Cowboy Wilde (Cooper's Hawke Landing Book 2)
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RHONDA LEE CARVER
COWBOY WILDE
(BOOK 2, COOPER’S HAWKE LANDING)
Copyright © 2020 by Rhonda Lee Carver
www.rhondaleecarver.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission from the author, Rhonda Lee Carver, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages written in a review. For information, please contact Rhonda Lee Carver at rhondaleecarver.author@gmail.com.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogue in this work are from the author’s imagination and creation. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
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This book contains material that isn’t suitable for anyone under the age of 17.
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BLURB:
From the very beginning, fate led Grace to Wilder Ranch. Would the peaceful town of Cooper’s Hawk hold the key to peace in her heart?
Sitting in a quiet bus station, Grace Everly needed something, somewhere to go. The walls of her apartment in the city were closing in, suffocating her. By luck or by destiny, a stranger arrived with a ticket that offered Grace an opportunity to leave her broken past behind—a job at a remote ranch. Without a clue what she was getting herself into, she got on a bus and took it to Cooper’s Hawk, Montana. Within an hour of reaching the small town, and the ranch, she realized she’d made a huge mistake. The house was a dump, the job was out of her comfort zone, and the owner, as hunky as he was, left her with a bad taste in her mouth. Yet, there was something about the place she connected with.
Ruger Wilde was on a time crunch. He needed to get the Ranch and B&B up and running fast. And when his hired help showed up late and looking like she’d stepped out of a magazine, not the hard worker he’d expected, they were immediately off to a rocky start. She didn’t have any idea how to hammer a nail or boil a pot of water, so why didn’t he send her back where she came from? Why did he feel like she needed Wilder Ranch more than the ranch needed her?
In bits and pieces Grace reveals her past and Ruger starts to warm up to the mesmerizing beauty, although neither of them are prepared for the emotions that hit them like a ton of bricks. Will they learn that love always comes with risks? Sometimes the pain suffered in the past only makes love much sweeter the second time around…
A heartwarming story full of emotion and a splash of suspense.
Cover Design:
Rhonda Lee Carver
Stock Photo:
Period Images
Welcome to Cooper’s Hawk.
Life in this town is tranquil, but I sure wish folks would stop worrying about my relationship status. If a man chooses to be single, that’s his right, huh? My focus is on getting Wilder Ranch and B&B up and running, not find a soul mate. Yet, meeting beautiful Grace wasn’t in my five-year plan—or even ten-year plan. Can I trust her? Can I open myself up?
--Ruger Wilde
What can I say? I came to Cooper’s Hawk searching for something I lost within myself years ago. I not only found myself, but I found a way to stitch my heart that was broken once upon a time. From a man you wonder. Partly. My story is complex. I hope you’ll read and forgive a girl for a little white lie. I promise, I have my reasons…
--Grace Everly
To those who believe in second chances.
To those who have lost and have never fully recovered.
To those who hope.
Just a note…
Rhonda Lee Carver never fails to write amazing, heartwarming, sizzling contemporary western romances. She pulls a reader’s heartstrings while teasing their buried desires. Her sweet and spicy Cooper’s Hawke Landing Series will keep you reading page after page after page, meeting complex characters who are relatable.
In Cowboy Wilde characters face heartbreak and issues that involve problems within our communities. Loss is never easy but hope never dies. Take a stroll in Cooper’s Hawk and fall in love with beautiful, amazing characters.
Table of Contents
Front Matter
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Back Matter
Bonus - Bighearted Cowboy (Book 5, Tarnation, Texas) Chapters 1 and 2
CHAPTER ONE
“GRACEANN, YOU can’t do this to me.”
“We’ve talked about this. Let’s face the truth. We’re over.” The tall brunette turned her back to the man as if to end the conversation.
“We can’t be over. I love you.” He swept in to wrap his arms around her, but she stepped away, turning to face him again. So maybe she had second thoughts?
“No, Billy. You just love the sex. I refuse to be treated like a legal prostitute.”
“Why are you so upset?” he pleaded. “I thought you liked it, baby. The shower. The stairs in the back of the club. A quickie at my bro’s party.”
She pointed her finger in the center of his chest. “When a man won’t take a woman home to meet his folks that can only mean one thing!”
He rubbed the creases from his brow then dropped his hand. “Fine. You want to meet my parents then so be it! They have to return from Africa first.”
“Ugh!” The woman gave him a push. “I need to find myself. You’re holding me back!”
“Come on, GraceAnn!” he whined.
