THE WRANGLERâS SPECIAL DELIVERY
When the father of her baby bails, Devon Bennett finds herself in a difficult position. As in âgiving birth in a truck on the side of a roadâ difficult. Devonâs never felt more alone, until a hunky cowboy rides in to save the day.
Deputy Cody McCullough canât shake the feeling that Devon and her baby still need him, and not just because theyâre staying at his ranch. Itâs obvious that the single momâs heart has been broken before and trusting this cowboy lawman doesnât come easily. But Cody will do whatever it takes to make Devon feel safe againâ¦and to see that her heart finally has a home.
It was too good to be true.
Devon ran her hand ever so lightly over the bassinet.
âThis is wonderful,â she said in a small, halting voice, afraid to speak up because she thought her voice would crack. âWhere did you get all this?â
âMiss Joan is very resourceful,â Cody told her matter-of-factly. âTechnically,â he specified, âthese are all on loanâexcept for the diapers, of course.â
âI donât care if theyâre on loan,â Devon told him. âThe fact that I can use them even for a little while is just wonderful,â she added, tearing up completely.
Nothing made Cody feel more helpless than tears. âOh, hey, youâre not going to cry, are you?â
âNo,â she said, and then promptly had several fat tears go cascading down both of her cheeks.
At a loss, not knowing what else to do, Cody took her into his arms and just held her, saying nothing. He just wanted her to know that he was there for her, no matter what she needed.
Prologue
Cody McCullough didnât like being late.
Ever.
It was a work ethic his big brother Connor had instilled in all of them. Connor had insisted on it that first time he had gathered them all together to tell them that, despite the recent death of their father, they were still going to be a family, still go on living under one roof. Connor had just turned eighteen at the time. That ultimately meant that, as the oldest, Connor was willing to give up his dreams of going away to college in order to become their guardian.
There was no one else to turn to and, besides, Connor had never been one to believe in buck-passing.
Taking care of three younger siblings and a modest cattle ranch was a hell of a responsibility to take on for an eighteen-year-old, so the rest of themâCody, Cole and Cassidyâfigured that the least they could do was not give Connor a hard time about anything, including the rules he saw fit to set down and enforce.
Connorâs Code, they had all come to agree, was there for their own good. If they were to survive in a world that couldâall too easilyâbe rough and cruel, they had to pull together.
And in exchange for not giving Connor any grief, their older brother returned the favor. He backed them whenever he could and never made them feel as if they were victims of a cold fate. He taught them that they were the masters of their own destinies. They just had to fight a little harder to forge them.
Even so, when Cody had decided to do something different with his lifeâchange his career path to become a deputyâhe was certain that Connor would voice his objections, or at least display a degree of displeasure with his choice.
Instead, Connor had heard him out when he made his case. At the end, he had nodded, saying, âIf thatâs what you want to do, do it. You change your mind, the ranch is always going to be here for you. But if youâre going to be a deputy, I want you to be the best damn deputy you can be. I donât want to hear anyone telling me that the sheriff regrets the day he took you on as Almaâs replacement.â
And Cody had promised to give the job nothing less than his bestâwhich had turned out to be a challenge.
Alma Rodriguez Tyler might have been a small woman, as well as the first female deputy that Forever, Texas, had ever had, but Cody would have been the first one to say that she had left some pretty big boots to fill.
Even so, he had taken to the job like the proverbial duck to water. Cody discovered that he really loved it. Loved putting on the uniform, the badge. Loved being a deputy the way he hadnât ever really loved being a rancher.
The only part of ranching that was near and dear to his heart was the horses. He loved riding, loved becoming one with the animal beneath him. While his other siblings gradually shifted over to getting around in the family truck or the second-hand Jeep they had all chipped in to buy, Cody loved riding. He had ever since heâd been a toddler and his late father, Josh, had picked him up and put him on the back of his first horse, a sleepy-eyed old mare named Libby.