Linda Ford - Winning Over the Wrangler

A Cowboy without a Name

The only thing Brand Duggan’s outlaw kin ever gave him was an undeserved reputation. Once he’s through breaking horses, he’ll leave Eden Valley. Staying means risk—and heartache. And he has no business falling for a refined English miss like Sybil Bannerman.

The rugged cowboy who rescues her from a stampede is just the kind of man Sybil Bannerman’s editor wants her to write about. Yet she has no idea how big a secret Brand Duggan carries, until her life is threatened. Despite the evidence against him, Sybil can’t walk away—for the man who lassoed her heart is the one she’ll love forever….

Cowboys of Eden Valley: Forging a future in Canada’s west country

“Brand, who are you?”

The words sprang forth unbidden but Sybil ached to know.

He grunted, and any welcome she might have imagined in his eyes disappeared into a stone-hard look. “Exactly what you see. A cowboy with a horse and a dog.”

“But you must have a name besides Brand. You must be more than that.”

His eyes grew harder, colder, if that were possible, and she shivered.

He might have well said, “Goodbye, this conversation is over.”

She had enough for her story.

He was known only as Cowboy. He never did give a last name before he rode into the sunset. He didn’t welcome any questions about his true identity. But he was the best bronc buster in the territory. A reputation well earned.

It began when he was ten…

But she wasn’t satisfied.

She wanted to know what caused the pain she had glimpsed before he pulled his hat lower.

LINDA FORD

lives on a ranch in Alberta, Canada. Growing up on the prairie and learning to notice the small details it hides gave her an appreciation for watching God at work in His creation. Her upbringing also included being taught to trust God in everything and through everything—a theme that resonates in her stories. Threads of another part of her life are found in her stories—her concern for children and their future. She and her husband raised fourteen children—four homemade, ten adopted. She currently shares her home and life with her husband, a grown son, a live-in paraplegic client and a continual (and welcome) stream of kids, kids-in-law, grandkids and assorted friends and relatives.

Winning Over the Wrangler

Linda Ford

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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The Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden.

—Isaiah 58:11

Prejudice comes in many forms. It can be against the color of your skin, your heritage or, as it is in this story, your family reputation. Although I will name no names, this book is dedicated to those of my children who deal with prejudice. May you find grace and strength in those kinds of situations, and may you know the assurance of both God’s love and the love of your family.

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

Dear Reader

Questions for Discussion

Excerpt

Chapter One

Eden Valley Ranch, September 1882

Stampede!

Brand knew what was happening before it took place. He saw the horses press against the corral gate, frightened by something beyond his vision. It could have been anything from a stalking cougar to a tumbling tumbleweed. Wouldn’t take much to alarm a bunch of wild mustangs. Wood creaked. The gate wouldn’t hold under the pressure of frightened horses.

Brand’s fists tightened so hard on the reins his knuckles cracked. His heart squeezed his blood out in a flash flood.

He would shout a warning to those along the fence, tell them to stand back. But he barely had control of the horse under him, which until a few minutes ago had never been ridden.

The gate snapped. The horses reared and screamed and pushed at each other, as frightened by the noise of the breaking fence as they had been by being confined. Brand held his mount with a firm hand. The horse was not ready to ride in tight quarters, but from the first, he’d sensed a willingness in it that was absent in many of the others he’d worked with. With no choice but to trust himself and the others to the green horse, he rode in the direction of the escaped animals. He had to turn them away from the people, get them back into the pen before anyone got hurt.

He saw a little boy and one of the women who had been watching. They stood only a few feet from the kicking, screaming, twisting animals surging in their direction. Choking dust clouded the scene.

He kicked his mount, raced for a gate, slipped it open with lightning speed and galloped toward them.

The stampeding horses were ahead of him. Before them, the boy scampered toward a fence and rolled under it. But the woman stood frozen, her mouth hanging open. Brand couldn’t tell if she screamed, couldn’t have heard it in the uproar if she did.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the movement of other cowboys racing for their own horses. No one else was close enough to rescue her. Brand leaned over the horse’s neck and urged him onward, closing the distance between them and the woman.

Ten more feet. He dared not look to the right or the left. All that mattered was that frightened woman.

Five feet.

One more leap of his horse and Brand reached her side. He leaned down and swept her into his arms, clutching her to his chest as they raced onward, out of the way of danger as pounding hooves thundered past and dust-laden air swirled.

He slowed, grateful the horse cooperated. “You’re okay now. You’re safe.” He pressed her trembling body closer.

He’d noticed her earlier as she stood by another woman, watching him at work. How could he not keep stealing glances at her? She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, with her golden curls flashing in the sunshine. He could describe everything about her in detail...the autumn-gold top she wore, the brown skirt that swung about her legs as she moved. The way she walked, as if life held nothing but promise for her. The way she smiled so sweetly at others.

It had taken all his concentration not to be distracted by her presence. It was his single-minded attentiveness that gave him his reputation as the best bronc buster in the West, and he wasn’t about to lose it.

And now she rested in his arms, holding his shirtfront as if it was a lifeline, and lifted her gaze to him. His world tipped at the way her cobalt-blue eyes caught his in a pleading look. How was he supposed to keep his mind off her in this situation?

Cowboys turned the herd of wild horses back to the corral amid more dust and more shouting.

“You’re safe,” he murmured again, as fierce protectiveness filled his insides. He wanted to promise both himself and her that he’d make sure she was always safe.

Then his world righted and reason returned. He could never make such a promise. In fact, he carried more risk than any woman deserved, and certainly more than he meant to give one. He warned himself to stay away from her before he brought danger into her life.