Rebecca Winters – Made For The Rancher (страница 1)
FATE ON SAPPHIRE MOUNTAIN...
Jasmine Telford has just told her boyfriend she can’t marry him when their small plane crashes into the Sapphire Mountains of Montana. Miraculously, no one is seriously hurt. Instead, the tall, gorgeous cowboy who comes to Jasmine’s rescue leaves a dramatic, very emotional impression. But Wymon Clayton is quickly becoming more than just a hero to her...
Wymon’s attraction to Jasmine is like nothing he’s ever felt. He should know better—sophisticated women rarely long for the simple ranching life. Yet he can’t resist the beauty of her green eyes, her warmth or how she always says something unexpected. Now Wymon’s falling head over spurs for a woman who is clearly made for him...if he can trust her not to break his heart.
“I’ve wanted to see you again and tell you how grateful I am...”
“Jasmine—”
Her heart leaped, but she was afraid, too. “But if you tell me you think I’m emotionally unstable because of the crash and don’t know my own mind, then I’ll get out of the truck right now and we won’t be seeing each other again.”
He leaned across and caught her softly rounded chin in his hand so she was forced to look him in the eyes. They’d darkened with emotion.
“When I was witness to the magnificent way you handled yourself at the crash site, I knew you were the most emotionally stable woman I would ever meet in my life!”
“Thank you for saying that.” She wanted him to kiss her. Oh, how she wanted him to take her in his arms.
She was no longer the same woman who’d answered the front door.
The earth had turned on its axis because Wymon Clayton had happened to her... and nothing would ever be the same again.
Made for the Rancher
Rebecca Winters
REBECCA WINTERS, whose family of four children has now swelled to include five beautiful grandchildren, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the land of the Rocky Mountains. Living near canyons and high alpine meadows full of wildflowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favorite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her romance novels, because writing is her passion, along with her family and church.
Rebecca loves to hear from readers. If you wish to email her, please visit her website, www.cleanromances.com.
Dedicated to the memory of the great John Muir,
also known as John of the Mountains.
He was a Scottish-American naturalist,
author, environmental philosopher
and early advocate of the preservation
of the wilderness in the United States.
Contents
“Mr. Clayton? I’m Ross Lee from KUSM-TV. Would you mind answering a few questions?”
Surprised to hear his name called out, Wymon glanced to his left. He’d just come from a committee meeting and had walked out onto the steps of the Montana State capitol building in Helena with his close friend Jim Whitefeather, only to have a microphone shoved in his face.
“Good news travels fast,” Jim muttered. The two of them were disappointed that a final decision wouldn’t be reached for another month when they would meet with the governor again. The eager-beaver reporter already suspected the worst outcome would happen in thirty days. No doubt he considered this delay good news.
Wymon and the members of the committee had been in the public eye for the last six months raising awareness of a controversial issue close to his heart. They’d welcomed the publicity to get their message across and had held debates across the state, some of which had been in the news.
On this day, however, he would have liked to ignore the negative attention. He and Jim needed to be diplomatic because their fight wasn’t over. They had another month to convince the public that this issue was worth fighting for.
“Naturally I’d hoped for a positive decision today,” Wymon told the reporter. “But I’m feeling confident that next month we will be successful.”
He felt the reporter bristle. “With you being the head of the Sapphire Ranch, it’s well known that you’re one of the biggest proponents for the reintroduction of the grizzly bear to the Sapphire and Bitterroot wilderness in western Montana.”
“That’s right. My colleague here, Mr. James Whitefeather of the Nez Perce tribe, is another big proponent. We’re part of a much larger group dedicated to fulfilling our initial mission statement.”
“If you would, highlight it again for our television audience.”
Taking the opportunity to speak on one of his favorite subjects, Wymon said, “Our vision is that one day the grizzly will once again have a population in northwest Montana. We want to see them interact with the greater Yellowstone area population to the south as they did hundreds of years ago when thousands of them lived here before being killed off.”
“But, Mr. Clayton—as I understand it, today’s lack of a decision means most voters in Montana believe the issue is on a downward spiral.”
“All great ideas face setbacks,” Wymon countered. “We’re continually working to get the necessary votes. In a month’s time we hope to win by a landslide.”
The reporter squinted at him. “You think that’s possible?”
“Anything’s possible, and the decisions made by our committee will serve to guide the federal and state agencies involved in grizzly bear management. It’s our belief that a new grizzly population will contribute to the balance and harmony of nature. It will also contribute significantly to long-term conservation and recovery of the species.”
“What do you have to say in response to State Representative Farnsworth’s attacks on your coalition? He claims that the majority of people are against reintroducing the Ursus horribilis to the area. This hot issue has had tempers flaring on both sides of the state border.”
“A slender majority are currently against it.” Wymon’s jaw hardened in reaction. “I’d say the man who gave the species its scientific name had never encountered a grizzly outside of the Lewis and Clark reports. A damn shame considering it was rightly recognized as Ursus arctos, but the ‘horrible’ stuck, and the grizzly was forever mislabeled in the cruelest of ways.”
“You question history?”
“Not history, just one man’s uninformed opinion. I wonder how many people in your viewing audience realize that in the entire 142-year history of Yellowstone National Park, there have only been eight reported human deaths by bears, and not all of them have been proven to be by grizzlies. That’s one in every seventeen years. The chances of being killed in a car accident or in a plane accident are so much greater—there’s no contest.
“But to answer your question, I’ll give you a quote from John Muir, the Scottish naturalist, who was an early advocate for preserving America’s wilderness. He spent three nights in the forest with Teddy Roosevelt who had the foresight to establish our national parks. You know the story about how the teddy bear was named after him?”
“I can’t say I do.”