Jessica Keller - His Unexpected Return

He knew he’d have to make amends...

But never expected he had a daughter at Red Dog Ranch

Five years after being declared dead, Wade Jarrett steps onto his family’s Texas ranch looking for forgiveness. Instead he finds the woman he can’t forget—and the daughter he never knew. But with a secret of his own looming, can the former bad boy convince Cassidy Danvers he’s ready for the new roles of daddy and husband?

Avid reader, coffee drinker and chocolate aficionado JESSICA KELLERhas degrees in communications and biblical studies and spends too much time on Instagram and Pinterest. Jessica calls the Midwest home. She lives for fall, farmers’ markets and driving with the windows down. To learn more, visit Jessica at www.jessicakellerbooks.com.

Also By Jessica Keller

Red Dog Ranch

The Rancher’s Legacy

His Unexpected Return

Goose Harbor

The Widower’s Second Chance

The Fireman’s Secret

The Single Dad Next Door

Small-Town Girl

Apple Orchard Bride

The Single Mom’s Second Chance

Lone Star Cowboy League: Boys Ranch

The Ranger’s Texas Proposal

Home for Good

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

His Unexpected Return

Jessica Keller

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09752-9

HIS UNEXPECTED RETURN

© 2019 Jessica Koschnitzky

Published in Great Bri tain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:

Change of font size and line height

Change of background and font colours

Change of font

Change justification

Text to speech

“I have something to say—”

Jace started to explain, but Mackenzie whirled around to face him.

“Don’t.” She bristled, and her finger jabbed in his direction. “Just don’t.”

“You don’t even know what it is!”

“Is it about Wilder Ranch?” Her tone snapped as fast and furious as a snake’s strike.

“Nope.”

“Then I don’t want to hear it.” She mounted up—the equivalent of a kid placing their hands over their ears. “We should get back.”

He didn’t move.

“I’ve got things to do, Hawke.” The reins twitched in her hands. He’d made her uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure why that ignited a flicker of happy in his gut. Probably because it meant he still affected her.

“You know your way from here.” She turned her horse. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

And then she left him. Sitting in her dust, her canteen still in his hands, words dying on his tongue that had needed to be said for seven years.

Huh. So that was what that felt like.

Dear Reader,

Since the first time I envisioned this series, Wade has held a special place in my heart. He had tried to do what he thought was right and it ended up costing him and everyone around him so much. He makes me want to walk around hugging everyone in my life. Maybe I should!

Wade also said my favorite line in the book: Trying to outrun the hard times ends up costing us more than submission ever will.

I know I’ve been guilty of trying to outrun the hard times. The last year or two of my personal life has felt like one blow after another and sometimes you just want to say “Enough already.” But during the hard times is when God shapes us. We need the hard times in order to grow. And like Wade learned, it’s also when we need our friends the most.

I hope you enjoyed reading Wade and Cassidy’s story as much as I loved writing it. If you liked this visit to Red Dog Ranch, make sure to pick up the other books in the series—there’s one for each of the siblings.

Thanks for reading!

Jess

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.

—Joel 2:25

For anyone who has ever wanted a second chance.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

“Can I go swimming, Mommy?” Piper tugged on Cassidy Danvers’s hand. At almost five, Piper had already perfected the art of the doe-eyed pout.

Cassidy pulled her apron over her head, then set it on the wall of hooks at the back of the kitchen. She turned and eyed the bright pink cast on Piper’s arm. Even when Cassidy plastered every inch of her daughter’s arm in obscene amounts of plastic wrap or used a long bread bag to cover it, Piper had a hard time keeping the cast from getting wet while taking a bath. With her enthusiasm and daring, going in the pool sounded disastrous. Cassidy’s daughter had missed her best friend’s pool-themed birthday party the prior weekend, so it wasn’t the first time they were having the conversation, but if Piper was anything it was determined.