Kathryn Albright - A Western Christmas Homecoming - Christmas Day Wedding Bells / Snowbound in Big Springs / Christmas with the Outlaw

Title Page A Western Christmas Homecoming Christmas Day Wedding Bells Lynna Banning Snowbound in Big Springs Lauri Robinson Christmas with the Outlaw Kathryn Albright www.millsandboon.co.uk

Copyright ISBN: 978-1-474-07415-5 A WESTERN CHRISTMAS HOMECOMING Christmas Day Wedding Bells © 2018 The Woolston Family Trust Snowbound in Big Springs © 2018 Lauri Robinson Christmas with the Outlaw © 2018 Kathryn Leigh Albright 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. By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher. ® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries. www.millsandboon.co.uk

Praise Praise for the authors of A Western Christmas Homecoming LYNNA BANNING ‘Banning’s talent for crafting warm, delightful tales once again wins fan devotion.’ —RT Book Reviews on Miss Murray on the Cattle Trail LAURI ROBINSON ‘Well-written, dramatic and complete with a cast of beloved townsfolk. Readers will laugh, cry and rejoice.’ —RT Book Reviews on In the Sheriff’s Protection KATHRYN ALBRIGHT ‘Well-paced, sweet romance. For Western fans, Albright’s Americana tale will be an entertaining read.’ —RT Book Reviews on The Prairie Doctor’s Bride

Christmas Day Wedding Bells Christmas Day Wedding Bells Lynna Banning

Dedication For David Woolston and Yvonne Mandarino Woolston, who exemplify the best in kindness, caring and love.

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

Snowbound in Big Springs

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Christmas with the Outlaw

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

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Christmas Day Wedding Bells

Lynna Banning

For David Woolston and Yvonne Mandarino Woolston, who exemplify the best in kindness, caring and love.

Alice watched the leather-bound volume of Keats skitter off the counter and slide across the library floor. “I beg your pardon, what did you say?”

The young deputy’s face looked somber. “The sheriff wants to see you, Miss Alice,” he puffed. “Wants you to come over to his office right away. Said it was real important.”

What on earth could be so important that Sheriff Rivera would send his deputy to summon her in the middle of her peaceful October afternoon at the Smoke River library?

“Sandy, did he say why he wants to see me?”

“No, ma’am. Just said for me to get the lead—uh...to hurry and not take no for an answer.”

Alice retrieved her wide-brimmed sun hat and her beaded reticule, locked the library door and followed the deputy down Main Street to Sheriff Rivera’s office. When she entered, the lawman shifted his feet off the desk and jackknifed to attention.

“Miss Alice, good morning.” He wasn’t smiling, and that made her uneasy. Hawk Rivera smiled at all the girls. Or, to be more accurate, all the girls smiled at him .

“What have I done, Sheriff?”

“Alice, I want to introduce you to US Marshal Randell Logan. He’s brought some news you need to hear. It’s about your sister, Dorothy.”

For the first time she noticed the tall, lean man standing in one corner of the small sheriff’s office next to a bulletin board plastered with yellowing Wanted posters. He gave her a brief nod. “Miss Montgomery. I’m afraid it’s bad news.”

He was very tan, she thought irrationally. With dark hair and a mustache over his unsmiling mouth. He took a step toward her. “Maybe you’d better sit down, Miss.”

Oh, God. She sank onto the hard-backed chair across from the sheriff and clasped her hands in her lap. “Tell me,” she whispered.

The marshal cleared his throat. “It concerns your sister, Dorothy Coleman. As you know she’s been living in a mining camp in Idaho.”

“Yes, I know that. Silver City. Dottie owns an assay company she inherited from her husband when he died. Does your news concern the business?”

She watched his gaze flick to Sheriff Rivera and then return to her face. His eyes were an unusual color. As she studied him, those eyes went from hard jade to mossy green.

“I’m sorry to tell you this has nothing to do with the assay business, Miss Montgomery. It’s about your sister herself.”

Alice clenched her hands into fists. “I haven’t heard from Dottie in some weeks. What about her?”

To her surprise the marshal knelt in front of her. “I’m afraid your sister is dead, Miss.”

Alice cried out. “But she can’t be! Dottie’s only twenty. She’s younger than I am, my little sister. She can’t be dead.”

Marshal Logan waited without speaking.

“H-how did she die? Typhoid? Cholera?”

He let out a long breath. “She was killed, Miss.”

“An accident? A mining accident? But she never went into the mines. She hated dark places and—” She broke off, wondering why Sheriff Rivera was pouring whiskey into a shot glass on his desk.

The marshal hesitated. “Your sister Dorothy was murdered.”

Unable to utter a sound, Alice sat without moving. The marshal reached for the whiskey and held the glass out to her.

“It’s not true,” she said. “I don’t believe you. Everyone loves Dottie! No one would want to hurt her.”