Samantha’s Cowboy Read Online Free

a play for the future she wanted—not the future others believed best for her.
    The Peterson mailbox came into view and she flipped on the blinker. As the truck bumped along the rutted road she made a mental note to add a fresh layer of gravel to her ranch improvement list. Halfway to the house Matt’s truck appeared in the rearview mirror.
    As soon as they parked their vehicles and got out, Matt motioned to the crumbling farmhouse. “What’s up with this place?”
    Flinging her arms wide Sam spun in a circle. “This is my birthday present to myself.”
    “You’ve got to be kidding.”
    “Nope.” Her smile faded at her brother’s grimace. “It’s not so bad,” she insisted, studying the home’s caved-in roof and broken windows. The outer walls leaned inward in danger of collapsing from a strong wind and the porch bowed like an old swaybacked nag. Sam’s stomach churned. Had she gotten in over her head? She hated when she second-guessed herself. “Say something,” she demanded at her brother’s silence.
    “I’m guessing Dad’s in the dark about this… present? ”
    “Yes, and he’d better stay in the dark.” Matt’s eyes narrowed and she blurted, “I know what you’re thinking.”
    “No, sis, you don’t.”
    “You’re wondering if this is another one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions I’m famous for making.” The lingering side effects from the injury to her brain years ago weren’t horrible, just a nuisance—similar to a mosquito bite. One minute you were scratching, the next you forgot about the itchy bump.
    “Well, is it?” Matt demanded.
    “Not at all.” Once in a while she jumped the gun and made conclusions based on…well, nothing really. When she was nervous, she became forgetful, which often led to anxiety attacks. And lastly she tended to recall things out of order. She’d learned to compensate for her limitations by keeping lists and recording her activities. “I didn’t make this decision lightly and I weighed the pros and cons.”
    “The property is a dump. When’s the last time anyone lived here?” he asked.
    “Twenty-five years ago.”
    “How long has the place been on the market?”
    “Ten years.”
    “Give it to me straight, Sam.” Matt rubbed his brow. “Why hasn’t this land sold before now?”
    “The well’s going dry.” She raised a hand to forestall any lecture. “I’m aware that I’ll need a source of water if I intend to board horses.”
    “Horses?” Her brother’s face paled.
    Samantha squeezed his arm. “Promise you won’t tell Daddy, but I’ve been working with horses at the SPCA and I’m feeling more confident around them.” She sucked in a deep breath, grateful her brother hadn’t interrupted. “I intend to board horses that the SPCA can’t find foster homes for.”
    Matt studied her, then he brushed a strand of hair from her face and asked, “Will you have help?” He really wanted to know if there would be someone to watch over her.
    “I plan to hire a couple of hands.”
    Her answer appeared to satisfy him because hechanged the subject. “Tell me you had a drilling company confirm a second water source before you signed the closing papers.”
    “Better than that,” she boasted. “I checked with Millicent, the resident water witch.” Sam had witnessed the old woman’s dousing stick wiggle and shake when they’d walked the property.
    “What do you mean resident? ”
    Sam pointed beyond the barn to a shanty near a huge hackberry tree.
    “That hovel’s hardly habitable.”
    “Millicent’s lived on the property all her life. Her parents were sharecroppers.”
    “Why hasn’t she packed her things and left?”
    “She has nowhere to go.” Sam shrugged. “She’s not hurting anything by staying.” Having remained under her father’s roof all these years, Sam was leery of living alone and looked forward to having a neighbor when she set up house on the property.
    Matt frowned and she sensed he struggled with