Charlotte Carter - Montana Wrangler

Big Sky Vs. Big City

With a high-flying career in the big city, Paige Barclay rarely finds her way back to the homestead in Bear Lake, Montana. But then a terrible accident leaves Paige in charge of her orphaned nephew. She’s prepared to take Bryan back to Seattle, far from the home he loves. Wrangler Jay Red Elk loves Bryan like a son and knows the boy belongs in Montana. He won’t let Bryan go without a fight. But as Paige grows closer to the handsome, determined cowboy, she begins to wonder whether she, too, belongs here—in Bear Lake by Jay’s side.

“Krissy wanted you to raise him, child. Raise him like he

was your own,” Grandpa said.

Paige’s mouth opened. Not a sound came out. She’d been named Bryan’s guardian?

Why in the world—

She’d always assumed Grandpa would be there if anything—

She couldn’t possibly—

Looking to the other end of the table, she realized Jay and Bryan were as shocked as she was. Mouths gaped open. Both of them struck dumb.

As if the words Grandpa had spoken had finally registered, Bryan’s eyes widened. His face turned red. He leaped to his feet.

“I don’t want her to be my guardian!” he screamed. “I want my mom!” Knocking over his chair, Bryan raced from the room and out the back door.

Stunned, Paige sent up a heartfelt prayer. Please, Lord, what am I supposed to do now?

CHARLOTTE CARTER

A multipublished author of more than fifty romances, cozy mysteries and inspirational titles, Charlotte Carter lives in Southern California with her husband of forty-nine years and their cat, Mittens. They have two married daughters and five grandchildren. When she’s not writing, Charlotte does a little stand-up comedy, “G-Rated Humor for Grown-ups,” and teaches workshops on the craft of writing.

Montana Wrangler

Charlotte Carter

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

—Proverbs 3:5–6

I want to express my appreciation

to the readers on the Harlequin Forums

who helped me to “grow” Bear Lake, Montana, with their creative ideas: Loves 2 Read Romance, who suggested Loves 2 Read Romance Bookshop

& Bakery, and Valri, who envisioned the

chatty postmistress in town.

Special thanks to my editor, Emily Rodmell,

who makes me write better books.

Contents

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

Epilogue

Dear Reader

Questions for Discussion

Chapter One

Tears blurred Paige Barclay’s vision as she stood on the wide plank porch of her grandpa Henry’s house in the high country of western Montana not far from Glacier National Park.

She hadn’t cried at her sister’s funeral that morning. Their mother had always said crying was a waste of time and energy. Now, alone with her thoughts and her sense of guilt and regret, Paige’s tears were hard to hold back.

Paige eyed the horses shifting around in the nearby corral—her grandfather’s stable of horses used in his Bear Lake Outfitters operation. Their tails flashed as they flicked flies away. They stomped their feet. Occasionally they snorted or tossed their heads from side to side as though warning Paige to keep her distance.

Even from several hundred feet, she caught the earthy animal scent, which almost overwhelmed the more pleasant perfume of pine trees.

She wrinkled her nose. Did everyone in Montana have to own a horse?

She’d been terrified of horses almost as long as she could remember. Their size. Their big teeth. And that she’d been dumped from the saddle when she was five years old. A memory she couldn’t forget and one that still gave her nightmares. A broken leg. Pain. Surgery that left a scar she could still see.

Her mother upset and angry because she had to stay home to take care of Paige instead of working at the family’s hardware store.

Everything about Bear Lake and the outfitting business was entirely different from Paige’s life and her career in Seattle. In the same way, Paige and her younger sister Krissy had had little in common.

Krissy had loved horses, loved riding them, the faster the better. Four days ago, not far from here, riding a horse too fast, jumping the horse too far, had killed Krissy.

Growing up, everyone had said Krissy was the pretty sister. The fun-loving sister. Paige was the good sister. The plain sister.

Being pretty hadn’t done Krissy much good.

“My sister shouldn’t have died so young,” she said aloud, as though accusing the horses in the corral.

“If she hadn’t been riding so recklessly,” a smooth baritone voice announced, “Krissy wouldn’t have died, and I wouldn’t have had to put a good horse down.”

Thinking that she’d been alone, she started. Turning, she discovered Jay Red Elk had walked silently up onto the porch and was now looming over her. Considering she was a good five foot seven or eight, depending on which pair of high heels she wore, that was quite a feat.

Of course, her grandfather’s wrangler and trail guide stood well over six feet. His unreadable expression and more than a hint of his Blackfoot heritage in his chiseled cheekbones made him an intimidating figure. Not that she had any intention of backing down to him.

She realized during her occasional visits to Montana in the past few years she hadn’t paid much attention to Jay and had purposefully kept her distance from him and his horses. Mostly his horses, she realized.

Now she took a closer look at his hard, potently masculine physique, his closed expression and felt a shiver of awareness scurry down her spine.

“Krissy was reckless from the day she was born,” Paige admitted, her throat tight with the tears she hadn’t shed. The wildness and rebellion ingrained in Krissy’s personality had culminated in her pregnancy at age fifteen. Their parents had sent her here to live with their grandparents and to raise her son, Bryan. Apparently the change of scenery hadn’t tamed her spirit.

Jay rested his lean hips on the rustic porch railing and folded his arms across his broad chest. “She didn’t respect her horse or the land that is God’s gift to us. Perhaps if she had lived longer, she might have grown more wise.”

Shaking her head, Paige wasn’t at all sure age would have changed her sister. She was surprised, however, to hear the depth of caring in Jay’s voice. Perhaps living so close to the land, guiding others through the nearby wilderness areas, had given him a respect for both his horses and the rest of the Lord’s creations. She could admire that in a man.

“There were quite a few people at the funeral this morning. She must have had a lot of friends.” Paige, who often found herself in her sister’s shadow, had envied Krissy her popularity, but not the arguments and fights she perpetually had with their parents. Those battles had sent Paige fleeing to the safety of her room to hide behind a closed door.