Brenda Minton - Her Oklahoma Rancher

Her ex-fiancé is back—with a baby.

Can they find a second chance at Mercy Ranch?

Paralyzed veteran Eve Vincent has built an independent new life at a ranch for wounded warriors. But when she and her ex-fiancé, Ethan Forester, are named guardians of an orphaned baby girl, they must face down past misunderstandings to make a future for Tori. And caring for the little girl together might just rekindle their love...this time for forever.

BRENDA MINTONlives in the Ozarks with her husband, children, cats, dogs and strays. She is a pastor’s wife, Sunday-school teacher, coffee addict and sleep deprived. Not in that order. Her dream to be an author for Harlequin started somewhere in the pages of a romance novel about a young American woman stranded in a Spanish castle. Her dreams came true, and twenty-plus books later, she is an author hoping to inspire young girls to dream.

Also By Brenda Minton

Love Inspired

Mercy Ranch

Reunited with the Rancher

The Rancher’s Christmas Match

Her Oklahoma Rancher

Bluebonnet Springs

Second Chance Rancher

The Rancher’s Christmas Bride

The Rancher’s Secret Child

Martin’s Crossing

A Rancher for Christmas

The Rancher Takes a Bride

The Rancher’s Second Chance

The Rancher’s First Love

Her Rancher Bodyguard

Her Guardian Rancher

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Her Oklahoma Rancher

Brenda Minton

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09666-9

HER OKLAHOMA RANCHER

© 2019 Brenda Minton

Published in Great Britain 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

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“Eve, there is no us. But we still exist, you and me, and Tori needs us.”

Ethan said it softly because the baby in his arms seemed to be drifting off.

“I obviously can’t do this. Last night was proof.”

“Last night meant nothing. You’ve always managed, Eve. You’re strong and you’re capable.”

“Before, Ethan,” she said sadly. “I was that person before. This is me now.”

“I guess you have changed. I’ve never heard you say you can’t.”

He glanced down at the little girl in his arms. “What other option is there? Should we turn her over to the state, let her take her chances with whoever they choose? Find some distant relative?”

Ethan leaned back in the chair and studied Eve’s face. She was everything familiar. His childhood friend. The person he’d loved. She looked as stubborn as ever. But there was something fragile in her expression. Something that made him recheck his feelings. Eve had been his only broken heart. He didn’t want another one...

Dear Reader,

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I’m so blessed to get to do what I love for a publisher I love.

My editors at Love Inspired have always encouraged me and I appreciate the stories they’ve allowed me to tell. Some stories are easier than others. The goal is always a romance that readers believe in and maybe fall a little bit in love with. Every now and then a character like Eve Vincent will come along and challenge me to something more.

I loved writing this book in the Mercy Ranch series and I hope that you’ll love Eve and Ethan!

Blessings,

Brenda Minton

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

—Romans 8:28

This book is dedicated to my agent,

Melissa Jeglinski, for guiding me through

this process. She puts up with my angst,

cheers me on and encourages me. Thank you!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

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

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Four years ago Hope, Oklahoma, had been a forgotten lake town, and Eve Vincent had been a patient in a VA hospital coming to terms with her new reality. As she transferred from her car to the wheelchair next to it, she realized that they’d both changed. The town was booming again. The resorts and hotels were up and running, and stores were reopened with new businesses. And Eve, like the little town of Hope, had reinvented herself. She’d survived the changes that had happened after an IED exploded, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.

Eve hadn’t grown up in Hope but she now considered the little town her home. She had moved here to live on Mercy Ranch, owned by Jack West, the same man who had infused money and time into the local economy, essentially reviving the town. What Jack had done for Hope, he’d also done for the wounded warriors he’d brought to his ranch. He’d given them all a second chance and a way to start over.

Sometimes she thought about going back home to Texas. But home was too complicated. Her aging parents would want to coddle her even as they reminded her they had begged her not to join the army. Going back to Texas would mean facing the past, facing memories and people. The past was best left in the past. She had a new life, a new reality. Tough as it had been, she’d found happiness here. Contentment even.