Carolyne Aarsen - Second-Chance Cowboy

Rancher Daddy

Morgan Walsh will do just about anything to connect with the son who continues to keep him at arm’s length. Even ask a favor of ex-fiancée Tabitha Rennie. And what young Nathan desperately wants is for Tabitha to train his late mother’s horse. But Tabitha is also determined to keep her distance. As soon as she’s paid off her father’s debts, she’ll leave town and the painful memories of the real reason she abruptly left Morgan all those years ago. Yet spending time with Morgan and his son is sparking dreams she can’t deny: of family, fresh starts and first loves that last a lifetime.

Tabitha laid a gentle hand on Morgan’s shoulder.

It was only supposed to be a show of comfort. But then he looked over at her, and as his eyes met hers, a quiver of attraction grew deep in her soul.

She didn’t want to break the connection. In fact, she wanted to put her other hand on his other shoulder, like she used to. Tease him. Like she used to.

Her breath caught and it wasn’t until they were jostled by someone wanting to get past them that the moment was over.

He looked momentarily taken aback as he broke her hold. Then he strode away.

Tabitha struggled with the confusion of her emotions. What was she doing? She had to stay in charge. It wasn’t fair to Morgan.

She’d had her chance with him and she’d made her choice.

What if you told him what actually happened and why?

She held that thought as she made her way out the door.

Morgan was gone, and Tabitha knew there was no way she would be able to tell him what really happened. She was on her own.

Dear Reader,

Tabitha struggled all her life with feelings of self-worth brought on by her father’s actions and her own difficulty with reading. Both come together to create a situation where she feels she has to make up for what her father did in order to hold her head up. In the process of the story, she learns that her worth is in Christ, and not in doing things to fix what her father did.

I think there are times in each of our lives that we feel we have no value. No worth. It’s not a good place to be because, as the Bible verse I quoted at the beginning of this book tells us, in God’s eyes we are valuable and loved.

I pray that you may feel God’s love and care and that you may place your worth in Him.

P.S. I love to hear from my readers. Drop me a line at caarsen@xplornet.com and tell me what you liked about my book. Or you can go to my website at carolyneaarsen.com. If you sign up for my newsletter you’ll get a free book.

CAROLYNE AARSEN and her husband, Richard, live on a small ranch in northern Alberta, where they have raised four children and numerous foster children and are still raising cattle. Carolyne crafts her stories in an office with a large west-facing window, through which she can watch the changing seasons while struggling to make her words obey. Visit her website at carolyneaarsen.com.

Second-Chance Cowboy

Carolyne Aarsen

www.millsandboon.co.uk

So don’t be afraid;

you are worth more than many sparrows.

—Matthew 10:31

To my nieces Amber and Chelsey who inspire me with their loving devotion to their parents.

And with thanks to my nephew Daniel Aarsen who helped me with the vet stuff.

Family is everything!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

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

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

She was late for work. And not a sorry I’m late apology she could toss off while breezing into the café, flashing a contrite smile to her boss as the clock showed a few minutes past.

No, this was a serious, half an hour, Sepp is going to fire me late. She knew explaining to him that she was busy laying down flooring in her house until midnight wouldn’t cut it. Nor would it help her case to tell him that she had to make a trip to return the nailer she had borrowed from Owen Herne.

Tabitha eased off on her truck’s accelerator to make the turn, gearing down as the dust cloud following her seeped into the cab. The engine protested the sudden shift.

Please, Lord, don’t let it break down, she prayed, as she shifted down again.

Her phone dinged, signaling an incoming call, then slid out of her purse and onto the floor.

Tabitha glared at the phone, then dragged her attention back to the road. No way was she hitting the ditch for the sake of a phone call.

In spite of being late, Tabitha eased off the accelerator as she turned the corner heading past the old Henry place. No one had lived in that house since Boyce and Cord Walsh bought it three years ago, but she always slowed when she drove by.

She used to dream of living there, pretending the top bedroom with its bay windows was hers and she could look out over the valley to the mountains. She had often imagined herself wandering through the many flower beds, picking lilies, daisies, lupines or lilacs to put in vases in the house. The flower beds were overgrown now, but she could still see the potential.

She preferred that dream to the reality of her place close to town. Work on the house she inherited from her father had taken up every spare moment of her time the past couple of years, and the yard was so messy and filled with junk that even thinking about it was too overwhelming.

Suddenly a large dog bounded across the road in front of her and right behind it ran a little boy.

Her foot slammed on the brakes. She wrenched on the wheel to turn the truck, her backpack falling off the seat. Her phone slid over the floor as her truck crashed into the ditch.

Her ribs hit the steering wheel with a sickening thud and her neck snapped forward. Dazed, she sat a moment, pain shooting through her ribs, radiating up her back.

She sat back, massaging her chest to make sure she hadn’t broken anything. All seemed okay.

Then panic clutched her as she looked around to see what happened to the boy or the dog.

Where had they come from? She didn’t know people had moved into the house.

Relief surged through her when she saw the boy standing in the middle of the road, eyes wide, staring at her as her own heart pounded in reaction to the close call.

Then the dog jumped out of the trees and joined the boy, its tail waving joyfully as he ran in a circle around him.

Okay. Boy was fine. Dog was fine.

Tabitha took a few seconds to gather herself, then got out, pain stabbing her chest as she did.

“You okay?” she called out to the kid.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice a feeble sound that showed her how afraid he was.

Then the door of the house opened and a man charged out.

“Nathan. What are you doing on the road?” he called, sounding panicked.

Then Tabitha’s heart pounded in earnest as she recognized the man dropping to his knees in front of the little boy, running his hands over his face, his shoulders.

Morgan Walsh.

Her ex-fiancé, and the man who still held a large portion of her heart.

As soon as Dr. Waters told her Morgan would be working at the vet clinic, where Tabitha worked part-time as well, she had prepared herself. Had a speech all figured out.