Marriage For Sale

“I have five cowhands who live here full-time—more in calving season. Bud sees to it that all my stock gets the attention it needs.”

“Five men aside from you? How many cattle do you run?”

“Give or take a thousand,” he replied, forestalling her next question by propelling her out into the yard. “I’m sure you must be tired. The front door of the ranch house is open. It’s time you looked around in there.”

“Aren’t you going to unload the filly?”

“Bud and I will take care of it.”

“But—”

“Rachel,” he interrupted, his tone full of implied warning. “Remember our little discussion on cooperation?”

“Cooperation implies working together. Where would you like me to be when you unload Summer?”

“On the front porch of the house,” Linc replied. “Going inside. All I want from you is a couple of minutes of blind obedience.”

There was the humor, lurking under his soft, deadpan delivery. At least she hoped it was humor. If not, her next words would be like waving a handkerchief in the face of an angry bull. “It won’t be blind. I’ll be watching from the porch. I want to see how Summer handles you.”

The corner of his mouth may have twitched. She wasn’t sure. His rugged face didn’t lend itself to easy reading. What she noticed were the intimidating strides that ate up the ground between the porch and the trailer. He grabbed a lariat from the bed of his truck and motioned to Bud.

Linc tied a short rope to the trailer door, then set the looped lariat in the crook of his arm. He readied the rest between his gloved hands for what she assumed would be a throw. He obviously thought Summer was going to come flying out of that trailer like a bat out of hell.

He was right. He signaled Bud with a quick nod, then yanked the trailer door open. Rachel saw Summer’s rump bunch as she tried to kick and back out of the trailer at the same time. Whinnying in fear, she banged sideways a couple of times, visibly shaking the trailer.