Wanted: handyman to tear down building, remove debris.
Without a second thought Jason pulled the advertisement off the board, crumpled it up and jammed it into his pocket.
CHAPTER THREE Contents COVER BACK COVER TEXT Nothing can make her stay—not even Jason Allie Brody decided long ago to leave the Lightning Creek Ranch in the past. She’s lost too much there to want to call it home again. And coming back to help while her sister’s away won’t change her mind, either. Even if Jason Hudson makes her temporary visit more…palatable. As long as she sticks to short-term with the former pro-football player, what’s the harm in their attraction? It turns out everything is wrong with it. Helping each other only fogs Allie’s plans for a no-strings fling. Sure, Jason signed up to help Allie rebuild her broken ranch—but he’s determined to repair her heart, too. That’s not on her agenda. INTRODUCTION Welcome to Lightning Creek Ranch, nestled in the foothills of Montana’s majestic Bitterroot Mountains, home to the strong-willed Brody family. Life isn’t always easy on the Lightning Creek, but challenges are nothing new to the men and women who live and work here. And there’s something about the ranch, something in the beauty and solitude that works a kind of magic on those in need of a second shot at life... Dear Reader TITLE PAGE To Court a Cowgirl Jeannie Watt www.millsandboon.co.uk ABOUT THE AUTHOR JEANNIE WATT lives in Montana’s beautiful Madison Valley, where she and her husband help manage the family cattle ranch. When she’s not writing, Jeannie enjoys sewing, shopping for vintage patterns, reading and making mosaic mirrors. To find out more about Jeannie and her books, please visit her website at jeanniewatt.com . 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 COPYRIGHT
ALLIE COULDN’T PUSH the feed-store face-off with Jason Hudson out of her brain, even though she gave it a mighty try. She was not normally confrontational. She left that for Dani and Jolie. She was more of the peacemaker, a retreat-into-the-background kind of person. But today she’d been part of a spectacle in the ranch store. Like it or not, Jason triggered her temper. And she had to face that sad fact that she did harbor resentment against the guy. Why? Because his family was wealthy? Because he’d gotten what she wanted? Because he’d tried to buy the ranch by nonchalantly walking up to her door with more cash at his disposal than she’d ever seen?
The phone rang as she finished washing her few dishes and she practically pounced on it when she saw Mel’s number on the display. Her second sister and her husband lived on a remote New Mexico ranch and rarely called unless they were in town, where they got decent phone reception.
“Hey,” she said without waiting for a hello. “Back in civilization?”
“Hi, Allie.”
She sat up straighter at the sound of her brother-in-law KC’s voice. “What’s wrong?”
“Mel. She’s okay, but she had a bad run-in with a mama cow. Put her over the fence and she broke an ankle, bruised her ribs when she fell on the other side.”
“Oh, my gosh.” Allie pressed a hand to her chest.
“Damned Charolais,” KC muttered. “I told my boss we needed to let a few of these meaner cows go. Maybe he’ll listen to me now.”
“When can I talk to Mel?”
“I’ll have her call you later. She’s a little loopy on the pain meds right now and worried about not doing her part during calving.”
“But she’s okay?” Allie asked, needing to hear it one more time.
“She’s fine.” But she could hear the stress in KC’s voice. “But that’s the last time she’s checking the cows alone.”
“I’ll add my voice to yours,” Allie said. Even though she was going to do exactly the same thing tonight and every other night for the next several weeks until all of the Lightning Creek calves hit the ground. Their cows were Angus, and all pretty mellow, but a cow with a calf was unpredictable.
“What about you?” he asked, keying into her thoughts. “Do you have any help?”
“I’ll call the vet if there’s any problems.” Even though it was expensive. Living alone, she couldn’t risk being hurt. “Promise,” she said when nothing but silence met her statement.
“All right then,” KC said gruffly.
She hung up the phone after a few more minutes of conversation and then rubbed her forehead. Mel was good with cattle, but things like this happened on ranches and considering her luck on the Lightning Creek...no, she wasn’t going to consider that.
Mel called a few hours later, explained to Allie how the accident had been a fluke. She’d expected the cow to charge her, had actually planned to go over the fence, but had caught her boot on the way over and fell end-over-teakettle, landing on a pile of irrigation pipe.
“I need to get less cumbersome boots,” Mel explained.
“Right.” But Allie smiled, glad that her sister sounded as if she were in good spirits.
“And KC said you promised to call the vet if any calves need to be pulled.”
“I will.”
“There’s a reason there’s a ranch fund, you know.”
And she and Kyle were the reason that the ranch fund was so low. “Speaking of which, we had a windstorm...” Allie went on about the storm, wondering why it was that when her sisters were there, the fund grew slowly but surely, and when she was there, it shrank. It was starting to give her a complex.
“Keep me posted,” Mel said, sounding as if she were glad to have something to think about other than her ankle, which was going to keep her in the house for a lot longer than she wanted. “How’s the job?”
Not what she expected. “Let’s just say teaching high school art and managing an elementary library are worlds apart,” she said dryly. She was a little surprised by the fact that she didn’t feel more satisfaction at the end of the day. She enjoyed the kids and the staff, but when she walked out the door, she felt as if she needed...more.
“Hang in there,” Mel said.
“Will do. Get some rest,” Allie said. “And let me know when you leave for the ranch.”
* * *
JASON SPENT THREE days driving around with Ray Largent, looking at properties with acreage, before finding eighty acres butted up against Forest Service land on one side and a giant ranch on the other. It was close to what he’d been looking for, only a fifteen-minute drive from his dad’s house, yet it gave him privacy. Granted, it was smaller than he wanted, and overpriced, but at least it was one option to consider. Ray encouraged him to make an offer soon, but Jason had done his homework and knew that the property had been on the market for close to a year. Odds were that he didn’t need to make a snap decision.
He headed home to what was supposed to be an empty house, since Kate had agreed to take their father to his weekly checkup, only to find an unfamiliar Lexus parked in the front yard. A moment later Jimmy got out and Jason swallowed a groan. Jimmy’s name had not come up for a couple of days and Jason was beginning to hope the matter was closed.
“Hey, JD!” His uncle clapped him on the shoulder.
“Jim.” Jason clapped him back, then put up his hands in a defensive stance when his uncle threw a couple of fake jabs at him. “It’s been a while,” he said when his uncle finally quit punching.
“Sure has. Wish we could have seen you here at home more often, but I know how it is.”
“Want to come in for a beer?” Jason asked. He’d always liked his uncle, but he also saw him exactly for what he was. An opportunist. Jimmy had made a lot of money being an opportunist, on top of what he’d inherited, but according to Kate he had invested poorly and lately had seen diminishing returns. But he hadn’t yet stopped living the high life.
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