The Rancher Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides Book 1)

sense out of the last few days. Trying to reconcile what had happened between him and Rose.
    How could she have fallen in love with him, when he'd had her thrown in jail, and when she got out he'd done everything but run her out of town? Only then to discover his mother's missing ring and go racing across country to kidnap her from the road- house. He'd forced her on the back of a horse, accused her of tricking his mother, swindling his men, of setting fire to his barn, of lying and cheating, not to mention being a loose woman.
    And somehow she'd fallen in love with him anyway. No one had ever loved him for himself, only for the ranch or his money.
    God, he'd missed her these last few days. Missed her laughter, the way she brightened up his day. Regardless of what had happened between them, she made him see life from a different perspective. She always found something to smile about; she'd always brought joy into his world.
    Though often she'd pointed out his faults, she'd still fallen in love with him, while he had only criticized, complained, and threatened her. Why had he been unable to see the goodness in Rose? Why had he been so hard on her?
    From the very beginning, he'd thought he knew who she was, only to discover he was a fool. He hadn't known her at all. At least not the way he thought he knew her.
    Yet he'd known she was running a séance parlor; he'd known she was a con artist. But still he'd been attracted to her, and that bothered him. How could a man who valued honesty and truthfulness be drawn to a woman who told lies for a living?
    The day he stepped into her séance parlor, Travis knew there was something special about her. But it wasn't until he carried her out of the roadhouse that he'd realized just how much he wanted her physically. And now all he knew was that he felt as though a ray of sunshine had disappeared from his life. He was lonelier than he'd ever been and felt as if half of his soul had gotten on that stage Sunday and ridden out of town.
    She claimed to love him, but why? What was there about him to love? What had she seen in him that made her offer her heart so willingly? Until recently she had defied him at every turn, had challenged, opposed, and resisted him, all the while claiming she was innocent of his charges.
    No woman had ever stood up to him and bullied him the way Rose had. No one had ever made him think about his actions quite the way she had. Somehow Rose had made a better man of him, and he had let her walk away.
    A pain so deep and overwhelming left him gasping. His own stubborn pride had kept him from seeing that she made him whole. She had laughed and cajoled her way into his heart, and in the end he had stubbornly refused to give her the love she so desperately needed.
    All he'd thought about was his damn sense of honor and duty, which wouldn't keep him warm at night. No, Rose would never be the lady he had dreamed of marrying, but then she was so much more than a dressed-up woman with an empty head. She was full of life, she was good, she was decent, and he wanted them to have babies and grow old together.
    God, he loved her. He had stubbornly refused to say the words she so longed to hear, but he did love her.
    Travis was a fool. The biggest fool of all for letting her get away. He had loved her for longer than he could admit, longer than he could remember. He trusted her and he wanted her for his wife.
    He had to go find her, apologize to her and ask her to forgive him. Tell her that he loved her. And then, if she would have him, he was going to get down on his knees and ask her again to marry him. Ask her to be his wife for the rest of their natural days. Tell her he was willing to follow her and her dream of acting, if that was what it took. As long as she would be his wife, his helpmate, and his lover, he would give her his heart and then some.
    He glanced up and noticed his surroundings for the first time. He'd let his horse amble any direction he wanted, and now he was on the outer boundaries of the ranch, so far away that there was a line shack in the distance for shelter.
    He kicked his horse into a gallop. He had to get to Waco and find Rose before she disappeared out of his life forever.
    ***
    Travis opened the door and hurried into the house, eager to grab a few things and be on his way. The place had felt like a mausoleum since Rose had left and Eugenia had gone visiting a neighboring ranch. Everywhere he turned, he had mental images of Rose laughing