The Maverick Returns. Roz Denny Fox

      She Once Loved A Cowboy...

      When Tate Walker was killed in a barroom brawl, he left his widow with a small run-down ranch in south Texas and a daughter he falsely claimed wasn’t his. Willow had accepted Tate’s proposal because Cooper Drummond, the love of her life, refused to put aside his rodeo plans, despite her fears for his safety.

      A year later, a cowboy appears out of nowhere, looking for work. He’d heard about a widow who could use some help. To Willow’s shock, it’s Cooper Drummond. And to Coop’s shock, the widow is his onetime fiancée, now the mother of a little girl who’s been diagnosed with a troubling condition.

      She Still Loves That Cowboy...

      And that cowboy’s never forgotten her. Can the two of them—the three of them—become a family? Can Coop love her daughter as his own?

      Coop saw the house first

      In the fading sunlight it looked more than weathered. The clapboard was badly in need of paint and the barn appeared to be in even worse condition. He also saw that several head of cattle had strayed through a broken section of wire fencing.

      He slammed on his brakes. In the distance he noticed a skinny woman, a blonde, who had a small child hanging on to her jacket, attempting to shoo the animals back.

      “Hold on,” Coop yelled after he set his brake and rolled down one window. “I’ll come give you a hand.”

      The woman’s head jerked around in surprise, as if she hadn’t heard his engine and had no idea anyone was on the road.

      Cooper swept up the straw cowboy hat he wore when working out in the sun and leaped down from the cab. He began turning the closest cattle back into the would-be enclosure.

      At last the final stubborn rangy steer in the group of two dozen or so crossed over the squashed wire. Facing the woman, who stood closer to him now, Coop dragged his shirtsleeve across his brow. When he opened his eyes, shock traveled from his suddenly tight jaw straight to his toes.

      Though a great deal thinner, and her sky-blue eyes far more lackluster than when he’d last seen her, the much-talked-about widow was none other than Cooper’s first love, Willow Courtland. Willow, who’d married his arch enemy, Tate Walker.

      Dear Reader,

      I’ve often considered writing a story in which either the hero or heroine has a child with autism. I discovered how difficult such a story is to write. I have a grandson on the autism spectrum and I’ve learned that it’s a disorder with so many variables it’s impossible to fit them all into one fictional child.

      The reality for the parent of an autistic child is that finding appropriate programs can be a problem—although there are more available now than there once were. Still, if you’re from a rural area as my heroine is, the task can seem insurmountable. And if, like Willow, you’re also trying to run a ranch and raise a child on your own, life is—to put it mildly—not easy.

      That’s why I searched for a hero like Cooper Drummond. A man who, while not without his faults, has a heart big enough to love a woman out of his past and her autistic child.

      I hope you enjoy Willow, Lilybelle and Cooper’s story. I love hearing from all my readers. You can contact me by email at [email protected].

      Or by letter at Roz Denny Fox, 7739 E. Broadway Blvd #101, Tucson, AZ 85710-3941.

      Sincerely,

      Roz

      The Maverick Returns

      Roz Denny Fox