Beth Cornelison - Rancher's Deadly Reunion

The prodigal cowgirl returns home...and straight into danger

Introducing the McCall Adventure Ranch miniseries!

When Piper McCall heads home, she runs smack into ranch hand Brady Summers, the man she left behind. Years later, the sparks between them burn as brightly as ever, but dark secrets—like the identity of his orphaned nephew—linger. And when Piper’s life is threatened, neither she nor Brady will ever be the same again.

BETH CORNELISONbegan working in public relations before pursuing her love of writing romance. She has won numerous honors for her work, including a nomination for the RWA RITA® Award for The Christmas Stranger . She enjoys featuring her cats (or friends’ pets) in her stories and always has another book in the pipeline! She currently lives in Louisiana with her husband, one son and three spoiled cats. Contact her via her website, bethcornelison.com.

Also by Beth Cornelison

Cowboy Christmas Rescue

“Rescuing the Witness”

Rock-a-Bye Rescue

“Guarding Eve”

The Return of Connor Mansfield

Protecting Her Royal Baby

The Mansfield Rescue

Soldier’s Pregnancy Protocol

The Reunion Mission

Cowboy’s Texas Rescue

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Rancher’s Deadly Reunion

Beth Cornelison

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07941-9

RANCHER’S DEADLY REUNION

© 2018 Beth Cornelison

Published in Great Britain 2018

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.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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To Jeffery—you make me proud every day!

All my love, Mom.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Extract

About the Publisher

The loud, frantic pounding on the front door at 1:00 a.m. boded ill. Pam Summers belted her bathrobe around her and started for the door. Her husband followed at a slower, groggier pace, while their four-month-old yellow Lab gamboled around the foyer and barked excitedly. When Pam looked through the peephole and saw who was there, she gasped at the young man’s beleaguered appearance and snatched open the door.

“Brady? What are you doing here?” Pam studied her brother-in-law’s disheveled clothes, slumped shoulders and bloodshot eyes with concern. His showing up on their doorstep at this late hour was unusual enough to elicit worry, but his appearance as he stood on their stoop spiked her distress through the roof. She clutched the lapels of her terry-cloth robe closed near her throat. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

She heard her husband, Scott, walk up behind her, his slippers scuffing on the hardwood floor of the foyer. “Hey, little brother, what’s—Damn! You look like hell.”

“Can I come in?” Brady asked, his voice as rough as gravel.

Nerves jangling, Pam opened the door wider to let Brady into their Boyd Valley, Colorado, home. Kip, the puppy, ran out to the yard, while a warm, late-August breeze, redolent with the scents of cut grass and summer rain, followed Brady in. As for her brother-in-law, Brady reeked of beer and something harder.

“Is it Dad? Has something happened to Dad?” Scott asked as his brother staggered to the couch and dropped heavily onto the cushions.

“Nah, the old man’s fine.” Brady scrubbed a hand over his bleary face.

Scott frowned and wrinkled his nose. “You’ve been drinking. A lot by the looks and smell of it.”

“Yeah, so what?”

“So...getting drunk is Dad’s thing. I thought you knew better.” He paused a beat. “Did you drive here?”

Brady said nothing and kept his eyes down.

“Damn it, Brady!” Scott barked, “You’re not even legal yet. But driving while you’re drunk...that’s unacceptable. It’s stupid and dangerous!”

Brady squeezed his eyes tightly shut and held his head. “I know.”

Scott huffed his disgust. “You can sleep here tonight and go home tomorrow. Jeez, I thought you had more sense than to—”

“I asked Piper to marry me.” Brady’s announcement silenced Scott’s tirade.

Pam settled on the love seat positioned catty-corner to the couch where Brady had slumped, dazed-looking. Scott eased down beside her, placing a warm hand on her knee.

“I’m guessing from your demeanor that she turned you down,” Scott said.

“She’s leavin’. Goin’ to Boston for college. Didn’t wanna be tied down to a good-for-nothin’ ranch hand.”

Pam blinked her surprise. “She said that? She called you good-for-nothing ?”

“Didn’t have to. It’s kinda obvious. I mean, she’s smart. Got a full scholarship to that fancy school out east. All I do is shovel horseshit and rustle cattle.”

“Being a ranch hand doesn’t make you good-for-nothing, Brady,” Scott said. “This...feeling sorry for yourself bit isn’t like you. I know you really like Piper, but people leave for college all the time.”