Leigh Riker - Cowboy On Call

He needs to stop running from his mistakes.

Cowboy or doctor? Sawyer McCord has been wrestling with that question since he came home to the Circle H after fleeing his remote clinic in the Himalayas. A tragedy there has him doubting his medical skills, but his reception on the ranch has been chilly at best. Sawyer can’t blame his family—or Olivia Wilson, his brother’s ex—for their anger. So why does Olivia’s opinion of him suddenly matter so much? Sawyer has unfinished business here and at his clinic. If he’s ever going to redeem himself, he needs to start by making amends to the one woman who might never forgive him.

“Did you see, Mom? We almost cantered.”

Sawyer sent Olivia a look as he led Hero out of the corral, Nick still grinning.

“Not quite,” Sawyer assured her. “Hero’s got good gaits, but I doubt I could keep up with him at that pace.”

He wasn’t even breathing hard, and Olivia looked away from his shirt, which was now plastered to his shoulders, chest and flat abdomen. He was saving face for Nick so he wouldn’t feel as if he were on some pony ride at a summer fair. Of course he wanted to go fast. That was her son. Years ago, she had to admit, that would have been her, too, flying like the wind on Jasmine.

And that was, always, like Sawyer. His impulsiveness had cost Olivia her favorite horse. She found it hard to forget that when she was here at the Circle H... Yet watching him and Nick with the lovely gray gelding had made her heart ache in a good way. Here was Sawyer McCord, a cowboy again, though he’d turned his back on the ranch years ago.

Though he would probably leave again once more.

Dear Reader,

I’m so happy to bring you Cowboy on Call, this third book in my Kansas Cowboys series. Sawyer McCord is the bad boy of this group—I do love bad boys!—and he truly needs to find redemption.

In his defense, Sawyer hasn’t had an easy time of it. After losing his parents when he was eight, he and his twin brother, Logan (from book one, The Reluctant Rancher), were raised by their grandfather, Sam. But after Sam and Sawyer had a falling-out, Sawyer left home. Long estranged from his brother, too, he has a lot to make up for. And not only with his family.

Sawyer is also carrying a heavy load of guilt over another tragedy that happened far away. But coming home again can’t fix that, either. He’s in bad shape as a doctor and as a man, and Sawyer certainly doesn’t count on becoming a cowboy again—or meeting up with Olivia Wilson, the one true love of his life.

Divorced from Sawyer’s brother, Olivia is determined to be the best single mom she can be for their son, and the last thing she needs is to fall for Sawyer. He won’t stay long—just like before—and besides, they have a sad history.

I had a great time getting Sawyer and Olivia together, though it takes an unruly black colt to help get the job done. Ride ’em, cowboy!

I hope you enjoy Cowboy on Call. If you missed book one, The Reluctant Rancher, and/or Last Chance Cowboy, book two, they’re also available. And please visit my website, leighriker.com, where you can also sign up for my newsletter.

As always, happy reading!

Leigh

Cowboy on Call

Leigh Riker

www.millsandboon.co.uk

LEIGH RIKER, like so many dedicated readers, grew up with her nose in a book. This award-winning, USA TODAY bestselling author still can’t imagine a better way to spend her time than to curl up with a good romance novel—unless it’s to write one! She’s a member of the Authors Guild, Novelists, Inc., and Romance Writers of America. When not writing, she’s either out in the garden, indoors watching movies funny and sad, or traveling (for research purposes, of course). With added “help” from her mischievous cat, Daisy, she’s now working on a new novel. She loves to hear from readers. You can find Leigh on her website, leighriker.com, on Facebook at leighrikerauthorand on Twitter, @lbrwriter.

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For Don

Still my favorite cowboy...happily-ever-after.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

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

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

OLIVIA WATCHED HER ex-husband dance with his bride.

From the deep shadows along the driveway, in view of the ranch house where she’d once lived at the Circle H, she watched other people join the bride and groom and listened to the soft strains of the ballad the band was playing. And felt her eyes fill. She always cried at weddings, but this reception held special significance.

Overhead the stars twinkled like ornaments just for this summer night. Strung through the nearby cottonwood trees, fairy lights winked as if someone had matched the two displays, heaven and earth.

She wasn’t really part of this. Olivia had been invited to the wedding earlier that day, but as Logan’s former wife, it had seemed inappropriate to accept the invitation and she’d skipped the ceremony.

Carrying a large box wrapped in white with a silver bow, she stopped here and there to say hello to someone but didn’t linger. She planned to leave her gift—a quilt in the classic wedding ring design from her antiques shop—collect her seven-year-old son, who’d been his dad’s ring bearer, then go home.

What’s done is done.

Three years after her divorce, Olivia bore no hard feelings. The bride looked lovely in her lace-trimmed gown and Olivia already liked her. After all, she was Nick’s stepmother now, and Olivia’s little boy adored Blossom. Besides, Olivia had finally made her peace with Logan, her ex.

If she felt slightly left out tonight, that was her problem.

She’d had her turn and blown it. Olivia had always half expected her marriage to disintegrate as her parents’ had, and like some self-fulfilling prophecy, she now had the papers to prove it. Love clearly wasn’t her strong suit—except her maternal love for Nick. In that, she could be as fierce as a mother tiger, and Olivia intended to be the best single mom on the planet. On her own again, she worked hard to provide the emotional security for him—the stability—that she’d never known.

She could handle feeling invisible; she’d had a lifetime of experience at it.

Taking her gift toward the house, she spotted her brother in the crowd but didn’t get the chance to talk to him. Before she took another step, Olivia noticed yet another man crossing the lawn. And froze. At first, she thought he was Logan, that he’d changed from his khakis and navy blue blazer with the yellow pocket square to jeans with his white shirt. But it wasn’t Logan.