The Rancher's Daughter by Pamela Ladner Page B

her. 
                  The guy finally left her alone, and she ate her meal in silence.  She paid her bill and went to her hotel room.  When she lay down on the bed, her mind wandered.  She started thinking about Heath paying the note, questioning why he would do something like that.  She realized she’d been too quick to let him go.  She in her lack of self-confidence had sent him away thinking he couldn’t possibly be in love with her and what did he do, he paid off the loan on her family’s ranch.   Did he love her?  Was it possible, his feelings for her was more than just desire? 
                  She fell asleep with Heath on her mind.  She still had a long way to go.  When she awoke the next morning, she took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, loaded up her truck and left.  She was distracted and unintentionally speeding when she passed a state trooper.  She heard the siren, looked in her mirror and pulled off the side of the road.  “Crap, this is just what I need.” She said.  She dug in her purse and pulled out her wallet then rolled down the window.
                  She decided to put on her best charm.  The officer was a real jerk.  He told her that he would let her off with a warning but only if she would let him take her out.  She decided to nip it in the bud by telling him she was engaged.  He ripped the ticket out of the booklet and handed it to her, smiling with a cocky grin.  Josey took the ticket from the trooper, seventy-two in a fifty-five . 
                  This trip was turning out to be very annoying.  Twice now, she’d been hit on.  She was not happy with that, and she hoped the rest of the trip didn’t go this way.  She was already so tired of men.  Besides there was only one man she wanted and she’d kicked him out of her life twice already.  She felt like a fool. 
                  She pulled off the side of the road, careful to watch her speedometer.  She didn’t need another ticket before she got to Vegas.  She still couldn’t get over her family sending her on this trip.  She thought they must surely be tired of her if they’d paid for the trip and organized it without even telling her. 
                  She turned the radio up and concentrated on her driving.  The drive to Vegas was a long one.  She stopped one more night at a hotel.  She was already tired of driving.  She wanted to get where she was going already.  She had no idea why her parents decided on Vegas.  She’d been there before.  She’d competed there when she barrel raced.  That had been a long time ago.  She was young then. Heath had competed too.  She really did miss rodeo.  She assumed her parents were right.  She would enjoy herself and maybe even hit a casino or two while she was there. 
                  She didn’t get much sleep this time, because the room next door was too noisy. The walls were paper-thin and the neighboring room had apparently stayed for one reason.  She realized later that night that it was just a couple of teenagers.  She saw them leaving the room when she’d stepped out to get a coke.  She’d never really been to a hotel with Heath when they were teens.  They’d always preferred the outdoors.  The back of his pickup was more romantic to Josey than a sleazy hotel room. 
                  She got her coke and reentered her hotel room.  It was after midnight.  She needed to get some sleep so she could get an early start on her drive.   With all the noise in the other room over with, she finally got some sleep.
                  She overslept anyway, and didn’t wake up until housekeeping knocked on the door.  She apologized and got her things.  She brushed her teeth and left the room to housekeeping.  She didn’t even have time for a shower.  She had slept through check out time.  She was going to have to make up time somewhere.  She