Her Convenient Cowboy (Wyoming Legacy),Used

Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Early December 1900'Halloo, the house!'Davy White pulled up his horse outside his brother Oscar's cabin, in the sparsely settled hills of east central Wyoming. His breath misted in the cold predawn air; the rising sun was just a hint of light at the eastern horizon.The saddle creaked as he dismounted from his horse. One of Oscar's horses nickered in welcome from the nearby corral. The smell of wood smoke from the stove tickled his nose as he tied off his horse and stepped up onto the back porch.He didn't know if one could call his pa's homestead and the surrounding area unsettled, not with the way their family was growing. It now included Oscar's brood; his brother and sisterinlaw, Maxwell and Hattie, doctors who split their time between town and their cottage on the family homestead; Edgar and his wife and her siblings Emma and Daniel. Daniel had married and settled close by as acting schoolteacher. Add in Davy's unmarried siblings Matty, Seb and Breanna, along with his pa and ma and their biological kids, and the homestead was practically a town in itself.There was just one missing. His adopted brother Ricky. And as he and Davy had been closer than any of the others since the day they'd found each other in Cheyenne eleven years ago, Davy felt a gaping hole in their family every day he was gone. It had been six months with no word, not a single letter to let them know he was okay. Davy could only pray for his brother and hope the other man's orneriness was enough to keep him safe and alive.His boots thudded on the porch planks, loud in the early morning half dawn. Sarah must be frying bacon, judging by the smells wafting out the back door. The door stood open, even though it was chilly outside, and Davy expected to meet his brother on his way out to the horse barn.He pushed open the door with another soft 'halloo,' in case the toddler was still sleeping, but stopped in his tracks as he witnessed his brother in a passionate embrace with his wife Sarah.Oscar must have sensed his presence because his head came up. 'Morning, Davy,' he threw the words behind him, not really looking in Davy's direction.Sarah peeked over his shoulder, face rosy in the lamplit kitchen.But Oscar didn't let her go immediately. He bent his head and whispered something to her. She still had an arm around Oscar's back and whatever he said, her hand clenched in his shirt briefly before they let each other go.Davy couldn't help the pang of loneliness that hit him square in the gut like an unexpected punch. Seemed like recently he'd felt it every time he was around one of his married brothers. Sometimes even his pa. It wasn't that he was jealous of them, just that something in him recognized an emptiness. He longed for a family of his own.It was an old ache, one that remained from a childhood cut short. Before Ricky had left home, Davy had been too busy working the ranch and trying to keep his brother out of trouble to give it much thought. Or to actively pursue any of the eligible women in town.But Ricky had been gone since the summer, with no word to let his family know if he was all right. And without the distraction of Ricky's presence, his desire for a family of his own remained.But that would have to wait. He had plans in place to execute before he could think about going courting.Oscar's hair was mussed and he shoved his hat on before coming through the doorway and slapping Davy's shoulder in a friendly welcome.'You headed up to the line shack?'Davy nodded. 'I'm on my way now but noticed there's a section of fence down in the west pasture. You or Pa will need to make sure it gets patched today or you'll want to move your horses out.'Oscar looked past the packhorse Davy had tied off next to his mount, both animals loaded with supplies, to the slowly lightening sky.Judging by the way Oscar's jaw was locked, Davy wasn't going to like whatever his brother s