The Cowboy’s Rescue (McCall Ranch Brothers Book 2) Read online

  "No way, lady," Eva said forcefully. "You're not getting off that easily. What's the matter with you? Are you safe? Did he find you?"

  Heather paused, then gave in to the inevitable. "Yes, he did, actually," she said, wincing at Eva’s gasp. It might have been better to try to lie, but she knew from long experience that Eva could see right through her. Things being as they were currently, she simply didn't have the energy to make the attempt.

  "Where is he now?" Eva demanded. "I'll kill him, Heather, I swear to God, I will. I'm not going to let him hurt you, do you hear me? Not ever again."

  Feeling exhausted, Heather countered, "It's fine, Eva, honestly. Brad's not what's got me upset."

  Her sister must have heard the ring of truth in her voice. "Okay, well,” Eva said slowly, “that's good, I guess." She was all too clearly trying to figure out what else the trouble might be, considering the news about Brad was bad enough in itself. "But that doesn't really answer anything. Please tell me what's been making you cry. You already know I'm going to keep pushing until you do, so you might as well save us both some trouble."

  "Or you could try not pushing," Heather said, not very hopefully, for she knew the unlikeliness of what she was asking. "Just this once?"

  "Not a chance," Eva answered as if on cue. "Now spill it."

  And so spill it was exactly what Heather did. She told her sister everything, and not simply because she was being badgered, either. She told her entire dismal failure of a story because she was suddenly desperate to let it out to someone she knew was on her side, no matter how stupid she’d been. She felt she might drive herself crazy if she didn't, assuming she hadn't already. It was as if she had a demon inside that needed exorcising—the demon of her emotions—and talking to Eva was her only chance to expel it for good.

  But when Heather finally finished, and Eva got a chance to say her piece, Heather was surprised to hear her baby sister sounding almost angry. "Hold on, let me get this straight," Eva said, her voice tight and clipped, the way it always was when she was good and irritated. "You're telling me that he was standing there in the street, and he was trying to tell you his side of the story, and you just peeled out and left him in the dust?"

  "Yeah?" Heather said, her response sounding more like a question than an answer.

  "Seriously, Heather, what is wrong with you?" Eva practically shrieked, making Heather yank the phone away from her ear.

  She cautiously put the phone back to her ear again. "What's wrong with me?" she asked defensively, abandoning the couch altogether and pacing back and forth in front of the living room's big bay windows. "Don't you mean, what's wrong with him? How can you sit there and take his side?"

  "I'm not taking his side,” Eva insisted. “I'm taking your side, even if you're not. I'm firmly on the side that finally sees you happy, and I think this Mr. Randy Right could be just the ticket. I don't understand how you’re so unforgiving."

  "Really?" Heather shot back, her face burning with equal parts anger and shame. "You don't? I'm sorry, did you forget that little episode called Brad? That right there should be explanation enough."

  The line went silent then, a silence that lasted long enough that Heather started to wonder if Eva had hung up on her. The two sisters didn’t argue often, and it was even less common for them to be firmly on opposite sides of an issue. The worst part was, Heather really needed Eva, now more than ever. She felt dangerously adrift—if she didn't find something firm to hold on to, she might float away into the abyss and likely take her children with her.

  "Okay," Eva finally said, the sound of her voice almost enough to make Heather sob with relief. "I get it, or at least, as well as I can. I don't pretend to understand what you went through. I wish it had never happened at all.” She paused, and Heather waited. Finally, she spoke again. “But the thing is, you can't punish every man you meet for Brad’s mistakes. There are good men out there, honey, really good men who want to be with you and love you and keep you safe. I can't even tell you why, but I think Randy might be one of those."

  "Yeah," Heather said, half laughing and half sobbing. "Do you want to know the worst thing? I think he might be, too. Oh,” she gulped, “and I think I'm in love with him, even though I've done everything in my power to make sure he never wants to speak to me again."

