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Counting On The Cowboy
Shannon Taylor Vannatter
Ranching’s his whole life…Until he meets one special city girlTexas Cowboy Brock McBride knows better than to fall for a city girl. She’ll leave and break your heart—just like his ex-fiancé did. But his job at Chasing Eden Dude Ranch requires working alongside Dallas wedding planner Devree Malone. And despite fierce resistance, he’s falling hard. Yet with Devree’s business back in the city, can he convince her she’s found her home…with him?
Ranching is his whole life...
until he meets one special city girl
Texas Cowboy Brock McBride knows better than to fall for a city girl. She’ll leave and break his heart—just like his ex-fiancée did. But his job at Chasing Eden Dude Ranch requires working alongside Dallas wedding planner Devree Malone. And despite fierce resistance, he’s falling hard. Yet with Devree’s business back in the city, can he convince her she’s found her home...with him?
SHANNON TAYLOR VANNATTER is a stay-at-home mom/pastor’s wife/award-winning author. She lives in a rural central Arkansas community with a population of around one hundred, if you count a few cows. Contact her at shannonvannatter.com (http://shannonvannatter.com).
Also By Shannon Taylor Vannatter (#ua8a54173-e417-5fd1-b0aa-04a767ff2f0d)
Texas Cowboys
Reuniting with the Cowboy
Winning Over the Cowboy
A Texas Holiday Reunion
Counting on the Cowboy
Rodeo Ashes
Rodeo Regrets
Rodeo Queen
Rodeo Song
Rodeo Family
Rodeo Reunion
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Counting on the Cowboy
Shannon Taylor Vannatter
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08247-1
COUNTING ON THE COWBOY
© 2018 Shannon Taylor Vannatter
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)
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were out here.”
“I didn’t mean to be.”
“I love sitting on the porch swing at night.”
He scooted to the end, patted the slats beside him. “Feel free.”
She hesitated a moment, but headed his way in the end.
“I don’t know why I like it out here.” She shuddered. “There’re probably snakes lurking. Or bats. Or bears, for that matter. But I love the night sounds. You don’t get that in the city.”
“I imagine not.”
“And the stars are so bright here. So many of them.”
He scanned the horizon, ashamed he often took the stars for granted. “So why do you stay there?”
“It’s where I belong. It’s nice to visit the country but I could never live here. I’d be bored to tears.”
With all his worries over his friends and her reminder that she was a city girl through and through, why did he feel so pulled toward Devree? Despite the warm night, a chill settled in deep. He had absolutely nothing in common with her. He better tread carefully.
Dear Reader (#ua8a54173-e417-5fd1-b0aa-04a767ff2f0d),
I once considered myself a city girl. When my parents moved me from a suburb of Atlanta to rural Arkansas, I thought my life was over. Until I met a transplanted Texan who made me realize country life wasn’t so bad. Thirty-eight years later, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
I put a lot of me in Devree. She doesn’t like to get dirty, has no appreciation for most farm animals and isn’t the outdoorsy type. But the quiet, simple life slowly grows on her.
Polar opposites from two different worlds always fascinate me. Enter Brock with his broken heart thanks to a city girl—he’s determined to avoid falling for Devree from the beginning.
But slowly, they see past their initial assumptions about each other and begin to realize they have more in common than they ever would have thought. Until finally their defenses slip away, as God mends their hearts.
This book wraps up my Texas Cowboys series. That always makes me sad as I’ll miss living and breathing their stories. I hope you love each couple as much as I do.
Blessings,
Shannon Taylor Vannatter
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God
for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
—Ephesians 4:32
To my parents.
I hate getting dirty, refuse to grow a vegetable
garden and will never own farm animals, but
I’m thankful y’all made a country girl out of me.
Even though Logan says I’m too city.
Contents
Cover (#u80496b16-adaf-55dc-8609-bf81cf0054e0)
Back Cover Text (#u87465194-e45e-58fd-8cb5-42e3c81256cd)
About the Author (#u47fbd0eb-4ca3-5815-9c44-b542a514d9ba)
Booklist (#uf22d911c-b7d5-5609-a8ae-baf957d03802)
Title Page (#u48f950ed-a81e-5d88-9d46-c987514e3d76)
Copyright (#u8d964a99-2cbc-5f7c-971b-55e327798c40)
Introduction (#udcecdcb2-37d1-57db-99c7-54bff695afa6)
Dear Reader (#uab663cf6-6bc8-59b9-8e5a-d6c7c3824beb)
Bible Verse (#uec745626-4c6a-5534-be3d-aa7920bc68ef)
Dedication (#ubfe9775b-80cb-526d-80fe-cb16019021ab)
Chapter One (#u03425bf6-fd56-55ed-ae41-be7a7d9ba459)
Chapter Two (#uf6fe421f-a5d6-570e-894b-a91f41707837)
Chapter Three (#u0791f354-7d71-5340-a985-67bb52cafdcf)
Chapter Four (#u1f8ede5e-4b61-5e61-b771-a683a8d47d6d)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
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)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ua8a54173-e417-5fd1-b0aa-04a767ff2f0d)
Help! There’s a goat on the roof!
Devree Malone typed the frantic text to her brother-in-law while edging the engaged couple she was showing around the ranch closer to the chapel.
If the goat would just keep quiet up there, maybe the soon-to-be newlyweds wouldn’t notice and she wouldn’t lose this gig. At least it was still April, as the cooler not-quite-seventy degree temperature meant the farm animal odors were at a minimum.
A dark truck turned into the drive and a cowboy climbed out: Stetson, Wranglers, boots. Maybe a ranch hand? His gaze went to the goat, then met hers as a smirk settled on his lips. One so charming she almost forgot about the goat.
Almost. Do something, cute cowboy. Hopefully, her mental plea would span the thirty or so feet between them. She guided the couple inside the chapel and tried to concentrate on the bride’s excited chatter.
“Imagine burgundy roses on the lattice arbor with tulle trailing down the sides.” If only she could have gone ahead and decorated. But the wedding was still two weeks away. “We’ll put big poufy bows on the end of each pew.”
For now, she needed to wow them with what she could. She flipped the switch, setting off a sea of twinkle lights woven among the exposed rafters above.
“Oh.” The enchanted bride leaned her head against her groom’s shoulder.
Why put so much into the wedding when the marriage would probably be history in less than a year? In her eight years of wedding planning, just under half her couples had divorced. And then there was the ceremony that got canceled when Devree discovered her boyfriend of six months was the groom-to-be.
