Carolyn Davidson - Maggie's Beau

Beau softened as his eyes met hers. “This is a far cry from heaven, Maggie. The trouble with you is that you’ve never lived anyplace where folks liked each other, and tried to make life enjoyable.”

“I just know that livin’ here is like being in a dream. I thank you for bein’ kind to me, and for doin’ all you do.” Emotion welled within her and words spurted forth. “I just feel like huggin’ you,” she blurted. And that was probably enough to scare him off if anything ever would, she thought.

“You can if you want to,” he said, his grin wide. “I’d really like to kiss you, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“You want to kiss me?” she asked incredulously. And then she laughed aloud. “Nobody ever kissed me in my life…!”

Dear Reader,

With the passing of the true millennium, Harlequin Historicals is putting on a fresh face! We hope you enjoyed our special inside front cover art from recent months. We plan to bring this wonderful “extra” to you every month! You may also have noticed our new branding—a maroon stripe that runs along the right side of the front cover. Hopefully, this will help you find our books more easily in the crowded marketplace. And thanks to those of you who participated in our reader survey. We truly appreciate the feedback you provided, which enables us to bring you more of the stories and authors that you like!

We have four terrific books for you this month. The talented Carolyn Davidson returns with a new Western, Maggie’s Beau, a tender tale of love between experienced rancher Beau Jackson—whom you might recognize from The Wedding Promise—and the young woman he finds hiding in his barn. Catherine Archer brings us her third medieval SEASONS’ BRIDES story, Summer’s Bride, an engaging romance about two willful nobles who finally succumb to a love they’ve long denied.

The Sea Nymph by bestselling author Ruth Langan marks the second book in the SIRENS OF THE SEA series. Here, a proper English lady, who is secretly a privateer, falls in love with a highwayman—only to learn he is really an earl and the richest man in Cornwall! And don’t miss Bride on the Run, an awesome new Western by Elizabeth Lane. True to the title, a woman fleeing from crooked lawmen becomes the mail-order bride of a sexy widower with two kids.

Enjoy! And come back again next month for four more choices of the best in historical romance.

Sincerely,

Tracy Farrell

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Gerrity’s Bride #298

Loving Katherine #325

The Forever Man #385

Runaway #416

The Wedding Promise #431

The Tender Stranger #456

The Midwife #475

*The Bachelor Tax #496

*Tanner Stakes His Claim #513

*One Christmas Wish #531 “Wish upon a Star”

Maggie’s Beau #543

I have been blessed in many ways. I have a wonderful husband, a flock of terrific children and grandchildren, and a writing career that has fulfilled my wildest dreams. Add to that an agent who understands me and gives me absolute support, and the picture is almost complete. Except for one item.

Every published writer has an editor. Margaret O’Neill Marbury is mine. She takes my phone calls, listens to my story ideas, encourages me on my bad days and then edits my final drafts with tender loving care. For the past seven years she and I have cooperated in a partnership that has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I can only hope we survive many more such ventures as this one.

Maggie’s Beau is Margaret’s book, dedicated to her with all the appreciation this writer’s heart can hold.

And to the man who holds my hand throughout the whole process of writing my stories, meeting my deadlines and keeping my life on an even keel, I give my thanks. I love you, Mr. Ed.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

She was the most pathetic creature he’d ever seen. Perhaps if she were clean…. Beau Jackson shook his head. Even a bath wouldn’t do much for the bitch. Even now, she was snarling and showing her teeth, in a display meant to scare him from his own barn. Sides showing clear signs of pregnancy, the dog stood spraddle-legged in the aisle and dared Beau to come one step further. He was no fool, and so instead squatted in the wide doorway and held out his hand.

“Come here, girl,” he coaxed, balancing on the balls of his feet. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

The dog backed up a few inches and growled again, a menacing warning. Yet her ears twitched forward, and if canine eyes could be called hopeful, Beau decided this one’s could qualify. His eye caught a movement in the shadows just beyond the dog, and his brow lifted in surprise.

“Well, I’ll be—looks like you got yourself a friend, honey.” His words were soft, meant to pacify the bedraggled animal before him, and for a moment, she relaxed her stance, her tail moving from between her hind legs to become a flag at half-mast. Crouching beside the feed barrel, a cat shifted and lunged to its feet, wavering uncertainly for a second or two, until it caught its balance.

“I’d say you’ve got a problem, kitty.” Beau felt his brow furrow and knew a moment of pity as he watched the gray cat move beyond the dog’s shadow. Three legs held the creature erect, a scarred area, bare of hair, revealing the site of the fourth missing limb. The cat balanced on its one remaining foreleg beside the dog and watched Beau with stoic indifference.

It was a stand-off, one he could not afford to continue. The dog would either attack or back down, and it was time to give her a chance to make that decision. Beau stood slowly, one hand on the butt of his gun. “You going to let me pass, dog? Or do we have to do this the hard way?”

The dog’s back ridged in protest as Beau spoke and her lips drew back over white teeth, even as a low, threatening growl announced her position.

“Damn. This isn’t my first choice, pooch. But I can’t let you take a chunk out of me, can I?” Beau drew his gun carefully, even as he reached for a rope that hung on the wall. If the dog lunged, he could fend it off with the heavy coil of rope, but if he couldn’t manage to chase it from the barn, he’d probably have to put a bullet in its head. And that didn’t sit well with him.

Not only was he opposed to putting down an animal unless there was no other choice, but it was a hell of a way to start the day. Especially since he hadn’t even had his breakfast. He took one step closer, prepared for the snarl that erupted from the animal.

What he wasn’t prepared for was the sight of a bare foot descending from the hayloft. It barely touched the top step of the ladder before its mate moved lower, and he was exposed to the sight of curving calves and slender feet. A drab, colorless skirt fell to cover the feminine limbs as their owner scampered to the barn floor and whirled to face him.