Stella Bagwell - The Heiress and the Sheriff

THE TEXAS TATTLER

All the news that’s barely fit to print!

Police Scour Sperm Bank Records

For Mother of Mystery Fortune Heir

A Red Rock “scandal avalanche” hit Texas last month when the results of a DNA test declared millionaire family man Dr. Matthew Fortune the father of a child abandoned and left in the care of his own famous ranching clan. Insider sources confirm that he and wife Claudia have separated.

Amidst the rubble of his marriage, Matthew holds firm to his assertion of marital fidelity and offers only his donation to a California sperm bank while in medical school as possible explanation. Records of sperm bank pregnancies have so far failed to provide a possible mother for the child, Taylor Fortune.

Also on the Fortune front…Ryan Fortune’s money-hungry, estranged wife, Sophia, was spotted in a heated lovers’ quarrel in the very public lobby of the Palace Lights Hotel…but not with her hubby. Looks like Ryan just stumbled upon some fuel for that inferno they’re calling a divorce.

Speaking of fire…the red-hot combustion between fearless man-in-blue Sheriff Wyatt Grayhawk and new-beauty-in-town Gabrielle Carter is sending smoke signals swirling around Red Rock. Too bad the only thing Gabrielle can remember is her name—but everyone’s calling her Grayhawk’s Lady!

About the Author

STELLA BAGWELL

sold her first book to Silhouette in November 1985. More than fifty novels later, she still loves her job and says she isn’t completely content unless she’s writing. Recently, she and her husband of thirty years moved from the hills of Oklahoma to Seadrift, Texas, a sleepy little fishing town located on the coastal bend. Stella says the water, the tropical climate and the seabirds make it a lovely place to let her imagination soar and to put the stories in her head down on paper.

She and her husband have one son, Jason, who lives and teaches high school math in nearby Port Lavaca.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Meet the Fortunes of Texas

Wyatt Grayhawk: The rugged sheriff didn’t trust strangers, especially the young lady who claimed to have no memory and found a haven on the Fortune ranch. But would Wyatt’s mission to uncover Gabrielle’s past be sidetracked by the allure of the mysterious beauty?

Gabrielle Carter: She didn’t know who she was or why she had come to Texas. Although she knew she shouldn’t fall for a man who doubted her intentions, she couldn’t deny the longings of her heart.

Clint Lockhart: He had a lifelong obsession for revenge on the Fortunes and he’d do whatever it took to get a piece of their family empire.

Hannah Cassidy: When Ryan Fortune proposed to Hannah’s mother, Lily, this daughter-of-the-bride decided to plan the perfect Texas wedding. Little did Hannah know that she would soon be meeting the groom of her dreams….

To my family, and all our unforgettable trips to Texas.

There have been many, and hopefully there will be many more.

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

Gabrielle Carter gripped the steering wheel, certain the next bend in the road would bring her in view of the Double Crown Ranch. But the curve only opened up to more gentle rolling pastures shaded with huge oaks and dotted with fat, sleek cattle.

She’d never been to Texas. The massive size of the state had surprised her—along with the heat. When she’d stopped earlier in San Antonio for gas, the humidity had been oppressive. Her blouse was still glued to her back, and she didn’t have to look in a mirror to know her hair was hanging in limp strands on her shoulders.

She probably should have stayed in San Antonio long enough to rent a room and freshen up before she presented herself at the Fortune family ranch. But she’d already been traveling for nearly four days. Now that her destination was so close she was determined to drive on.

Sweat slicked her palms and her mouth was so dry she could hardly swallow, but Gabrielle knew neither condition was caused by the heat outside the closed windows of her car. She was nervous. Desperately nervous. And as the rental car traveled deeper into the countryside, her mother’s words of warning continued to roll through her mind.

I forbid you to go there, Gabrielle! Those people—that family—they’re not what you think. They’re nothing to you! You’re only going to get yourself into a lot of trouble. And when you do, don’t expect me to come after you!

Gabrielle’s sigh was drowned out by the twangs of country music on the radio. Maybe the Fortunes were nothing to her, she mused. After all, she was a total stranger who lived more than a thousand miles away. Showing up on their doorstep unannounced was probably going to look strange.

Peculiar-looking or not, though, she had to take that chance. Gabrielle tried to swallow the growing lump in her throat.

The road made another slight bend around a group of ancient oaks, and her heart suddenly raced with anticipation. In the far distance she could see a group of buildings. It had to be the Double Crown Ranch. At last! Eagerly she leaned forward and pressed harder on the accelerator. Who was she finally going to meet? What would she say—?

The questions in her head roared to an abrupt halt. A black horse suddenly galloped out of the trees. It wore a saddle, but there was no rider to guide its crazy trek.

Oh, Lord, it was headed straight at her car!

A scream ripped from her throat. She stomped the brake pedal and jerked the steering wheel. Instantly the car spun into a wild skid, and broken images whirled in her vision. The black horse, the green grass and trees, the blue sky all blurred together like an abstract painting.

Frantically she twisted the wheel, any second expecting to hear the sickening thud of metal against animal flesh. Miraculously, the car managed to miss the startled horse. But Gabrielle could see the massive tree coming straight at her, and too late she remembered she’d not buckled her seat belt. The impact came before she had time to brace herself. She felt her whole body being pitched forward, and then something hard slammed against her forehead.