The Texas Ranger's Heiress Wife
Pampered society princess Helena Conwell has built a successful ranch from a ruined wreck, but now hostile raiders are hungry for her land. Only one man can protect her—Brendan Kane, the wild Texas Ranger she married at gunpoint.After three years away, Brendan vows to defend the ranch and claim back his wife. Irish-born and darkly irresistible, he still has the power to quicken Helena’s heart with his emerald-green gaze.But, each as fiercely proud as the other, can they admit to still being in love?
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‘Brendan, either you learn to respect my position here and do it quickly or you can sleep in that rocky no-man’s-land canyon and not my comfortable bunkhouse. Is that clear?’
Brendan grinned.
‘I asked you a question. I’m waiting for an answer. And what are you grinning about, you fool?’
He took a step towards her, then another. She saw the intent in his hot gaze. He meant to kiss her. He’d always crossed from anger to arousal so easily, ending quarrels before their conclusion—one of them winning by default.
Now, before she could decide what she wanted, lightning-quick his mouth was on hers. She tried to resist the leather and lime smell of him.
But the battle was lost before it began.
AUTHOR NOTE
I hope you enjoy reading about Brendan and Helena’s reconciliation and glimpsing their past as well as the rich history of the Old West. After all, they’ve been with us from the beginning in QUESTIONS OF HONOUR— already fighting like cat and dog and secretly heartbroken over the loss of the other. The danger to them and to their hearts sparked all the full-length books. What great catalysts they were! I couldn’t wait any longer to write their story, although it took a while to create the perfect setting.
The kind of land-grabbing scheme depicted in THE TEXAS RANGER’S HEIRESS WIFE is typical of stories told and retold from America’s westward growth—as is the work of the Texas Rangers. Whether truth or myth, these stories have become part of the lore of the West.
Hopefully I’ve lived up to our exciting history.
As a child, KATE WELSH often lost herself in creating make-believe worlds and happily-ever-after tales. Many years later she turned back to creating happy endings when her husband challenged her to write down the stories in her head. A lover of all things romantic, Kate has been writing romance for over twenty years now. Kate loves hearing from readers, who can reach her on the internet at [email protected]
Previous novels by the same author:
QUESTIONS OF HONOUR
HIS CALIFORNIAN COUNTESS*
A TEXAN’S HONOUR*
THE BRIDE WORE BRITCHES
(part of Weddings Under a Western Sky anthology)
*Linked by character
Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk
To all my readers.
Thanks so much for all your support.
Contents
Prologue
Cautiously, Brendan Kane approached the church, keeping his sister, Abby, behind him. It was soon apparent no one hid in the dark shadows around the building. Once this meeting was over, he’d be on the night train, headed west toward his dream and away from a hangman’s noose. Had he known Helena’s damned guardian was trying and succeeding in framing him for murder, he’d have left long ago. Then he’d have been away from the torture of watching Helena from afar, knowing she was to marry Joshua Wheaton.
Brendan and Abby crept to the church doors and slipped inside. Odd, he thought. More candles glowed than the little church used for benediction.
In the candlelight, he saw her. His Helena. He loved her so much he’d rejected her, for her own good and his own peace of mind. Brendan hissed a word that shouldn’t be spoken in a church. Helena Conwell was an American princess. In the eyes of her world he was nothing but Irish-born scum, a dirt-poor coal miner and now an outlaw to boot.
Dear God. How many nights had he closed his eyes and pictured her in this church exactly as she was—wearing a beautiful white gown? Now, though, she was really there, standing near the altar talking to Father Rafferty. She turned and put her hand on the old priest’s arm, then walked up the aisle toward him and Abby.
“What are you doing here?” Brendan growled.
Hurt entered those bluer-than-blue eyes he so loved. “I’m sorry you aren’t glad to see me. I suppose that makes this all the more necessary,” she said, as she pulled a pistol from the folds of her elegant dress and leveled it at him.
“Is this all an elaborate trick to snare Brendan in your guardian’s trap?” Abby demanded. “I trusted both you and Joshua with my brother’s life.”
Helena smiled up at Brendan, not sparing Abby a glance. “Oh, no. It’s my snare to catch myself a husband. Father Rafferty agreed to marry us, darling, and time is wasting. I’m sorry it has to be this way. I know it’s because of me they’ve gone after you, and I’m sorry. Franklin Gowery was never meant to know about us, but he does and so here we are.”
“Your guardian is a bit of a poor loser, isn’t he?” Brendan grinned. It was a grin he used often to infuriate adversaries and throw them off their stride. It worked a bit too well this time, for Helena looked as if she wanted to slap it off his face. “Ya won’t shoot me, lovey,” he told her, living dangerously as always when backed against a wall. Tonight seemed to be ripe for that.
