Val’s Rancher Read online

  Val’s Rancher

  By Debra Kayn

  Val McDougal knows all about heartbreak. First, the love of her life, Sam Turner, left to join the rodeo circuit two years ago. Now she faces a new kind of pain—her beloved father is dying. The last thing she needs is Sam’s unexpected return to Pike, Montana, to take over his family’s ranch, stirring up desires Val doesn’t think she can handle.

  Sam knows he made the biggest mistake of his life when he broke things off with Val. He’s determined to win her back, this time for good. But despite the sizzling heat between them, Val keeps pulling away. He has to convince her to trust him—and her own heart—again, especially as the time draws near when she’ll need him the most…

  Book two of the Sisters of McDougal Ranch series. Look for book one, Chantilly’s Cowboy, available now.

  43,000 words

  Dear Reader,

  What do you get when you cross summer with lots of beach time, and long hours of traveling? An executive editor who’s too busy to write the Dear Reader letter, but has time for reading. I find both the beach and the plane are excellent places to read, and thanks to plenty of time spent on both this summer (I went to Australia! And New Zealand!) I’m able to tell you with confidence: our fall lineup of books is outstanding.

  We kick off the fall season with seven romantic suspense titles, during our Romantic Suspense celebration in the first week of September. We’re pleased to offer novella Fatal Destiny by Marie Force as a free download to get you started with the romantic suspense offerings. Also in September, fans of Eleri Stone’s sexy, hot paranormal romance debut novel, Mercy, can look forward to her follow-up story, Redemption, set in the same world of the Lost City Shifters.

  Looking to dive into a new erotic romance? We have a sizzling trilogy for you. In October, look for Christine D’Abo’s Long Shot trilogy featuring three siblings who share ownership of a coffee shop, and each of whom discover steamy passion within the walls of a local sex club. Christine’s trilogy kicks off with Double Shot.

  In addition to a variety of frontlist titles in historical, paranormal, contemporary, steampunk and erotic romance, we’re also pleased to present two authors releasing backlist titles with us. In October, we’ll re-release four science fiction romance titles from the backlist of C.J. Barry, and in November four Western romance titles from the backlist of Susan Edwards.

  Also in November, we’re thrilled to offer our first two chick lit titles from three debut authors, Liar’s Guide to True Love by Wendy Chen and Unscripted by Natalie Aaron and Marla Schwartz. I hope you’ll check out these fun, sometimes laugh-out-loud novels.

  Whether you’re on the beach, on a plane, or sitting in your favorite recliner at home, Carina Press can offer you a diverting read to take you away on your next great adventure this fall!

  We love to hear from readers, and you can email us your thoughts, comments and questions to [email protected]. You can also interact with Carina Press staff and authors on our blog, Twitter stream and Facebook fan page.

  Happy reading!

  ~Angela James

  Executive Editor, Carina Press

  www.carinapress.com

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  Dedication

  To all of us who’ve lost a daddy before we were ready, this book is for you.

  Contents

  Copyright

  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

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Val reached across the counter and grabbed the sleeve of Sheriff Roy Lee’s blue uniform. “I swear on all that’s holy, Roy Lee, if you called the ranch and told my daddy, I’m gonna kick your butt from here to Helena.”

  “Calm down, Val. You know me better than that.” Roy Lee pried her fingers off his shirt and stepped back out of harm’s way. “Besides, what you and Sam have together is none of my business.”

  “There is no Sam and me!” Val squealed, clamped her mouth shut and glared at Roy Lee. “How could you bring him here?”

  “I didn’t. He came back on his own.”

  She whipped around and stomped to the end of the bar. “Sometimes I hate you, Roy Lee.”

  “Aw, Val. You don’t mean that.” Roy Lee chuckled and glanced at the door where Sam, Val’s ex boyfriend and the one true love of her life, was going to walk through at any moment. “I did come over to warn you he was back in town, didn’t I?”

  Val scrubbed at the barbeque sauce dried onto the counter. Sam Turner. The man she compared everyone else to. The guy who told her to grow up before hopping in his truck and driving away from his home, her and everything they had together. She used her fingernail to lift the stain. It had taken her two minutes after the dust settled for the truth to hit her upside the head and leave a hole in her heart the size of Montana.

  Sam’s “nine month” stint riding the Albany circuit, busting broncos, lasted two long years. Twenty-four months and—she tapped her finger on the bar—thirteen days. Her stomach tightened and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to run off into the bathroom and throw up, or hit someone…hard. She turned her head and glared at Roy Lee.

  “Oh no you don’t, honey.” He threw his hands in the air and stepped back from the bar. “You can’t hit the messenger. Besides, I’m wearing my uniform. That’d be assault on an officer and land you in front of the county judge.”

  She stormed back to his side. “What’s he want? Why’s he coming here?”

  “Relax.” Roy Lee sat down on the bar stool. “He hasn’t mentioned your name at all. I don’t even think he realizes this place is yours yet.”

