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Tennessee Rescue
Carolyn McSparren
Call of the wildGame ranger Seth Logan’s peaceful life is thrown into chaos the second Emma French bangs on his door. The fiery blonde clearly doesn’t know the first thing about country living…or its dangers. She’s illegally fostering baby skunks—and worse, she has Seth aiding and abetting her!Never one to turn his back on a woman or an animal, Seth agrees to break the rules to help Emma—but only until the skunks are old enough to return to the wild and Emma goes back to her life in Memphis. Yet, as they care for the babies, Seth finds himself breaking another rule, one that he knows will only lead to heartbreak: never fall for a woman who doesn’t want to stay.
Call of the wild
Game ranger Seth Logan’s peaceful life is thrown into chaos the second Emma French bangs on his door. The fiery blonde clearly doesn’t know the first thing about country living...or its dangers. She’s illegally fostering baby skunks—and worse, she has Seth aiding and abetting her!
Never one to turn his back on a woman or an animal, Seth agrees to break the rules to help Emma—but only until the skunks are old enough to return to the wild and Emma goes back to her life in Memphis. Yet as they care for the babies, Seth finds himself breaking another rule, one that he knows will only lead to heartbreak: never fall for a woman who doesn’t want to stay.
RITA® Award nominee and Maggie Award winner CAROLYN McSPARREN has lived in Germany, France, Italy and “too many cities in the US to count.” She’s sailed boats, raised horses, rides dressage and drives a carriage with her Shire-cross mare. She teaches writing seminars to romance and mystery writers, and writes mystery and women’s fiction as well as romance books. Carolyn lives in the country outside Memphis, Tennessee, in an old house with three cats, three horses and one husband.
Also By Carolyn McSparren
The Wrong Wife
Safe at Home
The Money Man
The Payback Man
House of Strangers
Listen to the Child
Over His Head
His Only Defense
Bachelor Cop
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Tennessee Rescue
Carolyn McSparren
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08466-6
TENNESSEE RESCUE
© 2018 Carolyn McSparren
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.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
“Aren’t you going to get in trouble over my skunks?”
“You shouldn’t think of them as your skunks, Emma, or you’ll hate letting them go even more. Yes, I can get into trouble, but I can ask forgiveness.”
“As opposed to permission?”
He rinsed out the sink and hung the dish towel on its hook. And yawned. “Sorry.”
“Go home. Go to bed.”
She followed him to the front door.
He turned, took one step, swung back and reached for her.
It might have started out as a meet-the-new-neighbor kiss, but it got out of hand—fast. She wasn’t used to being lifted off her feet. When he wrapped his arms around her, she felt as if she was being hugged by that bear in the honey tree.
He set her down, let her go, wheeled around and almost ran across the street.
Dear Reader (#u49de7998-349f-53b6-9d13-2fb154474906),
City girl Emma French gets fired from her job and dumps her unfaithful fiancé the same day. She moves to the country to recover, but instead, she finds herself rearing three orphaned baby skunks. Although it is illegal in Tennessee to foster skunks, she persuades her neighbor, Seth Logan—a tough, by-the-book game warden—to help her.
Emma knows nothing about animals, and she doesn’t plan to stay in Tennessee—and certainly not with a game warden, even one as sexy as Seth. Although she rocks his world the first time he meets her, Seth realizes she absolutely cannot fit into his life.
They’ve both suffered pain and loss, but with the help of three cuddly baby skunks, they may find their way to one another and to the love that is waiting for them.
I hope you enjoy Emma and Seth’s story and will look for the next book in the series. This is a work of fiction. I hope I got things right, but if I made mistakes, they are my fault.
Carolyn
This book is dedicated to that remarkable group of volunteers called animal rehabilitators who spend a lot of time and money looking after wounded, abandoned and displaced animals. There is even a specially trained group that works with wounded raptors—eagles, owls and hawks.
Each state has its own licensing requirements, but all require that these hardworking folks know what they are doing. The animal doesn’t have to be cute. Turkey buzzard or baby bunny—if it’s in trouble, they help.
Good for them!
Contents
Cover (#ub8c6bf70-fdc8-5c17-afdd-88c44dec6616)
Back Cover Text (#uae89ab00-8af4-515b-8125-8cc6dcc5cc08)
About the Author (#ua4e99a91-8594-5321-9ba3-1d5746a69024)
Booklist (#u36a46b3a-248e-5343-90e1-9acdc0ad2a87)
Title Page (#u9a664714-1393-5deb-a62d-6297a09526a6)
Copyright (#u887db8fb-988a-5172-bfb3-589ce95e32a3)
Introduction (#u5884f1fb-ff2a-5d6c-9d51-79ccd7c1fc98)
Dear Reader (#u9f1c42d4-fb59-513b-9b2a-b96867dd71cf)
Dedication (#u3c75c594-446c-53c0-b256-a9979390d796)
CHAPTER ONE (#ua3dd5f79-6f53-578b-8a77-6868c7ee2e64)
CHAPTER TWO (#u38e80483-9290-5f60-96b6-acbacf9ca3ec)
CHAPTER THREE (#u9ff2a0f7-67e4-52ee-b4ab-736968adb714)
CHAPTER FOUR (#ue193d650-deb8-5a5f-939c-a3f7aef0716d)
CHAPTER FIVE (#u7133010f-f276-5492-9a2b-9a5ff3c7f83d)
CHAPTER SIX (#ub933d71b-366f-5013-9030-4be5d8d5f692)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#u78025ec5-2724-5561-aa83-94e1bd992aa1)
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)
CHAPTER TWENTY (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#u49de7998-349f-53b6-9d13-2fb154474906)
“I HAVE SKUNKS in my pantry,” Emma French said.
The man who opened his front door to her wore the green uniform of a Tennessee Wildlife officer. At least according to the emblem on his mailbox down by the road. Skunks were wildlife, so he should be able to deal with the three in her pantry. She had no intention of touching them. He, on the other hand, looked as though he wrestled moose on weekends—not that there were moose in Tennessee. Skunks should be only a small distraction.
She had obviously interrupted him in the middle of his dinner. He still held a napkin. But this was an emergency, drat it. She expected him to grab a cage or gloves or a net and follow her out into the downpour at once. Instead, he lifted one eyebrow and said, “Interesting. And you are?”
“I’m Emma French, the one who inherited Martha’s house across the street. I just moved in this afternoon and found them.”
He stuck out a hand. “I’m Seth Logan. Moved in here after Miss Martha had to go into assisted living, so I never knew her, but I’ve heard good things about her. Since the last renters left six months ago, everyone in the neighborhood figured the property was up for sale.”
“My rental agent hasn’t located any new renters for me way out here. Can you come get the skunks? Isn’t that your job?”
“Not precisely, no. How big are the skunks? How old?”
“I have no idea how old they are.” She held her thumb and middle fingers apart. “They’re about this size, I guess. Little bitty.”
“Excellent. At that age, they can’t ‘skunk’ you. Their scent glands don’t function.”
“Great. Then you’ll be safe when you pick them up.”
He didn’t move or even ask her in out of the rain. Good grief! The last thing she needed was a useless muscle-bound stud in a snappy uniform living across the road. Judging by that lifted eyebrow and the quirk at the corner of his mouth, she’d bet he had to beat women off with a stick. Assuming he wanted to.
The man was laughing at her! “Sir, I am formally requesting your assistance in getting the wildlife—” she pointed to the insignia on his khaki shirt “—out of my house and back into the wild. Thank you in advance for your assistance.”
