Her Hidden Falls Doctor Cowboy
Page 1
Her Hidden Falls Doctor Romance
Hardman Brother Ranch Romances
Taylor Hart
Contents
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Her Protector Billionaire Groom by Taylor Hart
Also by Taylor Hart
About the Author
Copyright
All rights reserved.
© 2019 ArchStone Ink
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. The reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form whether electronic, mechanical or other means, known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written consent of the publisher and/or author. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This edition is published by ArchStone Ink LLC.
First eBook Edition: 2019
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the creation of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Chapter 1
Jewel Jackson settled herself closer to her boyfriend, Kent Hardman, and stared at the Santa Monica Ocean as they sat in the back of his pickup. He’d told her it would be the perfect view of the sunset, and he’d been right. “I can’t believe it’s already time for you to go to med school. At Penn State, no less.”
Kent hesitated, then dove into her lips.
She gave in to him, pushing her hand through his blond hair that lay just below the ears.
He snaked an arm around her waist and tugged her closer.
Finally, she pulled back, letting out a light laugh. “Whew, we’d better take it easy.”
“You’re right.”
She resumed her former snuggle position on his arm. They’d been careful not to cross boundaries, something both of them valued.
Kent smiled at her. “You’re the impressive one. Harvard Law School. I’m really excited for you.”
It’d been her dream as long as she could remember, and she was thrilled to achieve it, but right now she could only think about leaving Kent.
“Should we go for a ride?” he asked quietly, nodding at the Ferris wheel on the pier.
A memory of their first kiss flashed through her mind. Kent had kissed her at the top of the Ferris wheel for the first time, told her it was good luck. “Kent.” Her voice was shaky.
He squeezed her hand. “I want to ride every Ferris wheel with you. Especially the one at Elitch Gardens.”
At spring break, he’d gone with her back to Denver to meet her parents and friends, and they’d planned on going to Elitch Gardens, but it hadn’t worked out. She grinned. “We will one day.” But the promise felt empty.
“C’mon, let’s go ride the Ferris wheel.”
She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. Instead, she picked up his hand and kissed his palm. “Healing hands,” she muttered. “You’re going to save everyone.”
Kent gazed at her, and she saw a flicker of pain there. “What if the only thing I want to save is us?”
Her heart raced. “We’ve talked about this for a long time: you’re going to Penn, I’m going to Harvard, and we’ll just see what happens after that.” She blinked as tears stung her eyes.
He cursed. “No crying.”
“I’m not.”
“Jewels,” he whispered. “We have to talk about all of this.”
On impulse, she bolted from the truck, rushing toward the beach and tearing off the wrap she’d worn over her swimming suit. “No we don’t! Let’s swim!”
He was right on her heels, splashing into the ocean behind her.
She dove in, and when she surfaced, he was there, his blue eyes following her. Beads of water dripped from his hair. With his six-pack abs and rugged good looks, the man was handsome. When he opened his arms, she rushed into them, inhaling a faint cool mint aftershave smell.
“Jewels, we could make it work.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and stayed pressed against his bare chest. How could it work? Her mind had churned over this very problem for the past few weeks. “Just hold me.”
“Jewels,” he whispered, holding her tighter.
She wanted to remember forever how it felt to be the arms of a man who loved her. Her heart ached like it would be ripped out of her chest. Kent was the smartest, funniest, kindest, sexiest man she’d ever met. She pulled back. “We both decided we would follow our dreams, and that’s what we’ll do.” She wiped beneath her eyes, trying to hold onto that certainty. “Then we’ll see what happens when school is done.”
Gently, he cupped the side of her face and leaned in, pressing his lips to hers.
Goose bumps rippled up her arms as she gave in to the kiss, pushing her arms around his shoulders and pulling him closer.
He crushed her against him and wandered deeper into the water, and she felt herself start to float. His hands trailed into her hair, and he worked his fingers through it. “I love you, Jewels. You know that, right?”
Hearing those words made her heart ache, because she hadn’t wanted to admit that this was more than some temporary thing. Reluctantly, she told the truth. “I love you, too, even though I don’t want to.”
His grin stretched wider. “Should I be complimented by that or not?”
“I just … The rules were that we wouldn’t fall in love, remember?”
“Oh, you mean when you passed out at that dance in the Union and I resuscitated you?”
She laughed, loving the memory. “I told you not to fall in love with me then.”
His face softened. “I remember you did your spin on Casa Blanca and said, ‘Of all the dance halls, on all the college campuses, in all the world, and you show up and save me.” He let out a light chuckle.
