Linda Miller - McKettrick's Pride

A classic tale of cowboys staking claim to their land—and the women they love…

The only wide-open space Rance McKettrick wants to see in his future is his hometown in his rearview mirror. The down-to-earth ex-rancher is determined to make a fresh start with his two young daughters—and leave his heartbreaking loss and family’s corporation far behind. He sure doesn’t need Indian Rock’s free-spirited new bookstore owner, Echo Wells, confusing his choices…and raising memories he’d rather forget. But her straightforward honesty and reluctance to trust is challenging everything Rance thought he knew about himself. And when their irresistible attraction puts their hearts on the line, Rance and Echo must come to grips with who they really are in order to find a once-in-a-lifetime happiness.

Praise for the novels of #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Linda Lael Miller

“Linda Lael Miller creates vibrant characters and stories I defy you to forget.”

—#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber

“Miller’s masterful ability to create living, breathing characters never flags, even in the case of Echo’s dog, Avalon; combined with a taut story line and vivid prose, Miller’s romance won’t disappoint.”

—Publishers Weekly, starred review, on McKettrick’s Pride

“With sizzling, fairy-tale romance, tender tears, and a bit of magic, the pages of this book turn swiftly and leave us feeling a special joy mixed with sadness that we have to close the book at the end. McKettrick’s Pride is a Perfect 10 and a keeper!”

—Romance Reviews Today

“Once again, Miller has created a wonderful dynamic between two very different characters.”

—Armchairinterviews.com on McKettrick’s Pride

“The book incorporates humor with a nice caring look into family and getting over the past. It has its hot spots for sure, romance too, and makes you smile all the way through.”

—Bookloons.com on The Creed Legacy

“If you like cowboys, romance, and great adventure, then you’ll love Linda Lael Miller’s work!”

—Sharon Galligar Chance, Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews, on Creed’s Honor

“Bestselling author Linda Lael Miller delivers another Creed generation of hot, handsome men with hearts of gold in her new Creed trilogy…. No one can resist a rugged cowboy, and Linda Lael Miller is a brilliant genius when it comes to creating irresistible Westerners.”

—Single Titles on A Creed in Stone Creek

McKettrick’s Pride

Linda Lael Miller

www.millsandboon.co.uk

My Dear Readers,

First I brought you back to the Triple M ranch with Jesse McKettrick and Cheyenne in McKettrick’s Luck. Now, in McKettrick’s Pride, let’s go back and revisit Rance McKettrick and the mysterious new bookstore owner, Echo Wells. If ever there were two people who weren’t meant for each other…

Rance is stubborn, handsome, practical and every bit as proud as his ancestor Rafe McKettrick. A widower with two small daughters and a consuming interest in the family conglomerate, McKettrickCo, Rance is all business. Echo, on the other hand, is a dreamer, with a heart as big as Arizona itself. She rescues a stray dog, drives a hot-pink Volkswagen and secretly runs an online love-spell business. Folks around Indian Rock start feeling the heat right away!

And speaking of feeling the heat, you won’t want to miss out on the final tale featuring these McKettrick men. Be sure to look for Keegan and Molly’s story, McKettrick’s Heart, from HQN Books in May!

With love,

To Sally and Jim Lang, with love

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

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

THE DOG, FUR SOAKED, MATTED and muddy, sat forlornly on the rain-slicked pavement, next to Echo Wells’s custom-painted hot-pink Volkswagen bug. Echo, rushing from the truck-stop restaurant with the remains of her supper in a take-out box, in hopes of not getting too wet before she reached her car, stopped cold.

“I do not need a dog,” she told the universe, tilting back her head and letting the drizzle wash away the last tired traces of her makeup.

The dog whimpered. It was a large creature, of indeterminate color and breed. A slight indentation around its neck revealed that it had once worn a collar, and its ribs showed. One forepaw bore the brownish stain of old blood.

“Oh, hell,” Echo said. She glanced around the parking lot, empty except for a few semitrucks and an ancient RV, but there was no one in sight, no one conveniently searching for a missing pet.

The dog had obviously been on its own for days, if not weeks—or even months.

Just imagining the loneliness, fear and deprivation the poor thing must have experienced made Echo shudder and opened a gaping chasm of sympathy within her.

The canine wayfarer had either been dropped off—there was a special place in hell, in Echo’s opinion, for people who abandoned helpless animals—or it had gotten away somehow, while its owners were gassing up at the pumps or inside the restaurant having a meal.

“I just had this car detailed,” Echo told the dog. The bug was her only vanity, a reckless indulgence with psychological implications she didn’t care to examine too closely.

The animal whimpered again, and looked up at her with such sad hope in its soulful brown eyes that Echo’s heart melted all over again.

Resigned, she rounded the car and opened the passenger door with one hand, balancing the take-out box in the other. The dog slunk along with her, half crouched, limping a little.

“Go ahead,” she said gently. “Get in.”

The dog hesitated, then made the leap into the seat—mud, rainwater and all.

Echo sighed, opened the take-out box and stood in the rain, hand-feeding the animal the last of her meat loaf special. So much for staying within her travel budget by stretching every meal into at least two more.

Ravenous, the poor critter gulped down its supper and looked up at Echo with such pathetic gratitude that tears came into her eyes.

“Don’t worry,” she said, to herself as much as the dog. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

She closed the car door, let the rain wash her hands clean, holding them out palms up as if in supplication, and rubbed them semidry on her ancient tan Burberry coat before settling behind the wheel once more.

The dog, dripping onto Echo’s formerly clean leather seat, eyed her with weary adoration.

Echo started the car, and the combination of wet dog and her own soggy raincoat instantly fogged up the windows.

“This is Arizona,” she complained to her new traveling companion. “It’s supposed to be dry.”

The dog sighed, as if to concur that nothing was as it should be.

“You really are wet,” Echo remarked matter-of-factly. She switched on the defroster, pulled the lever to open the trunk and braved the elements again to get out the quilt she’d carried around with her since childhood. After bundling the dog, she peeled off her raincoat and tossed it over the seat before getting back in the car and buckling up.

Cocooned in faded colors, the dog sighed again, lay down as best it could given the disparity between its size and that of the seat, and was snoring by the time Echo pulled out onto Highway 10.