The Cowboy’s Sacrifice

by Danica Favorite

  Does he have the courage to trust his heart?

  He just wanted her to go...

  now he’ll do anything to make her stay.

  Ranch attorney Ty Warner isn’t buying Rachel Henderson’s story. He’s sure the pretty single mom is after his boss’s fortune, but Rachel claims she’s just looking for family who might donate the kidney she needs to survive. As Ty grows closer to Rachel and her little girl, he discovers the raw truth—he’ll do whatever it takes to help Rachel live.

  “Come meet Ricky. I told him to expect us.”

  Ty smiled and gestured Rachel and her daughter toward the porch.

  Instead of looking excited, she looked scared. Worried. Good. It would be easier on all of them if she decided not to go through with whatever she was planning.

  “What’s your name?” Ricky asked the little girl.

  Rachel patted her daughter’s back and said, “This is Katie. It takes her a while to warm up to new people. Give her time to figure you out, and then you’ll be sorry you befriended her. She’s usually quite the chatterbox.”

  Ricky smiled as he shook his head. “I would never regret befriending a child.”

  Rachel’s smile made Ty’s heart skip a beat. Even though Ty didn’t believe Rachel’s motives in being here were pure, he did know that smile was genuine. And it took his breath away.

  Maybe the real threat she posed wasn’t to Ricky, but to Ty...

  Danica Favorite loves the adventure of living a creative life. She loves to explore the depths of human nature and follow people on the journey to happily-ever-after. Though the journey is often bumpy, those bumps refine imperfect characters as they live the life God created them for. Oops, that just spoiled the ending of Danica’s stories. Then again, getting there is all the fun. Find her at danicafavorite.com.

  Books by Danica Favorite

  Love Inspired

  Double R Legacy

  The Cowboy’s Sacrifice

  Three Sisters Ranch

  Her Cowboy Inheritance

  The Cowboy’s Faith

  His Christmas Redemption

  Love Inspired Historical

  Rocky Mountain Dreams

  The Lawman’s Redemption

  Shotgun Marriage

  The Nanny’s Little Matchmakers

  For the Sake of the Children

  An Unlikely Mother

  Mistletoe Mommy

  Honor-Bound Lawman

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  THE COWBOY’S SACRIFICE

  Danica Favorite

  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

  —John 15:13

  For Ed, Brenda and Jelana. Thank you for letting us be part of your journey. Your family means the world to us in so many ways. We’re so excited to see what this next chapter holds for all of us.

  For Tara. Your giving heart inspires me every day. Not just in the big things, but also in all the little ways you go out of your way to make every kid feel special. Thank you for always looking out for others, and especially for the ways you’ve loved my girls.

  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

  Epilogue

  Dear Reader

  Excerpt from A Mother’s Homecoming by Lisa Carter

  Chapter One

  Bridge out.

  The two simple words were one more wrench in Rachel Henderson’s plans. She should have known better than to trust anything would be so easy for her. The DNA website had listed Ricardo Ruiz the Fourth as a potential relative match. Her only relative match. Based on what they had in common, she assumed he was her grandfather. A quick search on the internet revealed that Ricky, as he was called, was the owner of the Double R Ranch, a guest ranch in the central mountains of Colorado that promised to teach a new generation of cowboys about the cowboy way of life.

  It seemed almost too easy, taking the weekend off and driving two hours from Denver to the sleepy little town of Columbine Springs to introduce herself to Ricky and explain her very important reason for tracking him down. She hadn’t been able to find any hotels, but given that the Double R billed itself as a guest ranch, surely they would have rooms for rent.

  She’d brought her four-year-old daughter, Katie, figuring that even if she struck out with her request to Ricky, they could at least have a nice weekend.

  Except they’d gotten less than ten miles from their destination only to find the bridge was out, and GPS gave no alternate routes.

  So here they were. In front of a café in Columbine Springs, hoping someone could help them find a way to get to the ranch.

  Though the buildings in the town looked old and worn, the café was painted a bright cheerful blue and it looked inviting, a place that welcomed weary travelers and seasoned locals alike.

  When they entered the café, Rachel glanced around. A couple of old cowboys sat by the window, poring over a newspaper. The place was dominated by a large coffee bar with a pastry counter. Behind it was a large blackboard displaying the menu items. As they approached the counter, an older woman wearing a name tag that said Della greeted them warmly.

  “Welcome. What can I get for you today?”

  Even though Della probably said those words to a hundred people a day, something about the woman made Rachel feel almost as if she’d found a new friend. Which was ridiculous, because Rachel didn’t have friends. Didn’t need them. Didn’t see the point. She’d learned the hard way that relationships didn’t last.

  The door jangled, and Rachel turned to see what had to be an advertisement for a cowboy magazine walking through the door. She hated to use stereotypes, but this man completely fit the bill of the tall, dark and handsome cowboy.

