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Heart of Texas Volume 3: Nell's Cowboy
Debbie Macomber
Welcome to the town of Promise, deep in the heart of Texas! Promise, a ranching community in the Hill Country, has a mysterious past. Yet it’s the kind of place that represents the strength of small-town and rural America. Because Promise is built on family and friendship. Hard work and endurance. Laughter and, above all, love.NELL’S COWBOYNell Bishop, widowed mother of two children, is turning her property into a dude ranch. And one of her first guests is Travis Grant, an Easterner known for his books about the West. Her kids adore him—and she has to admit she’s drawn to him, too. But Nell isn’t ready to fall in love again. Or is she?LONE STAR BABYWade McMillen might be a minister but he’s also a man. An unmarried and very attractive one. So is it as a man that he responds to Amy Thornton when she shows up in Promise, pregnant and alone? Or as a man of God? Maybe it’s both… .
Welcome to the town of Promise, deep in the heart of Texas!
Promise, a ranching community in the Hill Country, has a mysterious past. Yet it’s the kind of place that represents the strength of small-town and rural America. Because Promise is built on family and friendship. Hard work and endurance. Laughter and, above all, love.
NELL’S COWBOY
Nell Bishop, widowed mother of two children, is turning her property into a dude ranch. And one of her first guests is Travis Grant, an Easterner known for his books about the West. Her kids adore him—and she has to admit she’s drawn to him, too. But Nell isn’t ready to fall in love again. Or is she?
LONE STAR BABY
Wade McMillen might be a minister, but he’s also a man. An unmarried and very attractive one. So is it as a man that he responds to Amy Thornton when she shows up in Promise, pregnant and alone? Or as a man of God? Maybe it’s both.…
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the final installment of the Heart of Texas series. I hope you’ve enjoyed your visits to Promise, Texas, so far. I set this series in the Texas Hill Country, and there’s love and a bit of mystery in the air. But then it seems that every small town has its share of secrets, don’t you think?
In these two books, you’ll meet Nell and a tenderfoot—an Easterner who has the nerve to write books about the West. And naturally Richard (Remember Richard? The brother of Savannah and Grady?) is up to his usual antics. And then there’s the pastor, Wade McMillen, and the pregnant woman, Amy Thornton, who find each other at the perfect moment. Life comes full circle not only for them but for everyone in Promise as the mystery of Bitter End is finally solved.
Oh, dear, I’ve done it again, haven’t I? I’m practically giving away what happens in these stories. That’s because I really do love this series; writing it was tremendous fun and even now, all these years later, it remains one of my favorites.
Please enjoy.
Praise for the novels of
#1 New York Times bestselling author
Debbie Macomber
“Debbie Macomber brings the people of Promise, Texas,
to life as she blends drama,
romance and adventure in Caroline’s Child.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Popular romance writer Macomber
has a gift for evoking the emotions that are at the heart
of the genre’s popularity.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Debbie Macomber writes characters who are
as warm and funny as your best friends.”
—New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs
“Debbie Macomber is one of the most reliable,
versatile romance authors around.”
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“As always, Macomber draws rich, engaging characters.”
—Publishers Weekly
“It’s clear that Debbie Macomber cares deeply
about her fully realized characters and their family,
friends and loves, along with their hopes and dreams.
She also makes her readers care about them.”
—Bookreporter.com on Susannah’s Garden
“Macomber is skilled at creating characters
who work their way into readers’ hearts.”
—RT Book Reviews on Dakota Home
“Macomber’s assured storytelling and affirming narrative is as welcoming as your favorite easy chair.”
—Publishers Weekly on Twenty Wishes
“It’s easy to see why Macomber is a perennial favorite:
she writes great books.”
—RomanceJunkies.com
“Prolific Macomber is known for her portrayals
of ordinary women in small-town America.…
[She is] an icon of the genre.”
—Publishers Weekly
Heart of Texas Volume 3
Nell’s Cowboy
Lone Star Baby
Debbie Macomber
www.mirabooks.co.uk (http://www.mirabooks.co.uk)
To Anita and Allen Greenstein, who love the Florida sunshine and good wine as much as Wayne and I do.
CONTENTS
Nell’s Cowboy (#u5d4d3c1d-ee03-5e65-9709-a1eeb1f71010)
Lone Star Baby (#litres_trial_promo)
Nell’s Cowboy
CAST OF CHARACTERS
THE PEOPLE OF PROMISE
Nell Bishop: Thirtysomething widow with a son, Jeremy,
and a daughter, Emma; her husband died in a tractor accident.
Ruth Bishop: Nell’s mother-in-law; lives with Nell and her
two children.
Dovie Boyd: Runs an antiques shop and has dated Sheriff
Frank Hennessey for ten years.
Caroline Daniels: Postmistress of Promise.
Maggie Daniels: Caroline’s five-year-old daughter.
Dr. Jane Dickinson: New doctor in Promise.
Ellie Frasier: Owner of Frasier’s Feed Store.
Frank Hennessey: Local sheriff.
Max Jordan: Owner of Jordan’s Town and Country.
Wade McMillen: Preacher of Promise Christian Church.
Edwina and Lily Moorhouse: Sisters; retired schoolteachers.
Cal and Glen Patterson: Local ranchers; brothers who ranch together.
Phil and Mary Patterson: Parents of Cal and Glen; operate a local B and B.
Louise Powell: Town gossip.
Wiley Rogers: Sixty-year-old ranch foreman at the Weston ranch.
Laredo Smith: Wrangler hired by Savannah Weston.
Barbara and Melvin Weston: Mother and father to Savannah, Grady and Richard; the Westons died six years ago.
Richard Weston: Youngest of the Weston siblings.
Savannah Weston: Grady and Richard’s sister; cultivates old roses.
Grady Weston: Rancher, and oldest of the Weston siblings.
Contents
Chapter One (#uf2af5acc-a3c9-58b0-b585-2c955814c393)
Chapter Two (#uedf268a0-0e03-56e3-9d81-0290eb9fb35c)
Chapter Three (#u3d59faee-f5bd-5aa1-8402-9629fa221dcb)
Chapter Four (#u13f3e96c-88ec-51ea-bfe7-74b236430893)
Chapter Five (#u37324e98-8273-5ad2-8d61-27ce1bc6e546)
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)
One
Nell Bishop barreled down the highway, heading home, racing against the approaching storm. The March winds whipped against the pickup as she hurried toward Twin Canyons Ranch, thirty-four miles south of Promise, Texas.
Her mother-in-law was with the children, but Jeremy and Emma would have difficulty getting the animals into the barn without help. Ruth would do what she could, but the older woman’s heart wasn’t strong and... Nell didn’t want to think what might happen if she didn’t make it back in time.
Her life had been on a fast-moving treadmill for the past three years, ever since her husband died in a tractor accident. Storms were the least of her worries, considering the financial challenges she’d faced working the ranch without Jake. Not a day passed that her husband wasn’t in her thoughts. Twenty years from now, forty years from now, he’d still be a part of her.
