скачать книгу бесплатно
A Cowboy Of Convenience
Stacy Henrie
Groom by AgreementA real home—it’s what Vienna Howe dearly wants for her young daughter. Yet the ramshackle property she just inherited hardly qualifies. She can’t afford the repairs—until foreman West McCall suggests they start a dude ranch together. For propriety’s sake, they’ll need a marriage in name only…a practical solution for two wary hearts.Years ago, West convinced Vienna to marry a man of means, never realizing how cruel her husband could be. Guilt-ridden, he intends to secure the lovely widow’s future. But despite his reluctance to get close to anyone, this union might do more than fix Vienna’s ranch. It could open the door to a warm, loving future…
Groom by Agreement
A real home—it’s what Vienna Howe dearly wants for her young daughter. Yet the ramshackle property she just inherited hardly qualifies. She can’t afford the repairs—until foreman West McCall suggests they start a dude ranch together. For propriety’s sake, they’ll need a marriage in name only...a practical solution for two wary hearts.
Years ago, West convinced Vienna to marry a man of means, never realizing how cruel her husband could be. Guilt-ridden, he intends to secure the lovely widow’s future. But despite his reluctance to get close to anyone, this union might do more than fix Vienna’s ranch. It could open the door to a warm, loving future...
STACY HENRIE has always had a love for history, fiction and chocolate. She earned her BA in public relations before turning her attention to raising a family and writing inspirational historical romances. The wife of an entrepreneur husband and a mother of three, Stacy loves to live out history through her fictional characters. In addition to being an author, she is also a reader, a road-trip enthusiast and a novice interior decorator.
Also By Stacy Henrie (#u54b40e48-17ef-537d-a9ed-b3a74faeb48c)
Lady Outlaw
The Express Rider’s Lady
The Outlaw’s Secret
The Renegade’s Redemption
The Rancher’s Temporary Engagement
A Cowboy of Convenience
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
A Cowboy of Convenience
Stacy Henrie
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08444-4
A COWBOY OF CONVENIENCE
© 2018 Stacy Henrie
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
“We could marry. In name only,” West hurried to add.
“Marry?” Her lips tightened in surprise. “I just told Bertram I wouldn’t be marrying for the foreseeable future—in name or not.”
West glanced down at her hand, which he still held. “I know, but it would be a marriage of convenience. A business arrangement. A way to make a go of this on our own, while still keeping things proper. You and Hattie would have the house and I’d bunk in the barn.”
It wouldn’t be as if she and West were actually married. Not like her and Chance had been. Vienna squelched a shudder at that thought.
“So what you’re saying is, if we do this, you’d get your dude ranch and I’d get a home?” The question sounded far more frank than she’d meant it, but she wanted to be certain she understood his motives before she made her decision.
A flicker of emotion that she couldn’t identify crossed his face. “Yes, I’d have my dude ranch and you’d have a home.” He withdrew his hand from hers, leaving her feeling a bit cold in spite of the sunshine.
Dear Reader (#u54b40e48-17ef-537d-a9ed-b3a74faeb48c),
After reading a fascinating article about the history of dude ranching, I knew I wanted to make that a part of Vienna and West’s story. Thankfully they didn’t complain!
The Eaton brothers—Howard, Alden and Willis—who were originally from Pittsburgh, are credited with operating the first dude ranch near Medora, North Dakota, in the 1880s. The tale is that a guest suggested the brothers charge people room and board to come visit, and the idea of the dude ranch was born. Howard Eaton is said to have been the one to coin the word dude in reference to their guests who came from back east to visit the Custer Trail Ranch. And he did, in fact, take guests on pack trips to Yellowstone National Park. The descriptions of the ranch as well as its numbers and buildings are based on accounts of the place in 1901.
Visitors to the Custer Trail Ranch weren’t mail-order cowboys; a lot of them could ride well. However, they did tend to dress more extravagantly than regular cowboys. The idea of traveling back east to recruit guests and needing references from them is also true. The story about Teddy Roosevelt, who was a friend of the Eatons, and his robber bedfellow is supposedly true, as well. In 1904, the Eatons left North Dakota and moved their dude ranch to Wyoming. Their ranch is still in existence today.
It wasn’t until 1904 that Golden Hair, from the story of the three bears, was named Goldilocks. Also, of interesting note—for years, the tale was meant as a cautionary one to children about not snooping about where they shouldn’t.
Having already set one story in the beautiful countryside near Sheridan and the Big Horn Mountains, I was excited to set another there. I also enjoyed giving Vienna and West, two secondary characters from my last Love Inspired Historical The Rancher’s Temporary Engagement, their own happily-ever-after. It was a lot of fun to write their marriage of convenience story, as well.
My hope is that, like West, readers will also realize God doesn’t love us just because we do what He wants. He loves us unconditionally. I also hope that, like Vienna, readers will recognize their own inner strength and abilities, and that with God that strength can be magnified.
