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    A Cowboy In Her Stocking
    A Cowboy In Her Stocking
    A Cowboy In Her Stocking
    Ebook81 pages1 hour

    A Cowboy In Her Stocking

    By Trish Milburn

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    About this ebook


    Christmas is the perfect time for romance with a cowboy! Enjoy this holiday novella from Harlequin American Romance

    When Talia Ardmore inherits her family's run–down ranch in Blue Falls, Texas, all she wants is to sell the place and get back to the life she's made for herself in California. But then she hires her high school crush Jake Monroe to fix up the house, and now she can't help dreaming of what might have been.

    Jake's happy to see Talia, but he's hurt she never told him why she ran away all those years ago. Still, with Christmas on the way and his daughter Mia's medical bills piling up, the widowed rancher can use the extra work. The last thing he expects is for Talia to ignite a fire in him that he thought had gone out forever .

    It's not long before Talia's head over heels for Jake–and his little girl. But Talia must face her past before they can both receive the gift of a future together and a lifetime of happy holiday seasons.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins Publishers Australia
    Release dateSep 1, 2013
    ISBN9781488727962
    A Cowboy In Her Stocking
    Author

    Trish Milburn

    Trish Milburn is a freelance journalist, lives in the South, and is a big fan of the outdoors and U.S. National Parks. When not writing, she enjoys hiking, nature photography, reading, traveling, watching TV or movies, and surfing the Web. She's also a big geek girl, including being a Browncoat and a Whovian, and has been known to cosplay at Dragon*Con.

    Read more from Trish Milburn

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      Book preview

      A Cowboy In Her Stocking - Trish Milburn

      Chapter One

      The cold, early December air stung Talia Ardmore’s cheeks as she stared at the house where she’d spent the first sixteen years of her life. It had seen better days. All hope for a quick trip to Texas fled, racing off to the east with the winter wind. Before she could put the house and the accompanying ranch on the market, she was afraid she was going to have to invest in more than a quick coat of paint.

      With a sigh, she walked slowly forward. She noticed the peeling paint had exposed the wood beneath, allowing some of it to begin to rot. A couple of floorboards on the porch were bowed. A gutter had pulled away from the roof at one end. Everywhere she looked there was evidence of how her stepfather’s health had increasingly failed in the last year of his life. And she couldn’t scare up even one ounce of sympathy for the man. Even from the afterlife, Bill Turner was making her life miserable. If there was any justice in the universe, he had flames licking at his backside right now.

      Talia turned away from the house to scan the pasture filled with cattle. The entire place had an air of neglect about it. Any potential buyers would notice it before they ever turned into the driveway and likely keep on driving. At least the herd looked relatively healthy. She supposed she should be thankful for small blessings.

      She glanced back toward the house, wondering if the interior was in better or worse shape. But she wasn’t ready to go inside. Wanting to take a proactive step toward putting Blue Falls behind her forever, she headed for her car. She needed a handyman, and unless things had changed drastically in the last ten years the best place to find one was only a few miles down the road.

      As soon as she drove into Blue Falls, nervousness welled within her. It didn’t make any sense. After all, the man who’d made her so jumpy and frightened was gone now, buried a week ago. But even though her stepfather no longer posed a threat and she wasn’t a defenseless teenager anymore, she couldn’t help the uncomfortable tightening in her middle.

      When she found a parking spot outside the Primrose Café, she didn’t immediately get out. First, she had to bring her anxiety under control. She fell back on what she knew worked—slow, deep breaths and visualizing waves rolling up on a beach. In her mind, she repeated the mantra that had gotten her through some of the scariest times of her life. You are strong. You are free. You are safe.

      It took a little longer than normal for the anxiety to subside, but that was to be expected considering this was where her battle with anxiety had been born. When she finally felt it recede to a manageable level, she got out of her vehicle and walked toward the front door of the café.

      As soon as she stepped inside, she noticed two things. One, it didn’t look any different than it had ten years ago. And two, even with Blue Falls being a tourist town, the locals still noticed when an unfamiliar face stepped foot inside the Primrose. She knew the moment someone recognized her because something indefinable shifted in the air. She might be crazy, but she’d swear she could feel accusation and blame being shot toward her through the power of all those gazes.

      What was likely only the span of a few seconds felt like eternity before she headed toward the hallway that led back to the restrooms. She felt several pairs of eyes watching her. Well, let them stare. Let them assume they knew why she’d run away from home the night she graduated high school. She’d bet every penny in her bank account that they’d all get it wrong.

      Like the rest of the restaurant and its occupants, the contents of the hallway hadn’t changed. The framed feature article about the Primrose from the Dallas paper still hung next to certificates thanking the restaurant for sponsoring several local sports teams. And next to them was the community bulletin board.

      She scanned the mishmash of business cards, auction and estate sale notices, for-sale listings, and a brightly colored poster for a winter carnival at the elementary school. She’d be in luck if she needed a pond dug or a pickup truck with lots of miles but in good shape. But strangely she didn’t see any notes from handymen looking for work.

      She sighed as she began searching the large corkboard again, hoping she’d just missed what she needed. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she stepped closer to the bulletin board so that whoever it was could pass her on their way to the restroom. Only the person stopped next to her.

      Talia braced herself for an unpleasant encounter. She hadn’t stepped foot in Blue Falls or kept in touch with anyone here in so long that she had no idea what the locals thought about her and her disappearance. Did they blame her for her mother’s death in a car accident six months after Talia had run away from home? Did they think her awful for not even giving her stepfather a funeral, instead burying him with no sort of service at all? Not that any of it mattered. She planned to leave Blue Falls behind for good well before Christmas. She had a home, a job, friends, a life to get back to in California.

      Looking for something in particular?

      Talia glanced over to see Verona Charles. The older woman might be a bit grayer now, but she still wore the same infectiously friendly expression she always had. The tenseness in Talia’s muscles relaxed a little.

      I’m in need of a handyman, someone who knows his way around a ranch.

      Fixing up your folks’ place? So Verona knew who Talia was.

      "Yes. It’s in too bad

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