âIf I can knock you down, you have to talk to your brothers.â
Eli raised an eyebrow in disbelief. âYou canât knock me down. Iâm much stronger than you. And Iâm not fighting a woman.â
Caroline put the boxing gloves on. âAre you chicken, Eli?â
He stood. âIâm not fighting you.â
âDidnât Pa settle all your fights and disagreements this way? Put the gloves on.â
He shoved his hands into the gloves and held them up. She danced in and out, taking jabs at his stomach, but he didnât move or respond. This was going to be so easy. She moved close to him, her body touching his.
Glancing up into his stubborn blue eyes, she placed her right foot between his feet, then she wrapped her arms around his waist. Eli tensed. Caroline raised her right foot, turned it, and hooked his left leg and jerked. His leg slid out from under him and he was on his butt in a split second.
He burst into laughter. âThat was a trick,â he said, taking off his gloves. âYou knew exactly what you were doing.â
âBut a deal is a dealâand youâre a man of your word, right?â
Dear Reader,
This book is about a Texas Ranger, Elijah Coltrane. Eli first appeared in A Baby by Christmas (Harlequin Superromance #1167) as a stubborn, hardworking man with a troubled past. He grew up knowing who his father was, but the man denied his existence. He has dealt with this rejection all his lifeâhe feels like the forgotten one, the forgotten son of Joe McCain.
As an adult, Eli finds it hard to accept love, and the love he discovers with Caroline is no exception. He was a very hard character for me to write, but I learned a lot from him. I couldnât wipe away Eliâs pain with the tap of my computer keys. He had to grow and learn, and it took a persistent green-eyed blonde to make him realize that maybe someone could love him.
So come along and find out if Eli can find his happily ever after.
Warmly,
Linda Warren
P.S. I love hearing from readers. You can e-mail me at [email protected] or write me at P.O. Box 5182, Bryan, TX 77805 or visit my Web site at www.lindawarren.net. I will always answer your letters.
Forgotten Son
Linda Warren
While writing this book, I had the good fortune to speak with a real Texas Ranger, Sergeant Frank Malinak, and Iâd like to thank him for answering my many questions with incredible patience and understanding. Any errors in this book are strictly mine, and all characters are fictional.
I asked Frank what heâd like people to know about the Rangers, and the following is his response:
âMuch has been written about the Texas Rangers of the past, but probably less is known about the modern Ranger. Todayâs Texas Ranger is a criminal investigator called upon to assist local, state and federal law enforcement agencies with an array of cases. With the growing population of this state and the increasing complexity of criminal enterprises, Texas Rangers are called upon now with as much necessity and urgency as in bygone eras. The modern Ranger stands ready to protect the citizens of the United States against common street criminals, organized crime, public corruption, identity theft, computer crimes and domestic and foreign terrorism. In short, Texas Rangers have the training, equipment and skills to fight crime in todayâs sophisticated society. It has been said, âAs long as there is a Texas there will be Texas Rangers.ââ
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
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
EPILOGUE
CAROLINE WHITTEN RUSHED into her apartment with the devil on her heels. She couldnât be lateâmustnât be late. Not today. How could she forget the layout? She knew it was because she had the jitters at the prospect of meeting her father, U.S. Congressman Stephen Whitten, for lunch. The thought made her angry.
And made her feel guilty. A daughterâs guilt.
Her latest photo layout was on the kitchen counter. She quickly grabbed it and counted to ten to calm herself. At two oâclock, she had an appointment with the writer and an editor for the article on Texas wildflowers. The shots sheâd taken in the Texas Hill Country where the flowers grew in abundance were great. At least she thought they were.
She groaned. Now the impending lunch had her questioning her capability as a photographer. Caroline blocked the negative thoughts. She was a damn good photographer and the shots were awesome.
How she wished her parents felt the same way she did about her career choice. But the lunch was sure to be another foray into how Stephen Whitten thought she was wasting her lifeâand her talent.
Caroline had a law degree, like her father, but sheâd done nothing with it. Instead, sheâd followed her first love, photography, and she made a good living. She just didnât understand why her father couldnât be happy for her.
At least her sister, Grace, would be there to take some of the pressure off Caroline. Grace was a lawyer and worked in their fatherâs law firm, as he had planned. She was the good daughter, while Caroline wasâ¦