B.J. Daniels - Wedding at Cardwell Ranch

JACKSON CARDWELL WON’T STOP UNTIL SHE IS SAFE.

In Montana for his brother’s nuptials, Jackson Cardwell isn’t looking to be anybody’s hero. But the Texas single father knows a beautiful lady in distress when he meets her. Someone’s hell-bent on making Allie Taylor think she’s losing her mind. Jackson’s determined to unmask the perp…and guard the widowed wedding planner and her little girl with his life.

Allie has no idea who wants to harm her and take her daughter away. The truth is even more shocking. For Allie’s past has stalked her to Cardwell Ranch. And not even the sexy cowboy who awakens irresistible passion may be able to save her from a killer with a chilling agenda.

The highly anticipated continuation of the Cardwell Ranch Collection, read by more than 2 MILLION!

“You can’t push me away.”

Jackson lifted her chin with his fingers so she couldn’t avoid his gaze. Their faces were only a few inches apart.

“What if I am crazy?” Allie’s voice broke. “Crazy like a fox?” The first of the fireworks exploded, showering down a glittering red, white and blue light on the meadow below them. The boom echoed in her chest as another exploded to the “oohs” and “ahhs” of the wedding party. She felt scalding tears burn her throat.

Jackson couldn’t bear to see Allie like this. He pulled her to him and, dropping his mouth to hers, kissed her. She leaned into him, letting him draw her even closer as the kiss deepened. Fireworks lit the night, booming in a blaze of glittering light before going dark again.

Desire ignited his blood. He wanted Allie like he’d never wanted anyone or anything before.

Wedding at Cardwell Ranch

B.J. Daniels

www.millsandboon.co.uk

New York Times bestselling author B.J. DANIELS wrote her first book after a career as an award-winning newspaper journalist and author of thirty-seven published short stories. That first book, Odd Man Out, received a fourand-a-half-star review from RT Book Reviews and went on to be nominated for Best Intrigue that year. Since then, she has won numerous awards, including a career achievement award for romantic suspense and many nominations and awards for best book.

Daniels lives in Montana with her husband, Parker, and two springer spaniels, Spot and Jem. When she isn’t writing, she snowboards, camps, boats and plays tennis. Daniels is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Kiss of Death and Romance Writers of America.

To contact her, write to B.J. Daniels, PO Box 1173, Malta, MT 59538, USA, or e-mail her at bjdaniels@mtintouch.net. Check out her website, www.bjdaniels.com.

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CAST OF CHARACTERS

Jackson Cardwell—The Texas cowboy only came to Montana with his son Ford to attend his brother Tag’s wedding, not to get involved with the wedding planner.

Allie Knight Taylor—The widowed wedding planner thought she was losing her mind—until she met the Texas cowboy and lost her heart.

Natalie Taylor—The five-year-old was worried about her mother, Allie. Did she have good reason to worry?

Belinda Andrews—The wedding photographer was Allie’s best friend. Or was she?

Megan Fairchild—Allie’s half sister only wanted what was best for her sister and niece, right?

Nick Taylor—While legally dead, he wasn’t forgotten, since he was still haunting his wife, Allie.

Drew Taylor—He wanted the woman his brother Nick had married. But was he willing to kill to have Allie?

Mildred Taylor—Everyone was afraid of the matriarch of the family and would do anything she asked. But how far would she go?

Sarah Taylor—To her mother’s disgust, she found solace in food and liked her life exactly as it was.

This is dedicated to my readers and my Facebook

friends who shared their “gaslighting” ideas and

proved that they think as creepy me.

If you haven’t already, come say hello on my author

Facebook page at

www.facebook.com/pages/BJ-Daniels/127936587217837.

Thanks for stopping by Cardwell Ranch!

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

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Epilogue

Extract

Chapter One

Allison Taylor brushed back a lock of her hair and willed herself not to scream.

“Is something wrong?” her brother-in-law asked from the kitchen doorway, startling her and making her jump.

She dropped the heavy covered pot she’d taken from the pantry a little too hard onto the counter. The lid shifted, but not enough that she could see inside.

“Didn’t mean to scare you,” Drew Taylor said with a laugh as he lounged against the kitchen door frame. “I was cravin’ some of your famous chili, but I think maybe we should go out.”

“I just need a minute. If you could see to Natalie...”

“She’s still asleep. I just checked.” Drew studied her for a long moment. Like his brother, he had russet-brown hair and dark brown eyes and classic good looks. His mother had assured both of her sons that they were wonderful. Fortunately Drew had taken it with a grain of salt—unlike his brother Nick.

“Are you okay, Allie? I’ve been so worried about you since Nick...”

“I’m fine.” She didn’t want to talk about her presumed-dead husband. She really just wanted her brother-in-law to go into the other room and leave her alone for a moment.

Drew had been a godsend. She didn’t know what she would have done without him, she thought as she pulled a band from her jeans pocket and secured her long, blond hair in a single tail at the back of her head.

When she’d mentioned how nice his brother was to Nick shortly after they married, he’d scoffed.

“Just be glad he likes you. He’s about the only one in my family,” he had added with a laugh.

“Why don’t you let me help you with that,” Drew said now as he took a step toward her. He frowned as his gaze went to the pot and the pile of ingredients she’d already stacked up on the counter. The chili pot was the last thing she’d brought into the kitchen from the porch of the small cabin. “You kept the pot?”

So his mother had told him about the incident.

He must think I’m losing my mind just like his mother and sister do.

The worst part was she feared they were right.

Allie looked down at the heavy cast-iron pot with its equally heavy cast-iron lid. Her hand trembled as she reached for the handle. The memory of the last time she’d lifted that lid—and what she’d found inside—sent a shudder through her.

The covered cast-iron casserole pot, enameled white inside and the color of fresh blood on the outside, had been a wedding present from her in-laws.

“She does know how to cook, doesn’t she?” her mother-in-law, Mildred, had asked all those years ago as if Allie hadn’t been standing there. Mildred was a twig-thin woman who took pride in these things: her petite, slim, fifty-eight-year-old body, her sons and her standing in the community. Her daughter, Sarah, was just the opposite of her mother, overweight and dumpy by comparison. And Mildred was always making that comparison to anyone who would listen, including Sarah.