Read Online Cattleman's Courtship by Carolyne Aarsen - Free Book Online Page B

herself. Uncle Alan knew better than anyone else how much Cara had been hurt by her mother’s decisions and by her mother’s choices. And it was he who had held a sobbing Cara in his arms when she had come back from Nicholas’s ranch, after breaking up with him.
    And now she was heading right back there.
    She had changed, she thought as she turned onto the road leading to the ranch. Her heart wasn’t as easily ensnared. She’d been on her own for three years and had developed some independence and a tougher crust.
    But as she parked her car beside Lorne’s truck, she couldn’t stop the fluttering of that supposedly free heart.
    Remnants of old emotions, she told herself as she got out.
    “Hey, Cara, over here,” she heard Lorne’s voice calling out from beyond the barn.
    Frowning, Cara walked in the direction of his voice. What were they doing at the corrals?
    She came around the corner. Lorne was stroking one of Nicholas’s horses and grinned up at her when she came closer.
    “I thought we could go for a ride up into the mountains after our meeting,” Lorne said. “Where’s Trista?”
    “She and Nicholas are in the barn, checking out if it’s big enough for the wedding reception in case we have rain.”
    “So if we go with a barbecue, we could do it standing up,” Trista was saying as she and Nicholas came out of the barn. Then she glanced over and saw Cara. “You’re here. Thank goodness.”
    And Cara didn’t imagine the look of relief on her friend’s face.
    “So why don’t we go to the house and get a few things set out,” Cara said.

    “What’s to talk about?” Lorne said. “We got the place, we got the minister, the other things can wait—”
    “No, they can’t,” Nicholas said. “And Trista’s been taking care of the other things all on her own.” The slightly angry tone of his voice surprised Cara. He was taking this wedding seriously.
    Which created a lingering, twisted pain. Had he shown as much commitment to their relationship, things might have been so different.
    She pushed the feelings aside.
    “Before we head up into the mountains, lovely though that may be, we need to do some basic planning,” Cara said, underlining Nicholas’s opinion.
    Lorne glanced at Trista, and then, thankfully gave a light shrug. “Okay. If that’s what you think should happen.”
    “As the maid of honor, I do.”
    As Cara spoke, she caught Nicholas’s relieved gaze. And then a smile.
    As she returned it, a sense of equilibrium returned. It was going to be okay. I’ll get through this just fine. We’re just two old acquaintances helping friends plan a wedding. Nothing more.
    “We can go up to the house and work there,” Nicholas said, leading the way. “Dad’s gone so it will be quiet.”
    As Cara followed, she looked behind her at the beckoning mountains, feeling a moment of kinship with Lorne. The sun was shining and she had some time off, so she would much sooner have ridden up into the mountains than sit inside and plan a wedding that should have been hers.
    The past year, in her last job, most of her work had been inside, working with small animals. She had often thought of the wide-open spaces of Alberta when she was casting broken limbs and stitching and dosing in the confines of the vet office.
    She pushed the yearning aside.
    If she was going to be a part of this wedding she couldn’t let it just “happen” as Lorne seemed to think it would. For Trista’s sake, she needed to help.
    “Sorry about the mess,” Nicholas was saying as she stepped into the kitchen.
    Cara blinked. Mess? All she saw were some coffee cups on the table and a couple of magazines.
    If Nicholas truly wanted to see a mess, he should come to her aunt’s place.
    This kitchen, though showing signs of age, was clean and tidy. The countertop gleamed and the stove shone. The old wooden table, though scarred and worn, held a ceramic bowl with a bunch of apples.
    Cara’s mind flashed back to the modern,