At Wild Rose Cottage
Trent Hawkins won’t rest easy until his childhood home and the secrets it holds are finally demolished. So he’s shocked when a contract for its renovation comes across his desk. When the new owner, Emily George, refuses to sell, Trent’s only option is to take the job.Straight-laced Trent and free spirit Emily don’t exactly see eye to eye. But she’s not the flaky city girl he took her for at first, and before long her enthusiasm for renovating Wild Rose Cottage reminds him of better times. Trent’s first priority is protecting his family’s reputation. But the closer he gets to Emily, the less concerned he is with the past.
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If these walls could talk...
Trent Hawkins wonât rest easy until his childhood home and the secrets it holds are finally demolished. So heâs shocked when a contract for its renovation comes across his desk. When the new owner, Emily George, refuses to sell, Trentâs only option is to take the job.
Straitlaced Trent and free spirit Emily donât exactly see eye to eye. But sheâs not the flaky city girl he took her for at first, and before long her enthusiasm for renovating Wild Rose Cottage reminds him of better times. Trentâs first priority is protecting his familyâs reputation. But the closer he gets to Emily, the less concerned he is with the past.
Emily squared her shoulders.
âAre you interested in the job or not?â
He paused a long moment before answering. âYes.â
âIn that case, Iâll let you know tomorrow whether Iâve chosen your company to do the work,â she informed him coolly. âIs there anything else you need for your estimate?â
âNo, thatâs complete.â
She conducted him to the door and shut it behind him, relieved. Trent Hawkins might be near perfection in the appearance departmentâthe perfect image of a rugged Western maleâbut he was also rude and pushy. She wasnât sure she liked him, and was definitely sure he made her nervous.
Before heâd come, she had made up her mind that if the estimate was reasonable, sheâd go with Big Sky because of their reputation. They really were the best. But now she needed to think it through again. It gave her a peculiar sensation to know Trent wanted the house for reasons he refused to explain.
One of my dreams is to buy an old house and discover a forgotten treasure in the attic, such as an artifact from the Titanic or a previously unknown Rembrandt painting. So for my loner hero, Trent Hawkins, I couldnât resist pairing him with Emily George, a cheerful, new-age city woman determined to renovate his childhood home.
Trent isnât sentimental about Wild Rose Cottage, as Emily calls it, but he doesnât want a stranger tearing the place apart and discovering some of the dark, hidden secrets of the Hawkins family. He hadnât known the property was for sale, and Emily wonât sell, though he makes an offer that few people would refuse. So when she chooses his construction company to do the renovations, he decides to supervise the job himself.
I hope you have fun reading At Wild Rose Cottage. Writing it indulged my dream of finding treasure, because while Trent and Emily donât uncover a Rembrandt, they discover something worth far moreâ¦each other.
I enjoy hearing from readers and can be contacted c/o Mills & Boon, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, ON M3B 3K9, Canada.
Callie Endicott
As a small child CALLIE ENDICOTT was fascinated that little squiggles on the page of a book could actually tell tales of faraway places and people. So naturally, she grew up wanting to use those squiggles to share the stories she made up in her head. Callie is grateful for laptop computers, which allow her to indulge one of her passions and still writeâ¦travel. At the same time she loves home and her guy, along with her cats, walking on a beach or hiking a forest trail.
To my dadâs father, who worked with his hands.
Contents
EMILY GEORGE STROLLED downtown to her new store. What a treat to take a leisurely ten-minute walk instead of fighting Los Angeles traffic for an hour.
It still seemed incredible that sheâd bought the Emporium. Sheâd passed through the town of Schuyler while exploring Montana and had acted totally on impulse. Of course, being impulsive wasnât strange for her, but usually it wasnât regarding something so huge. After all, people said she was the âsmart George sister,â while her sister was the pretty one.
But four months ago sheâd thrown caution to the wind and made an offer on the business. Well, it wasnât as if she was risking everythingâher shop in Los Angeles was doing ridiculously well. Even after hiring a manager, she had ample income each month to do whatever she wanted, and that wasnât counting her savings and investments.
âGood morning,â a friendly voice called as she entered the store.
âHello. Back already?â Emily greeted the woman whoâd visited the shop the previous day. As far as she knew, it was the first time sheâd met a member of the prominent McGregor family.
Sarah McGregor had spent two hours searching for the perfect present for her son and daughter-in-law, and theyâd gotten into a fascinating conversation about the townâs history. Later her manager had explained that when Sarah and her husband got married, it had ended the rivalry between the two biggest ranching families in the area. Emily had instantly envisioned the Western range wars of Hollywood legend, but apparently it hadnât been quite that dramatic.
