A Horsewoman for Harlan by Barbara Goss (the top 100 crime novels of all time TXT) 📕

once he’d committed it?  He hadn’t had an argument with her; he just hadn’t spoken to her or even looked at her since the horses had been stolen.  He hadn’t even thanked her for saving Millie.  He never was good at admitting he’d made a mistake, and he still wasn’t sure he had.  What aggravated him the most was that Elise would make friends with a stranger on a train and tell him where she’d be training horses.  To a horse thief, that was hitting the jackpot.

He did, however, miss Elise and their walks.  He also missed their carefree conversation.  Now that he’d made himself the villain of the family, how was he to get himself out of it?  Would an apology be enough?  Should he just start talking to her again?  He didn’t know, since he’d had no experience with women.  He’d concentrated on building up his horse ranch instead.  He vowed to ever marry, though he hadn’t thought about it recently, yet here was a lovely woman who loved horses as much as he did, a woman who set his heart pumping whenever she looked up at him.  Half of him was still angry, and the other half yearned to renew their friendship.

Even Clay avoided him whenever he could.  His only friend now was Pedro.

He had to find a way to put things back the way they were.  Not only did he miss his time with Elise, but he knew that after she’d finished training all the horses, she’d leave if he didn’t do something, but what?

He spent more time in prayer.  In the past, when he was faced with a dilemma, God always opened a way for him.  He hoped God would answer his prayers before the auction.

It was raining lightly that day, and Harlan stood inside the stables, watching Elise work with a horse in the corral.  Even a light drizzle of rain didn’t stop her.  She was the best horse trainer he’d ever seen.  He hoped she’d look his way, and he’d give her a little wave, hoping it might open the friendship again, but she didn’t.  He was about to turn back to his work when Sheriff Conn came galloping in, jumping off his horse almost before it had stopped.  Harlan walked out to meet him, knowing he must have important news.

“Harlan,” he said breathlessly, “I have a telegram for you.  I hope you don’t mind, but Curly told me what it said since he knew I was working on this case.” The sheriff handed the telegraph to Harlan.

He scanned it.  “It’s from Jay Fox!  He buys horses from me all the time.  Dagnabbit!  T.J. is there, trying to sell him my horses.  He recognized my prize horse.  He’s going to try and stall them.  How fast can we get there?”

The sheriff shook his head.  “Lawrence is quite a ways, but if we took the train, we could get there in two or three days.”

“Let’s go now,” Harlan said.

“How would we get home without our horses?” the sheriff asked.

“I can ride one of them, and I’ll buy more for however many men we’re taking.  Or we can borrow them.  Whatever works best for Jay.  I know he’s coming to my auction, so he might just lend us a few to ride home.”

Sheriff Conn gave Harlan a quick nod of approval.  “Let’s see when there’s a train going there.”

“I’ll pack a bag and meet you at the stagecoach stop. It won’t take long to get to Kansas City to hop on a train.”

As the sheriff rode off, Harlan looked at Elise in the corral.  She was looking right back at him.  He walked toward her.  Now, he’d have to talk to her.  As he approached, she turned back to the horse with which she was working, but when he stood right before her, she looked up shyly at him.

“I’ve got to leave for a week or so.  You’ve got Pedro and Clay if you need them.  Will you be all right until I get back?”

“Of course,” she said.

“We have news that T.J. is trying to sell the horses to an old Indian friend of mine in Lawrence.  We’re taking a train.  I’m praying we’ll catch this horse thief.”

“I’ll pray for that, too,” she said.

He smiled at her.  “I have to hurry, but I want you to know that I’m sorry for being upset over what’s happened.  I don’t blame you, and I hope you’ll forgive me and stay here after the auction.”

Elise smiled slightly.  “You’re forgiven.  It was all my fault, and no one is more upset with me than myself.  I promise to make it all up to you.”

How Harlan wished he had time to talk more and tell her how he really felt, but there wasn’t time.

“I promise we’ll finish this conversation when I return.  I have to hurry.”

“I’ll be praying,” she said.

Chapter Fifteen

Elise continued training horses, playing the conversation she’d had with Harlan over and over in her mind.  Why hadn’t she told him he hadn’t thanked her for saving Millie?  Why had she told him he was forgiven? He was, of course, but maybe she shouldn’t have let him off the hook so easily.

The ranch ran smoothly while Harlan was gone since everyone knew their jobs.  The atmosphere in the house improved with Harlan and his forever frown gone.  When Elise confided to Millie that her father had apologized, she jumped up and down with excitement.  Elise hated that Millie had her hopes set on Elise and her papa’s relationship developing into more.

Clay was usually quiet, but he opened up more with his father gone.  He talked more, helped Elise, and even gave her a hug one day when she was feeling low.  “Things will work out, you’ll see,” he said.  “My father often acts tough, but he is a soft-hearted