Page 1 of The Bride's Desire

Chapter One

Joe cursed as he tried to find a pair of jeans that weren’t ripped or dirty. He knew he’d have to put in a load of laundry, but it was the calving season, and when he got back to the house at the end of the day, he was bone-tired and could barely get a few sandwiches down before he passed out.

“Finally,” he murmured, pulling on the pair of jeans that weren’t totally disgusting, and then his boots. He needed a housekeeper but hadn’t had the chance or time to find one. Rosey, the old one, had passed away almost five months ago, and he hadn’t had the heart to fill her position, but he was getting desperate now.

He just had to come to the realization he would never find someone like her, and he needed to settle on the first one that applied. That is, if she wasn’t crazy.

Joe grabbed his thermos of coffee and a few apples, slammed out the back screen door, and froze. The sun was just rising over the horizon, making everything look golden and shimmery.

A smile crossed his face when he looked around his ranch. He was damn proud of himself. He’d taken a broken-down ranch he got from his father and turned it into one of the best in theState of Utah.

He knew most of it had been pure luck. The bull he’d bought that he got cheap because it was so ugly had been a diamond in the rough. He’d impregnated forty-eight cows in the first ten months of that first year when most bulls produce twenty to thirty. Every year since had been about the same. What made it even better was every calf born, except a few lost because of breech births, had come out strong and healthy.

Every male calf born from his bull was sold at a hefty price because it had the potential of producing a lot of calves, and so far, it rang true. Now, he had a waiting list for his males. His reputation had grown until the United States knew about his bulls. He’d even sent a few overseas for an ungodly amount of money. One to a sheik of some kind.

One of those sales had paid off all his debt, and another had bought seven thousand acres adjoining his ranch to make him the third biggest in the state. He was pleased he’d never have to worry about money for the rest of his life. He’d been smart about playing the market and made a killing there, too.

Heck, if he ever got lucky enough to find a wife, his kids, and their kids would also be set.

That was one of the disadvantages of living so far from a decent-sized town. Finding a woman who interested him or taking the time needed to find one was nearly impossible.

The nearest bar was sixty-five miles from the ranch, and by the time he got done with work, he didn’t have the energy to be on the road for over an hour each way and then spend several hours trying to dodge the women “on the make” and trying to find a decent one.

He’d thought about how his body ached to have a woman under him, but he needed a housekeeper more than a body right now.

He thought about looking into a mail-order bride. Hismom, who lived close to Salt Lake City, not far from him, had been after him to try. She complained that she wanted grandkids before she died.

He had to admit it wasn’t a horrible idea. A friend of his found a wife that way, and they were very happy, going on eight years and having three kids. Joe was surprised at how attractive she was. He’d assumed only desperate or unattractive women signed up for it.

“Hey, Boss, are you going to stand there and daydream all day or get some work done?”

Joe looked over at Derek, his ranch manager, saw his smirk, and gave him the finger, making the men watching chuckle.

He got busy, and the day flew by. He found himself in the large barn that was set up for the men’s meals and a lounge area for downtime, eating Johnny’s chili and cornbread instead of making a few sandwiches at his house. He made sure his men got the best meals around. He wanted them as content as possible.

One thing he did to give the men their own space and privacy was instead of a bunkhouse he’d made a few rows of one-bedroom cabins. They each were large enough for a king-size bed, large sofa and chairs, entertainment center, and shelves. There was also a small kitchenette with apartment-sized appliances and a bar with a few stools in each cabin. The bathroom in each was luxurious compared to other ranches, with a Jacuzzi tub for sore muscles, a shower, and a sink.

He’d made sure to keep his men happy so they would stay on. It had gotten around about how he treated his guys, so he had men stop all the time, wanting a job at his ranch.

His married ranch hands lived in bigger cabins on little plots of land about a quarter of a mile away, in the back of the main house, for privacy. A few of the cabins were extended in the last few years when the kids were born to accommodate thefamily’s new size.

He’d had trees planted to give his people some privacy from each other, too.

One of the married ranch women was a schoolteacher. He and the State of Utah paid her to homeschool the children because they would have to spend over an hour traveling each way to the nearest school. He’d even built a small school that doubled as a church for them. Hell, the more he thought about it, the more his ranch was becoming a small town.

His favorite part of having families live on the ranch was hearing the children laughing and playing, and he hoped his kids would be part of that mix someday.

As far as finding a housekeeper for himself, he’d considered the wives who lived on the ranch. There were four wives on the ranch—one taught, one was a daycare worker, and the other two had jobs off the ranch, so he couldn’t ask them to take the job.

Joe pulled on his gloves and jumped in where he was needed. The calves’ piercing cries, laughter, grunts from the men, and the great weather made the day enjoyable.

He had a great group of guys. Not only hard workers, but they were also fun to be around and hang out with. He wasn’t sure what he did to deserve the way his life was, but he wouldn’t take it for granted.

He’d look for someone to take care of the house and then find a woman to marry. He was more desperate for someone to cook and clean for him than sex at this time.

Chapter Two

Naomi Palmer walked off the bus and looked around at the dusty parking lot. The town didn’t look like much from where she was standing, but that didn’t matter to her. She would be spending her time on the ranch with her husband, where she’d hopefully feel safe.

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