Blurb:
Once upon a time, Weston Jericho could have any woman he wanted, but these days he’s known as “daddy” and less “bachelor of the year”. His daughter and his ranch are his priority until country-girl-turned-city waltzes back into his average life. She’ll have him juggling daddy duties with the need to be near the one woman who stole his heart years ago.
Her father’s declining health leaves Sammie Tanner with no other choice but to come home to Colton, Texas and get things back in order on the ranch, and face those she left behind. From the second her boots cross the county line she finds nothing but trouble, especially with Weston who has her cursing like the backwoods country girl he remembers, and still desires.
Her heart wants the cowboy, but how does she reveal the true reason why she left him…left home? Will he look at her the same? Can she take the risk?
Excerpt:
“Dad!
I can’t wait. I have a dead goldfish here.”
“You
are ‘dad’? To a child?” Her heart squeezed. Why hadn’t she heard this tidbit of
information? But then again, who would tell her? Getting any information from her
dad was like wrestling a bear.
“Well,
she’s not a parrot. Here, come on in.” He took a step back. “You don’t get
freaked out by dead things, do you?”
She
gave her head a quick shake. “No.”
“Dad!
He’s going to rot before we flush him.” A little girl popped around Wes’s side.
She had a head full of wild and wavy dark hair and bright blue eyes surrounded
by thick lashes. Sammie’s heart warmed. She looked a lot like him and seeing
the resemblance made this all suddenly very real. She wore a pink shirt that
hung down one shoulder with a large gold heart emblazoned on the front and
jeans that were a tad too short for her. From the worn knees and dirty thighs, Sammie
guessed these were her play clothes. Although it had been a good twenty years
since she had been in the dirt playing, she loved to see that the little girl
didn’t mind getting dirty either.
“Hi,” the little girl muttered.
“Hi.”
“My
name is Brie. What’s yours?”
“Oh,
Brie, huh?” She gave Wes a narrowed eye. Had he intentionally made Sammie
believe Brie was a woman? “I’m Sammie. Or Sam. Whichever you prefer.”
“That’s
a boy’s name.”
“Brie,”
Wes patted the girl on the shoulder.
“Sorry.
I only meant that I know a boy named Sam. He’s in my class. I’m in
kindergarten.” Brie’s cheeks flushed.
“It’s
okay. I blamed my parents for years that they wanted a boy and not a girl.
However, I’ve found that the name is unique and I like it.”
“I know how to spell it. S-A-M.” The little
girl seemed to forget that she had a dead fish in her net.
“Yes,
you’re right. Do you spell your name B-R-I-E?”
“Who was I named after, dad? The cheese that’s
all melty?”
“No,
you weren’t named after cheese. You know you were named after your great grandma.”
He chuckled and tousled her thick hair.
Sammie
laughed. She bet the girl was a handful and she seemed exceptionally smart. Of
course, she would be. The Jerichos weren’t only sexy, but were also intelligent.
“This
is Fred. Dead Fred.” The little girl held up the net that dripped water,
showing off the orange fish with bulging, blank eyes.
“Yes,
I see. What happened to Fred?”
Brie
shrugged and the neck of the shirt slid another inch off her shoulder. “I
probably overfed him. Daddy warned me just a pinch of food.” She held up two
fingers and measured. “Like putting pepper on my food. A pinch is different for
everyone I suppose because daddy pours that stuff on.”
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