  Rachel shook her head. What was she doing, thinking about such nonsense? She was a single mom and had way too many other things going on in her life to be admiring a man.

  “Hey, Della,” the cowboy said. “Jake. Steve.”

  In this place, the locals seemed to know everyone. Rachel had always wanted to be part of something like that, but she’d always figured that such communities only existed on television.

  She turned her attention back to the menu. “I’d like a vanilla latte. I’ll also have your turkey sandwich kid’s meal with chocolate milk, and the chicken salad sandwich for myself.”

  Della smiled at her warmly. “You’ve got it. What brings you to Columbine Springs? If you’re looking for activities, we’ve got some maps from the Chamber of Commerce on the other side of the counter. Most people just pass through on their way to ski resorts or the other side of the state, but you’re missing out on one of the gems of Colorado if you do that.”

  The older woman’s enthusiastic sales pitch about the town gave Rachel hope. If anyone could tell her how to get to the Double R, this woman could.

  “I came to visit the Double R Ranch. But I got almost there and found that the bridge was out. My GPS couldn’t give me an alternate route. I was hoping someone could give me directions.”

  Della looked thoughtful. “The Double R? That’s funny. I thought they were closed for their annual cleaning week.”

  “We are,” the cowboy said, coming to stand be
side Rachel. “Cleaning week is the only way we can get Ricky to take time off.”

  He looked her up and down, like she was an intruder. Which was crazy, considering the Double R was a guest ranch. Surely they would be excited about having guests.

  “The website didn’t say anything about being closed for cleaning,” she said. “When I emailed to make reservations, the email bounced.”

  “So you thought you’d just show up?” the man asked, sounding grumpy. “That’s a huge risk to take, considering there aren’t any hotels for about forty-five miles in any direction.”

  It hadn’t occurred to Rachel that she wouldn’t be welcome. Granted, she wasn’t sure how she was going to broach the real reason for her visit. But she thought that somehow, being there and talking to Ricky, she’d find a way to bring it up.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that. I just wanted to take my daughter away for the weekend to enjoy the outdoors. And I work for an ad agency, so I was hoping while we were there, I could talk to the owner about doing some ads.”

  Rachel knew she sounded like a bumbling idiot as she pulled her business card out of her purse and handed it to him. As it was, she still had no idea how to tell Ricky. After all, how did one ask a complete stranger to help her find a kidney donor?

  But time was running out.

  Ricky Ruiz was the only relative she could find, so she hoped he could connect her with other relatives who might be willing to donate a kidney to her.

  She’d been on the transplant waiting list for so long, too far down to be considered a priority unless she found her own donor. Which was why she put her information into the DNA website, hoping to find someone related to her. Her mom had died when she was ten, she never knew her father and she’d spent the years after that bouncing between foster homes. Not a life story she wanted to tell anyone, least of all these strangers. She’d eventually have to tell Ricky, but she’d been hoping to break the ice first.

  The cowboy looked at her suspiciously. “So it’s really a sales call,” he said.

  Della had been preparing their food and drinks while she and the cowboy talked. Della slid the food across the counter toward her. “Why don’t you guys go over to your table and enjoy your lunch? Ty, I’ll get the special up for you in a jiffy.”

  Ty. The perfect cowboy name. He turned his attention to Della. “How do you know I’m getting the special? Maybe I wanted a roast beef sandwich today.”

  Della made a noise. “You always get the special. You might be some big-shot lawyer, but you’re still a Warner, which means you still pinch a penny so hard it cries out in pain. You wouldn’t pay an extra dollar to get the roast beef instead of the special if your life depended on it.”

  Rachel couldn’t believe Della was being so forward with the man, but he laughed her off. “Yes, but those dollars saved add up, and it feels good knowing I’ve got something put aside for a rainy day.”

  Ty looked over at Rachel. “Let’s sit. I’m the attorney for the Double R. I protect Ricky’s interests. Give me your pitch, and if I like it, I’ll make sure you get out there.”

  An attorney. She should have known that the cute cowboy in the café would have some fatal flaw. At least now she wouldn’t be tempted to think about him in any quasi-romantic way. Katie’s father had been an attorney, and it had nearly ruined Rachel’s life.

  The stubborn look Ty gave Rachel told her that he meant business. Knowing he was an attorney made her even more certain that convincing him to let her go to the ranch wasn’t going to be an easy task.

  Katie had scampered off to a corner of the café labeled the Kiddie Corral that had various games and activities for children. This must be a center of community activity. Rachel called Katie over and they all sat at a nearby table.

  Once she got Katie settled with her lunch, Rachel turned her attention to Ty.

  “I meant what I said about wanting to get Katie out in nature. That’s the appeal of the Double R to me,” Rachel said. “Regardless of whether or not you let me pitch my ideas to Ricky, I still want to visit. When I was searching online for ranches and places I could take Katie, I liked the idea of keeping the cowboy tradition alive. It seems like a waste for people to not know about it.”

