The Rancher's Return
“That’s all you have to say? You’re back now?” Ten years ago, the love of Raven Reynolds life disappeared without a trace. Now Donovan Cordero is back, standing on her doorstep. Along the way, Raven had the rancher’s child—though he didn’t know she was pregnant! Now, her prayers have been answered, but happily ever after feels farther away than ever. Because how can she rebuild a life with her child’s father if she’s engaged to another man?
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“That’s all you have to say? You’re back now?”
Ten years ago, the love of Raven Reynolds’s life disappeared without a trace. Now Donovan Cordero is back, standing on her doorstep. Along the way, Raven had the rancher’s child—though he didn’t know she was pregnant! Now her prayers have been answered, but happily-ever-after feels further away than ever. Because how can she rebuild a life with her child’s father if she’s engaged to another man?
“[Kathy Douglass] pulls you right in from page one, and you won’t want to leave.”
—#1 New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller
KATHY DOUGLASS came by her love of reading naturally—both of her parents were readers. She would finish one book and pick up another. Then she attended law school and traded romances for legal opinions.
After the birth of her two children, her love of reading turned into a love of writing. Kathy now spends her days writing the small-town contemporary novels she enjoys reading.
Sweet Briar Sweethearts
How to Steal the Lawman’s Heart
The Waitress’s Secret
The Rancher and the City Girl
Winning Charlotte Back
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk
ISBN: 978-1-474-09085-8
THE RANCHER’S RETURN
© 2019 Kathleen Gregory
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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To my husband and sons.
Thanks for your love and support. I love you all.
Contents
Everything looked the same. After ten years away, ten years when he’d wondered if he would ever see the ranch where he’d been born and raised again, Donovan Cordero was home.
He was surprised that not one thing had changed. The large house was still painted the white color his mother loved. The shutters were still black. The simple backdrop was perfect for showcasing the flower gardens on either side of the stairs where his mother had spent hours each day. His earliest memories were of pulling weeds beside her, learning how to care for a variety of plants and flowers.
When he’d gotten older he’d begun to trail his father around their one hundred seventy-five acre ranch. He’d felt guilty for turning his back on his mother, but when he’d apologize for leaving her behind and offer to stay with her, she’d only laugh and shoo him away. After spending the day learning how to care for horses and cows, he’d race into the house and to his mother, who would always give him a big hug and kiss. Later he’d begun hanging out with his three best friends, Tony Wilson, Billy Campbell and Jericho Jones on the Double J Ranch. No matter how late he returned, his mother was always waiting with open arms to welcome him home.
Would she be as welcoming now? She’d spent the past ten years believing he was dead.
Fearing for her life and those of others he’d loved, he’d let her go right on believing that. He’d been young and frightened back then, too afraid to think of any option other than running. After seeing Karl Rivers kill a man in cold blood, where could he turn? The sheriff? Not likely since the sheriff had been beside Rivers, watching the entire thing. No doubt he’d helped with the cover-up.
