His Forever Valentine

by Marie Ferrarella

  A Real Cowboy. A Real Home?

  Rafe Rodriguez never reckoned on playing hero to a beautiful, big-city stranger. But when he saves Valentine Jones from a charging bull, this Rodriguez brother’s fate is all but sealed. The Hollywood photographer is on location in Forever to scout out an authentic dude ranch. And nothing could feel more real—or right—than the fiery feelings Val’s awakening in Rafe. And he knows just how their real-life romance should end!

  Haunted by tragedy, Val knows life isn’t like the movies. Still, a girl could get used to having a sexy protector like Rafe around. The Texas rancher is wreaking havoc with her credo of never settling in one place. Is Val headed for heartbreak again? Or has she finally found a place to belong with this cowboy who’s starting to make her believe in forever?

  “Run?” Val echoed incredulously. “Why would you tell me to—?”

  This was no time for debate. Instead of biting off a few choice words of explanation, Rafe grabbed her hand. Rather than pushing her ahead of him, he went the other route. He pulled her in his wake.

  Hard.

  And then she finally heard it. She heard the cause for his alarm. The sound of something pounding on the ground seemed as if it was reverberating right through her, like an earthquake in the distance.

  The “earthquake” felt as though it was coming closer by the moment.

  Val turned her head in the direction the sound was coming from.

  That was when she saw it.

  A bull.

  A huge black bull was charging directly at them.

  Dear Reader,

  Forever, Texas started out as a onetime, one-book idea. One story, about a sheriff and an abandoned baby—and the lady lawyer looking not just for the baby but her runaway sister, as well. But once she—and I—“came” to Forever, the people I wrote about tended to stick in my mind. The main two characters got to play out their story, but what about the others? What about the sheriff’s deputy, Alma, and her five brothers? What about his sister, Ramona? And then there was the heroine’s sister, not to mention Miss Joan, the lady with the slightly too-red hair who ran the diner and oversaw everyone else’s lives. What about all their stories? So I decided to start exploring those avenues, finding out what made these people tick. What made them happy.

  This time around, we come to Gabe’s twin brother, Rafe, a rancher content with his lot and pretty much minding his own business—until he stumbles across a vivacious woman with a camera, taking pictures of his land. She turns out to be a location scout for a film company—and wouldn’t you just know it, she thinks that his family’s ranch and the town of Forever are a perfect place to shoot their new movie.

  By the end of the story, the term perfect location takes on a whole new meaning for Valentine Jones and for Rafe. And Miguel Rodriguez now has just two sons left to marry off. Who will it be next? Curious? Y’all come back now, y’hear?

  In conclusion, as always, I thank you for reading. I wouldn’t be here without you. And from the bottom of my heart I wish you someone to love who loves you back.

  All the best,

  Marie

  HIS FOREVER

  VALENTINE

  Marie Ferrarella

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Marie Ferrarella, a USA TODAY bestselling and RITA® Award—winning author, has written more than two hundred books for Harlequin, some under the name Marie Nicole. Her romances are beloved by fans worldwide. Visit her website, www.marieferrarella.com.

  Books by Marie Ferrarella

  HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

  1329—The Sheriff’s Christmas Surprise††

  1338—Ramona and the Renegade††

  1346—The Doctor’s Forever Family††

  1369—Montana Sheriff

  1378—Holiday in a Stetson

  “The Sheriff Who Found Christmas”