Grace Everly witnessed the altercation between the twenty-something couple from where she sat on the bench at the bus station. Another Grace feeling lost in the world.
The man, Billy, jetted his gaze around to see if anyone was listening, although they weren’t making an effort to keep their argument private.
Grace turned slightly and pretended interest in reading the large sign on the wall across the cold, dreary space… “Did you get your flavor on yet? Tutti Yogufrutti is giving away one free small yogurt. Drop in now and get your Tutti Yogufrutti on.”
Tutti Yogufrutti sounded delicious, reminding Grace that she hadn’t eaten since lunch yeste
rday. Forgetting to eat wasn’t anything unusual.
Reaching into her purse, she searched for something and found a mint. Unwrapping it, she popped it into her mouth as the couple’s voices rose again.
“Fine.” Billy stomped his tennis foot. “You want this relationship to be over? You got it!” He waited three seconds, hoping maybe she’d stop him, then turned and stormed off toward the empty parking lot.
GraceAnn burst into tears and raced inside the building.
Grace shifted uncomfortably on the hard bench. She had enough on her plate than to worry about someone else’s love story. She needed to stay put, enjoy her mint and decide what she would do…where she would go. After all, she had no clue.
At seven o’clock A.M., before coffee even, she’d packed an overnight case and grabbed a cab to the bus station. She had no idea where she belonged, but if she didn’t make a move soon, she’d wither away. The city was suffocating her. Life had come to a standstill. Although fate had played her a dirty hand a time or two, she still believed in kismet and she waited for something to happen, some sort of sign to lead her in the right direction.
For five years now she’d lived her life in robot mode. Each day flowing into the next like a stagnant river. Lately, when she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw a stranger with similar features to the woman she once was, that entire lifetime ago. She often wondered if all women faced the same challenge. Standing on an edge of a cliff, unsure where they belonged, or did this only happen to those who’d suffered tragedy.
Her therapist had told her she needed to branch out, step out of her bubble, take some risks. Grace’s sister Emily’s motto was “Eat the cake. Dance the dance. Laugh the laugh. Live” until that pertained to leaving New York of course. With eight years between them, Emily had taken on the role of a parent instead of sister. She guessed for a while Grace had given her sis reason to hover like a helimom. For a time life had been twisted.
Swallowing the sensation of grief building in her throat, she forced the emotion into an invisible box. That box was getting full.
Was showing up at a bus station in the middle of the night waiting for the office to open to buy a ticket to “somewhere” risky enough? Was this dancing the dance? Eating the cake? Living life?
She’d intentionally not told her sister about her escape plan. So, when her cell buzzed, she reluctantly grabbed it from her purse not surprised to see Emily’s number on the screen. If she didn’t answer, her sister would continue to call. At some point they’d have to have a conversation. “Hi, Emily,” she said once she clicked ‘talk.’ Although there was a bit of distance in their ages, they were close, best friends, and if Emily could remember she was Grace’s sister and not mother for a minute they could be even closer. How could she cast blame though, not when Emily had taken on a role of caregiver when their mother worked two jobs to put food on the table and shelter over their heads. Many nights they’d eaten mac and cheese from a cup, huddled under a blanket in bed while watching sitcoms. When their mother announced she was getting married and they were moving, Grace and Emily had been ecstatic. Their wish of having a normal childhood had finally come true, and their stepfather had become a stable role model.
“I got your text. Why aren’t you coming to the meeting today? Are you sick? Do I need to bring you chicken noodle soup?” Emily’s voice rose two decibels, but still it was a whisper as she attempted to not wake up her husband and kids who she liked to let sleep in.
“The text wasn’t code, Emily.” She knew she couldn’t lie to her sis. “I need to get away for a while. I’m taking a vacation.”
“Away? Where? What in the world has come over you?” Rustling in the background told Grace her sister was sneaking a bit of chocolate like she did every morning. She said it gave her much needed mojo to get through the day.
Grace knew if she admitted that she had no clue where she was going, Emily would do flips, so keeping information to the bare minimum meant less havoc in the long run.
Darting her gaze around the outside of the station, she searched for a location she could use. There was an ad promoting Texas. “San Antonio,” Grace blurted because it was the first city in the Lonestar state that came to mind.
“San Antonio? Are you crazy? Who do you know there? Do you realize how hot it is in Texas?”
“I’m not going there to see anyone, Sis. I’m taking a vacation. I need you to be understanding right now.”
“What about the shop? Now is not the time for vacations. Don’t you think I want to be sitting on an island with a Mai Tai in one hand and a bar of chocolate in the other? But no, I had two kids who crawled into my bed last night during the storm and I probably have a concussion because June kicked me in the head.” Emily referred to her three-year-old.