  "Oh, sugar," Eva said softly. She said nothing more for a long time, sitting in silence and letting Heather cry without trying to cheer her up or talk her down. By the time Heather ran out of tears, she felt wrung out and completely depleted. But she felt oddly better, too, and she had Eva to thank for it.

  "God," she laughed shakily. "You must think I'm totally crazy."

  "Of course I do," Eva said brightly. "Always have. It's part of what I love about you."

  Heather was about to suggest a change of topic, mainly what Eva had called about in the first place before Heather had fallen apart, when she caught unexpected movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned to get a better look, already convinced it must be Brad, coming back for round two, and almost dropped her phone.

  "Oh!" she exclaimed, her breath catching in her throat. "Oh my God, Eva!"

  "What?!" Eva demanded, immediately on high alert. "What's wrong? Is it Brad? Do I need to call the cops or something?"

  "No, he's here!" Heather squealed, trying to keep her words down to a whisper and failing miserably. "Randy is here, Eva. He's in my front yard!"

  "Oh my God, seriously?" Eva asked, instantaneously matching her excitement to Heather's. "What's he doing?"

  "Um,” Heather stopped and peered more closely, scarcely believing what she was seeing. At last, she laughed in surprise and answered her sister’s continuing string of breathless questions. “He's mending my fence." She squinted at Randy, hard at work despite everything.

  "Okay," Eva said, all business. "You need to get off the phone, like, now, and go outside and meet him. Then you need to suck face, and do it well enough to make him forget all the other shenanigans you pulled!"

  "Eva!" Heather exclaimed, although she was still laughing, feeling breathless, and already moving toward the door. "But didn’t you call to tell me something?"

  Now it was Eva’s turn to laugh. "Please, honey, what I need to say can wait. Go get your man, and then call me back when the two of you come up for air."

  Eva hung up before Heather could protest, leaving Heather hovering by her front door, unsure whether she should open it and go outside. She wanted to, more than she had wanted anything in a long time, but part of her was still so terrified, it was almost paralyzing. If she went out there, she would be laying herself on the line: her whole self, every vulnerable part, right there for Randy to do with as he wished.

  "Don't be afraid," she whispered to herself, doing her best to channel her sister's fierce personality and only partially succeeding. "This could be your chance."

  She stepped outside, squinting in the afternoon sun. The sound of the clanging hammer covered her soft approach at first, making her think he was patently ignoring her, working on her fence for reasons she couldn't fathom but with no desire to see her at all.

  Then he looked up, eyes wide in surprise. He dropped the hammer at once, taking an uncertain step in her direction. "I thought about calling," he said slowly, his hands going to his pockets in the nervous gesture she had come to love. "But then, I figured you wouldn't let me come so...well, so, here I am."

  "To fix my fence?" she asked, tucking her hair behind her ears. She still had no idea what he was really doing here, and she didn't want to get her hopes up. All the same, she longed to throw herself into his arms, to tell him how sorry she was and to promise to try not to be so prickly in the future.

  "Sure, to fix your fence," he said, a little defensively. "To do other things, too, if you don't run me off. Because I can't just leave things the way they are. I tried to, honestly I did, but I can't get you out of my head."

  "Randy," Heather said softly, taking another step forward, close enough now that sh
e could smell the spice of his cologne.

  "I tried," he continued, almost as if he hadn’t heard. "Believe me, Heather, I tried, and I can't. If you want me gone, so be it, but I'm going to leave things better than they were when I found them. I intend to get at least that much right."

  "Randy?" she tried again, a little louder this time, feeling a slow smile spread across her face.

  "You can call the cops if you want, tell them I'm disturbing your peace, but—"

  "Randy!" she finally shouted, laughing breathlessly and slipping into his sweaty arms. He looked down at her, finally seeming to see her for the first time, and her laughter grew and left her so breathless that she could hardly say what she needed to say.

  "Yes?" he asked, hugging her as if his life depended on it.

