Riding for Love (A Western Romance) Read Online Free Page A

watched emotions wash across her face. Anger, embarrassment, shame, and . . . Could she still have feelings for Denton after what he did? Having never married and not really knowing much about women and their complicated emotions, he wouldn’t be surprised. Hell, at one time Eve and Dent were stuck together like flies in a spider web. But, if the man thought he could fly back into her life again after the stunt he pulled, well, Tom would have something to say about that.
    “Ah, so that’s it.”
    “What?”
    Tom chuckled. “You’re upset because he saw you in your barn clothes.”
    “You’re darn right.” She kicked the bottom fence rail. “Then he had to help detach the “old beater” from his new SUV. He’s probably thinking I never did anything in my life, and I live like we did while dating. The big jerk.” Eve placed her arms on the fence and put her head across them. “Did I mention his SUV is new?”
    “You can’t know what’s going through his mind. You always did believe he dated you in high school because he felt sorry for you. I never believed it.”
    “Why else would he go out with me?”
    Tom sighed and shook his head in bewilderment. He turned his back to the fence, crossing his elbows on the top board changing his view of the field and woods to the sturdy red barn.
    “I can’t believe you’re persisting in that stupid notion. He was a young man besotted with you.” Tom took Eve’s hand and stroked a calloused thumb across the back.
    “Honey, you were a pretty teenager. Now you’re a beautiful woman. You’re warm, caring, smart, and have a wonderful sense of humor. There’s no reason why any man wouldn’t want to date you. Your father was a hard man to live with, but it’s time you let the past go and move on.”
    She sighed. “But every time I see myself in the mirror, there is this tall, gangly, ugly teenager wearing cast-off clothes, hearing other kids call her names, simply because her father was a drunk. Then I can understand why Denton dropped me for classy confident, beautiful Marie; my complete opposite.”
    “We’ve been over this before,” Tom said, shaking his head. “How often do I have to remind you they didn’t last very long? Classy and confident doesn’t make a marriage. Something must have been missing between them.”
    “Then why did he dump me the way he did? Why didn’t he tell me himself he married Marie?”
    He wished he had an answer to soothe her. “So tell me what happened after you backed into his truck,” Tom asked, his voice quiet, not quite hiding his anger. The best way for Eve to get over being upset was to have her talk.
    She shrugged her shoulders as if to loosen the effects of her assault on Dent. “First, he called the sheriff.” Crossing her arms on the top fence rail, she relayed the entire incident. “Last time I looked in the rearview mirror he was standing in the middle of the sidewalk staring after me. End of story.”
    Tom had a strong hunch that was definitely not the end of the story, but kept his opinion to himself. He hooked the heel of his boot on the bottom rung, and viewed the ranch Eve had created from the dilapidated farm left by her parents.
    Over the years, as she was growing up, Tom had wanted to beat some sense into her father. He and Ed had played high school football and basketball together, helping lead their teams to championships every year. To Tom, sports were something to do for fun, knock off steam, impress the girls. To Ed, football was life.
    After winning a football scholarship to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Ed met Linda, a beautiful, dark-haired, dark-eyed cheerleader. Tom had been half in love with Linda himself but didn’t have time to pursue women, let alone a classy one like her. He was the best man at their wedding. Eve arrived seven months later.
    In their junior year, Tom’s father died in a farm accident. Being the eldest child, he left school to help his mother with the farm and his