A Stone Creek Christmas. Linda Miller Lael
Чтение книги онлайн.

Читать онлайн книгу A Stone Creek Christmas - Linda Miller Lael страница 12

СКАЧАТЬ was, would provide a welcome diversion.

      He gave her time to reach Butterpie’s stall, then walked into the barn.

      The golden came to greet him, all wagging tail and melting brown eyes, and he bent to stroke her soft, sturdy back. “Hey, there, dog,” he said.

      Sure enough, Olivia was in the stall, brushing Butterpie down and talking to her in a soft, soothing voice that touched something private inside Tanner and made him want to turn on one heel and beat it back to the house.

      He’d be damned if he’d do it, though.

      This was his ranch, his barn. Well-intentioned as she was, Olivia was the trespasser here, not him.

      “She’s still very upset,” Olivia told him without turning to look at him or slowing down with the brush.

      For a second Tanner thought she was referring to Sophie, not the pony, and that got his hackles up.

      Shiloh, always an easy horse to get along with, stood contentedly in his own stall, munching away on the feed Tanner had given him earlier. Butterpie, he noted, hadn’t touched her supper as far as he could tell.

      “Do you know anything at all about horses, Mr. Quinn?” Olivia asked.

      He leaned against the stall door, the way he had the day before, and grinned. He’d practically been raised on horseback; he and Tessa had grown up on their grandmother’s farm in the Texas hill country, after their folks divorced and went their separate ways, both of them too busy to bother with a couple of kids. “A few things,” he said. “And I mean to call you Olivia, so you might as well return the favor and address me by my first name.”

      He watched as she took that in, dealt with it, decided on an approach. He’d have to wait and see what that turned out to be, but he didn’t mind. It was a pleasure just watching Olivia O’Ballivan grooming a horse.

      “All right, Tanner,” she said. “This barn is a disgrace. When are you going to have the roof fixed? If it snows again, the hay will get wet and probably mold…”

      He chuckled, shifted a little. He’d have a crew out there the following Monday morning to replace the roof and shore up the walls—he’d made the arrangements over a week before—but he felt no particular compunction to explain that. He was enjoying her ire too much; it made her color rise and her hair fly when she turned her head, and the faster breathing made her perfect breasts go up and down in an enticing rhythm. “What makes you so sure I’m a greenhorn?” he asked mildly, still leaning on the gate.

      At last she looked straight at him, but she didn’t move from Butterpie’s side. “Your hat, your boots—that fancy red truck you drive. I’ll bet it’s customized.”

      Tanner grinned. Adjusted his hat. “Are you telling me real cowboys don’t drive red trucks?”

      “There are lots of trucks around here,” she said. “Some of them are red, and some of them are new. And all of them are splattered with mud or manure or both.”

      “Maybe I ought to put in a car wash, then,” he teased. “Sounds like there’s a market for one. Might be a good investment.”

      She softened, though not significantly, and spared him a cautious half smile, full of questions she probably wouldn’t ask. “There’s a good car wash in Indian Rock,” she informed him. “People go there. It’s only forty miles.”

      “Oh,” he said with just a hint of mockery. “Only forty miles. Well, then. Guess I’d better dirty up my truck if I want to be taken seriously in these here parts. Scuff up my boots a bit, too, and maybe stomp on my hat a couple of times.”

      Her cheeks went a fetching shade of pink. “You are twisting what I said,” she told him, brushing Butterpie again, her touch gentle but sure. “I meant…”

