Kathy Douglass - The Rancher's Return

“That’s all you have to say? You’re back now?”

Ten years ago, the love of Raven Reynolds’s life disappeared without a trace. Now Donovan Cordero is back, standing on her doorstep. Along the way, Raven had the rancher’s child—though he didn’t know she was pregnant! Now her prayers have been answered, but happily-ever-after feels further away than ever. Because how can she rebuild a life with her child’s father if she’s engaged to another man?

“[Kathy Douglass] pulls you right in from page one, and you won’t want to leave.”

—#1 New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller

KATHY DOUGLASS came by her love of reading naturally—both of her parents were readers. She would finish one book and pick up another. Then she attended law school and traded romances for legal opinions.

After the birth of her two children, her love of reading turned into a love of writing. Kathy now spends her days writing the small-town contemporary novels she enjoys reading.

Also by Kathy Douglass

Sweet Briar Sweethearts

How to Steal the Lawman’s Heart

The Waitress’s Secret

The Rancher and the City Girl

Winning Charlotte Back

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

The Rancher’s Return

Kathy Douglass

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09085-8

THE RANCHER’S RETURN

© 2019 Kathleen Gregory

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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To my husband and sons.

Thanks for your love and support. I love you all.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

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

Chapter Seventeen

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

E verything looked the same. After ten years away, ten years when he’d wondered if he would ever see the ranch where he’d been born and raised again, Donovan Cordero was home.

He was surprised that not one thing had changed. The large house was still painted the white color his mother loved. The shutters were still black. The simple backdrop was perfect for showcasing the flower gardens on either side of the stairs where his mother had spent hours each day. His earliest memories were of pulling weeds beside her, learning how to care for a variety of plants and flowers.

When he’d gotten older he’d begun to trail his father around their one hundred seventy-five acre ranch. He’d felt guilty for turning his back on his mother, but when he’d apologize for leaving her behind and offer to stay with her, she’d only laugh and shoo him away. After spending the day learning how to care for horses and cows, he’d race into the house and to his mother, who would always give him a big hug and kiss. Later he’d begun hanging out with his three best friends, Tony Wilson, Billy Campbell and Jericho Jones on the Double J Ranch. No matter how late he returned, his mother was always waiting with open arms to welcome him home.

Would she be as welcoming now? She’d spent the past ten years believing he was dead.

Fearing for her life and those of others he’d loved, he’d let her go right on believing that. He’d been young and frightened back then, too afraid to think of any option other than running. After seeing Karl Rivers kill a man in cold blood, where could he turn? The sheriff? Not likely since the sheriff had been beside Rivers, watching the entire thing. No doubt he’d helped with the cover-up.

To this day he still remembered the fear that had filled him when they’d spotted him. He’d pleaded for his life, promising never to tell a soul what he’d seen. He’d thought for sure they were going to kill him. Then Rivers had lowered his gun. Rivers had told Donovan that since he had always protected his son Carson from bullies, he was going to let him live. But there was a condition: Donovan had to leave town immediately and never come back. If Donovan stayed in town or breathed a word of what he’d seen, Rivers would kill not only him and his parents, but his girlfriend, Raven Reynolds, too. The dead body on the ground in a pool of blood left no doubt that Rivers was serious. He’d kill them all.

Karl Rivers was a powerful man in the state of North Carolina. A big political donor to Democrats and Republicans alike and cousin to the governor and a US senator, he had reach that Donovan could only imagine. As a teenage son of a simple rancher, Donovan had been no match for him. So he’d run. He’d left his parents and Raven behind for their good as well as his own.

Three days ago the major networks had carried the story of Rivers’s death from a heart attack. Donovan had watched in anger as politicians from one end of the country to the other gave tribute to Rivers, speaking of him in glowing terms. No one would ever know what a monster he’d been. But then a sense of relief replaced the anger. Donovan could go home without risking the lives of those he loved.