  That, and if she couldn’t convince Ty to show her how to get to the ranch, she wasn’t sure how she was going to talk to Ricky and ask him about other relatives. The email had bounced, and no one had answered the phone when she’d tried to call. She had no idea how they stayed in business with such poor customer service. But from the way Ty looked at her, that probably wouldn’t be a good thing for her to say right off the bat.

  “We must be doing something right. You found it,” Ty said.

  Rachel sighed. “Only after looking through three pages of search results. If you want to get your business going, you need to have it ranking higher in the search engines. Add some advertising, follow the suggestions I have, and your business will explode.”

  Ty took a sip of his coffee. “We do all right.”

  “But you could do better,” Rachel said, leaning forward. She’d gone up against tougher customers than Ty, and while this wasn’t her primary objective, it would help them both. “I would love to put together a proposal for you. Present it to Ricky and see what he thinks. But as I told you, that’s not the only reason I’m here. I do want to take Katie to the ranch. To be around animals and in nature.”

  “Like I said, we’re closed for cleaning.”

  Della set a plate in front of him with a thud. “That’s not the kind of hospitality Ricky believes in, and you know it,” she said. “He’d tan your hide if he knew you were refusing a little girl the chance to experience the ranch.”

  Ty took his hat off and ran his hand through his dark hair. “Ricky isn’t the one who’s going to have to deal with a lawsuit over someone not finding the ranch up to their expectations. He’ll hand it all to me and make me deal with it.”

  Without his hat, Ty looked younger, more vulnerable. And while she’d initially thought that his objection to her coming out to the ranch was pure mean-spiritedness, the lines in his brow spoke of exhaustion.

  What would he say when he realized her real intention in coming? Would her need for a kidney also create a legal hassle for him?

  Ty was an attorney. He didn’t have a heart. He just wanted the facts and figures, and even when he got them, he’d twist them to suit his needs.

  So where did Rachel’s situation fit into that picture?

  Della, though, seemed more sympathetic. “You’ve certainly had your hands full lately. But you know how Ricky loves those little ones.”

  Rachel glanced over at Katie, who’d only taken a few bites of her sandwich, declared herself full, then gone back over to the children’s area.

  Maybe playing on Ricky’s love for children was the angle she should work, instead of trying to use her professional skills.

  Ty nodded. “I know, but ever since word got out that he was looking for Cinco’s kid, we’ve had all kinds of crazies come out to the ranch, trying to take advantage of an old man in hopes they’d inherit.”

  He turned his attention back to Rachel, giving her such an intense glare that she was almost afraid of making her request. She would definitely do so without Ty present. From the way he looked at her, he was clearly a very good lawyer who made his opponents cower in their loafers in the courtroom.

  She had no idea what he was even talking about, and she was scared. But she had no time for fear.

  “You’d better be who you say you are,” Ty said. “Ricky might be an old man, but he’s not stupid. And I promise, if you so much as think about taking advantage of him, I will go after you with everything I have.”

  A lump caught in her throat. Would she be perceived as trying to take advantage of Ricky? That wasn’t her intention. Based on his age, he wouldn’t be a good candidate for trans
plant anyway. But she had to hope that Ricky could put her in contact with other relatives who might be. Surely Ty could understand a matter of life and death.

  Then again, if Ty was as heartless as all the other attorneys she’d known, he might not be so understanding. And if he went after her with everything he had...

  She nearly hadn’t survived when Katie’s father had done the same.

  “I told you,” Rachel said. “I’m just looking to teach my daughter about the great outdoors, and maybe, if I get the chance to pitch to Ricky, I could also land a new advertising account. I know you say you’re doing just fine, but surely it doesn’t hurt to look at what I can offer.”

  Della squeezed Ty’s shoulders like she was giving him encouragement before walking away to greet new customers who had just entered the café.

  “I don’t suppose it would do any harm,” Ty finally conceded. “But I’ll be keeping my eye on you. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect Ricky’s interests.”

  Though she liked her job and her boss, Rachel couldn’t see herself ever being that protective of Dan. “It sounds like Ricky is a lot more than your employer,” she said.

  Ty nodded. “Ricky has done a lot for me and my family. And for this community. Most of us see him as an extension of our own families. People think that because he’s old and alone, he’s an easy mark. My grandparents were bilked out of their savings by a con man when I was in high school. It drove me to become a lawyer. So be warned. When it comes to protecting others, I take no prisoners.”

  More threats. If her life didn’t literally depend on it, she might have been tempted to walk away. Because somehow, she was pretty sure that if you looked at Ty the wrong way, you’d end up in court. That seemed to be her experience with all the lawyers she’d ever known. Or maybe it was her past talking—all the years spent in the foster care system with caseworkers and lawyers galore, and always feeling like no matter what they said to the contrary, none of them were really looking out for her.