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Stranded With The Rancher
Rebecca Winters
Two sultry strangers… stranded on a ranch!Wyatt Fielding wasn’t just handsome. He was ridiculously gorgeous. So if more snow meant more time stranded in the Wind River Mountains with him, New York journalist Alex Dorney hoped it would never stop. But Wyatt didn’t know this woman. And she didn’t know his past…
STORY OF A LIFETIME
Wyatt Fielding wasn’t just handsome. He was ridiculously gorgeous. So if more snow meant more time stranded in the Wind River mountains with him, Alex Dorney hoped it would never stop. For a New York journalist, two days trapped in a tent in a Wyoming blizzard should have been torture. But this was quickly becoming the best—and most important—story of Alex’s life.
When Alex descended upon his camp, Wyatt was beyond stunned. Her breathtaking blonde beauty seemed out of place in the rugged landscape—but she was proving more resourceful, and intriguing, by the hour. His attraction came on stronger and more suddenly than the squall raging outside. But he didn’t know this woman. And she didn’t know his past...
REBECCA WINTERS, whose family of four children has now swelled to include five beautiful grandchildren, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the land of the Rocky Mountains. Living near canyons and high alpine meadows full of wildflowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favorite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her romance novels, because writing is her passion, along with her family and church.
Rebecca loves to hear from readers. If you wish to email her, please visit her website, www.cleanromances.net (http://www.cleanromances.net).
Also by Rebecca Winters (#ub5d25701-51d2-5de8-8e29-2c11427b4fd5)
The Right Cowboy
A Valentine for the Cowboy
Made for the Rancher
Cowboy Doctor
Roping Her Christmas Cowboy
The Texas Ranger’s Bride
The Texas Ranger’s Nanny
The Texas Ranger’s Family
Her Texas Ranger Hero
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Stranded with the Rancher
Rebecca Winters
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-07781-1
STRANDED WITH THE RANCHER
© 2018 Rebecca Winters
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.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To all the fearless sheepherders who live through sun, wind, rain, snow, sleet and blizzards in the Rocky Mountains tending the ewes and rams. They make it possible for us to have warm linings in our coats and delicious lamb roasts on our tables. It’s an amazing world of beautiful creatures all its own. I was happy to see a little part of it.
Contents
Cover (#ub4598bfc-61e9-5f6a-af1b-874bd1b4a996)
Back Cover Text (#uf18736ad-c6ab-519a-9149-35d62d91d21d)
About the Author (#u34b3edba-6183-584f-b86b-114be9b00f50)
Booklist (#udd24a2a2-084a-5ac6-8a4f-de38491a617c)
Title Page (#ue667e2a5-e0ba-5fbd-8bfa-2c0b65d02d85)
Copyright (#ua8313f1d-0972-531d-8844-03ead7b0693f)
Dedication (#u3c659c72-c1d5-5006-8c16-fedbce336d8a)
Chapter One (#u9ea739f7-3481-543a-abdd-02aa591ff627)
Chapter Two (#u973f465a-71f5-50e0-9984-fb40b1aa2af8)
Chapter Three (#udf4cf06a-48f7-594b-92fe-96000de12280)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
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)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ub5d25701-51d2-5de8-8e29-2c11427b4fd5)
Wyatt Fielding exhaled slowly and straightened his back, then knocked on the lawyer’s open door. “Mr. Derrick? Your secretary told me to come in.”
“Of course, Mr. Fielding. Please sit down.”
“Thank you.”
“Can I offer you tea, coffee, a soft drink?”
“Nothing, thanks,” Wyatt said. Though a cool drink would have been refreshing in the August heat, he wasn’t sure he could stomach anything at the moment.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t see you until today. I had business out of town all week.”
“I understand. When I made inquiries about who was the best attorney in Wyoming, your name came up many times. As I told you on the phone last week, mine isn’t truly a criminal case, but what happened to me felt criminal at the time. I left a retainer with your secretary.”
The other man nodded. “Go ahead and tell me your story. I’m recording our conversation.”
Wyatt cleared his throat, swallowing past the dry lump there. “Eleven years ago I graduated from high school in Whitebark, Wyoming.”
“That’s clear across the state.”
“Yes. Wind River Country.”
