The Rancher's Best Gift
An ordinary cowboy… Or the love of a lifetime? Matthew Waggoner and Camille Hollister may have known each other for years, but nothing prepares them for the sudden flare of attraction that hits when Camille lets Matthew stay with her. It will take a Christmas miracle to make these two see past their differences and risk loving again….
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An ordinary cowboy?
Or the love of a lifetime?
Matthew Waggoner and Camille Hollister may have known each other for years, but nothing prepares them for the sudden flare of attraction that hits when Camille lets Matthew stay with her while the foreman is doing out-of-town work for her family’s ranch. But with Christmas just around the corner, it’ll take a holiday miracle to make these two patched-up hearts see past their differences and risk loving again…
After writing more than eighty books for Mills & Boon, STELLA BAGWELL still finds it exciting to create new stories and bring her characters to life. She loves all things Western and has been married to her own real cowboy for forty-four years. Living on the south Texas coast, she also enjoys being outdoors and helping her husband care for the horses, cats and dog that call their small ranch home. The couple has one son, who teaches high school mathematics and is also an athletic director. Stella loves hearing from readers. They can contact her at [email protected]
The Cowboy’s Christmas LullabyHer Kind of DoctorThe Arizona LawmanHer Man on Three Rivers RanchA Ranger for ChristmasHis Texas RunawayHome to Blue Stallion Ranch
Guarding His Fortune
The Little Maverick Matchmaker
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk
ISBN: 978-1-474-09190-9
THE RANCHER’S BEST GIFT
© 2019 Stella Bagwell
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
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To my family and the treasured memories
of our Christmases together.
Contents
Note to Readers
“Two weeks! Hell, Blake, that’s a long time for me to stay down at Red Bluff.”
Saddle leather creaked as Matthew Waggoner twisted around to look at Blake Hollister, his boss and manager of Three Rivers Ranch.
With a grunt of amusement, Blake leaned forward and fondly stroked the neck of the bay horse he was riding. “What’s the matter? Afraid this place will fall apart without you?”
Matthew stared out at the herd of cattle grazing on tuffs of grass hidden among the thorny cacti and chaparral. The Arizona landscape was rough and rugged, especially in this area of the seventy-thousand-acre ranch. And with each day taking them nearer the end of October, the grass was getting as scarce as hens’ teeth.
“Three Rivers would never miss me.”
A moment passed in silence, and in the distance a coyote let out a lonesome howl, signaling that twilight was falling on the jagged peaks and deep arroyos cut by centuries of flash floods.
“No. After having you around for fourteen years, we’d never realize you were gone.” He muttered a curse. “Don’t give me that bull, Matthew. You know why I’m sending you to Red Bluff. I can’t trust anyone with the job but you.”
