Patricia Johns – Her Stubborn Cowboy (страница 1)
In July 2016, the MILLS & BOON® AMERICAN ROMANCE® series will become the MILLS & BOON® WESTERN ROMANCE series. Same great stories, new name!
FAMILY MATTERS
Mackenzie Vaughn is determined to learn to run the Montana ranch she’s inherited—even if it means relying on Chet Granger. Years ago, the serious (and seriously handsome) cowboy broke up her relationship with his younger brother, and Mack doesn’t want to remember that heartache.
Chet knows gorgeous, spunky Mack is off-limits. His brother would never forgive him, and Chet always puts family first…until he can no longer ignore his feelings. If Chet gives in to his heart, he’ll lose his brother and the ranch they share—if he doesn’t, he could lose Mackenzie forever.
“Looks like you got a good start on the day.”
When Chet turned, he nearly collided with Mack. She sucked in a breath and looked up at him, blue eyes widened in surprise. Her lips parted, and he found his gaze moving down toward her mouth as if closing that distance would be the most natural thing in the world.
“Sorry.” He cleared his throat and stepped back. “So what brought you back here?”
“You know why. I inherited the ranch.”
“It’s more than that, though,” he said. “Most people would have sold it and taken the money.”
“Well, the timing was right. I hated my job and I missed air and rain and land and—” She blushed. “You always thought I was a city slicker, huh?”
“Yeah, maybe.” He shot her a grin.
“And I am. But even people in the city miss a connection with something real—”
He was real, and what he’d felt for her had been real, too, but she’d never recognized it.
Was this his second chance?
When my son went into the first grade, he wanted to know how to find a friend. I told him to stand still, be quiet and look around himself. There’d be the noisy kids, the funny kids, the in-your-face kids. But if he wanted a really good friend, he needed to wait until he saw the quiet kid by the wall. That’s the winner. Bonus points if the kid was carrying a book.
My husband and I found each other the same way. He was quiet, the kind of guy who stood back and looked around. He wasn’t flashy. He wasn’t a flirt. He was strong, honest and stubborn as all get-out. And he could take my breath away like no other! The guys on the periphery—the Chet Grangers of the world—are worth a second look. They’re the ones who have more to offer, and that depth of character is priceless.
It isn’t easy being a bookish type, but we don’t have to do it alone. Finding fellow readers and other wallflowers makes all the difference…even for writers.
If you’d like to connect with me, you can find me on Facebook under Patricia Johns Romance, or you could come by my blog at patriciajohnsromance.com. I love to hear from readers, and you’re guaranteed a reply. I’m another one along the wall—the observer, the mildly uncomfortable one. And if you’re interested in bonus points, I’m pretty much always working on a book!
Patricia Johns
Her Stubborn Cowboy
PATRICIA JOHNS writes from northern Alberta, where she lives with her husband and son. The winters are long, cold and perfectly suited to novel writing. She has a BA in English lit, and you can find her books in Mills & Boon Love Inspired and Mills & Boon American Romance lines.
To my husband, who inspires the romantic in me.
Contents
Chet Granger wanted her land, and Mackenzie Vaughn knew it. He’d offered to buy it from her grandmother multiple times over the years, and now that her grandmother had passed away, leaving the ranch to Mackenzie, she was waiting for the inevitable offer.
And she would refuse. That was a given. The last person in this county she intended to sell this land to was Chet Granger. They had a bit of a history together, and if anyone was going to benefit from this land, it wouldn’t be him. Business wasn’t supposed to be personal, but this time it was.
As a small white goat passed her, Mackenzie patted its rump and wiped the back of her hand over her moist forehead. The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows through pools of warm sunlight. The peeling red barn loomed behind, its shadow stretching out like a sleepy cat. Since arriving two hours earlier, she’d already managed to get what was left of her grandmother’s herd back into the barn. Then she’d noticed the goat waddling off toward the fence, wide belly swinging back and forth with each step.
“Come on now,” she urged. “Let’s go, goat.”
It had to have a name; she just didn’t know it. The other three goats were already inside the barn, but this one paid no mind to peer pressure.
This ranch had been a godsend when she was an angry teen caught in the middle of her parents’ acrid divorce. While her parents battled over who got what, she’d come back to her grandmother’s ranch—the one place she could count on not to change. It was here that she’d fallen in love for the first time, with Andy Granger. Chet was Andy’s older brother and had always been the more serious of the two. In fact, she’d had a bit of a crush on him at first, before Andy made his move and she realized that Chet hadn’t been interested in the least. He’d been concerned with the future of his family’s ranch more than with having much fun...so much so that he’d convinced Andy that Mack wasn’t worth his time. At least, that was Andy’s story. In spite of it all, a small part of her envied the Granger boys. When push came to shove, they chose each other, and the Granger family stood strong. Still, they stood strong against her, and that was one slight she wouldn’t forget.
“Come on,” Mackenzie coaxed, patting the goat’s rump again. “I have some nice fresh hay waiting for you.”
The goat didn’t seem the least bit interested in her offering, and it turned away again, trotting heavily along the fence line. Farther down the fence, a man sauntered up and leaned against the rail, gray eyes fixed on her in mild amusement. Mackenzie startled. He was tall, slim but well muscled. He rested his forearms over the top rail, big hands loosely holding a pair of work gloves. A cowboy hat sat on his head, pushed back so that the sun hit his face, illuminating the sandpaper of his stubble. He raised the gloves in a hello. He’d always been good-looking, but he’d lost his lean boyishness and hardened into a man since she’d last seen him. Chet Granger. The years had been good to him.
“Long time,” he called.
It certainly had been a long time, and in the few hours she’d been back, she’d been doing her best to avoid him. She’d known that wasn’t going to work for long, considering their ranches were side by side, their respective barns and houses no more than an acre apart. There had been a time when people liked the idea of being within shouting distance of a neighbor. This would have been a whole lot easier if they didn’t share such a difficult history.
The goat trotted up to Chet and poked a nose through the fence.
“Hey there, Butter Cream.” The rancher eased between the rails of the fence and came over to her side, hopping twice to get his boot through. His shirt was rolled up to reveal strong forearms, tanned skin with a vein bulging as he scratched the goat’s ears. The animal tipped her head back and forth, lashes fluttering in enjoyment. Chet looked up at Mackenzie, those disconcertingly light eyes pinned on her. “Trying to get her back inside?”
He didn’t wait for the answer but strode off in the direction of her barn without a backward look, and the goat followed him with the quiet loyalty of a dog.
“Butter Cream,” she muttered to herself. That would be good to remember for the next time she had to plead with this particular critter.
Mackenzie had been in town all of a day, and she already knew that she was in over her head. Why she’d thought she’d be able to run a ranch on her own, she had no idea. When her grandmother had died, leaving her the ranch, she’d thought this was the answer to that sense of empty boredom inside her—and maybe it was—but she wasn’t entirely sure it was worth it, especially not if Chet was part of the package.
“So how come you didn’t stop by when you arrived?” Chet glanced over his shoulder at her as he pulled open the rolling door.