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Her Cowboy Sheriff
Leigh Riker
Will a lawman and a little girl—Give her reason to stay?Annabelle Foster has big plans to leave Barren, Kansas, until an accident makes her guardian to a little girl. Annabelle has zero experience with children, and turns to Finn Donovan for help.But while both Annabelle and Emmie start falling for the strong, guarded sheriff, Finn is haunted by his own tragedy. Can one little girl make them believe in their future…as a family?
Will a lawman and a little girl...
Give her a reason to stay?
Annabelle Foster has big plans to leave Barren, Kansas, until an accident makes her guardian to a little girl. Annabelle has zero experience with children and turns to Finn Donovan for help. But while both Annabelle and Emmie start falling for the strong, guarded sheriff, Finn is haunted by his own tragedy. Can one little girl make them believe in their future...as a family?
LEIGH RIKER, like so many dedicated readers, grew up with her nose in a book. This award-winning, USA TODAY bestselling author still can’t imagine a better way to spend her time than to curl up with a good romance novel—unless it’s to write one! She’s a member of the Authors Guild, Novelists, Inc., and Romance Writers of America. When not writing, she’s either out in the garden, indoors watching movies funny and sad, or traveling (for research purposes, of course). With added “help” from her mischievous cat, Daisy, she’s now working on a new novel. She loves to hear from readers. You can find Leigh on her website, leighriker.com (http://leighriker.com), on Facebook at leighrikerauthor (https://www.facebook.com/LeighRikerAuthor/), and on Twitter, @lbrwriter (https://twitter.com/lbrwriter).
Also By Leigh Riker (#ufae93a2b-ca2d-5c4d-84a2-3b8dee43deae)
Kansas Cowboys
The Reluctant Rancher
Last Chance Cowboy
Cowboy on Call
A Heartwarming Thanksgiving
“Her Thanksgiving Soldier”
Lost and Found Family
Man of the Family
If I Loved You
Harlequin Intrigue
Agent-in-Charge
Double Take
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk).
Her Cowboy Sheriff
Leigh Riker
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-09488-7
HER COWBOY SHERIFF
© 2018 Leigh Riker
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)
Finn slipped an arm around her shoulders to draw her closer.
“I don’t mean to give you mixed messages, but I liked having you and Emmie here. I haven’t liked anything as much since I came to Barren. I don’t know what to make of that, either, but maybe I should stop trying and just try...this.”
His mouth angled to touch hers in a warm kiss that took away the cold night, the falling snow, and turned it into the heat of a summer day.
She kissed him back. She’d dreamed of being in his arms, never thinking it could happen. But where could this lead? He’d made his position clear. He hadn’t recovered from the tragedy in Chicago and his belief in the future. In Barren he might care for Emmie, even care a little for Annabelle, but...
Her thoughts battled with the growing need inside for something more, something lasting and, if she were being honest, for Finn.
Dear Reader (#ufae93a2b-ca2d-5c4d-84a2-3b8dee43deae),
By the time you see this, I will have moved from Tennessee, where I’ve lived for quite a few years, to Arizona! As I’ve learned all over again, a new start can be exciting but also a bit scary.
That’s certainly true for my heroine in Her Cowboy Sheriff, the fourth Kansas Cowboys book, even though Annabelle Foster is more than ready to move. When she’s finally free of her family’s diner, she plans to find a new career and travel far and wide.
But when Annabelle abruptly becomes the temporary mom to her cousin’s vulnerable child, she soon learns little Emmie could steal anyone’s heart. And then there’s Finn Donovan. She’s had a crush on him ever since he came to town.
Finn tries not to notice. After tragically losing everything in Chicago, he only wants to bury himself in his work as the new sheriff of Stewart County. But he can’t resist Emmie—or Annabelle.
Getting these two wounded people together takes some doing, but nothing good is ever easy (just like a move from one place to another). I hope you’ll like their story and come back for more.
The fifth book in this series isn’t far behind! If you missed the first three, check out The Reluctant Rancher, Last Chance Cowboy and Cowboy on Call. They’re still available, and they’d all love to have you visit their hometown.
For more information, please hop over to my website, leighriker.com (http://leighriker.com), where you can also sign up for my newsletter.
And once again, happy reading!
Leigh
To my dear Chattanooga friends, Laurie, Kelle and Carol. The guest room is waiting!
