Dear Reader,
Welcome to the first of three books starring a brand-new group of modern-day McKettrick men. Readers who have embraced the irrepressible, larger-than-life McKettrick clan as their own wonât want to miss the stories of Tate, Garrett and Austinâthree Texas-bred brothers who meet their matches in the Remington sisters. When eldest brother Tate McKettrick sets his sights on his old high school sweetheart Libby Remington, the town of Blue River, Texas, will never be the same!
I also wanted to write today to tell you about a special group of people with whom Iâve become involved in the past couple yearsâthe Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), specifically their Pets for Life program.
The Pets for Life program is one of the best ways to help your local shelterâit helps keep animals out of shelters in the first place. Something as basic as keeping a collar and tag on your pet all the time makes a big difference. If he gets out and gets lost, he can be returned home. Be a responsible pet owner, spay or neuter your pet and donât give up when things donât go perfectly. If your dog digs in the yard or your cat scratches the furniture, know that these are problems that can be addressed. You can find all the information about theseâand many other common problemsâat www.petsforlife.org. This campaign is focused on keeping pets and their people together for a lifetime.
As many of you know, my own household includes two dogs, two cats and six horses, so this is a cause that is near and dear to my heart. I hope youâll get involved along with me.
With love,
Praise for the novels of
LINDA LAEL MILLER
âAs hot as the noontime desert.â
âPublishers Weekly on The Rustler
âThis story creates lasting memories of soul-searing redemption and the belief in goodness and hope.â
âRT Book Reviews on The Rustler
âLoaded with hot lead, steamy sex and surprising plot twists.â
âPublishers Weekly on A Wanted Man
âMillerâs prose is smart, and her tough Eastwoodian cowboy cuts a sharp, unexpectedly funny figure in a classroom full of rambunctious frontier kids.â
âPublishers Weekly on The Man from Stone Creek
â[Miller] paints a brilliant portrait of the good, the bad and the ugly, the lost and the lonely, and the power of love to bring light into the darkest of souls. This is western romance at its finest.â
âRT Book Reviews on The Man from Stone Creek
âSweet, homespun and touched with angelic Christmas magic, this holiday romance reprises characters from Millerâs popular McKettrick series and is a perfect stocking stuffer for her fans.â
âLibrary Journal on A McKettrick Christmas
âAn engrossing, contemporary western romance.â
âPublishers Weekly on McKettrickâs Pride
âLinda Lael Miller creates vibrant characters and stories I defy you to forget.â
âNew York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber
For Leslee Borger, my fellow cowgirl,
with love and appreciation.
PROLOGUE
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
Silver Spur Ranch
Blue River, Texas
SPRING THUNDER EXPLODED overhead, fit to cleave the roof right down the middle and blow out every window on all three floors.
Tate McKettrick swore under his breath, while rain pelted the venerable walls like machine-gun fire.
Like as not, the creek would be over the road by now, and heâd have to travel overland to get to town. He was running lateâagain. And Cheryl, his ex-wife, would blister his ears with the usual accusations, for sure.
He didnât give a damn, sheâd say, about their delicate twin daughters, because heâd wanted boys, as rough-and-tumble as he and his brothers had been. That was her favorite dig. Sheâd never knowâbecause he wasnât about to let onâhow that particular remark never failed to sear a few layers off his heart. He would literally have died for Audrey and Avaâthe twins were the only redeeming features of a marriage that should never have taken place in the first place.
Since one good jab was never enough for Cheryl, sheâd most likely go on to say that being late for their daughtersâ dance recital was his way of spiting her, their mother. Heâd used his own children, sheâd insistâhe knew she hated it when he was lateâyada, yada, yada.
Blah, blah, blah.
Tate didnât have to âuseâ the twins to get under Cherylâs hideâheâd done that in spades after the divorce by forcing her to live in Blue River, so they could share custody. Audrey and Ava alternated between their motherâs place in town and the ranch, a week there, a week here, with the occasional scheduling variation. As soon as he picked them up on the prescribed days, Cheryl was off to some hot spot to hobnob with her fancy friends and all but melt her credit cards.