He was looking for a quiet place to heal
From the hair-raising moment he rescues his neighborâs young son from an overprotective wild mare, wounded vet Caleb Ransom knows heâll have no peace. Living an isolated existence on his Arizona cattle ranch is out of the question with the intrusive Delaney Reynolds around. And once the single motherâs little boy starts bonding with Calebâs mutt, it may be time to surrender... Because sheâs making Caleb yearn for something he didnât even know he wanted.
Laney started to reach for Sam, but Caleb stopped her.
âIâve got this,â he said, lifting Sam easily and holding him against his shoulder.
Her little boy sighed and snuggled his face against Calebâs throat.
A look flashed across Calebâs face that Laney couldnât quite decipher. It was a combination of surprise and tenderness and something else sheâd never seen there before. Joy, maybe?
Carrying Sam, Caleb turned away, heading for the barn. She followed slowly, watching the way Caleb adjusted his gait to compensate for the additional thirty-five pounds he was carrying. He held Sam tightly, and she knew that if he was in danger of stumbling, he would fall on his wounded leg before he would let Sam hit the ground.
She realized that if she wasnât very careful, she could fall in love with him.
Dear Reader,
Sweetsilver, Arizona, is the home of Delaney Reynolds and her son, Sam, an adventurous four-year-old who is crazy about all things cowboy. Laney is a high school teacher and, in summer, a wildland firefighter. She and Sam have recently moved into their new home, which is right next to reclusive rancher, Caleb Ransom. Laneyâs biggest challenge is keeping her son off Calebâs property.
Caleb chose this ranch in the Sonoran Desert to raise cattle and horses and to heal from the physical and emotional wounds heâd received while deployed as a soldier. He simply wants to be left alone.
Sam has other ideas. The curious boy is unable to resist visiting Caleb and his animals, especially his dog, Bertie, who becomes Samâs instant best friend. Whenever Sam shows up, his attractive mother is never far behind, making it impossible for Caleb to have the solitary existence he desires.
Like most Americans, I love the cowboy mystique. Thereâs something so appealing about a rugged outdoorsman who spends much of his time alone, or with his animals, honing skills such as roping, which most of us will never master. I thought about that continually as I was writing Her Lone Cowboy and I tried to do justice to the cattlemen who helped shape our country.
I hope you enjoy Caleb and Laneyâs story, my first Mills & Boon Heartwarming book, and will visit my website, patriciaforsythebooks.com, to see what else Iâve written. Also, drop by heartwarmingauthors.blogspot.com to meet other Mills & Boon Heartwarming authors.
Happy reading,
Patricia
If it hadnât been for a seventh-grade teacher who told PATRICIA FORSYTHE that her story characters were, well, crazy, she probably would never have become a writer. She didnât think that was such a bad thing. After all, she has a large, extended family of decidedly interesting and unusual people who provide ideas and inspiration for her books. In Patriciaâs opinion, that only makes them more lovable and worthy of a place in literature.
A native Arizonan, Patricia has no concept of what a real winter is like, but she is very familiar with summer. She has held a number of jobs, including teaching school, working as a librarian and as a secretary, and operating a care home for developmentally disabled children. Her favorite occupation, though, is writing novels in which the characters get into challenging situations and then work their way out. Each situation and set of characters is different, so sometimes the finished book is as much a surprise to her as it is to the readers. She is the author of many romance novels for Harlequin and Kensington Books and currently also self-publishes ebooks. She is thrilled to see the publication of Her Lone Cowboy, her first Harlequin Heartwarming novel.
Visit the Author Profile page at www.millsandboon.com for more titles.
This book is dedicated to Roz Denny Fox and Vicki Lewis Thompson, my good friends, who have been such a source of encouragement, friendship and joy that words canât express my gratitude.
CHAPTER ONE
WHAT WAS THAT? Caleb Ransom pulled on Ciscoâs reins and brought the horse to a stop. He stood in the stirrups and looked across the pasture to where heâd seen something black moving along at a steady clip. Was it a dog? A coyote? One of the barn cats?
Whatever it was, it was heading toward Addie and her new filly.