Read The Rancher and the Runaway Bride Part 1 for Free Online

good having a mare ready to foal in a couple of months. Let’s just say we had an interesting accident with one of our stallions.”
    “You should be a more responsible parent,” Rita teased. “It’s important for you to explain about protected sex to your horses.”
    “Tell me about it. Anyway, when the vet comes out, make a note of any problems. So far the mare’s doing great. This is just routine.” He thought for a moment. “I guess that’s everything. Keep up the good work.”
    At that moment, Tex rang the bell hanging outside the dining room in the bunkhouse.
    “Breakfast,” Brady said. “After all the work you’ve done this morning, you must be hungry.”
    “Starved. You think if I have three servings of everything, Tex will start to like me?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    She glanced at him and grinned. Brady found himself grinning back. He knew better than to risk getting involved, yet he waited while she led the gelding back to its stall, then walked with her to the bunkhouse. As she chatted about the various horses, he wondered about her past.
    Last night she’d mentioned a brother. Was there other family? Why didn’t she put them down as references? Did they know where she was? And most important, why was she on the run? He’d known drifters all his life. A ranch like his attracted them. Men worked for a few months, then moved on. He’d learned how to read the restlessness in their eyes when it was near their time to go.
    Rita wasn’t like them. Not only because she was a woman, but because everything about her screamed “home.” She’d obviously grown up somewhere, had been educated. Life on the road was the exception, not the rule.

    All of which didn’t mean she was safe. So he was going to ignore the fire licking up his belly and remind himself he was nothing more than Rita’s boss. When whatever had chased her from home was gone, she would return. Even if she didn’t, she wasn’t going to want to make her life on the ranch, so there was no point in wishing for the moon.
    They walked toward the bunkhouse. A familiar shape moved out of the shadows of the barn and headed toward them. “That’s Princess,” he said, pointing at the multicolored, long-haired dog. “She’s an Australian shepherd. I thought she might be interested in helping with the cattle, but she seems to prefer cats.”
    Rita peered at the dog. “She’s got something in her mouth. Oh, no! It’s moving! Is she killing it?” She started for the dog.
    “Don’t worry,” Brady said, catching up with her and grabbing her arm. “Princess wouldn’t hurt anything. She’s taking care of her cats. Come here, girl.”
    The dog trotted over and set down the object in her mouth. It turned out to be a kitten, maybe ten or twelve weeks old. The furry baby, all black except for a white patch on its nose, meowed plaintively. Princess swiped at the kitten with her tongue, then looked up and gave a doggy grin as if to say “Look at what I have. Aren’t you impressed?”
    Brady sighed. He wasn’t the least bit impressed or amused, but he wouldn’t tell Princess that.
    Rita crouched down and let Princess sniff her fingers, then she patted the dog. “I don’t understand. She has cats? Like pets?”
    “They’re more of a commune. People drop off strays, she finds them and brings them home. We feed them, but otherwise, she takes care of them.”
    Rita turned her attention to the kitten, rubbing under its chin and making it purr loudly. “What do you mean?”
    “She keeps track of them, makes sure they don’t fight. During the day, she herds them from shady spot to shady spot.”
    Rita stood up and laughed. “She herds them? You mean, she makes them move around in a group?”
    “I know it sounds weird. You’ll see it today. I’m not sure why the cats don’t just run off, but they do what she says. When there are kittens, she helps baby-sit. If another dog strays onto the property, she chases it off. Basically, caring for her