Never Love a Cowboy

before he allowed anyone to witness his awkward attempts, but there was no better time than the present to begin. The saloon was quiet, and if he were very careful and moved very slowly, he might be able to pour himself a glass of whiskey—and no one would know.

No matter how many ways Jessye looked at the ledgers, she couldn’t change the numbers. Her father had a bad habit of purchasing more stock than was needed so their cash reserves were always low. She couldn’t bring herself to chastise him. He’d only say, “We’ll need it all some day, girl.”
Perhaps before the war, before over half the men in the town had died on a bloody battlefield miles from home.
It also didn’t help matters that her father had a bad habit of extending credit. “Can’t turn away a man down on his luck,” he’d say. “Just a nip to help him through the night.”
The nip often turned into a bottle or two.
She’d grown accustomed to her father’s generosity over the years. She loved him, faults and all. Still, she’d be relieved when they heard something from Kit. She desperately wanted her investment to pay off.
Yawning, she closed the ledger, leaned back in the chair, and rubbed the nape of her neck. Two o’clock in the morning was much too late to go to bed, but the night just didn’t contain enough hours.
The office door opened, and she smiled sleepily at her father. “Thought you’d gone to bed.”
“I got distracted. Do you know where the papers are that say I own this building?”
“They’re here in the desk.”

snipe hunting.”
“What in God’s name is a snipe?”
“That’s the point. There’s no such thing, but you send a greenhorn out into the night with a flour sack and tell him he’s gotta find one…and well, it’s funny ’cuz you know he never will—”
“You believe this activity to be humorous?”
“Some folks do.”
“Do you?”
Avoiding the question, she cracked her knuckles, wondering if she’d have knotty fingers when she was old like her father constantly warned her.
“Do you?” he prodded. “Do you think it’s funny to embarrass someone?”
“No. I just understand that some men never grow up, and I try not to hold it against them.”
He waved his hand in the air. “Be off with you. I need to get out of the river.”
“Afraid I’ll see your shortcomin’s?”
With a distinct purpose to his stride and an unmistakable challenge in his eyes, he waded through the water toward her. She jumped to her feet and headed into the bushes. She ought not to tease him. Men were sensitive about certain aspects of their bodies…but she couldn’t help but wonder exactly what Harry looked like in the altogether. She had a feeling he’d make accepting the challenge worth it.

Harrison walked into the camp, his mood unimproved and threatening to worsen. Magpie was still talking, and Kit, by God