Who Wants to Marry a Cowboy? Read Online Free Page B

on the fence. “I’m surprised you’re going along with this, Riley.” Sun glinted off the large nails he handed to Dallas. “I reckoned I’d have to chase you out of hiding when the women got here tomorrow.”
    Riley threw the post into the truck with enough force to have it bounce out and whipped his head around to his foreman. Dismay cascaded over him as he realized he had no time to set up his own defenses. “What? Tomorrow?”
    “Tell you what,” Steve called over as he picked up the rotted wood. “I’ll stand in for you. I love working here enough to make this supreme sacrifice and spend time with eight beautiful women who are trying to impress me.”
    “Great. I’ll go hide in one of the cabins until this nightmare is over,” Riley muttered. He didn’t know how he had expected to continue his solitary lifestyle when he moved back home. He used to spend hours alone on the mountain or with one of the other rangers, not talking, not giggling about their love lives. He loved his family, but why couldn’t he have had all brothers?
    *  *  *
    Work kept Riley’s mind off his family’s insanity, but it came back when lunch beckoned. Usually he returned to the house during the meal to discuss the ranch schedule and other things with Molly. Today he ignored his rumbling stomach and took over when Dallas started out in the truck to one of the guest cabins. By avoiding Molly, he wouldn’t have to hurt her any more by saying no. Replacing a door lever was such a trivial thing, but a guest’s bedroom was the one place where privacy was ensured on the ranch.
    He arrived at the cabin and went inside, testing each door several times until he found the one that wouldn’t stay closed, but his mind wasn’t on the task at hand. Seeing his sisters so impassioned with an idea that let them focus on something other than Dad was a good thing. He could humor them for a week. But he was still settling in, his favorite mare was about to foal, and if they wanted a touch of romance so badly, they should find it for their own damn selves and leave him out of it.
    Molly, not Jeanne. There’d be no romance for her until she was eighteen. At least. Twenty would be even better. Maybe even twenty-five.
    He fished around the truck’s toolbox for a screwdriver and went back inside. Molly would say he was hiding, avoiding any situation that would open his heart. She’d be right. “No way in hell am I putting myself through that,” he said out loud while he unscrewed the handle. The old knob fell to the floor with a clatter that suited his mood. His father—their whole family—had broken when their mother left. Jeanne had only been four. Watching Dad try to recover from a broken heart had been brutal.
    He attached the new handle and tested it, satisfied it worked before he cleaned up the old mechanism. The job hadn’t taken a lot of time, so he headed back to the stable to straighten up the tack room. Some organization had been lacking in the past four months and it was time to get things in order.
    He peeked out the slats of the stable in the direction of the greenhouse, the building a speck on the landscape. That’s really where he should be spending his time, but it was one place that he couldn’t bring himself to visit. It had been his father’s sanctuary, and the pain and memories of his passing were still too raw, too fresh. Instead, he took down the clipboard and made notes on their supplies. Maybe he’d use the computer to get caught up on the latest research for materials or feed.
    A knock on the door interrupted him a few hours later and he turned to find Seth slouched in the doorway, paper plate in hand. The aroma of mashed potato and ground beef had him on his feet even before his brother said a word.
    “Molly made shepherd’s pie. I’m sure it’s a complete coincidence that it’s your favorite meal,” Seth said.
    “You’re a lifesaver.” Riley took the plate and sat on a hay bale.
    His brother picked