  1402—Lassoing the Deputy††

  1410—A Baby on the Ranch††

  1426—A Forever Christmas††

  1462—His Forever Valentine††

  HARLEQUIN ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

  1664—Private Justice

  1675—The Doctor’s Guardian**

  1683—A Cavanaugh Christmas*

  1688—Special Agent’s Perfect Cover

  1699—Cavanaugh’s Bodyguard*

  1715—Cavanaugh Rules*

  1725—Cavanaugh’s Surrender*

  1732—Colton Showdown

  1736—A Widow’s Guilty Secret

  1751—Cavanaugh on Duty*

  1760—The Colton Ransom%

  SILHOUETTE ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

  1503—A Doctor’s Secret**

  1511—Secret Agent Affair**

  1515—Protecting His Witness*

  1528—Colton’s Secret Service

  1556—The Heiress’s 2-Week Affair

  1571—Cavanaugh Pride*

  1575—Becoming a Cavanaugh*

  1580—The Agent’s Secret Baby

  1587—The Cavanaugh Code*

  1596—In Bed with the Badge*

  1612—Cavanaugh Judgment*

  1616—Colton by Marriage

  1623—Cavanaugh Reunion*

  1644—In His Protective Custody**

  HARLEQUIN SPECIAL EDITION

  2117—A Match for the Doctor‡‡‡

  2211—What the Single Dad Wants…‡‡‡

  2131—The Baby Wore a Badge^

  2167—Fortune’s Valentine Bride†††

  2192—Once Upon a Matchmaker‡‡‡

  2210—Real Vintage Maverick-

  2240—A Perfectly Imperfect Match‡‡‡

  2246—A Small Fortune***

  2252—Ten Years Later…‡‡‡

  2264—Wish Upon a Matchmaker‡‡‡

  SILHOUETTE SPECIAL EDITION

  1910—Diamond in the Rough<>

  1917—The Bride with No Name<>

  1941—Mistletoe and Miracles<>

  1946—Plain Jane and the Playboy‡

  1958—Travis’s Appeal<>

  1977—Loving the Right Brother

  1983—The 39-Year-Old Virgin

  2006—A Lawman for Christmas<>

  2017—Prescription for Romance‡‡

  2031—Doctoring the Single Dad‡‡‡

  2041—Fixed Up with Mr. Right?‡‡‡

  2060—Finding Happily-Ever-After‡‡‡

  2084—Unwrapping the Playboy‡‡‡

  2107—Fortune’s Just Desserts†

  *Cavanaugh Justice

  **The Doctors Pulaski

  <>Kate’s Boys

  ‡The Fortunes of Texas: Return to Red Rock

  ‡‡The Baby Chase

  ‡‡‡Matchmaking Mamas

  †The Fortunes of Texas: Lost…and Found

  ††Forever, Texas

  ^Montana Mavericks: The Texans Are Coming!

  †††The Fortunes of Texas: Whirlwind Romance

  -Montana Mavericks: Back in the Saddle

  ***The Fortunes of Texas: Southern Invasion

  %The Coltons of Wyoming

  To

  Anastasia Ault

  Who Makes Me Remember

  Why I Write

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Cha
pter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  She was gorgeous.

  Had he forgotten his tan Stetson at the house, the way he occasionally did, Raphael Rodriguez might have been inclined to believe that he’d gotten sunstroke and was having his very first hallucination.

  But his Stetson was firmly planted on his head—he actually reached up to touch the brim to make sure it was there. And, although it was rather warm for the middle of January—winters here in Forever, Texas, were usually mild—it’s wasn’t that hot. At least, not hot enough to produce either heatstroke or mirages. This morning, initially, there’d even been a slight nip in the air to remind him that winter wasn’t quite finished with them yet.

  All in all, this had been a more eventful winter than usual, at least for his family. It had been a winter where his twin brother, Gabriel, had found the girl of his dreams. Gabe and the woman he called “Angel” were getting married in April.

  Rafe had to admit—although only silently to himself—that he was somewhat envious of his twin. Angel was incredibly sweet and he’d never seen Gabe so happy. At times, the man seemed to be walking five inches off the ground.

  The thought of finding someone of his own to settle down with had been on Rafe’s mind a great deal lately.

  Was that why he thought he saw this gorgeous vision in the distance now? She couldn’t be real. Not this beautiful redhead with a killer body standing smack dab in the middle of his ranch.

  His family’s ranch, Rafe amended. The property belonged to his family in the truest sense of the word since their father, Miguel Sr., had changed the deed to the ranch from listing him as the sole owner to putting down all their names, dividing the property in equal shares between all of them.

  That particular action had come about at their father’s insistence because they’d all had a part in keeping the bank from foreclosing on the ranch. Each one of them had gotten at least a part-time job, turning over their meager paychecks to their father so that he could stay abreast of the mortgage and their late mother’s mountain of medical bills. That selfless act, the senior Rodriguez had said, was what entitled them to an equal share of the sprawling ranch.

  As he drove his Jeep in closer, Rafe couldn’t take his eyes off her.

  A woman like that looked completely out of place in a place like this. She had to be a figment of his imagination. But he’d already figured out that he wasn’t experiencing sunstroke and all he’d had to eat this morning were scrambled eggs and some coffee that could have been labeled as solid. The regular housekeeper was on vacation visiting her sister so it had been Miguel Jr.’s turn to cook, or do whatever it was that his oldest brother felt passed for cooking.

  But Mike kept things simple, so it was safe to say that Rafe hadn’t ingested anything that would have caused a hallucination like this in the middle of his morning.

  Steadily decreasing the distance between them, Rafe couldn’t help wondering when the woman was going to disappear. He couldn’t get over the feeling that she just might be a mirage created by his brain because he was currently without female companionship and Eli, Alma and Gabe were all either married or spoken for.

  Was that why he was having this vision?

  He’d driven out here to the northern region of the ranch for a reason. He was looking over the miles of fencing, searching for a hole or a break in it anywhere. At last count, they were short a few head of cattle. Since it was doubtful that anyone in the area would actually bother to rustle a meager five or six head, his father thought that the cattle might have just wandered off because of a break in the fencing, most likely caused by the spate of inclement weather they’d just experienced.

  “Either that, or the coyotes around here have learned how to steal and use wire cutters,” Ramon—who preferred being called Ray—had cracked at the table this morning before breakfast.

