on id="ued3d6e12-d156-5e26-8bc2-1906f9ebab24">
Second-Chance Cowboy
Montana rodeo star Tanner Fortier is a good man. A man Keira Bannister never stopped loving. But when he shows up at Refuge Ranch looking to have his late brother’s saddle repaired in time for the championships, he’s the last person Keira wants to see. For years, she’s kept hidden the real reason for breaking their engagement—and Tanner’s heart. But now, with him at the ranch, she’s tempted to reveal the truth—one that could destroy him. But she knows that to have a future with the man of her dreams, she has to settle the past…
Refuge Ranch: Where a Montana family comes home to love.
“Give me your hand.”
As he knelt in front of her, carefully bandaging her cut, Keira caught the familiar scent of his aftershave. The light shone on his hair, bringing out a faint sheen of gold in the brown, and Keira had to stop herself from reaching up and smoothing it away from his face. The way she always used to.
Just then he looked up, and their eyes met. Held.
His expression softened. She couldn’t look away, and for a moment it was as if all the years between them had been erased.
She needed a moment to try to get her bearings.
She needed help. Somehow her tangled emotions had to find the peace and equilibrium she had managed to attain before this man had dropped back into her life.
But, looking down at Tanner, one question remained: Was that even possible now?
CAROLYNE AARSEN
and her husband, Richard, live on a small ranch in northern Alberta, where they have raised four children and numerous foster children, and are still raising cattle. Carolyne crafts her stories in an office with a large west-facing window, through which she can watch the changing seasons while struggling to make her words obey.
Her Cowboy Hero
Carolyne Aarsen
MILLS & BOON
Before you start reading, why not sign up?
Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!
Or simply visit
Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
—Isaiah 43:18
To my kids. Thanks for the blessing you are to us.
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
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Dear Reader
Questions for Discussion
It had been many months and many miles since he’d driven this road to Refuge Ranch. A lot of memories and a lot of pain.
Tanner Fortier’s foot hit the brakes as he stopped his truck at the top of the hill, a cloud of snow swirling around his vehicle. From this vantage point he looked across the basin cradling Refuge Ranch to the mountains beyond; their gray, forbidding surfaces softened by the winter snowpack, a hard white against the endless blue of the Montana sky.
He shivered a moment, the chill of winter easing into the cab of his pickup. The side windows hadn’t completely cleared of frost since Bozeman.
Tanner stacked his gloved hands on the steering wheel, reinforcing his defenses before descending into the valley and the Bannister Ranch. He hadn’t come willingly. He would have preferred to go directly to the Circle C Ranch. Though he hadn’t been away from his childhood home as long as from the Bannister ranch, he