She melted into him again. “We were poised for a tragic romance from the start, weren’t we?”
He frowned. “I didn’t even know what movie you were quoting until six months into dating you,” he said, stroking her hair. “And I don’t like thinking we have a tragic romance.”
She didn’t know what to say, all she could think about was that it would be over soon.
They stood quietly for a while in the surf. She stayed against him, wishing this moment would never end.
“Jewels, I fell in love with you, and I want more.” Tenderly, he leaned in, kissing each of her eyelids, then her nose, then down her jawline. “I know we’ve been in denial, but I can’t deny it any longer. I won’t.” His lips found hers, and he lingered there and said, “I love you, and I want to be with you.”
Jewel let him kiss her then, relishing the warmth of his chest beneath her palms. With all his goodness, he was different from any man she’d ever met.
He pulled back, gasping for air, and laughed. The light in h
is beautiful blue eyes spoke to her. “What are we going to do, my attorney?”
She laughed sadly, keeping her arms around his neck. “I don’t know, my doctor.” They couldn’t do this. He’d worked too hard for that. He’d left his brothers and his ranch, all for the sake of a shot at his dream.
“Talk to me.” He kissed the top of her head, then searched her face.
“Kent, we can’t, we—”
“Marry me.”
She gaped at him. “What?”
“I want you, Jewel Hannah Jackson. I want you to be my wife.”
Jewel felt a surge of indescribable happiness, and tears filled her eyes. Yet, even as she beamed, she thought of how her mother had predicted that this might happen. That boy is going to propose to you, Jewel, and you have to be prepared.
“You want this, I know you do,” Kent whispered.
Her panic overshadowed the happiness. She’d worked so hard to get where she was. Her mother had taken a side job and sent money to her all through college. She couldn’t disappoint her. “Kent, I can’t. My mom worked so hard.”
He cursed. “I don’t accept you not accepting. Plus, it’s your life, not your mom’s. Put me out of this insane misery and marry me.”
That boy will steal your dreams, her mother had said. You watch out.
He kissed her neck in the place he knew she was ticklish.
She giggled. “Kent.”
“Marry me,” he said louder, his face growing serious. “Let’s just elope. Right now. We’ll just … do the long-distance thing until we can be together.”
The thought surprised her. “We would live apart as husband and wife?”
“It’s not ideal, but we could do it. You’ll come out to Pennsylvania when you can and I’ll go to Boston when I can. Plus, we have our phones and—”
“Kent …” Her heart raced. She wanted everything he was offering, but it felt too overwhelming. “You have your dream, and I have mine.”
“What if you’re my dream?”
Everything was happening too fast. She searched his face, wishing so many things were different. “Don’t do this. I can’t—”
“Yes, you can!” He pressed his lips to hers. The kiss wasn’t gentle. He was proving to her with every touch and kiss that she was his, and she knew it.
Even though she’d told him no, her body told a different story.
Finally, he pulled back, caressing a hand down her cheek. “I love you. I’m not taking that back.”
Her mind spun, trying to think of a way this didn’t have to be a final decision. “What if we were just engaged and then we waited to get married?” That felt more doable. Her mother couldn’t argue with that, since she would still be going to school.
He lifted his eyebrows. “That would make you feel better? To just be engaged?”
“Yes. And when I’m done with law school, we get married and I go to you.”
He paused, then raked a hand over his face. “Okay. So we’re engaged?”
She laughed in relief. “We’re engaged.”
“Mrs. Kent Hardman. I like it.”
She splashed him. “I’m keeping my last name.”
As they walked hand in hand into shore, he looked at her like a lovesick puppy. Adrenaline spiked through her. She still needed to figure out how she’d tell her parents, especially her mother.
“It’s gonna be great, Jewels.” He kissed the back of her hand. “Ferris wheels forever.”
She laughed. “Ferris wheels forever.”
Chapter 2
10 Years Later
“You don’t really think moving to Africa is going to help, do you?” Kent’s brother, Beau, threw up a hand. “FYI, moving won’t bring your wife back. Because she’s dead.”
Kent didn’t belt his brother much these days, but he didn’t know if he could resist this time. Plus, the Hardman brothers weren’t really known to hold back, especially with each other.
Beau looked at the clenched fist and put his hand into the air, palm out. “Hold on. It has to be said, and you know it. You can’t waste all your hard work to go live in a third-world country. You’ve been through all that schooling, worked so hard. Addy wouldn’t have wanted that. You’re supposed to settle down in Hidden Falls and open your practice. We need you there.”
