The Baby And The Cowboy Seal

A BROKEN SEAL

Former Navy SEAL Wiley James is lucky to be alive, but the war destroyed his health, his confidence and his livelihood. Now, back at his family’s Montana ranch, Wiley struggles to find new purpose. Instead he finds an old childhood pal—little Macy Shelton, who has grown into a beautiful woman. Wiley knows he should steer clear of the cheery single mom...if only she’d let him.

Macy doesn’t recognize this new Wiley. A bitter stranger has replaced the young man she fell for as a teen. Though Macy’s heart still wants so much more, what Wiley needs most right now is a friend, and Macy is the only one he’ll let in. Her friendship is a lifeline, but will Macy’s love be the one thing that can finally help Wiley begin to heal?

“Maybe I do need you. Would that be so bad?”

Wiley turned. “Macy, that wouldn’t just be bad, but a full-on disaster. I thought we’d already been over this?”

“You know what I think?” She passed on his right, giving him too good a view of her amazing behind.

“No, and I don’t care.”

“I think you’re chicken.”

He snorted. “I think if you don’t stop walking backward, you’re gonna fall.”

“You’ll catch me.”

“Nope.”

Sure enough, she tripped. Though his reflexes were sluggish on the meds, his hands connected with her waist in time to pull her up against him.

“You’re welcome,” he said with his mouth an inch from hers.

“Told you you’d catch me.” Her smile brought on a heat wave that had nothing to do with the day’s waning sun. “Wiley James, I think there’s a part of you, who, to this very day, still wonders what might’ve happened had my dad not interrupted.”

Dear Reader,

I’ve written over thirty books for Mills & Boon American Romance, and I’ve never had a story affect me so deeply. Without giving away too much of Wiley and Macy’s journey, let’s just say a lot of their issues center around this SEAL’s heartbreaking PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

One of the things that most surprised me about this anxiety disorder is that it’s not strictly a military issue. According to ptsdunited.org, “PTSD affects about 7.7 million American adults in a given year, though the disorder can develop at any age, including childhood.” Most sufferers have been exposed to not only combat, but “...terrorist attacks, natural disasters, serious accidents, assault or abuse, or even sudden and major emotional losses.”

“An estimated 8% of Americans—24.4 million people have PTSD at any given time. That is equal to the total population of Texas.” Also surprising to me is the fact that, “One out of every nine women develops PTSD, making them about twice as likely as men.”

If you or a loved one suffers from this often silent and misunderstood struggle, please know there are many organizations ready to help. Your primary care physician or ptsdunited.org is a great place to begin the healing journey.

All my best,

Laura Marie

The Baby and the Cowboy SEAL

Laura Marie Altom

www.millsandboon.co.uk

LAURA MARIE ALTOM is a bestselling and award-winning author who has penned nearly fifty books. After college (Go, Hogs!), Laura Marie did a brief stint as an interior designer before becoming a stay-at-home mom to boy-girl twins and a bonus son. Always an avid romance reader, she knew it was time to try her hand at writing when she found herself replotting the afternoon soaps.

When not immersed in her next story, Laura plays video games, tackles Mount Laundry and, of course, reads romance!

Laura loves hearing from readers at either PO Box 2074, Tulsa, OK 74101, or by email, [email protected].

Love winning fun stuff? Check out lauramariealtom.com.

This book is dedicated to the millions of men and women suffering from PTSD. While there is no “easy” cure, my prayer is for love to ease your healing journey. xoxo

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

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

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

“Get out of here! Get!” Wiley James waved his battered straw cowboy hat at the miserable beasts, but four of the llamas kept right on munching the tops off his carrots.

A fifth stared him down, then spit.

“Oh no, you didn’t...”

Wiley tried charging the damned thing, but with his bum leg, he lost his balance and fell flat on his ass. Adding insult to injury, dust rising from his fall made him cough. It was early June, and his slice of northwestern Montana hadn’t seen rain in a couple weeks.

His hat tumbled off in the breeze.

Frustration and sheer rage tightened his chest—not so much at his neighbor’s escaped llamas, but his own situation. Six months earlier, he’d been at the top of his game—a Navy SEAL who never backed down from any challenge. Then he’d gone and done a Texas two-step with a Syrian cluster bomb and life had never been the same. Hell, he was lucky to even have his leg, but after a string of reconstructive surgeries and months in rehab, to now be stuck on this old run-down ranch instead of working with his SEAL team to do his part in saving the world... Well, let’s just say he wasn’t exactly thrilled with his current lot in life.