That Last Night In Texas
It was supposed to be the most wonderful night of their young lives. Cassie McGuire was barely eighteen and ready to elope with the man of her dreams, when tragedy struck.With the new future now facing her, there was no way Cassie was going to saddle the adventurous Ethan Rafferty with a woman who might never ride again, much less walk. So she sent him away.Cassie gets the shock of her life when Ethan returns to Texas. The sexy wrangler is as handsome as ever–but he'll be fit to be tied once he discovers her secret. Will he forgive her–or will he fight her for the son he didn't know he had?
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The man was dressed in a suit, distinctly out of place here amid longhorns and chaps
He could be a businessman from Houston, but even in the city the men wore boots and Stetsons. He lookedâ¦
Cassie pulled in a sudden, shocked breath. She felt as though sheâd been kicked, taken a blow, hard and fast.
Ethan.
Here. Back on Flying M property.
The man who had made her heart slip again and again into overdrive.
The man who had helped shape her entire existence.
The man who had given her Donny, the most precious thing in her life.
Dear Reader,
When I was much younger (and a lot thinner) my sister and I had horses. We spent all our free time with Shalimar, Sparky and Sheba. We rode the pine trails, played horseback hide-and-seek in the orange groves and used the rumps of our mounts as diving boards into the lake near our home. We took dozens of spills off their backs, chased them all over the pasture to get their hooves trimmed, and chanced getting nipped if we dawdled in giving them hay.
Having horses was hard work, expensive and time-consuming. But I wouldnât have missed a minute of it. Theyâre wonderful creatures, and to this day, I still love the smell of molasses sweet feed and a leather saddle on a sweaty horse.
So I guess itâs only natural that sooner or later Iâd draw on all those old memories. My Texas heroine, Cassie Wheeler, has a deep love of horses, but sheâs seen the worst of them, too. The danger and unpredictability of a two-thousand-pound animal has left her scarred, both emotionally and physically.
Fortunately, thatâs where Ethan Rafferty comes in. He was in love with her before her life changed so dramatically, and heâs in love with the woman she is now. Whatever the consequences, heâs ready to become part of her life again. If only sheâll let him.
I love to hear from readers, and a lot of romance novel fans have a love of horses, as well. Share yours by sending me an e-mail at [email protected].
Happy trails!
Ann Evans
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ann Evans has been writing since she was a teenager, but it wasnât until she joined Romance Writers of America that she actually sent anything to a publisher. Eventually, with the help of a very good critique group, she honed her skills and won a Golden Heart from Romance Writers of America for Best Short Contemporary Romance of 1989. Since then sheâs happy to have found a home at Harlequin Superromance.
A native Floridian, Ann enjoys traveling, hot fudge sundaes and collecting antique postcards. She loves hearing from readers and invites them to visit her Web site at www.aboutannevans.com.
For Sherri Angell, who has never lost her passion for horses, cowboys and living life to the fullest.
CONTENTS
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
CHAPTER ONE
CASSANDRA RAFFERTY. Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Rafferty. Ethan and Cassie Rafferty.
With a pleased sigh, Cassie McGuire smiled down at the delicately scrolled words sheâd written in her diary. She resisted the temptation to dot the i in her name with a tiny heart. After all, she was two days past her eighteenth birthday and a woman now, no longer a child.
She ran her fingers over the lines, as though they were braille symbols whose importance she could discover through touch. They were important, because very soon this was who she would becomeâCassandra Raffertyâand nothing anyone said or did could change that.
Ethanâs wife.
She felt her heart go into a wild gallop. Sometimes she still couldnât believe it.
There was a knock on her bedroom door and Cassie jumped, startled. As usual, her father didnât wait for permission to enter. She had little time to slip her diary into her desk drawer before he appeared.
âItâs getting late, cupcake,â Mac McGuire said, offering her a tentative smile. They had barely escaped an argument earlier this evening, and he was obviously hoping all was forgiven.
She couldnât leave tonight without trying to make it right between them. Crossing the room, she gave him a hug.
He was a big man, barrel-chested, with skin turned to leather by years of riding in the hot sun. His full name was Donald Alastair McGuire, Scottish through and through, but everyone in East Texas called him Mac. The Flying M wasnât the biggest ranch in the Beaumont area, and it certainly wasnât the richest, but her father was well-liked and respected.
Cassie adored him. After her motherâs death, it had been just the two of them. He was a good, loving father, a man of strong opinions, but possessing a tender heart. Especially where she was concerned.
Unfortunately, he could also be unbearably overprotective, and she hated that her marriage to Ethan had had to be planned in secret. When their absence was discovered tomorrow, her dad would be hurt and angry. Better to face him afterward with marriage license in hand. He would come to terms with it, though she couldnât bear the idea that he might not. But somehow, one day, she would make it up to him.
