Ruth Herne - A Cowboy In Shepherd's Crossing

From bachelor to daddy...

Shepherd’s Crossing is full of surprises

Cowboy bachelor Jace Middleton was ready to leave Shepherd’s Crossing for good—until he learns his family’s unspoken secrets. Now Jace finds himself not only caring for his twin baby nieces, but working with beautiful, strong-willed designer Melonie Fitzgerald to renovate his grandmother’s run-down estate. Love wasn’t part of the plan...but Jace soon finds himself wishing Melonie could become part of his unexpected family.

Multipublished bestselling author RUTH LOGAN HERNEloves God, her country, her family, dogs, chocolate and coffee! Married to a very patient man, she lives in an old farmhouse in upstate New York and thinks possums should leave the cat food alone and snakes should always live outside. There are no exceptions to either rule! Visit Ruth at ruthloganherne.com.

Also by Ruth Logan Herne

Shepherd’s Crossing

Her Cowboy Reunion

A Cowboy in Shepherd’s Crossing

Grace Haven

An Unexpected Groom

Her Unexpected Family

Their Surprise Daddy

The Lawman’s Yuletide Baby

Her Secret Daughter

Kirkwood Lake

The Lawman’s Second Chance

Falling for the Lawman

The Lawman’s Holiday Wish

Loving the Lawman

Her Holiday Family

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

A Cowboy in Shepherd’s Crossing

Ruth Logan Herne

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09043-8

A COWBOY IN SHEPHERD’S CROSSING

© 2018 Ruth M. Blodgett

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.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

“If a man isn’t smart enough to love you for yourself, who needs him?”

It sounded so right coming from Jace. “So we’re the walking wounded?” Melonie asked.

“My scars are healed, but I am most assuredly gun-shy,” he said firmly. “Besides, we’ve been busy enough the past couple of years that it didn’t much matter.” He stood and rolled his shoulders, and she tried to pretend he didn’t look absolutely amazing when he did it. “Now with kids to raise, my focus needs to be on them.”

“Agreed.” She stood, too.

He stayed right there, looking at her.

She looked right back.

“So why is my focus longing to shift, Melonie?” Jace whispered the words, gazing at her. Into her eyes.

Was his heart slow-tripping like hers? Were his palms growing damp?

Stop this. You know better. You know your plans. You’re leaving as soon as you’ve secured your inheritance. His life is here. Yours isn’t. And there are two baby girls to consider...

Dear Reader,

Life has a way of handing us curves, doesn’t it? Sometimes we see them coming and we dodge left, then right. And yet they still come!

Sometimes we’re caught unaware, and we’re faced with life changes we didn’t expect and maybe didn’t want.

But faith is our rock. Faith is our solidity, it’s the binding force that lets us face those challenges head-on to make a difference.

Melonie knew what she wanted. She’d felt unloved and often unworthy to be loved, even when she knew it wasn’t true. Taking a sharp right turn toward Idaho wasn’t in her plans, but isn’t it funny what God holds in store for us?

Jace was facing a future he didn’t want. He’d lost his parents, had no work, and his sister was finding her own life, and he could do nothing to stop the changes.

But when old sorrows intervened, a whole new path sprang open.

Sometimes our deepest regrets spawn unexpected opportunities.

I hope you loved this wonderful story, set in the gorgeous hills and valleys of western Idaho, a place that drew men and women courageous enough to settle a land that can be harsh yet amazingly giving.

I hope to hear from you! Email me at loganherne@gmail.com, friend me on Facebook, where I love to play and pray and talk farm stuff with you, or stop by my website, ruthloganherne.com, and check out what’s going on in books or at the pumpkin farm!

And may the sweet Lord bless and keep you, not just today but in all days!

With love,

Ruthy

Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.

—Luke 6:37

This book is dedicated to Christina,

a wonderful young woman who won my heart

from the very beginning... Thank you

for becoming a true “overcomer.” Your story

is the kind of thing that inspires others

to do their best. To try harder. To never give up.

I love you, kid.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

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

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

The last thing Jace Middleton wanted was to leave the place he loved so well. The place he knew, the town he’d called home for nearly thirty years and the land that beckoned him like a cow calls a calf. But the town had fallen on hard times, and the choices he wanted no longer existed in Shepherd’s Crossing.

He ran one hand across the nape of his neck as he studied the family farmhouse that had been passed down for three generations. Three generations that ended with him.

He shoved emotions aside and studied the old house from a builder’s perspective. The faded gray house lacked...everything.

Not the essentials. The modest one-and-a-half-story home was solidly built, and the mid-twentieth-century addition nearly doubled the first-floor living space, but there was nothing about this house that tempted folks to make an offer anywhere near his asking price. The way Jace saw things playing out, he would be left with two choices.