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  Praise for Lindsay McKenna

  “The believable and real romance between Tara and Harper is enhanced by the addition of highly dimensional supporting characters, and a minor mystery subplot increases the tension by a notch. This is a fine addition to a strong series.”—Publishers Weekly on Lone Rider

  “Captivating sensuality.”—Publishers Weekly on Wind River Wrangler, a Publishers Marketplace Buzz Books 2016 selection

  “Moving and real ... impossible to put down.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review on Wind River Rancher

  “Cowboy who is also a former Special Forces operator? Check. Woman on the run from her past? Check. This contemporary Western wraps together suspense and romance in a rugged Wyoming package.”—Amazon.com’s Omnivoracious, “9 Romances I Can’t Wait to Read” on Wind River Wrangler

  “Set against the stunning beauty of Wyoming’s Grand Tetons, Wind River Wrangler is Lindsay McKenna at her finest! A tour de force of heart-stopping drama, gut-wrenching emotion, and the searing joy of two wounded souls learning to love again.”—International bestselling author Merline Lovelace

  “McKenna does a beautiful job of illustrating difficult topics through the development of well-formed, sympathetic characters.”—Publishers Weekly on Wolf Haven (starred review)

  Books by New York Times bestselling author

  Lindsay McKenna

  WIND RIVER WRANGLER

  WIND RIVER RANCHER

  WIND RIVER COWBOY

  WRANGLER’S CHALLENGE

  KASSIE’S COWBOY (novella included in

  CHRISTMAS WITH MY COWBOY)

  LONE RIDER

  WIND RIVER LAWMAN

  HOME TO WIND RIVER

  Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

  HOME TO WIND RIVER

  LINDSAY McKENNA

  ZEBRA BOOKS

  KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

  www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  Praise for Lindsay McKenna

  Also by

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  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

  Teaser chapter

  Also by

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ZEBRA BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2019 by Nauman Living Trust

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

  If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

  ISBN: 978-1-4201-4750-6

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-4751-3 (eBook)

  ISBN-10: 1-4201-4751-X (eBook)

  To Rosalie, her family, Bonnie, and her employees

  (Patty among these terrific folks), who make

  Cork and Catch the BEST restaurant,

  with the freshest seafood in Arizona!

  I love the family atmosphere there!

  Customers ARE family.

  It’s a love fest between people who come to

  Cottonwood, AZ (central Arizona and sixteen miles

  south of Sedona/Red Rock country),

  for the freshest meat, seafood and veggies EVER.

  I’ve traveled the world, gone to many starred

  restaurants. And our Arizona gem, Cork and Catch,

  in a town of ten thousand people here in Cottonwood,

  is where I go to eat. If you’re in my neck of the woods?

  Drop in and see Rosalie and her family.

  You’ll never want to leave. Me? I’m the lucky one ;-)

  www.corkandcatch.com

  Chapter One

  June 1

  How was Jake Murdoch, her foreman, going to react to the news?

  Maud Whitcomb, owner of the Wind River Ranch, pushed her fingers through her dark hair that was threaded with silver. Sitting in her large office, she waited with anticipation. Jake was an ex-recon Marine with severe PTSD he dealt with day in and day out. As the foreman for their hundred-thousand-acre ranch for the last three years, he’d proved himself invaluable despite his war wounds. She was pretty sure he wouldn’t be happy.

  Jake’s symptoms made him a loner, boarded up like Fort Knox, and he liked living alone in the huge cedar log cabin a mile from the main ranch area. Dragging in steadying breath, Maud heard heavy footsteps echoing outside her open office door. It was early June and, for once, there was bright sunshine and a blue sky in western Wyoming.

  She saw Jake’s shadow first and then him. He was six-foot, two-inches tall, a solid two hundred pounds of hard muscle. His shoulders were almost as broad as the doorway he stood within. At thirty years old, any woman worth her salt would turn her head to appreciate his raw good looks and powerful physique. His temperament, however, was open to question. He was known as “Bear” around the ranch. Bear as in grizzly bear. He was terse, not PC, completely honest and didn’t brook idiots for more than two seconds.

  Swiftly glancing up at him as he entered, Maud watched him take off his dark brown Stetson and saw his expression was set; any emotion he felt was hiding behind what he called his game face.

  “Jake. Come on in,” she said, waving a hand toward a wooden chair in front of her desk. “How’s your mom doing?”

  Grunting, Jake hung up his Stetson on a nearby hat tree and turned, boots thunking across the highly polished oak floor.

  Maud girded herself. He wasn’t happy. At all. “Coffee?” It was nine a.m., and usually by this time he was out on the range, managing their wranglers. He probably wanted to be out with his hardworking crew rather than in here with her. But they had to talk.