  Rafe had been quick to volunteer to be the one to drive the length of the fence, checking for a break. If he hadn’t he would have been stuck with kitchen cleanup. Given the choice, he would always rather be outdoors, even driving around for hours, than stuck washing and drying dishes. It wasn’t that he viewed that kind of work as “woman’s work,” just “indoor” work. Time out in the open won out every time.

  But this vision was inexplicable. And she wasn’t vanishing.

  The woman, with her needle-straight hair—hair the color of the sun’s first blush at sunrise—dipping halfway down her slender back, was still there.

  Anticipation telegraphed through Rafe’s body, putting his pulse on high alert.

  Now that he was getting close enough to discern details more clearly, Rafe saw that she was doing something other than taking in the view. She was preoccupied taking pictures with a camera that appeared way too large and sturdy for a typical tourist. She wasn’t just some outsider who’d lost her way and had decided to pause and take a few pictures of the land she’d wandered onto.

  She looked to him to be a woman with a mission.

  Part of him would have opted to stop driving and just watch her for a little while. Watch her moving about, looking as close to poetic as the photographs she appeared to be framing.

  But just as he was considering shutting off his car engine and silently observing her, the slender woman with the flowing strawberry-red hair turned around to look at him.

  She was even more striking from the front than she was from the back.

  And she was looking straight at him.

  Her smile was infectious. Rather than sound generic, the one-word greeting she offered him somehow seemed incredibly personal. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” Rafe echoed. For a moment, he just sat there in his Jeep, looking at her. Unable to make a move.

  Maybe she was a hallucination after all. The woman seemed completely unfazed at being discovered trespassing. There was no uneasiness or discomfort over the fact that he’d discovered her in a place she clearly didn’t belong.

  In his experience, the few tourists that drifted through Forever eyed the local population a bit warily, as if they weren’t quite sure just how civilized these “natives” actually were—if they ate with utensils or still used their fingers when they were consuming their meals.

  The thought had the corners of his mouth curving.

  The woman, he noted, also, wasn’t making any breathless confessions as to why she was trespassing, nor was she launching into any kind of an elaborate explanation as to what she was doing here this far from town.

  As a matter of fact, she wasn’t saying anything at all, which struck Rafe as rather unique. In his experience, women usually took charge of the conversation and, on the average, did a hell of a lot more talking than men.

  At least his sister Alma made it seem that way.

  Rafe turned off his vehicle’s engine as an afterthought and got out of the Jeep.

  The woman had lowered her camera and was now watching him much the way he had been watching her. Except that she had what he could only call a bemused expression on her face.

  Was there some joke he was missing, or was that just her way of trying to disarm him?

  Whatever it was, it was working.

  He started the conversation with the obvious by asking her, “You do know that you’re on private land, right?”

  Her smile answered him before her words did. It was as if there was some silent communication going on.

  Definitely a hallucination, he couldn’t help thinking one final time.

  “Yes, I do,” she replied, still wearing
that wide, inviting grin, “and I think that this is exactly what my boss is look for.”

  So she was a real estate agent? It hardly seemed likely. He’d never seen her before and Forever was not exactly destined to become a thriving metropolis in the next decade or so. Everyone in town had at least a nodding acquaintance with everyone else who lived in or around the area—unless they were strangers, fresh from some other place.

  Since he didn’t want the woman wasting her time and his, there was only one answer he could give her. “It’s not for sale.”

  There was no way that anyone in his family would be willing to part with the ranch, or even the smallest section of the ranch. This land was far more than just square footage to them. It was their heritage, it was tied to their childhood and more importantly, it was their invisible connection with their mother. You didn’t sell something like that no matter what the offer turned out to be.

  “Oh, he wouldn’t want to buy it,” the sexy woman informed him brightly. “If I’m right about this—and I usually am,” she added without the slightest bit of bravado or vanity, “he’ll be interested in renting it.”

  Rafe’s deep brown eyes narrowed beneath his tan Stetson. He tried desperately to make sense out of what the redhead was telling him. He guessed that brains didn’t come along with the beauty. Such a shame.

  “Renting it?” he questioned. That really wasn’t an option, either. “I’m sorry, but—”

  Rafe didn’t get a chance to turn her down. Lowering her camera so that it now just hung from a strap, its lens pointing, unfocused, at the ground, she moved closer to him.

  “Wait,” she requested, raising her voice just enough to register a tad louder than his. “Hear me out, please.” She gestured around the terrain with open enthusiasm. “This place is absolutely perfect.”

  “And we intend to keep it that way,” he told her in no uncertain terms.

  Gorgeous or not, he wasn’t about to let himself be turned around by the woman and make promises he had no right to make nor keep, even if he could—which he couldn’t. Everything that went on at the ranch was decided by a vote—and they all had a vote. So he couldn’t accept any offers she might make.