Kent inhaled deeply. He and Addy had been married almost two years. They’d come to Charleston, South Carolina, to finish his residency and be close to Hidden Falls, his hometown. The plan had been to settle there, but now it wasn’t possible for him.
“Bro, talk to me.”
“It’s done,” Kent said evenly, even as his eyes stung with angry tears. “Her life insurance paid off my loans. And, I-I can’t be here anymore. The last couple months just haven’t felt right.” It felt strange to think it’d almost been six months since that stupid, senseless car crash. The police had ruled it an accident, but it sure didn’t feel like an accident.
Beau put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re not thinking clearly. I want you to move back to Hidden Falls with me and Sean. Just come to the ranch for a few weeks and get your head straight. Give this more time. You don’t have to just jump into action. Hey, I’m supposed to get a new colt next week; you could help me break him. Just like old times.”
There was fear in Beau’s eyes. Kent had seen that fear twice before, when they were teenagers: once when Beau had told him that their mama had cancer, and once the night their father had been taken to prison.
Kent was so tired.
“Come on.” Beau gestured to his truck. “Get in, let’s go to the ranch.”
Kent looked down at the lone army-style duffel bag he’d packed for Africa. He’d sold everything else, everything that Addy’s parents hadn’t taken. He touched his wedding ring, which he’d refused to take off his finger.
“Bro?”
“I’m sorry. I have to do this. I have to try to make a difference somewhere.”
Beau sniffed. “Why do you have to save the world?”
“I’m just selfishly trying to save myself, bro.”
Beau turned away from him, kicking the pavement with his cowboy boot. “Okay.”
Kent nodded. “I love you, bro. You know that.”
Finally, Beau pulled him into a hug, his body shaking. Beau had always been gooey in the middle, even though many people didn’t get to see that side of him. Between working on the ranch full time and then becoming a construction foreman, he’d become almost standoffish at times and preoccupied with finishing whatever job he was currently working on.
Kent just held him until he stopped shaking.
Beau pulled back, his eyes red. “I hate you.”
Kent let him go, giving him a soft smile. He pulled out a check with the rest of the money from the life insurance. “I want you and Sean to have this. Use it for the ranch.”
Beau eyed the check. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but you’re not giving Addy’s money to us.”
“She would have wanted you to have it.” Kent said. “She loved riding those horses. She loved the broncs, and she probably would have married you if she’d met you first.”
Beau let out a roaring laugh. “Right. Did you see the way that woman looked at you?”
Kent shoved the check into his brother’s hand. “Pay some bills, put the rest away for more bills later. You know Sean worries too much, this will help.”
Sean was their youngest brother. He was a cop and funny as all get-out. He was always quoting some poetry, but he kept his real feelings, the ones he couldn’t cry about, tucked close to the vest.
Kent held it out. “Just consider it an investment in the ranch.”
Beau’s lip curled. “Sure would be nice if Ryan was back.”
Their oldest brother.
“He’s serving our country; it’s fine. Like I said, it’s not much, but I want you to use it.”
“This doesn’t get you off the hook,” Beau called out as Kent turned to leave.
“Don�
��t I know it.”
“Wait!” Beau rushed after him before he’d gone far. “When will you come back?”
Kent reached for him and hugged him once more. “When I can.”
Beau pulled back, blinking rapidly. “Okay. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Chapter 3
Jewel rushed out of court, noting that she was already two hours late for the birthday dinner her father had made for her. She’d promised him that she’d be on time for it, and the guilt tasted bitter. Since her mother’s passing a little over a year ago and her father’s heart attack six months ago, her father had been pressuring her about working less and spending more time doing important things—like being with him on her birthday. She dug the key fob out of her purse.
“Jewel!”
She walked faster, not wanting to speak to the man following her.
“Wait! Jewel, please!”
She turned to face Ty Sherman, the man she’d dated the past five years—and the man she’d recently refused to marry.
He held out a book-sized red package, tied up with a white bow. “I wanted to give you your birthday present.”
Jewel didn’t acknowledge the package. She motioned to her car. “Sorry, I’m late. Dad is waiting on me for dinner. I have to go.”
Ty hedged, raking a hand through his hair. “Please …”
Jewel bit the inside of her cheek. She didn’t want to do this right now but she felt even more guilt about ending things between she and Ty. He’d given up a lot to move out to Denver.
Not that she’d asked him to do it. But, he was a good guy. Now, as he looked at her with those vulnerable brown eyes—the same eyes that had gone cold when she’d refused his proposal—she felt more guilt. “Ty—”