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEAYABgAAD/4Q4SRXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABwESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEaAAUA AAABAAAAYgEbAAUAAAABAAAAagEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAUAAAAcgEyAAIAAAAUAAAAhodp AAQAAAABAAAAnAAAAMgAAABgAAAAAQAAAGAAAAABQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIDcuMAAyMDEzOjEx OjI4IDAyOjQwOjE3AAAAAAOgAQADAAAAAQABAACgAgAEAAAAAQAAAfSgAwAEAAAAAQAAAxoAAAAA AAAABgEDAAMAAAABAAYAAAEaAAUAAAABAAABFgEbAAUAAAABAAABHgEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAIBAAQA AAABAAABJgICAAQAAAABAAAM5AAAAAAAAABIAAAAAQAAAEgAAAAB/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEASABI AAD/7QAMQWRvYmVfQ00AAf/uAA5BZG9iZQBkgAAAAAH/2wCEAAwICAgJCAwJCQwRCwoLERUPDAwP FRgTExUTExgRDAwMDAwMEQwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwBDQsLDQ4NEA4OEBQO Dg4UFA4ODg4UEQwMDAwMEREMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDP/AABEI AIAAUQMBIgACEQEDEQH/3QAEAAb/xAE/AAABBQEBAQEBAQAAAAAAAAADAAECBAUGBwgJCgsBAAEF AQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAEAAgMEBQYHCAkKCxAAAQQBAwIEAgUHBggFAwwzAQACEQMEIRIxBUFRYRMi cYEyBhSRobFCIyQVUsFiMzRygtFDByWSU/Dh8WNzNRaisoMmRJNUZEXCo3Q2F9JV4mXys4TD03Xj 80YnlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vY3R1dnd4eXp7fH1+f3EQACAgECBAQDBAUGBwcG BTUBAAIRAyExEgRBUWFxIhMFMoGRFKGxQiPBUtHwMyRi4XKCkkNTFWNzNPElBhaisoMHJjXC0kST VKMXZEVVNnRl4vKzhMPTdePzRpSkhbSVxNTk9KW1xdXl9VZmdoaWprbG1ub2JzdHV2d3h5ent8f/ 2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AMvrTg3qe3aXSxpACqXiGAke53Df4rQ+sLA3qYguANbST5SqzvsthDQHD+UV ZBI08V0YA6uPZU+fNBupe+CBoND4rXGKXu9sHy7qY6faXQGwYUWTKBbPDlya0cTYxrdzgY+EqLfR do2J/dcNV0B6WC33ME+Sy8jpnoPFpEAGT4EKMZYy6sksEo60Kc80NLjpEjgaqq3dW+HccStjExvU eSByeFet6HTcx2m17h+I7o+8Imir7mZx4o6PMkk9o8UeljtswYB1aiX9PyMYxaw7TwjYlYdWTJL2 9vJPlIVYNtb2yDUhRRepX+6fvSRfTH7pST7WcL//0F9Z6AM6uRqawR96yBjAu3D/AFK3/rY0/a6I HNZ1+BWfRjuLQDH3hWMkgL11/sZeXiZRj2ppj0qnD1HQVrYfp3AQ4OEaEEEhDyLXYTA6jFN1jhoS NPvRmPa2LcxtDbWhtjX43IJ09OzaPd/KWfmJMSa38f8AuXVxRESBfTt/3SazELQd2vh81ifWCktx XbWmSRAHJE9lu9R6nj42GbZLnOgVNaJJJ7BvuWJmlj2mq7GdRmNLXeoXGwlrhu/nPo+5v+D2qHFx cQkRpbJMAgxvUjZz+hMZdNRP6VnuYSI3M8YP5zPo2LoKqdhiwarm8SzKt6rSaBvFZ2kxy3vuK6XK z8fDaLMlpNeg3gaypOYB4xWvELoJwUMev6OllfJ6XjZLIeB5GJhYv/N849j/AE3bmunWNFrHrfS3 P9NtxDxy1zXNI/zw1Czs01Yz7a9dsAdxJ0lRwllHp1HF3RmjhlEyNHh6h5/9kZXi38f7kkP7Vm/v 2JK/WT96Lm3h/ck//9HT+toAtx3HjYQPLULMx2erELR+ubHepiGTt2ukT/VQ+l4jnMa86eX96PMa a96bvIgHHG+l/wDSbGNjBo118QeEPqbGV45J0BOh/wBfzlptp2xIPlqq3UKaXGv1mhwaSWA8biOX N/O2rOnk9WtuhCth1cnBax20WMDv3dwDh+Ko9foNdAFLSDa5wc4SXSR9Nzidy6Or0S9tbdth5D2g CI/k/wAlY/U3Ntz2NZZtGPIkceo4+5rvzfotShMnICOmpZBEH07eKHpPTPsFAfYP010biew8lpW4 1V9RrsaLKzpB1EFAH2g7doJI4Myw/wBZro2o7bf0QfEF2pb8E3JKRlxE6stAARDVt6bT6RY57n1N ECqyHADwY5zfUb/nqk2jFD66nsDsen3igal7vzd3/BMUOu9bZi1mpkOyCNGjXb/W/lfuNQMa/cMa 9p32uZte2dfcN3/VKWEZ8PEbo7fxYchhfDQJAFt/9D+4z7v9iSD/AGPxSUteP4rOI+D/AP/S2vrD 6WRm47T7vSmWDvJUum2VtsdU/wBr/pBh5UbcQNspMuMsc4uPiD4n6KtWYtNrQXN9513T7pH+E3/6 RVucyTjkodBo2vh8T7fFMkiWwH6OrdID2ktEhupPgs/IxLXuLmZNjR8iR/V3BDbl347/AEsgte0i WWDQub47f3v31d+0YIA327S4+1rgZP8AmhVRCcjxEeN7t+Nw21vahxORk3fsnFuy77Dc8t2YzXho LrHfRHsa3w/zFzHR+pMoYWZoc+HEutGpBcd2539ZdJ1jHHULGtrHtbDWA+Lj9L+SsBvRvSutZd7G gfpHD3bdp8FNAwEZCQ9Uq28Oz
СКАЧАТЬ