In The Rancher's Arms
THE ONLY PLACE SHE FEELS SAFE…After her capture by human traffickers, international reporter Arden Wilkes should have felt safe back in her small hometown. Blue Falls, Texas, feels comfortingly familiar—and painfully foreign. Disoriented, Arden struggles to regain her sense of self and deal with the aftermath… only to find a sense of safety in the last place she ever expected.Rancher Neil Hartley knows too well the kind of scars that trauma can bring. However, what started out as warm friendship with Arden is quickly turning into a deepening attraction. But despite Arden's slow recovery—and the promise of love—her old life still awaits her return. Now Arden must choose between the woman she used to be… and the safety of her rancher's arms.
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THE ONLY PLACE SHE FEELS SAFE...
After her capture by human traffickers, international reporter Arden Wilkes should have felt safe back in her small hometown. Blue Falls, Texas, feels comfortingly familiarâand painfully foreign. Disoriented, Arden struggles to regain her sense of self and deal with the aftermath...only to find a sense of safety in the last place she ever expected.
Rancher Neil Hartley knows too well the kind of scars that trauma can bring. However, what started out as warm friendship with Arden is quickly turning into a deepening attraction. But despite Ardenâs slow recoveryâand the promise of loveâher old life still awaits her return. Now Arden must choose between the woman she used to be...and the safety of her rancherâs arms.
âArden, itâs okay. Itâs me. Youâre safe.â
Arden stared at Neil, then as if a fog was lifting, she realized where she was and with whom. And she couldnât stop the tears. Hot, angry, frustrated tears. She dropped her face into her hands and shook her head.
âThey broke me,â she said.
Very gently, Neil pulled her into the circle of his arms. She should pull away, give him an easy out from the mess sheâd become, but she couldnât.
His arms enveloped her like a shield protecting her from everything that might come her way. Though he didnât crush her, she sensed the strength he possessed and how it seemed as if he was offering every bit of it to her.
âShh,â he said next to her ear, his breath lifting tendrils of her hair. âNo one is going to hurt you.â
His words were a promise. She heard it in the fierceness of his deep voice.
Neil ran his hand gently over her hair, and despite the lingering fear from her flashback, another part of her awakened...
Before I became a full-time author, I worked as a journalist for newspapers and magazines. While my coverage areas were local and statewide, Iâve always admired international journalists who put themselves in the path of danger in order to bring important stories to light. Some of them have paid with their lives. Others have survived harrowing ordeals, coming away with mental or physical scars, sometimes both. Those admirable journalists were the inspiration for my heroine for In the Rancherâs Arms.
Journalist Arden Wilkes has returned home to Blue Falls, Texas, to try to heal following weeks of captivity and figure out her next step. Arden finds a calming friendship and eventually love with Neil Hartley, who knows more about overcoming traumatic pasts than she could have ever imagined.
I hope you enjoy Arden and Neilâs story.
Trish Milburn
TRISH MILBURN writes contemporary romance for the Harlequin Western Romance line. Sheâs a two-time Golden Heart® Award winner, a fan of walks in the woods and road trips, and a big geek girl, including being a dedicated Whovian and Browncoat. And from her earliest memories, sheâs been a fan of Westerns, be they historical or contemporary. Thereâs nothing quite like a cowboy hero.
To all the journalists who put their lives
on the line to bring important truths out of the dark and into the light of day.
Contents
Having a place feel both foreign and familiar wasnât a new sensation for Arden Wilkes. Sheâd experienced those conflicting impressions all over the world, arriving in new locales and feeling immediately at home. Not once, however, had she been swamped with those feelings about her actual home.
Until now.
She watched out the window of her momâs car as the familiar sights of Blue Falls, Texas, flowed by. Though sheâd been here only four months ago to visit her parents for Christmas, that seemed a lifetime ago. Sheâd had no clue the trauma and fear she would endure in the months ahead.
Arden closed her eyes, hoping to keep the memories at bay, but that only made them more vivid. So she opened her eyes again, watching as they passed the sheriffâs department, the bank, La Cantina Mexican Restaurant, the hardware store that felt like a slice of an earlier era. Her mouth watered as she glanced to the other side of the street and noticed a steady stream of people going in and out of the Mehlerhaus Bakery for pastries and morning coffee. How many times had she fantasized about a huge bear claw and rich, dark coffee in the past several weeks?
Her flight into San Antonio had been the first one to land that morning, putting them in Blue Falls when the downtown area was busy with the opening of stores and ranchers coming to town to do business before spending the rest of the day out working beneath the endless sky. She would have preferred arriving under the protective cover of darkness, when no one would see her and she wouldnât have to see the seemingly endless yellow ribbons tied everywhere and parade of Welcome Home, Arden signs.
