Mackinnons #02 For All the Right Reasons by Elaine Coffman

together and he glared at her. “One of these days someone is going to shoot that blasted mule right between the eyes and I can’t say I’ll be too sorry when it happens.”
    “It wasn’t all Clovis’s fault,” she said, feeling just a little put out and bristling.
    “I don’t know how you can say a thing like that. Who can you blame but that mule?”
    “How about that thick-witted horse of yours? As far as I’m concerned anything dumb enough to stand there while his tail is being chewed off ought to walk around looking like a dust mop.” She collapsed into fits of laughter and couldn’t say more, even when she saw the dark as a thundercloud look on Alex’s face.
    “Katherine…” He had been about to vent his spleen a little more when Katherine turned her face toward him. He had expected to see her face twisted with anger, or at least a bit miffed, but he saw only devilish humor, followed by a wash of pink color that spread over her face when she caught his eyes upon her. Every peppery, quick-tempered word he had been about to hurl at her vanished. Never before could he remember losing track of his breathing—it was, after all, a simple process of taking air in and letting air out. But somewhere in between the taking in and the letting out, he was so distracted that he lost a breath when everything about him seemed to shut down. Something strange was going on here. He blinked his eyes to clear his mind, opening them to a clear view of her profile—the stubborn chin, the full lower lip that pouted just a little as she lost herself in concentration, the unbelievably long lashes, the dairy-fresh texture of her skin. His eyes dropped lower, following the long graceful line of her throat as it gave way to the sharp detail of her breast. It hit him with a jolt, just what he’d caught himself thinking. He jerked his eyes away. Get your mind on the road, Mackinnon. Or Beedle’s tail. On anything but what it’s on. This is Katherine, not Karin. Katherine, you fool! She’s nothing but a pest. Remember how she was always spying on you? Have you forgotten all the dumb things she used to do? She can’t be quiet more than five seconds. She irritates the daylights out of you. And she couldn’t be serious long enough for a man to get a romantic thought in his head about her. She is going to be your sister-in-law, for God sakes! What do you think you’re doing?
    Through the debris of shattered resolve, she saw his brilliant blue eyes studying her curiously, searching, probing, concluding. It was as though they had just met for the first time, and he was finding her every bit as confusing as she was finding him. For indeed, that is the way she felt—that they were two strangers facing each other across a great void. Deep within the eyes that studied her she sensed interest, but on the same level, something she could only call ridicule.
    She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off. “You’re the talkingest woman I’ve ever come across,” he said trying to sound as cross as he felt, and knowing it just wasn’t so. He was still a bit peeved about Beedle’s tail and was placing the blame on her, unwarranted as it was, although he wouldn’t have admitted as much to Katherine if his life depended upon it. But he could still see her mouth quirking at the corners.
    He helped her into the wagon, tying Beedle to the back, then climbing in beside her. Giving Clovis a slap with the reins, he guided him in a wide, sweeping turn, then headed down the road that dipped and curved as it ambled on down toward the creek.
    Katherine had always been too garrulous for her own good, and went right on talking. “I remember Mr. Peabody had a peacock that the cows chewed the tail off of—’course Mr. Peabody is half-blind, and never did notice. But it gave everyone else a good laugh to see that peacock strutting about with his tail fanned, not knowing his beautiful feathers were gone and all that remained were a few