A Cowboy In The Kitchen
Cooking up an instant familyWidower West Montgomery thought he only needed Annabel Hurley’s help with some cooking lessons. But what could be more perfect than providing a loving home for his little daughter Lucy…with a new wife?Marrying West had once been Annabel’s dream. But now the rancher needed her help – and was willing to save her family’s business in return! Still, living in the same house with West and his adorable daughter was surely a recipe for another broken heart…
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West looked at Annabel for a long moment, then seemed to realize he had an audience, and cleared his throat.
âSee you later at my place,â he said before disappearing through the door. He was back in a heartbeat. âFor the cooking lesson,â he added.
Annabel felt her cheeks warm but couldnât help the chuckle. Yet as she thought about being alone with West Montgomery in his house, in his kitchen, standing shoulder to shoulder at the counter, the chuckle was replaced by honest-to-goodness fear.
How did you stop yourself from falling for someone youâd never gotten over to begin with?
***
Hurleyâs Homestyle Kitchen: Thereâs nothing more delicious than falling in love â¦
MEG MAXWELL lives on the coast of Maine with her teen-aged son, their beagle and black-and-white cat. When sheâs not writing, Meg is either reading, at the movies or thinking up new story ideas on her favorite little beach (even in winter) just minutes from her house. Interesting fact: Meg Maxwell is a pseudonym for author Melissa Senate, whose womenâs fiction titles have been published in over twenty-five countries.
When I was twenty-one years old, I read my first category romance novel: a funny, heartwarming book by Janet Evanovich withâfor reasons I forgetâa hero running around in a feathered chicken costume. That book hooked me on the genre, though my favorite heroes became cowboys and cops more than six-foot-tall chickens. Since then, Iâve read thousands more category romances and dedicate my own to all those authors who inspired me and continue to do so, old and new favorites alike.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
Barbecued catfish poâboy with Hurleyâs Homestyle Kitchenâs famed spicy slaw would be tonightâs special, Annabel Hurley decidedâuntil all thought poofed from her head with a glance out the window. She ducked behind the industrial-sized silver mixing bowl, a glob of biscuit batter falling from the wooden spoon in her hand to her sneaker. She sighed at how ridiculous she was. Hiding behind a bowl because West Montgomery was coming up the path to the house? Heck yeah, she was. Annabel had been back in Blue Gulch less than twenty-four hours and already the one person she wanted to avoid was rapping on the door.
He had something in his hand, she noticed as she bolted up, another dollop of batter flying to the floor. Was that a checkbook? Maybe he wanted to wave his money around to secure a Saturday night reservation for Hurleyâs best table, the one that faced the Sweet Briar Mountain Range in the distance. Last night, Annabelâs first at taking over as cook in the small restaurantâs kitchen, Jillian Quisper, homecoming queen back in high school, had gotten engaged to PJ Renner right at that round table for two. Jillian had screamed for joy so loud that everyone in the kitchen had run out to make sure she wasnât choking on her plain green salad. It was no surprise that one of the wealthiest men in Blue Gulch would choose to propose in a small Western-style restaurant like Hurleyâs; most everyone in town had had their first date at Hurleyâs as teenagers. Parents knew Gram Hurley would keep an eye on kids. Plus, there was no better place to get country-fried steak, ribs or a pulled pork sandwich in the entire county. Hurleyâs Homestyle Kitchen meant something to just about everyone in town, homecoming queens included. Telling folks her intended had proposed on one knee at Hurleyâs over baby back ribs would get any gal âawsâ from everyone, especially at the mountain-view table under the elegant little chandelier.
Annabelâs experience with marriage proposals at that table was limited to old daydreams and nightly fantasies about West Montgomery on one kneeâha. As if West would propose the traditional way. Heâd buy a plane and skywrite a proposal. Heâd spell it out in rocks down by the clearing in front of the woods. Heâd grab her hand, look her deeply in the eye, see everything she felt and whisk her away to Vegas for a quickie ceremony in the Elvis Presley wedding chapel, not that sheâd ever get married without her gram or sisters in attendance.
And not that West Montgomery would ever propose to her.
Would anyone? Sometimes she thought her cooking skills were all she had going for her in the romance department. Way to a manâs heart and all that. As if her ability to make a barbecue sauce to rival her gramâs had gotten her anywhere but right where she was, standing in a kitchen.
West shielded his eyes from the bright April morning sunshine and squinted in the window. As he spotted her, surprise crossed his features; then he held up his hand with something of a nod.
