PART SOLDIER. PART SURVIVOR. ALL COWBOY.
Nash Sullivan doesnât need help from anyone. Not his father, not his brothers and sure as heck not from a physical therapistâeven a darn feisty one like Kelsey Summers. He lost his leg during his overseas deployment and he just wants to be left alone. Besides, the last thing a woman like Kelsey needs is half a man.
Single mom Kelsey knows all too well that the scars on the inside run the deepest. She needs to move on from her own tragic past, but the Sullivan ranch is starting to feel a little too much like home. And she canât stop thinking about her woundedâand gorgeousâpatient. Could Nash be the cure for her own broken heart?
ALLISON B. COLLINS is an award-winning author and a fifth-generation Texan, so itâs natural for her to love all things Western. Itâs a tough job to spend evenings writing about cowboys, rodeos and precocious children, but Allison is willing to do it to bring them all to life. She lives in Dallas with her hero husband of almost thirty years, who takes great care of her and their four rambunctious cats.
ISBN: 978-1-474-07733-0
A FAMILY FOR THE RANCHER
© 2018 Allison B. Collins
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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This book is dedicated to the best friends and critique partners any author could ask for:
Sasha Summers, Suzanne Clark and Angela Hicks. Thanks for being on this wild ride with me!
To Johanna Raisanen, thank you for loving my manuscript and bringing me into the family.
And to my aunt Pat, whose comments about a cowboy on the back roads of Colorado inspired the character of Bunny Randolph.
But most of all to my husband, Joe.
Hero, best friend, excellent vacation planner and the love of my life. Youâre the best, Mister!
Chapter One
Nash Sullivan leaned his head on Thunderâs solid shoulder, the muscles flexing beneath his cheek. The scent of hay, sun and saddle soap brought back a tidal wave of memories. Their first rodeo together, long days of riding the fences, riding bareback out to his sanctuary at the pond. He ached to get back in the saddle again after his long stint in the Army riding in nothing but military trucks and tanks the last ten years.
Now he couldnât even climb into the saddle. He stepped away, but Thunder shifted, nudged Nash back against his shoulder.
His gut clenched, and while he wouldnât, couldnât, admit it to anyone, he loved this damn horse, and for the first time, it felt right being home again.
âNeed a mounting block, son?â
The words stung, but he couldnât let his dad know. Thunder shifted and snorted, stomping the hard-packed Montana dirt in front of him.
He pulled the reins tighter and whispered to the brown gelding. Once Thunder had quieted, he lifted his left leg and guided his foot into the stirrup. Thunder shifted, and Nash tightened his thigh muscles, or what was left of them, to get up. Instead he had to haul his foot out as the horse snorted again and stepped away.