hadn’t been rain in a very long time.
    A
loud clap of thunder snapped Samantha into action. She urged the horse down the
side of the bank and across, quickly