Ride With Me (A Quaking Heart Novel - Book One)

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  Clint's vision blurred. He blinked several times, but the massive wood sign ahead continued to waver and furl like a flag in the breeze. He squinted. Yep, the bar-H brand was there, front and center, fired into the wood plank years ago by his own hands. The Harper Ranch sign. What a day that had been, when he'd displayed it in all its glory to a proud and grateful Roy Harper. He'd been twenty-one then, and eager to please.

  Funny. If someone had told him back then that in ten years he would be foreman of this large spread and nothing else to show for his life, he would have called them a liar. He'd had goals and dreams once upon a time. Now look at him. "You've really come a long way, Wilkins. A real fete, driving home drunk after breaking it off with the dream girl of every cowpoke in Montana. Heck, probably in the surrounding states as well."

  He snorted, then laughed, losing control of the Packard for a moment as it fishtailed on the dirt road. "Whoa, Besss . . . ie."

  Alert enough not to wake the whole camp at two in the morning, Clint drove past the ranch house at five miles per hour. He managed to park the great old car, tumble out, and click the door shut as softly as possible. He swayed a bit before he let loose of the door handle. Dang, he couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten drunk. Oh he drank, partied, caroused, but get drunk? No. It was hard on the body and usually got a person into trouble. He'd done that plenty of times in his youth. Not now. That was something he had curbed a long time ago. So what was his excuse now?

  He glanced up at Jessie's room on the second story and froze. She stood by the open window in her white nightgown with hands clasped to the sill. Her long hair fanned out in the gentle breeze. The moon had cast an angelic halo about her, making his breath catch in his throat. He placed a hand against the cold metal of the car, trying to still his dizziness—from the booze or from her appearance, he'd never know for sure.

  He stared at her image a long time, not able to move. She's really something. The second the words entered his conscious mind, he halted all thought. She was something all right. Ever since she took that first step onto this ranch, his well-ordered life had plowed its hooves into the ground and halted. And like a horse fidgeting against the bit, his life waited for him to let loose of the reins and get back to normal. So, why hadn't he done that?

  Before he could get his fill of the sight of her, she disappeared from view, leaving him bereft and more confused than ever. A reaction this powerful could only be explained one way. A way that would take him down a path he had vowed never to take. He dropped his head before the spinning overwhelmed him.

  It was the drink, that's all. Just the drink.