The Cowboy's Family Christmas

Holiday Ranch Reunion

Leanne Walsh is stunned when Reuben Walsh returns to his family’s ranch for the holidays. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that marrying the more stable Walsh brother was the right decision, it was unpredictable Reuben who held her heart—until he broke it. Leanne’s frosty reception cuts deeper than Reuben expected, yet he can’t leave the widowed single mom shorthanded with Christmas drawing near. He built his dreams around Leanne once before, and now is trying to resist her and her sweet young son. But in a season full of surprises, the promise of family is a gift too tempting to ignore.

“I need to get to work.”

“Not on your own,” Reuben stated.

“What do you propose I do? Run to the hired-hand store?” Leanne asked.

For the past three years, she had heard nothing from Reuben. A man she had given her heart to and so much more.

And now he’d swooped back into her life and told her what she should and shouldn’t do on a ranch he’d walked away from? A ranch he’d never showed any interest in?

“I could help out until you’re done,” he said.

Her head spun and all she could do was stare at him. Reuben? Working alongside her on the ranch?

She shook her head. “No. That’s not happening. We’ll manage on our own.”

“You won’t and you know it,” he returned.

She fought a confusing mix of anger and loss as she held his dark brown eyes. Eyes she was once lost in.

Focus. He’s not the man you thought he was.

Dear Reader,

This book is about looking for security and seeking forgiveness and healing from the past. Leanne needed to be forgiven for the secret she kept, and Reuben needed to find a way to forgive a father who had hurt him so much in the past. It’s also about secrets and the cost they can have on relationships.

I also wanted to show that forgiveness is a journey, and I hope you, as a reader, realize that this journey is really just the beginning for Reuben and his father.

I hope you enjoyed the book. If you want to learn more about me and my writing, visit my website at www.carolyneaarsen.com to find out more about my books.

Blessings to you,

CAROLYNE AARSEN and her husband, Richard, live on a small ranch in northern Alberta, where they have raised four children and numerous foster children and are still raising cattle. Carolyne crafts her stories in an office with a large west-facing window, through which she can watch the changing seasons while struggling to make her words obey. Visit her website at carolyneaarsen.com.

The Cowboy’s Family Christmas

Carolyne Aarsen

www.millsandboon.co.uk

You intended to harm me,

but God intended it for good.

—Genesis 50:20

For my grandkids. You’ve taught me

a whole new huge kind of love.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

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

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

It was a surprisingly balmy Tuesday for November. Fall seemed reluctant to leave and Leanne Walsh was fine with that. She had too much to do on the ranch.

Late afternoon sunshine softened the day, creating gentle shadows on the Porcupine Hills of Alberta. A chill cooled the air, a threat of winter coming. Leanne hoped it hung off for at least a week. They still had cows to move down from the upper pastures and then had to process them.

Her son, Austin, sat astride the palomino mare his grandfather purchased a half a year ago when Austin was only two. Leanne had protested the expense but George Walsh insisted that Walshes learned to ride a proper horse as young as possible.

Now Austin was laughing down at her, his shock of brown hair falling over his forehead, his chubby hands clutching the saddle horn, the cowboy hat he’d gotten a couple of weeks ago clamped firmly on his head. Since George had given it to Austin, he’d worn it nonstop.

“He looks comfortable up there.” George stood by the fence, his arms hooked over the top rail, his battered cowboy hat pushed back on his head. Though he was only fifty-eight, Leanne’s father-in-law looked twenty years older.

Life had knocked a lot out of the man, Leanne thought, acknowledging his gruff comment with a tight nod. He’d lost his first wife to cancer and was left with a young son, then he was abandoned by the second wife, leaving him with another young son. Dirk, his eldest son and Leanne’s late husband, now lay buried in the graveyard abutting the church in Cedar Ridge, and the son of his second marriage, Reuben was so far out of George’s life, he may as well be dead.

“Is that mare favoring her one leg?” George asked, concern edging his voice.

Leanne watched more carefully as the horse walked, each footfall of Heart’s Delight’s hooves raising small puffs of dust in the round pen. “I can’t see it,” she said glancing up at her son again, the sight of him pulling her mouth into a full smile. “But I’ll keep an eye out.”