Read Bet You'll Marry Me for Free Online Page B

it.”
    â€œWhat if I just want to ranch?” Nick asked. “What if I’m just so taken with your beauty that I’d like to stay here forever . . . with you?”
    Jenny smirked and rolled her eyes. “I know you must have an ulterior motive for betting me the ten thousand. I also know how valuable the land could be, if I didn’t owe so much debt. I’ve had offers from several large companies to buy the land.”
    â€œWhich ones?” Nick asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
    â€œN.L.C. Industries is the most bothersome.” Jenny scowled. “I’m beginning to think there isn’t anything that company won’t do to get their hands on my land.”
    Nick chuckled. “I’ve heard they are tenacious.”
    â€œTenacious isn’t even the word.” She blew out a huff of disgust. “The company is in league with the devil.”
    â€œThat bad?” Nick raised his brows.
    â€œOh, yes,” she assured him. “Rumor has it the company needs to sell the properties it purchased here in Pine. Except my land sits smack in the middle of theirs, and no prospective buyer wants a useless donut-hole tract. They want my land, Windy Meadows, included in the deal.”
    â€œSounds like N.L.C. Industries is screwed,” Nick said, nodding his head.
    â€œServes them right for purchasing land around me in the first place, thinking they could run me out and build some smog-ridden industrial plant,” Jenny retorted. Her blood boiled and her heart pounded just talking about it. “Do you know last month N.L.C. had the gall to offer to have the graves of my family relocated?”
    â€œThat’s awful,” Nick agreed.
    â€œWhere would they move them?” Jenny demanded, rising to her feet. “My family doesn’t belong in some public cemetery on the other side of town. This is their home, the place they lived and loved and watched their children grow. Can you imagine seeing the caskets of your loved ones being pulled from the ground, unearthed from—” Unable to continue, Jenny shuddered.
    â€œI imagine it would be haunting,” Nick said, his face drawn, as if he, too, was affected by the image.
    â€œGhastly,” Jenny amended. “No, I don’t have any sympathy for N.L.C. Industries. As far as I’m concerned, they’ve dug their own grave.”

 
    Chapter Four
    N ICK HAD NEVER been happier to drop into a bed. For dinner, Billie made a green-noodle casserole which he overheard the ranch hands say tasted even worse than it looked. Deciding to forego trying the dish himself, he’d climbed the stairs, and laid down with an empty stomach.
    It seemed he’d only had a few minutes of sleep when an urgent pounding on his bedroom door roused him back to full consciousness. Was it morning already? He glanced out the window toward the rising sun and heard Jenny’s voice, followed by footsteps running down the hall.
    Nick tossed his sheets aside, walked across the room and opened the door a crack to see what was going on.
    â€œThe steers are scattered,” Jenny explained. She hopped up and down in the sunlit hallway and pulled on one of her boots. “Harry says they’ve wandered on to N.L.C. Industries property. We need every available person to help find them—including your sister—who seems to sleep very well for a person who’s supposed to have nightmares.”
    Nick dressed as quickly as his tired limbs would let him and knocked on Billie’s bedroom door. No answer. Turning the knob, he let himself in. Billie was sound asleep. He tried to shake her awake, with no results. When Billie slept, she slept hard.
    Retrieving a cup of water from the bathroom he splashed his sister’s face. It worked. Billie sprang up off her pillow and out of bed within seconds.
    â€œI’ve told you before I hate it when you do that!” Billie yelled. “Now my bed is all