I love hearing from readers. You can contact me through my website at www.stacyhenrie.com (http://www.stacyhenrie.com).
All the best,
Stacy
To...give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
—Isaiah 61:3
To all of the Love Inspired Historical team and readers
Thank you! It’s been an honor to be a part of this experience with you.
Contents
Cover (#uc406b172-2c3b-59bf-8189-7c25dff62b68)
Back Cover Text (#ub347ee4e-54e5-5754-87dc-edcf329e7eb2)
About the Author (#u1ac801e7-3bb6-58b6-a595-8d8215e84389)
Booklist (#u037152ea-4e2c-5b40-b5c6-20e8d82306e0)
Title Page (#u110df323-ff45-5ed8-82b5-6f38bb658a5a)
Copyright (#u092456b8-3a2f-5059-b6de-2a2e90740a79)
Introduction (#uef4c8e70-4757-5d08-9ccf-7fe392e338d6)
Dear Reader (#u364ce2ea-eb72-5275-9556-561aa3b363a1)
Bible Verse (#u7315b933-d8d1-5e46-ae64-e341fd518762)
Dedication (#ueedd19ce-89e5-5d10-b291-014149f9f17b)
Chapter One (#uc103d336-da64-5dfe-a1eb-8f96f04f58fa)
Chapter Two (#ub0daa636-829a-59c9-91e0-b4eb6327cd81)
Chapter Three (#u7ca892d7-ee3c-5b65-87be-0be79d20eaa2)
Chapter Four (#u3fd2d20f-6183-544b-a658-2fa0d048324c)
Chapter Five (#u81b23db0-bc81-5a28-a497-5a90e9615c1f)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#u54b40e48-17ef-537d-a9ed-b3a74faeb48c)
Near Big Horn, Wyoming, July 1901
Vienna Howe didn’t immediately take note of the knocking at the door. From inside the ranch house kitchen, she thought the pounding sounded more like the distant thwack of a hammer than anything else. She blew a breath upward to disrupt the blond hairs sticking to her damp forehead, her hands covered in pastry dough. The wranglers at the Running W Ranch never turned down her food—especially not dessert.
“Who’s at the door, Mommy?” Two-and-a-half-year-old Harriet, known as Hattie by everyone on the ranch, looked up from where she sat at the nearby table, pretending to feed her baby doll. The doll had been a gift from Vienna’s employers, though Edward and Maggy Kent had been and always would be her dear friends, first and foremost.
The thudding noise repeated and this time Vienna cocked her head to listen. “Is that the door? I thought the boys might be fixing a fence.” She grabbed a towel to wipe off her hands and headed for the door.
“I wanna see who’s there.” Gripping the doll about the neck, Hattie trailed her through the dining room and into the front hallway.
Remembering her apron at the last minute, Vienna untied it, hung it on the nearby hall tree and smoothed her hand down the front of her wrinkled white blouse and long skirt. She opened the door to find the sheriff standing there. Not the one from the nearby town of Big Horn, either. Sheriff Tweed, from seven miles away in Sheridan, looked relieved that someone had at last answered his knock.
“Just startin’ to wonder if no one was around, after all,” the man said as he removed his hat.
Vienna shot him an apologetic smile. “So sorry to keep you waiting, Sheriff. I was baking in the kitchen.”
“That’s all right.”
When he didn’t say anything more, she added, “I’m afraid my daughter and I are the only ones here. Edward is in town, and Maggy and Mrs. Harvey are gone on official detective business.” In addition to helping her husband run their successful horse ranch, Maggy Kent operated her own small detective agency with the help of the Kents’ head cook and housekeeper, Mrs. Harvey.
“I saw Mr. Kent earlier, which is how I knew you’d likely be here, Mrs. Howe.”
She blinked in surprise. “You’re here to see me?”
“Mommy, what does he want?” Hattie tugged on Vienna’s skirt, reminding her of her daughter’s presence—and the little girl’s rapt attention.
At that moment Westin “West” McCall, the ranch foreman, strolled across the yard toward the porch, a ready smile on his face. “Howdy, Sheriff. What can we do for you?”
“Howdy, McCall.” The sheriff smiled back. “I’m here to speak to Mrs. Howe.”
West glanced at her, his expression and honey-brown eyes as wary as the emotion now churning in her stomach. “Everything all right?”
“Not to worry, son,” the sheriff said, turning back to Vienna. “But I’m afraid I need to speak with Mrs. Howe in private.”
Vienna scooped up Hattie and walked past the sheriff. “West, do you mind watching her for a few minutes?”
“Not at all.” The man gave Hattie a gentle smile as he took her from Vienna and set her on her feet again.
The little girl gazed up adoringly at him. “You can help me feed my baby, Mr. West.”