  “Yeah, coffee’s good,” he said, making a beeline for the service on the other side of the room. He poured two cups, black, and turned. Setting one in front of her, he sat down and took a quick sip of the steaming brew. “You know my mother broke her thigh bone a couple of days ago. I just finished talking to her surgeon before coming here, and they said she pulled through the operation with flying colors. She’s resting in her room right now.”

  “That’s great to hear,” Maud said, relief in her tone as she sipped the coffee. “I know they call it breaking a hip, but in reality, people break their femur or thigh bone.”

  Shaking his head, Jake muttered, “Yeah. Bad anatomy, if you ask me.”

  “So? What’s her prognosis?”

  She saw him grimace and set the coffee down in front of him. “The surgeon says she’s going to need eight to ten weeks of care. She lives alone in Casper. And she’s fighting having a caregiver in her home twent
y-four hours a day.”

  Managing a sour smile, Maud said, “Like mother, like son. Right?” She saw worry in Jake’s forest-green eyes. He had been close to both his parents; his father had died at the age of fifty-five of a sudden and unexpected heart attack. For the last ten years, his mother had been on her own. Now, at sixty-five, she had a broken bone and needed help. Jake’s expression turned dark, and she saw him wrestling with the whole situation.

  “I’m afraid you’re right, Maud.”

  “So? What do you want to do about it?” She leaned back in her squeaky leather chair, holding his narrowing gaze. “How can we gather the wagons and help you out?” Maud made a point of being there for the people who worked for them. Jake had not asked for anything. He never did. Her experience with her wrangler vets, however, had taught her early on that those with PTSD, man or woman, never asked for help, never asked for support, and she knew it came from the shame that they had been broken by combat. “Well?” she prodded, arching a brow.

  Jake squirmed. “Mom asked if I could come home and help her for those two months.” Mouth quirking, he mumbled, “I told her I couldn’t, that we had fifty grass leases with fifty different ranchers coming here, bringing in their herds by truck, in the next two weeks. I told her the Wyoming grass was thick, rich and nutritious, that the cattle would fatten up far more quickly on these lands than being put into a livestock pen. That I couldn’t leave because our work triples from June through September.”

  “How did Jenna take the news?” Maud heard the pain in Jake’s low, deep tone. He was a man who hated showing any emotions, but they were plainly written all over him now. Some of it Maud attributed to their strong relationship. Jake could let his guard down around her, one of the few people in his life he did trust.

  “She was disappointed but understood.” His black brows fell and he looked away. “She needs help. I don’t know what to do. That’s why I’m here.” He gave her a hopeful look. “You’re the go-to gal for ideas, Maud. I’m hopin’ you can come up with a fix.”

  “I think I have one, Jake, but I don’t know how you will react to it. Here’s my plan. I talked to Steve last night and he’s in agreement with me. I hope you will be, too.” She straightened, resting her elbows on the desk, her hands clasped, her full attention on her foreman. “We both feel Jenna could be brought by ambulance to the ranch. The foreman’s house is two stories, has three bedrooms, three baths, and is large enough for you to take care of your mom as well as an in-house caregiver.” She saw his brows raise momentarily. “I know you’d rather live alone, but honestly, your cabin is the second largest on the ranch, next to where we live. It has plenty of room for you, your mom and a hired caregiver.”

  She took a breath, watching his face go from hard and unreadable to something akin to discomfort, coupled with relief. Jake had a set of good parents, that she knew. And he’d been very close to both of them. As well, Jake had protective instincts toward women. His mother was no exception to that rule. Maud knew he wanted desperately to support and care for her, but he hadn’t thought outside the box on how to do it. That was her job.

  “Now,” she said firmly, “before you say no, I talked to Dr. Taylor Douglas, our PA, physician’s assistant, in town. She said I needed to find someone with a medical background, preferably a registered nurse, who could take care of Jenna: help her walk, be there to assist her with the mandatory exercises, as well as cook and clean for you. Taylor put the word out in Wind River for such a person. I haven’t gotten any bites on this yet, but I’ll keep at it. Your mom and the caregiver could have the two bedrooms on the first floor. You have the master bedroom upstairs. If I find a caretaker for Jenna, would this work for you? It would be for a minimum of two months.”

  Jake rolled his shoulders, scowling in thought. “Maybe. But I can’t afford to hire a caregiver for Jenna.”

  “No worries,” Maud answered briskly. “Your mother is on Medicare and our umbrella insurance on the ranch will cover a full-time caregiver until she doesn’t need one anymore. I’ll pay for the caregiver because you’re so important to the daily work that goes on around here, Jake. I’d do it for any of our wranglers. We meant it when we said they were family, and that’s what you do for your family.” Opening her hands, she added, “We’re grateful to have made money and we aren’t taking it with us. Your mom will have the best of care and we’ll cover any additional expenses. How does that sound?”

