Keegan: The Texas Rascals Series Book One Read online

  It cheered her to know he was ready to try parenthood again. The dream she’d held on to for so many years had finally come true.

  “I love you,” she declared, wrapping her arms around him.

  “And I love you,” he said.

  “Merry Christmas, Daddy.”

  “Merry Christmas, Mama.”

  Wren snuggled into the curve of Keegan’s arm and knew right then and there that the wounds she once thought ran so deep in both of them had been completely healed by love.

  * * *

  Dear Reader, I hope you have enjoyed, Keegan.

  If you have the time, I would so appreciate a review. Just a couple of words will do. A review is different from leaving a rating for Amazon. Authors don’t see those ratings and we don’t get your feedback, but we do see your reviews. Thank you so much for leaving a review. You are appreciated!

  If you would like to read more Texas Rascals, the next book in the series is Matt.

  Available here http://tiny.cc/ce8r0y

  For an excerpt of Matt, please turn the page.

  Much love, Lori Wilde

  Visit Lori on the Web @ Lori Wilde

  Sign up for news of Lori’s latest releases @ Lori’s newsletter

  Chapter—Excerpt

  “I hate to trouble you, Miss Savannah, but I’m afraid I’ve got more bad news.” Clement Olson stood in the doorway staring down at his dusty cowboy boots and clutching a battered, paint-stained baseball cap between gnarled, callused fingers.

  “Clem, I don’t think I can handle another disaster right now,” Savannah Markum mumbled around a mouthful of straight pins. She glanced up from where she knelt on the kitchen floor, pinning the hem on her younger sister’s wedding dress.

  Ginger stood before her on a chair, arms outstretched, billows of white lace and satin draped over her petite frame. Savannah’s year-old son, Cody, toddled across the room, his chubby fingers wrapped around a plastic, drool-soaked squeak toy.

  Savannah plucked the pins from her mouth and stabbed them into a tomato-shaped pincushion. “Let me guess, the work truck finally called it quits.”

  “No, ma’am.” Clem shifted his weight, met her gaze. “I’m afraid it’s more serious than that.”

  What now? Between her overdue property taxes, an astronomical vet bill and a busted washing machine, finances loomed bleak as the west Texas landscape.

  Not to mention Ginger’s wedding expenses.

  A heavy strand of honey-colored hair broke free from her ponytail and flopped across her forehead. Irritated, Savannah brushed away the uncooperative lock and rose to her feet.

  “Clem?” she asked. His grim manner alarmed her. “What’s happened?”

  “Fourteen of the Gerts are missing.”

  “What?” The herd of purebred Santa Gertrudis cattle had been her late husband’s Gary’s pride and joy. She furrowed her brow. “Are you sure?”

  Clem winced, nodded. “I figure somebody stole ’em in the wee hours of the morning, Miss Savannah. I’m sorry I didn’t discover it sooner.”

  Savannah blew out her breath through puffed cheeks. No point in panicking yet. “Maybe there’s a break in the fence line and they’ve wandered out onto the road,” she said hopefully.

  Clem shook his gray head. “’Fraid not. Julio and 1 scouted the whole spread for two hours. Didn’t find a single downed fence, but we did find something I think you should see.”

  Savannah whispered a curse. When she’d promised Gary she would continue running the ranch as an investment in their son’s future, she hadn’t realized just how much responsibility she’d be assuming. Family, friends, neighbors, nearly everyone she knew had advised her to sell out. At the thought of her late husband, Savannah felt the old guilt swell inside her. She wouldn’t break her vow. She owed Gary that much.

  “Let’s go,” Savannah said, heading for the door.

  Cody let out a squeal of delight. She turned to see her son gleefully digging in a pot of ivy and shoveling a fistful of dirt into his mouth.

  “Could you catch him, Ginger?”

  “Can’t. I’m still pinned into my wedding dress.” Ginger lifted her shoulders in a helpless shrug.

  Savannah sighed. She needed twenty hands and two heads. In one long-legged stride, she crossed the floor and reached down to pull her son onto her hip. “Shew,” she said, brushing the dirt from his tongue with her fingers. “Nasty dirt.”

  Cody grinned. The baby looked so much like his father it hurt. Conflicting emotions knotted Savannah’s chest.

  “We’ll be right back,” she told Ginger, then followed Clem outside with Cody clinging to her neck. She savored the solid feel of the baby pressed to her side.

  The elderly ranch hand led them to the battered old work truck and opened the door for her to climb inside. He pumped the starter, coaxed the ailing engine to life, drove a quarter mile down the bumpy rutted road and braked at the west pasture gate. They got out and walked through the high Johnson grass slapping at their shins.

  “The padlock’s been cut,” Clem said, pointing out the severed lock dangling from the rusty hasp.

