The Lone Rancher - By Carol Finch Page 0,19
along the respectable side of the railroad tracks. Lucas was riding his favorite horse called Drizzle and leading four Appaloosa-and-mustang crosses that he had culled from his prize herd.
“Where are you headed, Burnett?” Quin called out.
Lucas inclined his raven head toward Town Square. “I’m meeting Rosa for lunch. Then I’m taking the horses to Fort Ridge to sell. Care to join us for lunch, Cahill?”
Quin veered away from the saloon to join Lucas. “So…how is married life treating you? Haven’t seen much of you since Rosalie put a ring through your nose.”
“Torment me all you want, Cahill,” Lucas replied, unruffled. “I’m happy. Thanks to Rosa’s influence, I don’t feel quite so much like an outcast in town. Since everyone adores her, they tolerate me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that McKnight hellion is Rosalie’s cousin?” Quin accused abruptly.
Lucas shrugged his broad shoulders, then cut Quin an amused glance. “First off, I haven’t seen you lately because we have been on our honeymoon. Secondly, you didn’t ask.”
“Well, I’m asking now. How can your sweet wife be related to that snippy heiress who thinks she can manage a sprawling Texas ranch without going broke like her Eastern-and London-based predecessors?”
“Addie K., as Rosa calls her, inherited a staggering fortune from both sides of her family,” Lucas explained without bothering to elaborate on Rosa’s financial connection—or lack thereof. “Addie K. could likely buy and sell you a few times over if she had a mind to, Cahill.”
The teasing comment and the mischievous grin with which it was delivered made Quin squirm in the saddle. “No doubt that’s what set off that firebrand when I offered to buy her ranch the first day she arrived.”
Lucas barked a laugh and his shoulders shook with amusement. “You tangled with the wrong female, friend. According to Rosa, Addie K. doesn’t have much use for men. Too many adventurers and gold diggers were after her fortune. I think that’s one of the reasons she came west.”
Quin recalled Boston making a similar comment about her lack of faith in the motives of men in general. Lucas, of course, received a free pass because Boston apparently approved of her cousin’s marriage. As for Quin, he hadn’t been welcoming or friendly. He’d wanted something from her, just like every other man of her acquaintance, he suspected.
Until the previous evening, Quin hadn’t added getting his hands on Boston’s curvaceous body to his list of wants. He wasn’t proud of it, but the truth was he desired the chestnut-haired hellcat whose sassy mouth amused him, annoyed him and aroused him all at once.
“So what do you say, Cahill?”
Quin snapped to attention, then scrambled to find his place in the conversation. Damn it, fantasizing about Boston had thoroughly distracted him. Finally, he gave up and glanced guiltily at Burnett. “Sorry, what did you say? I was woolgathering.”
Lucas grinned knowingly. “I can see why. Addie K. is exceptionally attractive.”
“Who said I was thinking about that mouthy shrew?”
Lucas’s thick black brows arched a notch higher and he grinned broadly. “I’m not as stupid as I look, Cahill.”
“Don’t put money on it,” Quin muttered as he followed Lucas, who tethered his string of horses outside Rosa’s shop. “After all, you married into the family so that makes you Boston’s cousin-in-law. You have my sympathy.”
Several women filed from the shop, carrying packages and smiling in satisfaction. Lucas, Dog and Quin waited until the women had vacated the boardwalk before they ambled inside. Quin stopped dead in his tracks when he heard bright ringing laughter and witnessed the sparkling smile that lit up Boston’s face. He hadn’t expected her to be here. He certainly wasn’t prepared to see her laughing. Usually she only glared poison arrows at him.
Obviously, Quin brought out the worst in her, for as soon as she spotted him her smile disappeared. Then she focused on Lucas and walked over to hug the stuffing out of him.
“I’m so glad you’re here to join us,” she enthused, ignoring Quin as if he was one of the many bolts of fabric crammed on a shelf. “We can discuss my plans for your wedding celebration over lunch.”
“Now hold on a minute—” Lucas tried to object as he stared pleadingly at Rosa.
Boston waved him off as if he were a pesky mosquito. “I wasn’t here to attend my cousin’s wedding but you won’t deprive me of hosting a grand party so the whole town can congratulate you on your marriage and I can meet my new neighbors.”
Lucas stared helplessly at his lovely,