Men in Love 03 - Open to Possibilities(1).pdf - ebook - smerry

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Open to Possibilities

ISBN 9781419909931

Edited by Helen Woodall.

Photography and cover art by Les Byerley

Electronic book Publication September 2007

This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written

permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-

3502.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales

is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

O PEN TO P OSSIBILITIES

Carol Lynne

Dedication

To my cousins and my sisters. Thank you for believing in me.

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the

following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Big Mac: McDonald’s Corporation

Stetson: John B. Stetson Company

Author Note

The author freely acknowledges the United States’ “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in

the U.S. Military, but in her world, all men are created equal.

Open to Possibilities

Chapter One

Riding across his dry west Oklahoma land, Gabe Whitlock ran his eyes over the

pastures. Dry. Everywhere he looked the water had dried up. He pulled back on the

reins, gently stopping his buckskin mare Lolly, and dismounted. He led Lolly over to

the dry creek bed and took off his battered straw Stetson. “Damn, Lolly, there isn’t even

enough water here for you, let alone four hundred head of cattle.”

He mounted his horse again and rode toward the barn to find Rex Cotton. Gabe

bought the ranch a month ago and Rex Cotton was his foreman. Although Cotton knew

a lot more about cattle than Gabe did, he was always willing to teach Gabe what he

needed to know.

Gabe’s old friend Jake Baker’s father used to own the ranch but Jake sold it to him

when his father was killed. The one stipulation of the sale was that Rex Cotton received

total ownership of his foreman’s house and he had a job as foreman as long as he was

physically able.

The main problem aside from the lack of water on the Double B was the main ranch

house. Gabe just couldn’t get a good night’s sleep in it. Buck Baker, Jake’s father, had

raped and branded his stepdaughter in the upstairs bedroom when she was just

eighteen. Seven years later Buck tracked Jenny down again and kidnapped her from the

hospital after he shot her and brought her here to the Double B and held her in the

basement. Jake was married to Jenny now as well as to Cree Sommers. It was an odd

arrangement to most folks but it worked well for the three of them.

The problem was the house. Every time Gabe was in the house he felt dirty. He had

no idea when he’d bought the place that he’d feel that way in his own home but he did.

Gabe hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a month.

He took his hat off again as he rode toward the barn and ran his fingers through his

short dark brown hair. He needed to find Cotton. They would have to figure out what

to do about the water or his cattle would die of thirst. Thinking of Cotton made Gabe’s

jeans feel a size too small in the crotch. That was one handsome man.

Jake had talked about Cotton several times but he pictured an old man with snow

white hair. Although Cotton was older, forty-six to Gabe’s thirty-two, he was by no

means an old man. His hair had once been black as night but was liberally peppered

with gray now, at least in front. It gave him a distinguished appearance, Gabe thought.

Cotton was about six foot three, the same height as he was, but where Gabe was built

like a brick outhouse Cotton was lean and sinewy. Cotton had the body of someone

much younger. Gabe loved the way his legs seemed to go on forever and the veins in

his arms bulged. That, more than the size of his biceps, signaled the amount of muscle

in his lean frame.

Men in Love 03 - Open to Possibilities(1).pdf

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