Patricia Thayer - The Cowboy She Couldn't Forget

One stolen kiss with a cowboy

When Ana Slater’s father is taken ill, she knows she can’t look after The Lazy S Ranch alone. There is one man who can help. The cowboy she has found it impossible to forget—Vance Rivers.

With the words “Work hard and hands off my daughters!” etched into his memory, Vance knew from the very beginning that Ana was strictly off-limits—no matter what! All he could do was ensure he was the best cowboy in Montana.

But now, with Ana back on the ranch, the rules are set to change. And finally their chance at happiness might be just around the corner....

Nestled in the Rocky Mountains, the idyllic Lazy S Ranch is about to welcome home the beautiful Slater sisters.

Don your Stetson and your cowboy boots and join us as these sisters experience first loves, second chances and their very own happy-ever-afters with the most delicious heroes in the West. No dream is too big in Montana!

Out first in September 2013

THE COWBOY SHE COULDN’T FORGET

followed by the second in this fabulous series in November 2013!

Dear Reader,

I’m so excited to begin this new series, Slater Sisters of Montana. My stories will be set in the beautiful state of Montana at the Lazy S Ranch.

Patriarch Colton Slater fell in love thirty years ago with Lucia Delgado and they had four lovely daughters: Analeigh, twins Josephina and Vittoria, and Marissa. Then, only a year after the last child was born, Lucia took off—leaving a bitter Colt to raise the young girls alone.

My first story begins when Colt has a stroke and Ana returns home to take care of her father. She quickly learns that the Lazy S is in financial trouble. She teams up with ranch foreman Vance Rivers to work on solutions for the problem.

Vance was the kid Colt took in as a teenager, and for nearly all that time he has been in love with Ana. Maybe she’ll finally notice him?

Ana’s concentration is on trying to get her sisters to come home and help out, but they’re busy with their own careers. That’s understandable, since Colt didn’t pay much attention to them as children. She’s glad she has Vance to lean on, and quickly discovers what a special man he is.

I hope you enjoy this trip to southern Montana with the Slater sisters.

Patricia Thayer

The Cowboy She Couldn’t Forget

Patricia Thayer

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Originally born and raised in Muncie, Indiana, PATRICIA THAYERis the second of eight children. She attended Ball State University, and soon afterwards headed West. Over the years she’s made frequent visits back to the Midwest, trying to keep up with her growing family.

Patricia has called Orange County, California, home for many years. She not only enjoys the warm climate, but also the company and support of other published authors in the local writers’ organisation. For the past eighteen years she has had the unwavering support and encouragement of her critique group. It’s a sisterhood like no other.

When she’s not working on a story, you might find her travelling the United States and Europe, taking in the scenery and doing story research while thoroughly enjoying herself, accompanied by Steve, her husband for over thirty-five years. Together, they have three grown sons and four grandsons. As she calls them: her own true-life heroes. On rare days off from writing you might catch her at Disneyland, spoiling those grandkids rotten! She also volunteers for the Grandparent Autism Network.

Patricia has written for over twenty years, and has authored more than forty-six books. She has been nominated for both a National Readers’ Choice Award and the prestigious RITA ®Award. Her book Nothing Short of a Miracle won an RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice award.

A longtime member of Romance Writers of America, she has served as President and held many other board positions for her local chapter in Orange County. She’s a firm believer in giving back.

Check her website, www.patriciathayer.com, for upcoming books.

To my good friend and fellow writer Janet Cornelow. The plotting group will never be the same without you.

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

EPILOGUE

EXCERPT

CHAPTER ONE

ANA GRIPPED A handful of the horse’s mane, lowered her head and gave the animal its lead as she flew over the dew-soaked meadow.

She felt the sting of the cool Montana air against her cheeks, but didn’t stop. If she did she was afraid she’d fall apart. And Analeigh Maria Slater was always composed and calm. She had to be. She was the oldest daughter, and since her mother’s desertion, the responsibility of her younger sisters had fallen on her shoulders.

Finally reaching her destination, she slowed her horse. The buckskin mare was reluctant to end the run, but obeyed by the time they reached the old, dilapidated cabin. The place Ana had come to as a kid when she needed to be alone, or needed to think. When she needed to cry.

She climbed off, and her legs nearly gave out as she hit the ground. It had been a while since she’d ridden, and she’d pushed it hard today. After tying the mare’s reins to the post, she climbed the single step onto the sagging porch. Using her shoulder, she nudged open the weathered door and walked inside.

The cabin was just as dismal as she remembered. The one room was small, but serviceable. A sink and a water pump, a shelf overhead that still held canned goods. There was a set of bunks attached to the opposite wall, with filthy mattresses. The building would have been torn down, but her great-great-grandfather had built it when he’d settled in this area.

She walked to the one window and looked out at the view she loved. The lush meadow was green with new spring grass and wildflowers. She shifted her gaze to the side to see the Rockies, then in the other direction toward Pioneer Mountain and the national forest. In between were miles and miles of Slater land. Colton Slater’s pride and joy, the Lazy S Ranch.

And at one time this ranch had been home to Ana and her three sisters. That had been a long time ago.

She brushed a tear from her cheek. But now with her father’s emergency... Another tear followed. What was going to happen? What if Colt didn’t survive?

She tensed at the sound of another horse approaching, then boots on the porch. She swung around, but didn’t feel any relief on seeing the ranch foreman, Vance Rivers, stepping through the doorway.

The man was tall, with wide shoulders. Over the years, she’d caught sight of him without a shirt when he’d been digging fence posts. He’d earned the muscular chest and arms. Her gaze moved down to his flat stomach and narrow waist.

A black Stetson hid most of his sandy hair and shaded those deep-set, coffee-brown eyes that seemed to pierce right through her. She hated that he made her feel nervous and edgy whenever he got near.

“I figured I’d find you here.”

“Now that you have, you don’t need to hang around,” she told him, and turned away. He had been the one who’d called her early this morning about her father’s stroke. He also had been the one she found in the hospital room. Of course that was who her father would want with him. “Shouldn’t you be at Colt’s bedside?”

Vance had always hated that Ana Slater could make his gut twist into knots. All that thick ebony hair and flawless olive skin showed off her Hispanic heritage, but her brilliant blue eyes let you know she was a Slater. All he knew was the combination made a perfect package.