Wild Horses
This wild stallion can't be tamedTodd Williams is still the naïve idealist he was in college. Only now he's endangering lives—Nora Hoffman's to be exact. Nora hasn’t seen Todd since he decided that saving the rainforest was more important than their relationship. Until the night she’s nearly crushed by the stampede he causes. Now Todd is determined to make amends, for everything.She may not agree with his methods but even Nora can’t deny the importance of his fight to save the wild horses. With the attraction between them still sizzling and the fate of the horses in the balance, Nora must decide just how much she’s willing to risk.
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This wild stallion canât be tamed
Todd Williams is still the naive idealist he was in college. Only now heâs endangering livesâNora Hoffmanâs to be exact. Nora hasnât seen Todd since he decided that saving the rain forest was more important than their relationship. Until the night sheâs nearly crushed by the stampede he causes. Now Todd is determined to make amends, for everything.
She may not agree with his methods, but even Nora canât deny the importance of his fight to save the wild horses. With the attraction between them still sizzling and the fate of the horses in the balance, Nora must decide just how much sheâs willing to risk.
Nora stood up, feeling shaky and sick.
âI need to go, Todd. Iâve got to work early. Thanks for the drink.â
âNora, hang on.â He stood up, too, leaned a little across the table with his hand out, palm open.
âNo.â She took a deep breath and looked right at him. âI know itâs a strange coincidence that we ran into each other in the dark, and that weâre in the same town. But that doesnât mean we have to be friends. Letâs just agree to be polite and weâll both be fine. I wonât be in Benson forever anyway.â
âBut...â
âSee you around, Todd.â There was old pain in her, burning deep and lowâpain she didnât want to feel and most of all, didnât want him to see.
Nora pushed through the double doors of the bar, inhaling the cool night air with relief. She jumped into her SUV and gunned the engine out of the parking lot, not stopping until she was outside town and she could see every star, horizon to horizon.
She parked her car and stepped out. Leaning against the driverâs side door, she looked up at the glittering sky. How did Todd have the power to make her crazy after all these years? Nora took a deep breath of the clean air and let it out slowly. She just wanted all her feelings about him to be gone.
To live life without the burden of her old, dusty love for him.
Welcome to the first book in my Sierra Legacy series. Like my previous books, itâs set in the fictional town of Benson, CA. I wasnât ready to leave my beloved Eastern Sierra yet!
Let me introduce you to the Hoffman familyâor at least those not on the run from the law. Siblings, Nora and Wade Hoffman, raised in a notorious criminal family and grappling with that legacy.
Wild Horses is Noraâs storyâbut she shares it with the wild horses that roam the high desert.
While researching the east side of the Sierra Nevada for my previous books, I learned of the issues facing our nationâs wild horses. The more I read, the more I was drawn to the intense conflict that surrounds them. Are these beautiful animals an important part of our history or just a feral pest that should be eradicated?
The countryâs past and present collide around the lives of wild horses and I wanted this romance to mirror that. So I created wild and restless Todd Williams, who, armed with a strong sense of justice, has made saving the wild horses his cause. And I imagined cautious and practical plant biologist Nora Hoffman, whoâs documenting the negative effects the wild horses have on the native plants.
Then I gave Nora and Todd a past with a wild love. A first love so great neither of them could forget.
Wishing you joy,
Claire McEwen
A portion of my income from this book will go to charities working to ensure humane treatment and responsible, compassionate management of Americaâs wild horse and burro herds. For more information, please visit my website, clairemcewen.com.
CLAIRE MCEWEN lives by the ocean in Northern California with her husband, son and a scruffy, mischievous terrier. When not dreaming up new stories, she can be found digging in her garden with a lot of enthusiasm but, unfortunately, no green thumb. She loves discovering flea-market treasures, walking on the beach, dancing, traveling and reading, of course! Please visit her online at clairemcewen.com.
For Peggy Adams, who rescued me with horses, humor and her beautiful, generous heart.
This book is the thank-you I didnât say often enough.
And for Arik, who rescues me with love.
Thank you!
Contents
THE ODOR OF sagebrush rose spicy and rich as Nora wove between the low bushes. The crunch of the dry soil beneath her hiking boots fragmented the evening silence. All the scents and sounds of the high desert were magnified after dusk.
She shrugged her pack up higher, the tools, notebook and water bottles she carried heavy on her shoulders. The glamorous life of a plant biologist. There was nothing like the freedom and beauty of the Eastern Sierra landscape. But at moments like these, her muscles wobbly after fourteen hours on the trail, she wondered what it would be like to have a regular job. Maybe one that left her with some energy to go out with friends after work.