  Roadkill. She was a possum in the middle of the road, and Roy Lee just drove his patrol car over her again. Thump. Thump. “You just had to make sure I was dead, didn’t you?”

  “Huh?” He scratched the short hair under his hat.

  “Nevermind.” She tossed the rag under the counter and washed her hands. “Will you do me a favor?”

  “Depends. It doesn’t involve stealing Janice’s cow again, does it?” Roy Lee popped a handful of peanuts in his mouth and grinned. “What’s it been…five years since I helped you get back at her for nominating you for homecoming queen?”

  “This is serious, Roy Lee.” She leaned forward. “Watch the bar for me for a couple of minutes, ’kay?”

  “You’re not skipping out, are you?”

  She shook her head. “I need some fresh air.”

  He lost his smile and nodded. “Sure, darling. You’ve got five minutes tops. If you don’t come back, I’m putting an APB out on you.”

  Val patted his cheek and escaped out the door to the kitchen. “Cute, Roy Lee. Real cute.”

  The normally relaxed atmosphere of the bar kept her nerves on even ground most days, but from the second Roy Lee walked in and announced Sam Turner was on his way over, she’d morphed right back into being the heartsick fool she was two years ago.

  Letting the back door close, she leaned against the cold brick. Snow fluttered from the sky, and she tilted her head back letting the little specks of ice land on
her overheated skin. Maybe the freezing temperatures would tamp down the warmth growing inside her at the mere mention of Sam. Damn Sam.

  She couldn’t remember a time when Sam Turner wasn’t the most important person in her life. She loved him. She’d always loved him. It wasn’t until the summer after she graduated high school that Sam had done an about face and seen her for a woman.

  An older man at twenty-two, he’d finally accepted the love she’d always known was possible with him. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her middle. She’d given him everything for the next two years. Every secret, wish and dream…and in the end, he’d thrown it away, believing she had years to catch up to him.

  She pushed off the wall, squared her shoulders and stepped back into the kitchen. If Sam thought he was going to march in and see her still pining away for him, he’d soon find out differently.

  Val marched out into the bar and took her place behind the counter. Oh, she’d grown up all right. She ran her own business, lived on her own and her family life was scheduled to fall apart at any moment. I’m a fricking rock of grownup.

  The trick was going to be making sure Sam never figured out how much his rejection hurt. She poured a tray of drinks. After two years, she believed she’d successfully gotten used to having him gone.

  “Hey, Tucker. Ready for another one?” She leaned her hip against the table balancing a tray of full mugs on her raised hand.

  “I’m good, Val.” Tucker pushed back his plate and cleared his throat. “How’s things going lately?”

  She forced a smile. “They’re going. Business is good.” Val patted him on the shoulder and moved to the next table. She heard the door open.

  Every nerve in her body pulsed. Sam was here. Her skin prickled as if someone studied her every curve. Even her clothes rubbing against her skin seemed to drive the point across that Sam was in the room. She was falling apart just sensing the man she’d loved since childhood in the same room as her. He always had the ability to make her body come alive with a single look.

  Refusing to search the room, she kept her gaze focused on table number five. She sighed in relief at seeing one of the family members who lived down the road from the McDougal Ranch. “How’s the winter treating you, John? Did your momma get her pipes fixed?”

  “Sure did. The Taylor boys came over and unfroze ’em. Plus, they replaced the one under the washer.” He accepted the mug of beer she passed him. “She’d sure love to see you. She always talks about your visits for days after you come over to the house.”

  “Tell her I’ll try and stop in next week. I’m closing early on Tuesday.” She gave him a wink. “Maybe she’s got some of those snickerdoodles I love so much.”

  John laughed. “I’ll let her know you’re wanting some, Miss Val.”

  “Give my love to the rest of your family.” She worked her way around the room, being careful to keep her back to the bar. When her tray was empty, she dug two quarters out of her apron pocket and dropped them into the jukebox to stall having to face Sam. Pushing H16 on the keypad out of habit, she groaned, but it was too late. Trace Adkins’s voice filled the room. I just had to pick Sam’s favorite singer, didn’t I?

  Plastering a smile on her face, she turned and headed straight to the opening in the counter. Eyes straight ahead, one foot in front of the other, shoulders back, a bounce in her step, oh yeah, she was going to fool everyone in the room. I can do this. I can do—

  “Hello, Val.”

  Sam’s low purr of a greeting made the scar on her broken heart twinge. She raised her chin, followed by her brows and then opened her mouth. “Sam. Wow, I haven’t seen you in a long time. How are you?” Oh sweet molasses, I can’t do this.

  His intense dark eyes, the color of straight coffee in the morning, seemed to see past the false surprise she’d thrown his way. He’d grown in the last couple of years. His shoulders pressed against his flannel shirt and his forearms, below the roll of his cuff, lay tan and buff on the counter. The tattoo of a half-naked woman peeked out from underneath his shirt sleeve; the one he used to tease her was really a portrait of her.

  “I’m good.” His attention drifted to the front of her shirt, obviously noting the changes in her body too.

