Read A Western Romance: Love Storm - Western Historical Romance: (Western Fiction, Western Books, Western Brides) (Leap of Love Series Book 4) for Free Online Page B

edge to her tone.
    "I ain't never known any women that fish."
    Bianca looked over at him. "Well now you do. I'm hungry, aren't you?"
    Red grunted again. "I'm going to start the fire."
    He trudged back up the hill toward the camp site. Bianca finished, and had caught four medium sized fish. That would definitely be enough for the both of them for dinner.
    She brought her catch back to the camp.
    "Impressive."
    "Thank you, I think."
    Red took the fish, gutted them, filleted them, and put them over the fire.
    "You look so much like your mother."
    Bianca's hand shook, and she almost dropped the food she was eating.
    "What did you say?"
    Red shrugged. "You look just like your mother."
    "And how do you know my mother?" Just the thought of the man that abducted her speaking of her mother enraged her.
    "I've know your father for a very long time. I knew your mother as well, long before I knew your father."
    Bianca's head was spinning. "Are you serious?"
    Red nodded. "I am."
    "Tell me what you knew about her then." Bianca wanted her words to come across as a challenge, but she was actually hopeful to learn something new about the woman she did not know.
    "She was a strong woman. Meek, but strong. Had a lot of fight in her, but always so calm, so quiet. Samantha was caring and loving. The type of person that cared for everything and everyone."
    "You speak as if you knew her well."
    Bianca watched as a smile came over Red's face. It was as if he was strolling down memory lane.
    "I did know her well. She and I were courting before your father came along."
    Red's words took the wind right out of her.
    "What?"
    He paused for a moment. "Yes. Samantha and I were courting long before your father came along. We were engaged to be married in fact. I messed that up. Went on the lamb and by the time I came back, Samantha was married to your father. And he never failed to remind me that I had lost her.
    "So I tried to move on, but it was hard to watch Samantha move on with Lou. Then she was pregnant with you, and I knew that there was no way that I would ever get her back. And then," Red paused.
    "And then what?"
    "Do you know anything about the day that your mother died?"
    The words were caught in her throat. "No. I don't."
    Red bit his lip, contemplating something.
    "I don't know that I should tell you then."
    Bianca jumped up. "You must tell me." There was no way that she would let this opportunity to hear about a part of her life slip by.
    Red stared in to the flames of the camp fire. He spoke slowly at first.
    "I had just returned to Eagle Valley after being away for about a year. I thought that it would be easier if I went away. But when I came back, it was much harder. Your mother had just birthed you, and you were still such a baby. Myself, I was known more as a renegade. So I steered clear of Samantha. I never wanted to hurt her or interfere with the life she had made for herself.”
    "I was starting to take on dangerous jobs. Sharp shooting, hits, all kinds of things. Anything to make ends meet. And to be honest, I had a death wish because I was watching the woman that I love with another man. So I took a job on that was extreme. I was asked to take out a local rancher. Getting a job, I often did not get much background information on the person I would be working for. Instead, I would just get information about my target, where the target would be, and I would get half the pay up front, the rest when the job was complete.”
    "To make a long story short, I tracked this rancher to where I was told he would be. A small house in the woods. I went to go and complete my job, only to find your mother there as well. I remember my heart dropping out of my chest. There was no way that she should have been there. I raced to her, as she was yelling to me to clear out of the way because I was going to get ambushed.”
    "Instead of me being hit, she was."
    A tear rolled down Red's cheek, which he quickly wiped away.
    "She fell in my arms, and just