Jillian Hart - Montana Cowboy

Fairy tales do come true

Meeting a cowboy in an online book group feels like a fantasy to Honor Crosby. Six months later, after one less-than-perfect meeting, the rich city girl arrives at Luke McKaslin’s Montana ranch, anxious to see if their chemistry works offline. Even as Honor falls for Luke, a broken engagement has her wary of trusting any man. Faced with clashing expectations, Honor struggles to believe that love is still the greatest treasure. And that she and Luke have a fairy-tale ending in their future after all.

The McKaslin Clan: Ensconced in a quaint Montana town, the McKaslins rejoice in the powerful bonds of faith, family...and forever love.

“I can’t say that I’m glad I’m stuck in Montana, but something good has come out of this.”

“Maybe after you have fun with us and get in your social time, you’ll change your mind about Montana?” Luke said.

“I’m not sure it can be done,” Honor quipped. “But I’m liking the chance to actually make new friends.”

“Good. I’m going to change your mind.”

“Is that a warning or a threat?”

“Depends on which one will work.”

“Neither.” She tipped back her head and laughed. “I’m not going to change my mind. I’m a California girl. I miss the beach.”

“We’ve got riverbanks.”

“So not the same.”

They laughed together. He liked Honor as much in real life as he had online. As he watched her walk away, his throat tightened, making it hard to swallow. A swirl of her blue dress’s hem, a clip of her fancy shoes and a flip of her sleek honey hair and he was hooked just a little bit more.

It’s never going to happen, he told himself. Did that stop him from liking her more?

Not a chance.

JILLIAN HART

grew up on her family’s homestead, where she helped raise cattle, rode horses and scribbled stories in her spare time. After earning her English degree from Whitman College, she worked in travel and advertising before selling her first novel. When Jillian isn’t working on her next story, she can be found puttering in her rose garden, curled up with a good book or spending quiet evenings at home with her family.

Montana Cowboy

Jillian Hart

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Direct my steps by your word.

—Psalms 119:133

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

Dear Reader

Questions for Discussion

Excerpt

Chapter One

“My life stinks.”

Honor Crosby could sympathize with the teenage boy trudging ahead of her through the woods. Some bug swooped at her. She batted it out of her face and ignored the flutter of something high up in the trees and tried not to think of what might be lurking overhead. A giant mosquito, a gross spider, who knew? And worse, her poor shoes. They were sinking in the squishy carpet of dead pine needles and moss, an aspen leaf skewered on one heel.

“Sure, but you don’t have to make life harder than it has to be,” she told the kid with his hangdog expression. “You waste more time trying to put off your work than actually doing it. If you jumped in and got your studying over with, you’d have more free time.”

“I don’t want to study at all. It’s summer. I don’t need to get into that stupid school and I don’t need a tutor.” He hung his head. Jerrod Lambert wasn’t a bad kid—not at all. Just an unhappy one.

Understanding filled her as she remembered being a teenager trying to handle her parents’ pressure to succeed. She knew where Jerrod was coming from, but the Lord was a great comfort and she prayed Jerrod would lean on his faith more to find solutions to his problems instead of running away from them.

“I’m not so bad of a tutor, am I?” she asked.

“Much better than the last one, but that’s not the point.” Jerrod blew out a sigh as he tromped through the underbrush and broke out into the bright sunshine. “I’d rather be dirt biking.”

“And I’d rather be at the beach club with an icy soda in one hand and my e-reader in the other.” For an instant, the remembered roar of the ocean, the sweep of the waves on the sandy shore and the chime of cheerful conversation felt so real she could almost feel herself there, where she belonged.

She missed home and her posse of friends so much she almost stumbled when her heels hit the manicured lawn. Leaving home had been an impulsive decision and not the most brilliant one she’d ever made. Montana, she mused as she pulled the leaf off her shoe heel. What had she been thinking?

“Honor?”

“What, kiddo?”

“What is it like at Wheatly?”

“It’s one of the best Christian schools in southern California.” She’d gone there as a teen and returned after college to teach English. She loved the school and the community of teachers and staff that felt more like family than coworkers. She missed them sorely, too. With the current economy, her job had been cut, since she’d been the newest teacher there. Her dearest wish was to return to her beloved Wheatly and teach once again. Maybe when the economy improved? A girl could hope. “I hated leaving. Actually, I didn’t really leave. I substituted there for most of last year.”

“And then I came along, needing tutoring.”

“Once you’re there, you’ll love it. I promise.” She tromped up the stone steps, ignoring the rugged scenery and architecture that surrounded her—high mountain peaks, stone masonry and a sprawling log-and-glass estate that simply could not compare to Malibu. Nothing on earth could.

“If I pass the test, that is. You sound like my dad.” Not encouraged, Jerrod’s head hung lower looking like a prisoner on his way to death row, dragging his feet across the deck. “I won’t tell if we don’t work this afternoon. My dad would never know.”

“But I would.” She opened a glass-framed door. “In you go. It won’t be so bad, I promise.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” Unconvinced, he plodded into the air-conditioned library and slung himself into an overstuffed chair. “I’d rather be dirt biking.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Honor quipped, not quite able to relate. She was no outdoors girl…unless hanging poolside counted. She plucked a book off the Chippendale writing desk and handed it to the bummed teenager. “Start reading, kid. Think of it this way, if you ace the entrance exam on the first try, then you won’t ever have to deal with another tutor.”

“You’re not seeing the problem.” Jerrod blew out a sigh. “I’m wasting my summer in here.”

“I get it.” She slipped into the upholstered chair behind the desk, where her laptop sat. “Sorry, but you still have to read the book.”

Another beleaguered sigh and the tome opened, the teenager bowed his head and at least it looked as though he were reading.

She knew exactly how Jerrod felt. This was her summer, too. She hadn’t planned to spend most of it being a private tutor, but at the time it seemed like a brilliant option to get away from a certain man. Little did she realize she would be hidden away at the Lambert family compound in the middle of the wilderness. Literally. Forests stretched in every direction and the nearest town was forty minutes away.

Which meant email was her best link to civilization. Since her student was busy and she’d caught up on all her work, she turned to her laptop. Her best friend and roommate’s message filled the screen.