“One of my favorite places to vacation. Go on.”
“I was in love with a girl and we were expecting a child. We wanted to get married, but she wouldn’t turn eighteen until August, so we decided to keep everything quiet until after her birthday, then get married.”
“So her parents didn’t know?”
He shook his head. “They disapproved of their daughter being involved with anyone. She couldn’t go to them. But in July she suffered a miscarriage at six weeks and was taken to the hospital. At that point, her parents would have been told what was wrong. She got word to me at the ranch through one of the nurses. I rushed over to the hospital the next morning to be with her. To my shock, I learned she’d been discharged and sent home.
“I then drove to her house. Her parents told me she no longer lived with them, that I wasn’t welcome there anymore, and that I shouldn’t try to find their daughter.
“I hurried home to tell my grandparents. I’d brought Jenny to our home lots of times. They knew we were in love and they would have let us be married at home. But under the circumstances, they advised me that her parents were in control. I should wait until I heard from Jenny.
“When a week went by with no phone call or letter, I was half out of my mind and went to the hospital to talk to the doctor who had taken care of her. I was told nothing. I begged the head of the hospital to at least give me some information about her health, about where she’d gone, about the miscarriage. He said he couldn’t disclose private records.
“I went back to the ranch feeling as if I’d had an out-of-body experience. That nothing was real. All our plans and dreams destroyed.”
The attorney’s brows lifted. “To this day you’ve never had word of her?”
“No. Two months later I went by her house and saw a for-sale sign in the yard. The neighbor across the street said they’d moved with no forwarding address.”
“That’s a tragic story. I’m very sorry, Mr. Fielding.”
Wyatt leaned forward with his hands clasped. “My grandparents raised me after the age of five and have been my mentors. They wanted to get counseling for me, but I fought it. Before my grandmother died, she urged me to talk this out with someone because she knew the experience had changed me. Both she and my grandfather feared I’d go through life carrying this burden.”
“Were they right?”
“Yes,” Wyatt admitted.
“What brought you to the point you came to me?”
“I’m a sheep rancher and volunteer firefighter. I’m good friends with another firefighter who recently married after being separated nine years from his high school sweetheart. He came back to Whitebark still in love with her memory, and they found their way back to each other.”
“Is that what you’re hoping? That if you find her, you’ll get back together, too?”
Wyatt shook his head. “I don’t know. What I’d like to do is find out where she is and how she’s doing. I’m praying she’s married with children and happy. That would help me a lot. It would probably be too much to ask if she were willing to talk to me about the loss of the baby. Neither of us had closure, but I would never want to disturb her life. Just knowing she’s all right would give me peace of mind.”
“Are you asking me to find her?”
“Yes. Any information would be helpful.”
“All right. Give me the particulars you can about her and her family.”
“Her name is Jenny Allen and by now she would be twenty-nine, like me. She was an only child. Her parents were Joseph and Marjorie Allen. I learned they moved to Whitebark, Wyoming, from Hardin, Montana, after she was born.
“Her dad had been a pastor at a church there and took over at the church in Whitebark when the local pastor died. Her father had a widowed aunt in Miles City, Montana, but the woman passed away while we were dating. Jenny might have had family on her mother’s side, but I never met anyone. That’s all I know.”
“Give me her physical description.”
“She was five-four, about 118 pounds, slender, with brown eyes and brown hair she wore swept back in a ponytail. She had a one-inch scar above the elbow of her left arm where she once got cut on the ice as a child. Jenny was soft-spoken.”
“Good. Were you on speaking terms with her parents?”
“No. Jenny never invited me to her home. They were very strict, but I had no idea how difficult it must have been for her until the day they closed the door on me. Do you think you can find her?”
“I could, but why not hire a private investigator yourself?”
“I sought you out because I know of the connections you have with people in that field. And I’d just feel better if you handled everything.”
“Very well. I’ve worked with a PI for years. He’ll make a search. As soon as I have any information, I’ll let you know.”
Wyatt got to his feet. “I can’t ask for more than that. Thank you very much. I gave your secretary my personal information.”
Mr. Derrick stood up and shook his hand. “I hope to have some news for you soon.”
Wyatt hoped so, too. His glance fell on a framed maxim hanging on the wall as he said goodbye and left the office.
