Page 2 of The Cowboy's Unlikely Love

It wasn’t until after dinner that she knew something was very wrong. Abe was insistent that she stay the night. There was no way that she was ready for that, and she’d said no.

She was completely unprepared for the brutal attack that had followed. People said that she should have fought harder. She’d fought, she’d screamed, she’d howled, but it had made no difference.

Hours later, she’d made her escape, driving with the last of her strength to the ER. And so her ordeal had begun.

Chapter Two

After putting awaythe groceries, Colt called his best friend, Dillan. “How’s everything going, bro?”

“Well, looky who’s calling me,” Dillan said. “I’ll have to write this on my calendar.”

Colt chuckled. “It hasn’t been that long, has it?”

“Bud, I thought you up and disappeared.”

“Sorry about that. Things have been a little crazy.” He paused a moment. “Do you have time to talk?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

Colt told him about meeting Taylor earlier that day. “Can you tell me anything about her?”

“Well, Waylen Ardent, her aunt’s brother, was an awful alcoholic and ran the ranch into the ground.”

“Yeah, I remember seeing him drinking at the Purple Cow in town, always the worse for wear,” Colt said.

“When old Waylen died, the ranch went to Shannon Kent, his sister and Taylor’s aunt. The place sat vacant for a couple of years after that,” Dillan said. “I was actually surprised when the woman took on living there, because Waylen had let it get so run-down.”

“Do you know why Taylor’s living with her aunt now? I just have this feeling that something’s wrong,” Colt asked.

After a moment, Dillan answered, “I heard she had some trouble up in Motley County, and she came to live with her aunt to get away from it.”

Colt’s heart thumped hard. “What kind of trouble?”

He could hear the reluctance in Dillan’s voice when he said, “I heard something about a rape trial.”

Shock stabbed Colt’s chest, and his mind raced over different scenarios that might fit with what Dillan had just said. He settled on the worst. Taylor had been raped, and it had gone to trial. God, was this man the father of her child? That poor woman. “Thanks, bro. I appreciate the info.”

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