“Your kids are not an inconvenience,” Grace said quietly, feeling a familiar ache in her chest.
There was a long sigh that rattled the phone. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“I know you didn’t mean anything by it. It’s me. I’m being too sensitive. Anyway, you can handle the details of the boutique for a few weeks. You’re a rock star when it comes to business.” Ten years ago, they’d opened a lingerie boutique, Grace & Emily’s, and it had flourished, so much that they were in the planning stages of opening a second—a much, much bigger shop. Emily had a talent for making money while Grace loved the design and merchandise side of things. “I’ll be back before you know I’m gone. You have everything under control. I need this, Sis. More than you can know.”
“Grace, have you spoken to your therapist about this?”
Inwardly groaning, she hated discussing this subject. Emily talked about therapy as if Grace were being babysat by someone with a degree. “Just so you know, yes, I did.”
“And what did she say?” she practically yelled.
“She said I should branch out. Relax, Emily. You don’t have to worry about me.” Grace plucked at a loose thread on her slacks.
“Does this have to do with a man? You know I’d understand. I’ve been telling you for a few years you need to have a good—”
“Oh, you’re funny. Did you have clown with your chocolate this morning?”
“What’s so funny about you having sex? You’re human, honey. Dante and I have been married for ten hundred years and have two kids and we still sneak away into the pantry and go at it like rabbits.” Her chuckle eased some of the tension.
“Ew. Remind me to never eat at your house again. If only sex could drive away the demons.” Grace sighed.
“It could. You never know. What would it hurt to try?”
“I promise this has nothing to do with a man. I need to find myself.”
“Are you running away?” Some of the aggression had left her tone.
“No. If I planned on running away, I would have done that right after Caroline…” Feeling like a cotton ball had lodged in her throat, she needed water. Anchoring the phone between her chin and shoulder, she grabbed her purse and bag and headed inside the empty station. She found a vending machine, dropped her things down in front of it and stared through the glass. “I have to go.”
“Listen to me, Grace. Come here to my house and let’s talk. I realize after five years you’re still hurting—”
“Stop right there. A hundred years, a million talks, and even more therapy sessions will never take the pain away. I can only hope time will eventually be the salve that will cure my wounds, it just hasn’t touched it yet. I hope you never have to understand that firsthand. And I’m only going a few thousand miles south, not to Mars. If you love me, you’ll support this trip. If you can’t then I guess you won’t.” She inhaled sharply, pushing her pain to the far reaches of her heart. “I love you. I’ll call you soon.” She hung up, dropped her phone back into her purse and dug out enough change to buy a bottle of water.
While she downed half of the cold liquid, trying to get the bitter taste of her conversation with her sister out of her mouth, she felt the urge t
o pee. Grabbing up her things, she headed into the bathroom and heard sobbing coming from one of the stalls.
So, this was where GraceAnn disappeared to.
Stay out of it.
Quietly entering the last stall, doing her business, she came out and washed her hands, looking at her ashen reflection. The dark circles under her eyes as well as her hollowed cheeks screamed of her internal despair. Why couldn’t she find a stable footing? A wisp of joy and happiness? She didn’t expect a love story, but a smile now and again would be nice.
Closing her eyes, she gave a little prayer.
“Men are such dicks.”
Grace almost jumped out of her skin. She flicked her eyes open and swiveled, finding the young woman sitting on the floor with her back pressed against the wall, face smeared with wetness and bloodshot eyes. “Oh my gosh! I didn’t see you there.” Grace placed her hand over her chest where her heart beat fast.
“Do you know what I mean?” The girl sniffed loudly and swiped the back of her hand across her snotty nose. “That men are dicks?”
Backed into a corner, Grace had no choice but to answer. “Some men do have the dick gene. They’re not all bad though. I’ve known some good guys.” Swallowing, she dried her hands off, threw the towel away then pulled out another and handed it to the crying woman who blew her nose loudly. “Sorry, I overheard the argument you were having outside. Is that your boyfriend?”
Her snort echoed off the broken ceramic walls. “Yep, that’s just my dick boyfriend. I told him I was taking this job weeks ago. He didn’t seem to care. Not once did he say, “Don’t go”. And suddenly this morning, he’s all about wanting me to stay. Making promises he couldn’t weeks ago. Do you know, after six months he has not said that he loves me. I’m a good girlfriend. I make him dinner. Take his dog for walks. And in bed, well, let’s just say I’ve done things I should be ashamed of.”