Read The Bridal Path: Sara for Free Online Page B

was relieved he hadn’t mentioned his impulsive inclusion of a marriage rider to the contest rules. “Don’t start with me, old man. Just keep Sara in one piece, okay?” He paused, then added, “And keep Mary Lou the hell away from her.”
    Zeke chuckled at that. “Must mean the thought’s crossed your mind, if you’re all nervous about it.”
    Jake refused to rise to the bait. “You know my opinion of marriage, Zeke. If my parents hadn’t taught me that, that brush with Sue Ann would have soured me for good. It’s strictly a fool’s game. You and Mary Lou excepted, of course.”
    “It’s a dull man whose mind can’t be opened to new ideas.”
    “If you want to preach, go find a church. I’m way too old to listen to your dime store philosophy.”
    “And I’m too old to be caught up in your shenanigans. How about I call Miss Sara Wilde and tell her the deal’s off?”
    Jake was all for that. But he knew it wouldn’t be the end of it. Sara would just go and find someone else to teach her and that someone else wasn’t likely to know half of what Zeke Laramie knew.
    “No,” Jake said emphatically. “I want you to work with her, no one else.”
    “Then that’s the way it’ll be,” Zeke said readily. He allowed the subject to rest for a beat, then added, “Still say you’re sweet on her, though.”
    Zeke hung up before Jake could argue with him. He might find Sara Wilde attractive. He might even find her intriguing. But there wasn’t a woman alive who would ever tempt him to walk down the aisle of a church and say a bunch of vows that didn’t amount to a hill of beans.
    It suddenly struck him, though, that there was a whole lot of fascinating territory that could be explored before a man ever had to say I do.
    * * *
    Anticipating her first bronc-riding lesson, Sara could barely choke down a piece of toast at breakfast the next morning. Worse, she was sitting at the table under her father’s watchful, perplexed gaze. She would have bolted from the dining room, but that would only have alarmed him and brought him chasing after her.
    He’d always been the nosiest, most protective son of a gun on the face of the earth. The trait had only gotten worse since Dani and Ashley had left home. Most days that left Sara virtually alone as the focus for his attention and his worrying. Yesterday’s visit to aggravate Dani had been a rare exception. Obviously he was hoping to get at least one of them settled before he took off on this secret fling of his.
    “You’re not eating much this morning, Sara Jane,” her father noted. “Everything okay?”
    Since she couldn’t tell him that she was going to extraordinary means to resurrect the future he’d just single-handedly destroyed, she forced a smile.
    “Terrific,” she said tightly and rushed to change the subject. “By the way, I understand you paid a visit to Dani yesterday. When are you going to give up on the idea of marrying her off to Kyle Huggins?”
    “When she’s married to somebody else,” he said unrepentantly.
    “A woman doesn’t have to be married to be happy,” Sara pointed out.
    “Your sister does. She wants babies. Only one way I know to get them.”
    “I suggested she just find a handsome stranger and get pregnant,” Sara countered cheerfully.
    Bright patches of red flamed in her father’s cheeks. “Sara Jane, I will not have that kind of talk in my house. I raised you and your sisters to know right from wrong.”
    “You also raised us to go after what we wanted.”
    He frowned. “Within the bounds of good taste.”
    “Who set the rules?” she asked. “You?”
    “Me, Emily Post, Miss Manners, what does it matter? Right’s right,” he said stubbornly.
    “Tell me, Daddy, if you’d seen some way to have a son without Mama being the wiser about your indiscretion, would you have gone for it? Did you ever consider just adopting a little boy, when the two of you kept producing girls?”
    His frown deepened. “What the devil