  “Don’t touch it,” Savannah said. “Evidence for the sheriff.’ ’

  Clem grunted, tugged the baseball cap’s bill down on his forehead. “There’s more. See those tire tracks?”

  Savannah studied the fresh tracks rutted into the moist earth, where it had rained several days earlier. “Yes.”

  “Trailer tracks. Don’t belong to none of our vehicles. Weren’t there yesterday.”

  Clem’s evidence was pretty conclusive. “How did they get back this far without you or Julio hearing them?” Savannah asked. Cody squirmed in her arms, and she shifted him to the other hip.

  Clem shrugged. “We both had a little too much to drink last night. Slept pretty soundly.”

  Savannah caught her bottom lip between her teeth, gazed at the ten Santa Gertrudis left grazing in the field. Something wasn’t right. Who would steal her cattle?

  “What are you gonna do?” Clem asked.

  “The only thing I can do,” Savannah answered. “Call the sheriff.”

  Detective Matthew Forrester guided his brand-spanking- new, government-issue four-wheel-drive Jeep Cherokee down the graveled country road. His heart raced like a Palomino on steroids. What in the Sam Hill was wrong with him? He was going to the Circle B to investigate the report of stolen cattle. The fact that Savannah Markum owned the ranch would not affect his objectivity in any way.

  Liar.

  Who was he kidding?

  The idea of seeing her had him sweating.

  Despite what he’d told himself during the past five years, he hadn’t gotten over her. Not for a day. Not for an hour. Not for one minute. Savannah Prentiss Markum had ruined his life.

  But he would never, ever let her know that. He refused to give her that much power over him again.

  He turned into the Circle B’s driveway and killed the engine. For a moment, he sat there, hands on the wheel, the air inside the Jeep growing heated, heavy. Taking a breath required his complete concentration.

  Be cool as granite. You’re a professional, he coached himself. Not some head-over-heels school kid.

  Grabbing his notebook, Matt unlatched his seat belt and slid out of the vehicle. “Geronimo,” he mumbled and started up the front steps.

  Upon reaching the door, he paused, fist poised to knock, when he saw the baby. The toddler stood knee-high, his face pressed against the screened door. He looked up at Matt and grinned a big, toothless grin. Jolting pain stronger than any electrical current lambasted Matt’s heart.

  Savannah’s kid.

  Gary Markum’s kid.

  The baby that should have been his.

  Chapter—About the Author

  Lori Wilde is the New York Times, USA Today and Publishers’ Weekly bestselling author of 85 works of romantic fiction. She’s a three time Romance Writers’ of America RITA finalist and has four times been nominated for Romantic Times Rea
ders’ Choice Award. She has won numerous other awards as well.

  Her books have been translated into 26 languages, with more than four million copies of her books sold worldwide.

  Her breakout novel, The First Love Cookie Club, has been optioned for a TV movie.

  Lori is a registered nurse with a BSN from Texas Christian University. She holds a certificate in forensics, and is also a certified yoga instructor.

  A fifth generation Texan, Lori lives with her husband, Bill, in the Cutting Horse Capital of the World; where they run Epiphany Orchards, a writing/creativity retreat for the care and enrichment of the artistic soul.

  Chapter—Also by Lori Wilde

  In the Texas Rascals Series

  Matt

  Nick

  Kurt

  Kael

  Brodie

  Truman

  Tucker

  Dan

  Contents

  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—Epilogue

  Chapter—Excerpt

  Chapter—About the Author

  Chapter—Also by Lori Wilde

  Author’s Note

  Praise for Lori Wilde

  “Wilde presents compelling evidence that love can make a person see stars and hear wedding bells with a single kiss.”

  —Kirkus

  *****Starred review ***** Readers will cheer for the wounded warrior who may just have found a place to call home.--Publisher's Weekly.

  “Wilde’s writing is smooth and the story flows so well that it proves why she is one of the best in her genre. This book is a fabulous addition to her already stellar library!”

  —RT Magazine

  *****Starred review*****

  In the latest stellar addition to her Twilight, Texas, series, Wilde explores the subject of PTSD with great empathy and insight. Put this together with the author’s usual superbly nuanced characters, layers of emotion, and exquisite sexual tension, and you have a heart-wrenching and heartwarming tale that beautifully encapsulates all the love, hope, faith, and forgiveness of the holiday season.---Booklist

  "A beautiful, feel good romance that will leave you with a smile…a wonderful tale to curl up with on a cold winter night."

  —Romance Reviews Today

  "In this holiday pleaser, Lori Wilde has cooked up another warm and wonderful romance. Readers are going to love it… truly is a gift that keeps giving."

  —FreshFiction

  Ms. Wilde does an amazing job of drawing her readers into the story."

  —Joyfully Reviewed

  Author’s Note

  This book was previously published as Stranded with a Tall, Dark Stranger under the pen name Laura Anthony. It has been significantly updated and revised for this new edition.