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Noelle
Diana Palmer
After a devastating flood orphaned Noelle Brown, she thought her handsome and charming benefactor, Andrew Paige, could be the man of her dreams.So why did his steely-eyed older stepbrother, Jared Dunn, make her heart race and her breath catch in her throat? Desperado turned lawman, Jared had come home to Fort Worth, Texas, ready to leave his dangerous past behind. The green-eyed, feisty young woman his stepbrother had taken in wasn't the gold digger Jared had expected. Far from it—the unconventional, innocent beauty needed his guidance to learn the ways of high society, a task he found surprisingly enjoyable.When scandal threatened them all, Noelle would be forced to marry to save the family's honor. But which brother had truly captured her heart? With rivalry pitting brother against brother, one thing was for certain—this wouldn't be a marriage of convenience!
Praise for the reigning queen of romance
DIANA PALMER
“Nobody does it better.”
—New York Times bestselling author Linda Howard
“The popular Palmer has penned another winning novel, a perfect blend of romance and suspense.”
—Booklist on Lawman
“Palmer knows how to make the sparks fly…heartwarming.”
—Publishers Weekly on Renegade
“Sensual and suspenseful.”
—Booklist on Lawless
“Diana Palmer is a mesmerizing storyteller who captures the essence of what a romance should be.”
—Affaire de Coeur
“Nobody tops Diana Palmer when it comes to delivering pure, undiluted romance. I love her stories.”
—New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz
Also by Diana Palmer
Heartless
Fearless
Her Kind of Hero
Nora
Big Sky Winter
Man of the Hour
Trilby
Lawman
Lacy
Hard To Handle
Heart of Winter
Outsider
Night Fever
Before Sunrise
Lawless
Diamond Spur
Desperado
The Texas Ranger
Lord of the Desert
The Cowboy and the Lady
Most Wanted
Fit for a King
Paper Rose
Rage of Passion
Once in Paris
After the Music
Roomful of Roses
Champagne Girl
Passion Flower
Diamond Girl
Friends and Lovers
Cattleman’s Choice
Lady Love
The Rawhide Man
DIANA PALMER
Noelle
In memory of Ryan Patton Hendricks, whose light
still shines brightly in the hearts of all those who loved him.
Noelle
Contents
Prologue
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
Prologue
The street was wide and dusty—and because it was late in the afternoon, there was a lot of activity in the small town of Terrell, New Mexico Territory. Most of the buggies and wagons had stopped, however, to watch the developing confrontation in front of the adobe courthouse, where the circuit judge had just ruled against a group of small ranchers.
“You sold us out!” a raging-mad cowboy yelled at a tall, distinguished man in a dark, vested business suit. “You helped that land-hungry British son of Satan kick us off our land! What will we do come winter when we don’t have a place to live or food for our kids? Where will we go, now that you’ve taken our land away? It isn’t even as if Hughes needs it. By God, he owns half the county already!”
Jared Dunn, the tall, elegant man he was facing, watched him without blinking, without moving. His pale blue eyes were narrow and intent—dangerous—but the cowboy was too far away to see them.
“It was a fair trial,” the man said in a cultured accent, with just a trace of a drawl. “You had attorneys.”
“Not like you, Mr. New York City big-shot lawyer!” the man said, his expression turning ugly. He was wearing a sidearm. Many people did in 1902, although not in towns, most of which had regulations against firearms. But this little place was much as it had been in the late 1880s and the law was just getting a toehold here. This was still a territory, not a state.
The angry cowboy had come heeled, and Jared Dunn had anticipated he would. The sheriff of this town was a mild little man who was elected for his sunny personality, not his toughness, so he could expect no help from that quarter. In fact, the sheriff had conveniently vanished when the cowboy started yelling threats across the street.
The cowboy’s hand dropped lower, hovering over his gun butt.
“Don’t do it,” Jared warned, his voice deep and clear and ringing.
“Why? Are you afraid of guns, Mr. Big Shot?” the cowboy demanded, with a faint sneer. “Don’t you city boys know how to shoot?”
Slowly Jared unbuttoned his tailored jacket, and, without taking his eyes from his adversary, smoothed the jacket back…past a worn leather holster slung low across his lean hips. It contained a Colt .45 revolver with an equally worn black handle.
The way the revolver was worn would have been enough to warn most men. But even the smooth action of the hand sweeping back the jacket spoke for him. He stood very quietly, his posture elegant, deceptively relaxed, his eyes focused only on the cowboy.
“Ed, give it up,” one of the cowboy’s friends demanded. “You can’t shoot lawyers, more’s the pity. We’ll find some other land, and this time we’ll make sure the seller has legitimate deeds.”
“It’s my land. Deeds be damned! And I’m not getting off it because some rich man paid a city lawyer to take it away from me!” He began to crouch; his hand made a claw over the gun butt at his waist. “You draw or you die, fellow.”
“Just like old times,” Jared murmured to himself. His blue eyes narrowed, steady and unblinking, and he smiled coldly.
“Draw!” the cowboy yelled.
But Jared didn’t move. He simply stood there.
“Coward!”
Still Jared stood his ground, waiting. He’d learned that it wasn’t the man who was fastest who won this sort of fight—it was the man who took his time and placed his shot.
Suddenly the cowboy dug for his revolver. He managed to get it out, and he even got off a shot, but not before Jared’s bullet had smashed a bone in his gun arm. The concussion jerked his fingers and set off his pistol as he fell, crying out, to the dusty street.
The wild bullet hit Jared’s leg just above the kneecap, but he didn’t fall or cry out. His gaze unwavering from his adversary, he went slowly toward the cowboy’s prostrate, groaning form and stood over him, the smoking pistol still held level in his lean hand. His eyes, to the spectators, were frightening in their unblinking blue glitter.
“Are you finished, or do you want to try again?” he asked, without a breath of sympathy. His index finger was still on the trigger, the pistol aimed at the downed man. It was evident to everyone that if the cowboy had reached for the pistol lying near his uninjured side, Jared would have sent a second bullet right into the man without hesitation.
The white-faced cowboy looked up at death in a business suit. “Say,” he managed in a rough whisper, “don’t I know you?”
“I doubt it.”
The cowboy shuddered at the force of the pain. “But I do,” he insisted. “I saw you…in Dodge. I was in Dodge City, back in the…early 80s. There was a Texas gunman. Killed another gunman…Never saw his hand move, never even saw it coming, like just now…” He was barely conscious as loss of blood weakened him, while around him people were rushing in search of a doctor for the wounded men.