Contents
Cover (#u1588711d-0352-5e30-ba71-916eae64949b)
Back Cover Text (#u8173f7df-d60a-503f-882f-87f6dda0d6c8)
About the Author (#ue4830c0f-71ad-57ea-8e3c-2983a443883b)
Booklist (#ud82efc62-908c-5b8e-ad0c-8e8dc6cbd4e5)
Title Page (#ub7b35174-fd77-5970-9558-2fadd522dd0a)
Copyright (#u6e7ff330-10ce-537a-91bd-6c57e1ea3174)
Introduction (#u10597083-653f-5985-a6e8-0d2a064eb3a0)
Dear Reader (#ub9343f7d-3e56-5f55-837f-680884844b0c)
Dedication (#u1d2d0426-a7e5-54d6-a8dc-3c864081b474)
CHAPTER ONE (#u2f54ffae-0420-5adb-b16f-4907d65a8666)
CHAPTER TWO (#u5e233667-7b24-503e-8acd-332477248c81)
CHAPTER THREE (#u36568050-8c66-55ac-825d-f81d6085c171)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u2716ee71-c599-5dd0-ad15-14fc4a8150fc)
CHAPTER FIVE (#u766af182-89c7-54e0-bf60-a504b5bc44d0)
CHAPTER SIX (#u0c88e322-889c-5f78-a705-dd75edb0c132)
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)
CHAPTER TWENTY (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ufae93a2b-ca2d-5c4d-84a2-3b8dee43deae)
FINN DONOVAN CRADLED the small child in his arms. The little girl couldn’t be more than three years old, and her cries went straight to his heart, to the memories that were both happiest and darkest.
“Where’s Mama?” she kept wailing.
Finn hated accident scenes.
The pile of nearby wreckage had once been a car and a pickup truck, the now twisted metal gleaming in the dark each time the flashing lights from the ambulance and his cruiser strobed the area. The hash of red and blue made the whole scene appear purple, and the noxious smell of spilled gasoline hung in the air. Hands down, this was the absolute worst part of his job.
Finn had hoped to leave all that behind in Chicago—the tragedy and loss—but his move to Barren, Kansas, apparently hadn’t changed that after all. He’d thought as the sheriff of sleepy Stewart County he’d rarely have to deal with such scenes. This was his first here, and part of him wished he could hand the child off to his nearest deputy.
The little girl clung, arms tight around his neck, face buried in his shoulder as if she already trusted him to keep her safe. “Mamaaa!”
Her tears soaked through his cotton shirt. Finn could feel his heartbeat drumming in his chest, his ears. Get away, he thought. Put her down. At the same instant, he pressed one hand against her skull, his fingers in the fine silk of her hair. The pint-size blonde sweetheart, who wore only a light cardigan over a T-shirt with a Disney character on it and a pair of tiny jeans, made his heart ache. Her miniature sneakers were the kind with lights that flashed like those of the ambulance. She shivered in his embrace, and Finn’s pulse caught. Cold. Except for a few scrapes she hadn’t been hurt in the accident, but the mid-October night had chilled. Was she going into shock? So small, so helpless...but she shouldn’t rely on him.
She needed a warmer place and a quick removal from the frightening views all around them. On his way to his cruiser, Finn passed the paramedic who’d been breathing life back into the driver of the car. She turned to him, shaking her head.
“It’s bad, Sheriff,” she whispered.
Another EMT was now loading the stretcher onto the ambulance. Finn turned away enough to shield the child from the sight—shield himself, too. The open doors, the harsh light inside and the sight of the gurney, the woman’s body no more than a still lump under the blanket, unnerved him. To his relief the child he held hadn’t even tried to look, but at least her earlier cries had subsided into whimpers.
The paramedic’s gaze met his. “Anyone we know?”
Was she asking about the woman? Or the little girl he still carried?
When he’d pulled up to the scene, Finn had run the victim’s plates, her driver’s license.
“Wyoming ID.” He didn’t supply the name. “Twenty-nine years old.”
He shook his head, saddened by the obvious severity of her condition. As the ambulance doors closed, she didn’t move a muscle. In contrast, the little girl squirmed in his arms, making Finn fear he might drop her, and the crack in his heart opened wider. “We’ll find your mom,” he promised, not that the task would be hard.
There were only two choices, and he prayed—though he wasn’t much prone to prayer these days—that it wasn’t the woman in the ambulance. Finn glanced toward the victim’s car. “What’s your name, sweetie?”
She was shaking. “Em-mie.”
