Rebecca Winters - Home to Wyoming

It’s Never Too Late

Wounded in love and war, ex-marine Buck Summerhayes wants to put the past behind him. He finds peace working at the Teton Valley Dude Ranch, a special place for families of fallen soldiers. Maybe one day, he’ll have a family of his own—right now he can’t afford to indulge in dreams.

Alexis Wilson is no dream. Tasked with overseeing Alex and her young ward during their visit to the ranch, Buck finds himself falling for both the woman and the little girl. Like Buck, Alex has had more than her share of heartache. But maybe between them, they can build a future that’s still full of possibilities.

Buck’s eyes seemed to focus on her mouth

“In that case, I’ll come inside with you. While you put the things you bought away, I’ll make us some instant coffee. I could do with a cup.”

Alex’s heart thumped. This was something she knew she should avoid, but after all he’d done for them, she didn’t dare offend him. “Well...I won’t say no to that.”

As they went inside with her packages, the feeling grew stronger that she’d been on a date with him, and now they were coming home to spend the rest of the evening together. But she had to remember this was the middle of the afternoon and it wasn’t a date!

For one thing, he was probably ten years younger than she, despite his maturity. For another, in the absence of Jenny’s father, it was Buck’s job to make certain this turned into a real vacation for her granddaughter, nothing more. She wished to heaven she could see it that way, but he’d managed to get under her skin. The only way to get him out was to leave Wyoming, but she and Jenny had only just arrived!

Dear Reader,

In Home to Wyoming, our bachelor hero rancher cannot believe that the gorgeous woman who comes to the Daddy Dude Ranch is a grandmother, raising her adorable seven-year-old granddaughter. Her age may not concern ex-marine Buck Summerhayes, but Alexis Wilson’s engagement to another man does! What can he do to convince Alex she is the woman for him?

I hope you’ll read this novel and experience all the thrills and chills of this love affair involving an unlikely couple who discover they are made for each other.

Enjoy!

Rebecca Winters

Home to Wyoming

Rebecca Winters

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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. With canyons and high alpine meadows full of wildflowers nearby, she never runs out of places to explore. These spaces, plus her favorite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her romance novels. 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.

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Dedicated to all the selfless, wonderful, heroic grandmothers raising grandchildren after raising their own children. What greater love can there be?

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Excerpt

Chapter One

The station wagon pulled up to the curb in front of the airport in Colorado Springs. “Son, won’t you please consider coming back home? I mean...for good.”

He knew what she meant. Buck Summerhayes stared into his mother’s pleading eyes before releasing the seat belt. They’d been through this half a dozen times since last March when he’d been given a medical discharge from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The military had flown him home, where his family had been waiting to welcome him.

“You know I can’t do that, Mom,” he said, breaking into a cough. “I’ve made a commitment to Carson and Ross. I only flew here for a three-day break. Now I have to get back to Wyoming. Another family of a fallen soldier from California will be arriving in Jackson this evening. The guys and I take turns. This family will be my main responsibility for the next week, so I have to be there to pick them up.”

“I realize that, but you have no idea how much we all miss you. Your father and brothers could use you in the business. At his last physical, the doctor told Dad he needed to slow down.”

“Is it anything serious?” Buck asked in alarm.

“No, darling. He’s just getting older, and all I’m saying is that Summerhayes Construction could use your help.” Her face took on a sad expression. “Is it possible you’re still staying away because of Melanie?”

A mother wasn’t a mother for nothing. There was no point in avoiding the subject of Melanie Marsden, his high school girlfriend and the woman he’d hoped to marry after college.

But after his oldest brother, Pete, told him she and his brother Sam had fallen in love while Buck had been away at school and that they were afraid to tell him, he wished them all the best. After their wedding, he’d joined the marines and it would have become his lifelong career if he hadn’t been diagnosed with acute dyspnea.

He frowned. “That might have been the case twelve years ago, but the war changed my life. When you see your buddies blown up in front of your face, it changes the way you think about things. I got over it a long time ago. Don’t you remember? When I was first sent overseas, I wrote them a letter telling them how happy I was for them?”

“Yes, of course. They told me what you did after you were deployed and it meant the world to them, but I was just afraid that because you haven’t met a woman to settle down with—”

“You thought I was still pining for her?” He cut her off. Incredulous, he said, “Mom—put your fears away. That’s in the long-forgotten past. There’ve been many women since then and there will be many more to come. Jackson Hole is a mecca for Western goddesses decked out in cowboy hats and spurs.”

His comment caused her to laugh. “If you want to know the truth, I love what I’m doing now. I need it.”

She patted his cheek. “I believe you.”

“I’m glad you do, because you don’t know what survivor’s guilt is like. When I was in the hospital, it tore me apart to think that some of our buddies didn’t make it home to their wives and children. My friends and I decided the only way to get over it was to find a way to help people. Carson came up with the idea of turning his ranch into a dude ranch to give some of the victims’ families a vacation. It struck a chord with Ross and me.”

“It’s a very noble idea, but what about your health?”

“We all see the doctor regularly. It could’ve been a lot worse. We like to think of it as our mark of bravery for breathing all that nasty stuff over in Afghanistan.”

She leaned across and gave him a big hug and a kiss. “I love you, honey.” Her voice was filled with tears.

Emotion swamped him as he reciprocated. “I love you, too. Stop worrying so much. I’ll see you in six weeks.”

He was saying that now, but he couldn’t guarantee it. Their dude-ranch business for regular tourists was growing faster than they’d anticipated. As for their first experiment entertaining a war widow and her son, it had gone so well that Carson had just married Tracy Baretta, and her six-year-old son Johnny was the cutest little kid Buck had ever seen.