The Cowboy's Homecoming
BACK… FOR GOOD?Once, rodeo star Rylan Duggan had called Crooked Valley Ranch home. But after an incredible, romantic night with neighboring rancher—beautiful, strong, smart Kailey Brandt—he'd bolted. He didn't look back, telling himself he preferred life on the circuit with no commitments and no ties.Until now. With Rylan back for a few short weeks, Kailey can't deny their attraction is as strong as ever. She thought she’d learned her lesson the first time he’d hurt her—and the handsome cowboy is still adamant he will not be sticking around. While helping him build Crooked Valley’s business, Kailey sees a different, more grounded side of him. Has Rylan finally found his home… in Kailey’s heart?
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âCome on, Iâll walk you home.â
Kailey laughed. âNews flash, Duggan. Youâre on Brandt land. Iâm already home. Maybe I should walk you back, huh?â
She was so quick, a little feisty, and he liked that about her. A lot. âIf you want to kill my reputation with a single blow, sure. Big bad rodeo star needs an escort home in the dark.â
Not that he couldnât find a few things to do in the dark with her.
He had to stop thinking that way.
âI guess weâll just part ways here, then,â she replied, pushing herself to her feet.
âI guess.â Heâd taken maybe half a dozen steps when she called out to him.
âHey, Rylan.â
He turned and faced her, and the image of her standing in the twilight among the waving grass did something crazy to his pulse.
âIâm glad we cleared the air.â Kailey turned and started walking away, her hips swinging a little with each step.
He was glad she was happy about it, because to his mind things had just become a whole lot more complicated.
A busy wife and mother of three (two daughters and the family dog), DONNA ALWARD believes hers is the best job in the world: a combination of stay-at-home mom and romance novelist. An avid reader since childhood, Donna has always made up her own stories. She completed her arts degree in English literature in 1994, but it wasnât until 2001 that she penned her first full-length novel and found herself hooked on writing romance. In 2006 she sold her first manuscript, and now writes warm, emotional stories for Mills & Boon.
In her new home office in Nova Scotia, Donna loves being back on the east coast of Canada after nearly twelve years in Alberta, where her career began, writing about cowboys and the West. Donnaâs debut romance, Hired by the Cowboy, was awarded a Booksellersâ Best Award in 2008 for Best Traditional Romance.
With the Atlantic Ocean only minutes from her doorstep, Donna has found a fresh take on life and promises even more great romances in the near future!
Donna loves to hear from readers. You can contact her through her website, www.donnaalward.com, or follow @DonnaAlward on Twitter.
Contents
Crooked Valley Ranch had changed since Rylan had last been here.
He drove slowly up the driveway, the Ford 4x4 and hybrid camper he towed behind moving easily over the gravel lane, not a pothole to be seen. Duke must have had it leveled this spring, he mused.
Ry touched the brakes and stared at the house. A fresh coat of white paint was on the front porch and flowers bloomed in a profusion of color in front of crisscross lattice skirting. The barns could use a new coat of paint as well, but there was an air of neatness and organization that had been missing before, too. It looked as if his sister hadnât been kidding. Crooked Valley Ranch was on its way up.
âIâll be damned,â he breathed, a smile touching his lips. He never would have thought his dyed-in-the-wool military brother, Duke, would turn out to be a rancher. But if outward appearances meant anything, Duke was doing a damned good job revitalizing their granddadâs spread.
Rylan scowled a little, chafing against the demand-presented-as-a-request heâd received from Lacey. Duke was staying on at Crooked Valley. Hell, he was married and had a baby on the wayâa family to support. Lacey had taken over the administration aspect of the operation, and she and the ranch manager, Quinn Solomon, were planning a June wedding. Joe Dugganâs will required all three of his grandchildren to take their place at the ranch before the year was up or else the place would be sold. Lacey had totally guilted him into coming âhome,â as sheâd put it.
âItâs not forever,â sheâd assured him. âJust use this as your home base. Thatâs all we ask. Weâve never asked anything else of you, Rylan. Please help us keep it in the family. Once everythingâs settled, Duke and I will find a way to buy out your third.â
Roots. He tried to avoid them whenever he could. Still, it kind of stung that Lacey had just dismissed him as having no interest in the ranch. Not that he wanted his part of it, but that they hadnât expected it of him. No one ever expected anything of him, did they? He should have been used to it by now.
He pulled into a big vacant spot next to the horse barn and cut the engine, which also cut out the comforting sounds of the music heâd had blaring on the radio during the drive from Wyoming.
Truth was, heâd known since February that this day was coming.
His arrival must have made some noise, because a little girl came rushing out of the barn, brown curls bobbing. Amber, Quinnâs daughter. Rylan grinned. Little-known secret: he liked kids. Kids were easy, and honest, and thought being a grown-up meant doing what you wanted to do and not what someone told you. At least with kids, he never had his choices judged. To them, he was âcool.â