  "Why don't you just shut up and kiss me already? That way we can get to pretending the rest of it was a bad dream."

  "I don't want to pretend with you, Heather," he said earnestly, dipping in closer, his hot, sweet breath wafting across her face. "With you, I don't ever want to pretend a thing."

  Then he kissed her long and deep, and from the bedroom where they were supposed to be sleeping, Andy and Amelia cheered.

  Epilogue

  Heather watched the late harvest of her first crop of strawberries from the kitchen window, riding a wave of satisfaction that was practically surreal. When the drought had hit, she had been sure her luck would change, in terms of going back to what it had been before her move to Winding Creek, but the fruit had come, and in abundance.

  Not only the successful strawberry crop had her feeling as if things were too good to be true. Even now, she was having trouble believing her luck. As it turned out, on the day Randy had come back, Eva had called to inform Heather that she’d secured a substantial contract for strawberry jam. Just like that, Heather’s money problems had all but gone away.

  She and Randy had been married on the farm, almost immediately for the sake of the children and their security there, and while Heather had heard some whispers and speculations about the union, she hadn't minded as much as she might have earlier. For the first time, maybe ever, she was perfectly content. For the first time in her life, she had everything she needed.

  As for Brad, his sense of entitlement and his legendary temper had finally done him in. Eva had heard it on the San Francisco news. Brad had gotten it into his head that he was going to get his current girlfriend back, and when she hadn’t agreed, the cops had been called. Under the influence of a truly staggering amount of whiskey, Brad had tried to take on the two cops who came in answer to the call. At the moment, he was languishing in jail, and his chances of ever being able to take Heather’s children away from her were slim to none.

  Not everything was perfect, to be sure. She would never go so far as to say that. Anyhow, Eva would have called it out for the lie it was. In fact, Heather liked that. She enjoyed the honesty of her still-new relationship with her even newer husband, something she had never had with a man before.

  The new couple were experiencing the same growing pains that she believed every married couple faced, though they were probably exacerbated by Heather's difficult past. She was still getting used to Randy constantly doing things for her, and sometimes it felt to her like he was hovering. After being so determined to figure everything out on her own and be forever independent, she found it hard to make the adjustment. That meant she had to make an effort not to snap at him more often than she liked to admit, and some of the time, she failed. At such times, Randy was the one who saved the day, being endlessly patient with her, even when she didn’t feel she deserved it. These days, she was more grateful than ever, and as Randy came up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist, she turned to him with a shy smile.

  "Hey, you," she said, her eyes shining as she looked up into his sweat-streaked face.

  "Hey, yourself," he said with a smile. "What gives? You've got a funny look on your face."

  "Do I?" she laughed, laying her hands on her belly. "Well, maybe it's because I've got something to tell you."

  "Something?" he asked, his eyes dropping immediately from her face to where her hands were resting. "Something good?"

  "I sure hope so," she said with a giggle, more nervous now than ever and pausing to wink at Andy and Amelia over his shoulder. "It looks like you and I are going to have a baby."

  Randy let out a holler of joy loud enough to make her clap her hands over her ears, and he lifted her into the air, spinning her around in a circle and laughing all the while. Then, as abruptly as he had lifted her, he set her down again, his brow creased with concern.

  "What is it?" she asked, her heart jumping uncomfortably. "Are you worried about how you're going to manage a new baby on top of everything else?"

  "No," he answered, his eyes going wide again. "I'm worried that the spinning will mess with the baby."

  She dissolved in laughter, and he joined in, but Heather could tell that they were both thinking about the problem she’d just introduced. It was an undeniable fact that Randy was burning the candle at both ends and had been for a while now. With his duties at the ranch, his job as a vet, and now his determination to do right by her farm on top of everything else, something had to give. Both of them had known it, and the fact of a new baby arriving meant the time was now.