  Val had an insane urge to sweep off his hat to find out if he still had the blackest hair she’d ever had the pleasure to run her hands through. Her nipples peaked and she crossed her arms. “What brings you back to Pike?”

  “I’m back for good this time, Val.”

  “That’s g-great, Sam…” Not sure what else to say, she turned to Roy Lee. “Hey! You’re just the man I was looking for. I have that thing back there—” she hitched her thumb over her shoulder, “—that I wanted you to get for me.”

  Roy Lee tilted his head. “What thing? You didn’t mention you needed help earlier.”

  “Please.” She widened her eyes. “You promised last week. T-that thing…tool…gadget-doohickey-kabobble up on the shelf. The really high shelf I can’t reach…in the back corner of the…bar…kitchen!”

  “What the hell are you jabbering about?” Roy Lee swung his long legs off the stool and stepped behind the bar.

  “Excuse us, Sam. I’ll bring ’im right back to you.” She got behind Roy Lee and pushed him none too gently through the swinging doors to the kitchen.

  “Val, I swear I don’t remember you—” He grabbed his arm where she’d slapped him. “Hey! Why’d you hit me?”

  “Sometimes you can be dumber than a scarecrow with a broom stuck up your—”

  “Watch it, Val McDougal.” He rocked back on the heels of his boots and tapped the star over his left breast pocket. “I’m still the sheriff in this town.”

  She snorted. “That doesn’t work on someone who used to go crawdad hunting with you every summer.” She blew out her breath, shook her head and whispered, “I can’t do this.”

  “You can too.” Roy Lee rubbed her arms. “You’re made of stronger stuff than this, honey. You’re a McDougal.” He lowered his voice. “I’ve watched you beat yourself up over Sam leaving for years, and he might be my best friend, but he doesn’t deserve to hurt you anymore.”

  Her shoulders drooped. “He’s staying in Pike.” Tears welled up in her vision and she blinked them away. “Why? Why’d he come back? Why now of all times?”

  Roy Lee hugged her and stepped back. “That’ll be something only he can tell you. Now—” he cuffed her under the chin, “—go out there, play nice and I’ll try to convince him to come down to the station with me, ’kay?”

  She rubbed her hands over her face. “Just hurry or you’ll get no more free beers, you hear?”

  Pushing through the doors, she spied Jared and Sue standing at the cash register. She blew out her breath, smiled and made a beeline over to check them out. “All ready?”

  “Yup.” Jared picked up a toothpick out of the dispenser and popped it in his mouth. “It looks like we’ll be back in town on the twenty-third of January for the tournament.”

  “Great. Competition is steep this year.” She counted out their change and handed it over to Sue. “Chantilly said she’s entering no matter what. Of course, Jack said he’s gonna lock her in the house and not let her go.”

  Sue laughed. “Oh, she’ll be here. That girl knows her way out of a second story window like nobody’s business. I’ve seen it myself.” She closed her purse. “Tell your sister congratulations on her marriage.

  Val grinned. “I will.”

  Her sisters, all five of them, were not shy, mind-the-rules kinda girls growing up. Their daddy tried to keep them in line, but even he’d be the first to admit he wouldn’t have them any other way.

  “Thanks for stopping by.” She closed the register and held up her finger to Jimmy Johnson who’d picked that moment to yell out her name. “I’ll be right there.” Stepping over to pour ale from the tap, she concentrated on keeping her hand steady. She was shaking like a wet spring calf getting up on its legs for the first time.

&
nbsp; In her peripheral vision, Roy Lee and Sam stood up. She passed the drink over the counter to Jimmy and then hurried around the bar to them. “Leaving?”

  Roy Lee nodded. “I’ve got an emergency. I’ll stop back in tonight before my shift is up and check on you.”

  “Thanks.” Panic grabbed her. Daddy. She reached out and caught his arm. “Wait…it’s not…?”

  “No.” Roy Lee kept walking. “Old-man Johnson missed his driveway again and is sitting in the ditch.” He winked on his way out the door.

  She stepped back and bumped into the bar stool. Thankful for something to support her, she dropped down on the spinning cushion. One of these days it would be Florentine, or maybe Chantilly, calling for the ambulance.

  “You okay?” Sam sat down beside her. The back of his hand skimmed the length of her bare arm.

  She stared at the point where he touched her skin. The contact was so gentle and concerned it made her want to cry. She cleared her throat. “Um, yeah. I’m fine.”

  “Val…I heard about your daddy. He’s a strong, tough man. One of the best men I know. Maybe the doctors will figure out…” He trailed his touch down her arm to her hand and squeezed.

  He left the rest unsaid. She’d thought the same thing a couple of months ago, but every doctor, nutritionist and guru she and her sisters contacted had explained that ALS was a devastating illness. She swallowed. “No, there is no cure, Sam. He has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.”

  And then, because it was Sam sitting beside her, caring, hurting and ready to comfort her, she did what she promised never to do. A tear escaped down her face before she could stop it.

  “Baby?” Sam swiped her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

  Val lowered her chin. “Go, Sam.”