Her Rodeo Cowboy by Debra Clopton

working at young ages doing any jobs they could find to help support their family. She’d heard the edge to his words, and she studied him. He’d done what he’d had to do to survive. Luke had started overcoming challenges early. He’d learned to accept life as a challenge and to want to overcome it.
    She was amazed by him. And she admired him. Talk about a complete turnabout on her part.
    â€œHow old were you when you started working?” she asked.
    â€œAbout ten—if you count small odd jobs I did for people. It was good for me. There’s nothing wrong with working. We—my brothers and me, are good at that.”
    â€œI bet you were. Are.”
    He gave a small grunt of a laugh. “Yeah, Jess and Colt say we were due for retirement by the time we were in high school.”
    She chuckled. “I guess that’s one way to look at it.”
    He gave that shrug that she’d come to learn was his. No big deal, it said. “You do what you have to do. We’re the men we are today because of the kind of man my dad was. He was the worst role model around, and frankly, I could be bitter about it. And I’ve had my moments, believe me. But—” he gave an assuring look “—we’ve made peace with our childhoods. All three of us, in our own way. We each know what we don’t want to be—my dad drank himself into an early grave. I couldn’t do anything about that. Mac Matlock opened the Bible and showed me Galatians 6:4. It says. ‘Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else.’”
    He rubbed his thumb along the edge of the granite counter and studied it as he did it. “That’s what I’m trying to do.”
    Montana didn’t have the words. She was trying to process all he’d said when he reached for the plates and stood up, as if needing to move.
    â€œThose are strong words,” she said. “You are doing great.”
    â€œI’m trying. My mother married a couple more times, then decided to give it up. She lives in Fredericksburg and manages a small restaurant. She loves her life now, and that’s important to us. We tried totalk her into moving out here, when we bought the ranch last year, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She has her church family there that she’s involved in. She wouldn’t budge.”
    Placing her elbow on the counter and her chin in her hand, Montana marveled at his attitude. His mother had left him in charge of his two younger brothers and a drunk dad, and yet he was acting as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Wasn’t he angry at her?
    She was angry for him.
    What kind of woman did that? She’d left her boys to fend for themselves, and now Luke was talking as if they were best friends.
    It was hard to swallow, especially in light of what was happening with her dad. She reached for the collar of her shirt, feeling hot suddenly. Galatians 6:4 played in her head. It said test her own actions…
    Her hand trembled slightly as she thought about that. She had to change the subject before she said something she would regret. He had moved on with no anger—she was moving on, too, but she couldn’t lose the anger. Not yet, anyway.
    â€œCan I ask you something?” She got up and went to help clear the dishes away, hoping it would help her calm down.
    â€œSure,” he said, opening the dishwasher.
    â€œIf you and your brothers have a need to own this ranch so you’ll have a legacy for your families, why aren’t any of you married?”
    He placed a glass in the dishwasher.
    â€œI figure Jess and Colt just haven’t met their matches yet. Sure, I want to leave a legacy, but for me that includes helping Colt and Jess build theirs for their family. I’m not getting sidetracked until I do that. My brothers will fall in love, and I’m determined that this ranch