Paula Riggs - The Parent Plan Part 2

36 Hours Serial

As a devastating summer storm hits Grand Springs, Colorado, the next thirty-six hours will change the town and its residents forever….

The Parent Plan Part 2

Cassidy has been angry and hostile ever since Vicki’s accident, blaming Karen for working at the hospital while Vicki needed her. It’s causing a rift in their marriage that gets bigger every day. Karen can’t face the loneliness anymore of being with a man too frozen inside to love.

Is a separation the only way out? And if Karen and Cassidy try to solve their problems apart, how can they ever get back together?

The story concludes in The Parent Plan Part 3.

Dear Reader,

In the town of Grand Springs, Colorado, a devastating summer storm sets off a string of events that changes the lives of the residents forever….

Welcome to Mills & Boon exciting new digital serial, 36 Hours! In this thirty-six part serial share the stories of the residents of Grand Springs, Colorado, in the wake of a deadly storm.

With the power knocked out and mudslides washing over the roads, the town is plunged into darkness and the residents are forced to face their biggest fears—and find love against all odds.

Each week features a new story written by a variety of bestselling authors like Susan Mallery and Sharon Sala. The stories are published in three segments, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the first segment of every three-part book is free, so you can get caught up in the mystery and drama of Grand Springs. And you can get to know a new set of characters every week. You can read just one, but as the lives and stories of each intertwine in surprising ways, you’ll want to read them all!

Join Mills & Boon E every week as we bring you excitement, mystery, fun and romance in 36 Hours!

Happy reading!

Paula Detmer Riggs discovers inspiration for her stories in her varying life experiences. During the first five years of her marriage to a naval officer she lived in nineteen different locales on both the East and West Coasts, including Southern and Northern California, the Puget Sound area and Newport, Rhode lsland. While acting as a docent in Old Town, California, she wrote and directed historic fashion shows, which led to a fascination with early California history.

In later years she and her husband owned and operated a historic nursery in Oregon listed on the National Register of Historic Sites. They are now happily living in the first territorial capital of Arizona, Prescott, which still possesses the flavor and fascination of the Wild West.

Paula writes romances because “I think we all need escape from the fast-paced, often stressful challenges of the twenty-first century lifestyles that confront us daily, and because I believe in true and lasting love—and, best of all, happy endings!”

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Cassidy Sloane has finally made something of himself after having such a horrible childhood. He’s a successful rancher, his daughter’s hero and his wife’s knight-in-shining-armor—or at least he was. These days he can’t seems to do anything right. It all came to a head during those 36 hours of that June rainstorm, a time no one will forget. Their daughter almost died in that cave-in. Cassidy blames himself, and Karen. If she would stop choosing being a doctor and put their family first, then everything would go back to normal…or would it? Maybe it’s gone too far already? Cassidy is already losing his wife and he’s about to break his daughter’s heart if he can’t find a way to save her horse. He’s trying so hard, but how much more can a man take?

Cassidy Sloane stood by the wide double doors of the foaling shed and watched the taillights of Dr. Paul Caine’s pickup disappear into a wall of rain.

The pastures would be soup, he thought, turning toward the light and the chores that still needed doing. The sudden motion sent a wave of dizziness sweeping over him, and he staggered. Reaching out a hand, he steadied himself against the barn’s rough exterior.

Pain shot up his shoulder, a reminder of the agonizing, long hours he’d spent fighting the dying mare’s spasming muscles, trying to turn the foal before its delicate bones were crushed. In the end it hadn’t mattered.

Golden Girl was gone. And so was her foal.

“Boss, you feelin’ okay?” Billy and one of the younger hands who’d been helping stepped quickly to his side.

Cassidy offered his ramrod a curt nod. “Just catchin’ my breath before I finish cleaning up.”

“Why don’t you go on in and let me’n Randall here do the cleanin’?” Billy suggested, pulling a cigar from the pocket of his filthy shirt.

It was tempting, but Cassidy made himself refuse. Instead, he stepped away from the wall and took a testing breath. The dizziness was gone. In its place was a heavy lethargy that was almost as bad.

“You go on home, the both of you. I already owe you enough overtime to damn near bust me.”

“Hell, boss, I’m already into you for two months’ advance,” Billy drawled, striking a wooden match on the wall behind him. “Don’t make me no never mind if you pay me extra for tonight, anyway,” he said between puffs as he fired his smoke to life.

“Me, neither,” Whitehorse added, sweeping off his Stetson with a weary hand. “Got me no place to spend my money nohow.”

Billy snorted. “The hell you say. I thought you had plans to escort Wanda June to some big dance at the high school next month.”

“She got herself in a tangle over me wearing this fancy tuxedo.” The young cowboy flexed his shoulders as though trying to shuck off the very idea. “When I told her I’d rather be shut up in a ten-foot corral with a Brahma stud than put on sissy duds, she up and told me to get lost.”

Billy exchanged a wry look with Cassidy, who suspected his men were deliberately ragging each other in an attempt to take his mind off the mess inside. He ground his teeth. Even after years of trying, he’d never quite conquered the queasiness that invariably followed the sight of blood.

He did his best to hide it. Sometimes he succeeded. Mostly he failed. Tonight his men and the vet had had a ringside seat while he’d puked up his dinner. Though they’d pretended not to notice, he was still feeling raw.

“Dawn comes early,” he said, his voice rasped by the memory of his earlier humiliation. “You guys can stand here and jaw all night if you want, but I’m fixin’ to wind things up and try for a few hours’ sleep.”

“Sure thing, boss.” From the corner of his eye, Cassidy saw Billy jerk his head at the kid who looked puzzled for an instant, then took his cue.

“Night, Billy, Mr. Sloane.”

Cassidy nodded. “Appreciate your help tonight, Whitehorse. Thanks.”

The kid’s tired face creased into a wide grin. “Sure thing, boss. Sorry we couldn’t save her. She was a sweet animal.” Whitehorse turned and walked toward his truck. Seconds later, the engine roared to life and Randall headed home to his bed.

Ignoring a tug of envy, Cassidy squared his shoulders and started to step across the threshold, only to have Billy stop him. “Let me do it, Cass,” he said.

Cassidy had to unlock his jaw to answer gruffly, “You’ve done enough, but thanks for the offer.”

“Cass, listen to me.” His gaze bored into Cassidy’s, full of a rough intensity. “So the sight of blood makes you sick. So what? There’s no shame to it. Tonight, in there, when the doc…well, I was pretty queasy myself.”