  Even as she had the thought, Randy nodded as if she had spoken her worries out loud. "Something's going to have to give," he said, still nodding. "I won't be able to keep all these balls in the air."

  "No," she agreed. "I don't think you will."

  "It's going to have to be Carson," he said, pulling her close so that she could rest her head against his chest and listen to the soothing sound of his heartbeat. "He's going to have to step up and take his turn."

  “And so he will,” she said, speaking softly against the rough fabric of his shirt. “That’s the thing about you McCall men. You always seem to find a way to make things work in the end.”

  “I did make things work with you guys, didn’t I?” he said, kissing the top of her head as Andy and Amelia began skipping circles around the happy pair.

  “Yes,” Heather agreed, her eyes filling with happy tears. “You certainly did.”

  End of The Cowboy’s Rescue

  McCall Ranch Brothers Book Two

  The Rancher’s Inherited Family, January 2, 2020

  The Cowboy’s Rescue, January 9, 2020

  The Cowboy’s Pregnant Sweetheart, January 16, 2020

  PS: Want more sexy cowboys? Then keep reading for exclusive extracts from The Cowboy’s Pregnant Sweetheart and The Cowboy’s Forgetful Bride.

  Thank You

  Thank you so much for purchasing my book. It’s hard for me to put into words how much I appreciate my readers. If you enjoyed this book, please remember to leave a review. Reviews are crucial for an author’s success and I would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to review the book. I love hearing from you!

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  About Leslie

  Leslie North is the USA Today Bestselling pen name for a critically-acclaimed author of women's contemporary romance and fiction. The anonymity gives her the perfect opportunity to paint with her full artistic palette, especially in the romance and erotic fantasy genres.

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  PS: Want sneak peeks, giveaways, ARC offers, fun extras and plenty of pictures of bad boys? Join my Facebook group, Leslie’s Lovelies!

  BLURB

  Karen Peterson has always known the rodeo was Carson McCall’s first and only love. She got proof of that when they were eighteen and he left her brokenhearted to join the rodeo circuit. She never got the chance to tell him she was pregnant—and never told him she lost the baby. Nine years later, he’s back home at the McCall Ranch nursing injuries from a bull-riding accident. When she sees him, she has a wonderful idea. Her sister’s autistic son, Devon, wants to learn to ride, and Carson is the perf
ect man to teach him. But Carson turns her down flat. Until the consequences of a barroom brawl require community service…teaching Devon to ride. Though Carson is the only cowboy she’ll ever love, she can shield her feelings for the sake of her nephew, even if Carson still makes her heart feel like it’s on a bucking bronco. So when she realizes she’s pregnant again, she’s terrified he’ll leave.

  Carson is completely at odds. All he wants to do is heal and return to his life, despite his doctors telling him he’ll never ride at the same level again. He hates that he’s not the man he was, hates that everyone pities the washed-up has-been rodeo star. The only bright part of his day is the hour he spends with Devon—and Karen. Carson never forgot her, never really got over her. She’s still the girl he loved when he was just a kid, only she’s even more beautiful now. As they spend time together, it’s hard to resist their deep attraction, and in the end, they give in to it. Still, the lure of his first love—the rodeo—is strong, and when his doctor clears him to join the circuit, he’s happy—just not as happy as he’d thought he’d be. And when he learns Karen is pregnant, he’s torn even more. Could it be that the rodeo isn’t the only thing that matters anymore…?

  Grab your copy of The Cowboy’s Pregnant Sweetheart (McCall Ranch Brothers Book Three)

  January 16, 2020

  www.LeslieNorthBooks.com

  EXCERPT

  Chapter 1

  Carson McCall winced as his lawyer’s elbow jabbed into his still-healing ribs. The last place he would have expected to find himself was in a courtroom as a defendant. Being here was bad enough, but Sam Blackstone, his overly cautious lawyer, was making it a whole lot worse. The youngest McCall brother was so busy trying to keep his irritation from showing, he only realized belatedly that the judge was speaking to him.