A Cowboy at Heart Read Online Free Page A

and left him searching for work with skills no longer useful.
    Colin nodded. “Jonas’s spread has that creek running through it. Perfect for pasturing a herd of cattle.”
    “Especially because of the ridge off to the west.” Luke’s lips tightened. “Jonas, your northern field is prime cattle land.”
    “But that is my cornfield,” Jonas protested.
    Luke spoke softly. “I’ve run cattle for quite a few rich men, and most of ’em wouldn’t give two shakes of a rattler’s tail about your corn.”
    “They’re doing this because he’s Amish.” There had been a time when Jesse had little regard for the Amish, but that was before he knew any personally. There was no way he would ever be able to live the Plain life they espoused, but he’d come to respect Jonas’s quiet integrity. The idea that someone would try to take advantage of his friend lit a fire in him. “They think he won’t put up a fuss.”
    Jonas didn’t meet his eye, but he stared at the ground before his feet with creases on his forehead. “Bishop Miller said a snitz pie might make Mr. Littlefield remove his fence.”
    “Pie!” Jesse snorted. The idea was so ludicrous that all the men laughed. Even Rebecca chuckled. But the misery deepened on Jonas’s face.
    “It is the Amish way to resist conflict.”
    Incredulous, Jesse stared at him. “You can’t mean you’d let that man take over your home? Throw you off your own land?”
    “I can do nothing.” The note of helplessness in his friend’s voice stirred Jesse’s ire. Then Jonas raised his head and fixed his gaze on Colin. “But you are an Englisch sheriff. If you talk to this Littlefield, he will listen to you.”
    Talk. Jesse turned his head to spit on the grass. Though he’dnever met the man, he already knew the measure of this Littlefield. Hadn’t Jesse run cattle right along with Luke? Some of those owners had more money than they could shake a stick at, but they would cheat a working man out of fifty cents if he wasn’t watchful.
    Colin spoke in a soft voice. “Jonas, I’m not a sheriff anymore. I’m a preacher and a farmer.” Jonas’s shoulders slumped, and Colin went on. “But I’m also your son-in-law. I’m not going to let this happen to you.”
    Beside him, Luke straightened. “Me, neither. We’ll go talk to Littlefield with you.”
    Frustration tightened Jesse’s hands into fists. Luke and Colin were fine men, upstanding men, and he respected them both. But they tended to think the best of people and treated folks accordingly. Talk? If Littlefield had sent his men out armed with rifles against an Amish farmer, he wasn’t prepared to listen to talk. What was needed was a show of force. The tyrant needed to know he was dealing with more than a peace-loving Amish man.
    And nobody was better equipped to make a show of force than Jesse.
    He stepped forward into the center of the circle. “I’ll go.”
    Colin and Luke opened their mouths, but a look of hope rose on Jonas’s face.
    Jesse held up a hand to silence them. “You both have families here, obligations. I have a feeling this is going to take more than a brief visit. Besides, Luke and Emma could use a little privacy. I’ll go with Jonas and hang around his house for a while—if that’s okay with you, Jonas?”
    The look he exchanged with Luke and Colin told him they agreed. If Littlefield wasn’t open to reason, he was likely to domore than put up a fence next time. The presence of a non-Amish man who wouldn’t hesitate to defend himself and his friends might cause the ruthless land grabber to think twice before acting.
    Colin nodded slowly. “Sounds good to me.”
    Luke’s expression held a little more reserve. “You’re sure you can handle this without losing your temper?”
    Jesse deserved that. Having ridden the trail with him for years, Luke knew more than most that Jesse was known as a hothead. Not much had changed—except the drinking. He mustered a confident smile. “I’m just going