Page 1 of Bucked By Love

1

CLAIRE

Iknew Riley Ransom’s hands before I knew the rest of him.

In Belleflower, Kentucky, there are two types of people: people to the north of the railroad track and people to the south. Never should the two meet…

Except for church.

Daddy crosses the railroad once every Sunday so we can attend church at St. Mary’s. We’re one of many who make this weekly migration. My theory is it’s because Pastor Jones is the most stone-faced, boring pastor in the county.

Daddy and I sit in the second pew from the front. I pick at the lace of my dress.

“Sit up straight,” Daddy murmurs. My back goes rigid.

But five minutes into Pastor Jones’s cold, lumbering voice, I’m slouching again.

Something tugs on my hair.

At first, I think I’ve gotten it caught on the pew, but when I slide my hand over the back of my head, I brush over another set of fingers.

I tilt my head ever-so-slightly. I see brownish, reddish hair—hair the color of rust. The boy behind me looks about my age. He’s kneeling on the bench. He has my hair between his fingers and it tugs on my scalp as he twists the strands together.

“What are you doing?” I whisper.

“Praying.”

I bite back a grin. I go still and let him twist my hair back in a braid.

“Claire.” Daddy’s chastising hiss gets me to jolt up again.

But this time, when I run my hair over the back of my head, I feel the ladder bumps of the braid there. I run my fingers over it all throughout the rest of the sermon to keep myself awake.

2

CLAIRE

Daddy is always in his study.

“Daddy?”

“Yes?” He doesn’t look up from his ledger.

“I’m hungry.”

“Dinner is in an hour. You can wait.”

I flop dramatically on the leather footstool. My long, blonde hair waterfalls down the back of it. Still, Daddy doesn’t look up.

The truth is: I’m not hungry. I’m bored.

The Preacher estate is a huge, multi-room ranch house, complete with everything a little girl could want: a huge library of books, a grand piano, a stable full of horses and ponies.

But there’s no one to play with. No one but Daddy and me.

I sigh loudly.

Pay attention to meeee.

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