Wyoming Born and Bred

Wyoming Born and Bred
Cathleen Galitz

WRANGLERS& LaceFROM WYOMING RENEGADE…Cameron Wade reveled in the solitude of mountain vistas and cloudless Wyoming sky. He was a man of the land, but his life was about to be invaded by three ornery kids and their single mom, Patricia Erhart. His bachelor instincts urged him to run but this lady had something he wanted–his old family ranch. So, to get close to the lovely widow, he had to risk his own heart….TO THE GREATEST DAD OF THE WEST?Courting Patricia, Cameron was shocked to find himself wanting to be the perfect father to her kids–and win over the wary rancher for real. Could this ready-made family show the lonesome bachelor that being Wyoming born and bred, could lead to being a dad…and to wed?Hard to tame–impossible to resist–these cowboys meet their perfect match!

“What’s the matter, darlin’?” (#ubce37efa-c979-5ceb-9262-bb72eb8a624a)Letter to Reader (#u551b5ad8-c1e9-593a-a74b-5c2dfdfce608)Title Page (#u66d8b498-937f-53d5-b5f9-8257d1af6b5d)Dedication (#u9a38d2d1-468f-58d1-8f02-7c01611487d8)About the Author (#ub36befcb-ba62-5b17-b0a0-a4cb1825603f)Chapter One (#uedc18c1c-0a5d-5874-ba5a-1636c7ec2a98)Chapter Two (#u074298cc-38a9-5ac6-8ebf-f3d5c02ed0ca)Chapter Three (#u5fd67855-ba70-5c3d-8e7c-e20dfd8917b2)Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

“What’s the matter, darlin’?”

Cameron asked her.

Draping an arm around Patricia’s shoulders, Cameron drew her close to him. His sinewy strength was both solid and gentle.

“Everything....” The word came out half whisper, half sob.

“It can’t be as bad as all that. Why don’t you let me take a turn with the kids, and you can take a long walk.”

Cameron found himself wondering what kind of man Patricia’s late husband had been. He was inclined to believe the lout had never so much as lifted a finger to help out. It was a shock to discover that behind that superwoman mask was a vulnerable little girl. Cameron felt a fierce possessiveness well up inside him, to safeguard her against the world.

And the intensity of that feeling hit this confirmed bachelor like a ton of bricks....

Dear Reader,

The wonder of a Silhouette Romance is that it can touch every woman’s heart. Check out this month’s offerings—and prepare to be swept away!

A woman wild about kids winds up tutoring a single dad in the art of parenthood in Babies, Rattles and Cribs... Oh, My! It’s this month’s BUNDLES OF JOY title from Leanna Wilson. When a Cinderella-esque waitress—complete with wicked stepfamily!—finds herself in danger, she hires a bodyguard whose idea of protection means making her his Glass Slipper Bride, another unforgettable tale from Arlene James. Pair one highly independent woman and one overly protective lawman and what do you have? The prelude to The Marriage Beat, Doreen Roberts’s sparkling new Romance with a HE’S MY HERO cop.

WRANGLERS & LACE is a theme-based promotion highlighting classic Western stories. July’s offering, Cathleen Galitz’s Wyoming Born & Bred, features an ex-rodeo champion bent on reclaiming his family’s homestead who instead discovers that home is with the stubborn new owner...and her three charming children! A long-lost twin, a runaway bride...and A Gift for the Groom—don’t miss this conclusion to Sally Carleen’s delightful duo ON THE WAY TO A WEDDING.... And a man-shy single mom takes a chance and follows The Way to a Cowboy’s Heart in this emotional heart-tugger from rising star Teresa Southwick.

Enjoy this month’s selections, and make sure to drop me a line about why you keep coming back to Romance. We want to fulfill your dreams!

Happy reading,

Mary-Theresa Hussey

Senior Editor, Silhouette Romance

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New York, NY 10017

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Wyoming Born & Bred

Cathleen Galitz

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To the Miracle Two,

Shawn and Curt,

constant reminders of God’s love

and blessings in my life.