  “You’ve always been more than fair with us vets,” he said, his voice low with emotion. “And I appreciate it, Maud.”

  “So? Is that a yes? Can we move ahead with this idea? Are you okay with it?”

  Rubbing his stubbled jaw, Jake studied the fifty-five-year-old woman. “I don’t like takin’ handouts, Maud.”

  “This isn’t a handout. Our insurance covers it. You’ve earned this, Jake.”

  He made a low, growling sound and stared hard at her. “I’ve never been in a position like this before. I like living alone, but I want to help my mom, too. I guess my uneasiness with havin’ two women underfoot for two months or so isn’t gonna kill me.”

  Giving him a half grin, Maud said, “No, it won’t. And you can always hide up on the second floor if you’re feeling overwhelmed with estrogen in your household.” She heard him chuckle and saw his shoulders drop, indicating he was relaxed at last. Jake wasn’t the kind of person she could trap and put in a corner. He had to come to this decision entirely on his own. And he was an honorable man, if nothing else. Jake would never knowingly hurt someone. At least, as a civilian. What he did as a recon Marine was different, and although he never talked about it, she knew enough to realize he’d been in harm’s way all the time. It wouldn’t surprise her that he’d killed the enemy either. She knew the burden of killing another human being through some of her other wranglers. It stayed with them the rest of their lives.

  “I’ll probably make the second floor my home.”

  “If I can find a caregiver, she’ll do the cooking for the three of you. That won’t be so bad, will it?”

  “No, that sounds kinda good, to tell you the truth. And she’ll housekeep, instead of me doing it. I like that part of it, too.”

  “I thought you might.” She allowed the humor to come through in her voice and Jake gave her a slight grin. “It’s only two months.”

  “But they’re the busiest months of our year, Maud. I won’t be around that much.”

  “And that’s why a caregiver is essential. You won’t have time to drive Jenna to her rehab exercises in Wind River, or to see an ortho doctor if necessary.”

  “Well,” he said, straightening, “if you can find a caregiver, then we’re set?”

  “Yes.” Maud looked at the bright red landline phone on her desk. “I’m calling Kassie and her husband, Travis. They’re plugged in with everyone in town. Maybe one of them can give me some leads.”

  Rising, he said, “If there’s such a person around Wind River, Kassie will know. She’s gossip central at her café,” and he grinned a little.

  “I’ll let you know,” Maud promised. “Once we hire someone, we can get Jenna out of the Casper hospital and over here to heal up.”

  Walking to the hat rack, he gripped the edge of his Stetson. “That sounds like a good plan, Maud.” Settling it on his head, he turned, giving her a grateful smile. “I don’t think outside the box like you do.”

  “Oh,” she laughed, standing and walking around the desk and heading toward where he stood, “yes, you do! Every day around here, I see you thinking of ways to do something that needs to be fixed.” She slid her hand on his shoulder, patting him in a motherly fashion. “All humans are good at something. Your skill set happens to be in ranching, Jake. Mine is about seeing patterns and putting dots together,” and she chuckled with him. Jake rarely smiled. When he did? She saw the kindness and sensitivity he held protectively away from the world. Allowing her hand to fall to her side, she walked him to the door. “I’ll be in touch by cell phone once I ge
t something.”

  He nodded. “Thanks, Maud. I honestly don’t know how I landed at your ranch, but I have to be the luckiest bastard in the world to have you as my boss.”

  “Get outta here, Murdoch. You got a shitload of eighteen-wheelers on your plate with these leases trucking in the beef right now.”

  He gave her a sour grin, opened the door and thunked down the wooden stairs.

  Maud watched him climb into the white, dusty-looking Ford pickup with the name of their ranch in big red letters on each door. Turning, she felt lighter. Jake had never been in this kind of situation before, and she hadn’t been sure how he was going to react to it. His care and love for his mother was heartwarming. He was such a gruff person, hardly letting anyone near him or his vulnerability. Maud sensed Jake’s life was going to take a turn for the better. She didn’t know how, as she walked to her desk, sat down and dialed up Kassie’s Café, but she knew it was going to happen.

  * * *

  Lily Thompson was working in the no-kill animal shelter run by Maud and Steve Whitcomb, when Suzy, her boss, who manned the front desk, stuck her head around the door.

  “Lily! Maud Whitcomb is on the line for you!”

  “What?” She knew Maud was the owner of this large shelter, but in the two weeks since she was hired, she hadn’t met the woman personally. She closed the cage on a black Lab with a gray muzzle, after giving him a bowl of fresh water. “Hold on. . . .” and she hurried across the spotlessly clean concrete floor, wrapping the hose she’d used and hanging it on the wall. Rubbing her hands down her jeans, she asked breathlessly, “What does she want?”