by Cara Lynn
The morning was hot. Summer in Texas was always hot and Molly was bored. She'd grown up here and her uncle had spoiled her. Uncle Gary had taken her in when she was only 3, when his only sister and her husband had been killed in a car accident. He could never bear to say no to her. She was his only family.
Gary lost his wife in a riding accident before Molly was even born and he had never remarried. He spent his life doting on Molly. They lived on his ranch which was several thousand acres. He raised cattle and was one of the most successful cattle ranchers in the state. He was respected by everyone.
Molly could ride as well as anyone on the ranch and knew cattle ranching inside out. When Gary decided to retire she'd be able to run the ranch and it would continue to be successful. The only fault she had was that she was spoiled. She was used to getting her way in everything. She also took risks, too many as far as her uncle was concerned.
Someone had been cutting their fences, probably so they could steal some cattle. It had been happening at all of the ranches and the sheriff still didn't have a single lead. Despite her uncle forbidding her to ride out to the far pasture, that's exactly where she was going.
She had the stable boy saddle King for her. King was a huge black stallion that she had raised since he had been born. She loved him and the horse adored her. Then she rode out toward the far pasture. She could see several men in the distance and she knew they weren't her hands. She pulled her rifle out and fired several shots. The men looked at her and quickly got on their horses and rode off.
When she got to the fence she could see that they'd cut the fence. She jumped off King and walked over to check out the damage.
Suddenly she heard a rider approaching. She pulled her revolver out ready to fire at the rider, when she recognized him. It was Jake Reynolds. He owned the adjacent ranch and was a pain in her ass. She'd known him most of her life, but he was always trying to tell her what to do.
If she had a choice, she'd never have anything to do with him; but he and her uncle were good friends and had been for years.
"Molly Anderson, what in the devil are you doing out here?" he yelled at her. "I know your uncle forbids you to come out here."
"Jake Reynolds it's none of your damn business what I do," she yelled back at him. "You almost got shot. What are you doing on my land?"
"Hold on there, little girl. If I remember correctly this land belongs to Gary Anderson, not you," he snapped back at her. Damn she was cute when she was all riled up.
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