CATHLEEN GALITZ,

a Wyoming native, teaches English to seventh to twelfth graders in a rural school that houses kindergartners and seniors in the same building. She lives in a small Wyoming town with her husband and two children. When she’s not busy writing, teaching or working with her Cub Scout den, she can most often be found hiking or snowmobiling in the Wind River Mountains.

Chapter One

A cloud of dust as thick as regret dogged Cameron Wade’s pickup all the way down the washboardy road leading him home. The hand carved sign that had once so proudly heralded the Triple R was gone, but it came as no surprise to him that the great knotty-pine archway he had helped his father erect so many years ago still stood silent sentry to the ranch where he had grown up.

As Cameron pulled into the driveway, he switched off the sad song that Clint Black was warbling over the airwaves. Precious little appeared to have been done with the old place since the previous owner’s death, but he wasted little time contemplating the sad state of his childhood home. He focused his attention instead upon a balding spot of grass where two little boys were engaged in a game of cowboys and Indians, an integral part of which appeared to be a toddler unhappily constrained in a playpen. As the boys whooped around their makeshift stockade, their prisoner struck out at them with a half-empty bottle. Diverted from their sport by Cameron’s unexpected presence, one of the urchins stopped long enough to holler out, “Hey there, mister.”

Cameron gave the boy a cursory nod as he got out of his truck and made his way to the front door, frowning at the thought of having to knock to gain entrance to his old home.

“Watch out below!” warned a voice from above.

Cameron jumped aside just in time to avoid being hit by a large piece of shingling which rocketed off the roof and hit the ground beside him with a dull thwack. Squinting against the late-afternoon sun, he saw a teenager in a baseball cap and baggy overalls peering down at him from over the edge of the roof. The youth acknowledged him with a terse wave of the hand and a quick, sheepish grin.

“Sorry about that!” he called out. “Give me a minute and I’ll be right down.”

Tottering precariously close to the lip of the sharply peaked roof, the lad pitched an armload of shingles into the back of a rusty old pickup parked below, then proceeded cautiously toward a ladder propped against the house. Cameron hurried over to lend a steadying hand. An instant later he heard the crack of dry wood snapping just above his head.

A shrill scream pierced the sky as he reached out to catch the boy in midair.

Off flew the baseball cap.

Out fell a sheen of chestnut-colored hair.

A solid thud against Cameron’s chest almost knocked him off his feet. He stumbled and did a desperate two-step to keep his balance. Groaning in pain, he hoped his good intentions hadn’t just rebroken a couple of ribs. His eyes flew open in surprise at the bundle of outrageous womanly curves squirming in his arms, For a moment he was too shocked to do more than gape in disbelief. Never had he seen a prettier pair of big brown eyes than those widening in alarm.

A furious flutter settled itself in his groin as an unforeseen energy passed between them like an electric current. Rooted to the spot as if he were standing up to his knees in water, Cameron felt an overwhelming sexual surge rush through every cell in his body. It was downright unsettling. He hadn’t felt this kind of intensity since indulging in his first adolescent fantasies. Recalling the basic tenets of electricity, he wondered whether they would both be blown to smithereens the second he set her down.

Such dubious logic mocked him. Cameron Wade was too well-grounded to be entertaining such fanciful notions as chemical magnetism or, God forbid, love at first sight. A fickle little gold digger by the name of Bonnie had eradicated such hogwash from his mind long ago.

“Sorry for dropping in on you unannounced this way,” Cameron managed to stammer, setting his curvaceous package down at last.

A husky, breathless voice wound itself sensuously around every tingling nerve ending in his body. “I’m afraid I’m the one who should be apologizing for that. I’m not usually in the habit of falling into men’s arms...”

Cornball. Pure cornball.

Pat Erhart could not believe she had just uttered such a lame line. But then again neither could she believe that she had literally fallen into such a phenomenally strong pair of arms. Arms like that, she decided, should be on the cover of a slick magazine hawking the sex secrets of the stars or some other such equally inane subject. Searching the depths of a pair of blue eyes as piercingly clear as a mountain stream, Pat got the distinct impression that this particular hunk wasn’t the type who would go in for that sort of thing.