He guessed he hoped Harmony would be there, that she might have changed her mind. But she was gone. Her car wasn’t in the garage. The lights were all turned off and the doors were locked. Beau whinnied from the pasture. She had promised to find someone to haul the horse to...
Not exactly sunrise, but Mia hadn’t been up long. She had a cup of tea, her computer and a shady spot on the back patio. No one would bother her on Sunday morning. She left her tea and headed back inside through the house. Before opening the door, she peeked out. She didn’...
For the reality check she went to Faith, who had no trouble keeping her in the real world. Faith would give it to her straight. Before heading across town, Maggie called home. When there wasn't an answer she remembered that her grandmother had gone to stay with a sick friend. Ten minutes later Ma...
She watched as Duke’s brothers, Jake and Brody, jumped down from the truck. Brody hopped a little on one leg, shook his right leg out and then pretended that at twenty-six there wasn’t a thing wrong with him. He wasn’t as tall as his older brothers. He was more lean than muscular. His dark hair w...
Adam walked into the barn, peering into the dark shadows. He’d been in the house for five minutes, waiting for her to come in, to feed the boys.“Jen?”“Jenna. No one calls me Jen but Clint.” She was sitting outside a stall, looking inside the darkened cubicle. He peeked around the corner of the ga...
Madeline drove her car up the long driveway to Jackson Cooper’s ranch. The old farmhouse with the wraparound porch looked pretty with the powdery white snow sprinkling down. In the field the cows stood tail to the wind, snow sticking to their thick winter coats. “This sure ain’t Oklahoma City,” J...
That’s a lesson Beth Bradshaw knew from experience and she had the scars to prove it. She had even learned things about herself that took her by surprise. Like the fact that she could be strong. She didn’t always have to do what pleased others. Sometimes she did what pleased her. The fact that sh...
A man had a bleeding girl in his arms, a woman and an older woman were both wailing in Spanish. “Médico, por favor! Médico. We need doctor. Somebody help us.” “Shelby! Patrick!” Spring hollered as she jumped into action. She pulled gloves from her p...
Lucky the mule didn’t talk back or tell her what to think or explain that her emotions were all over the place. Lucky just listened. God listened. She leaned against the mule’s neck and told God that she didn’t know what to do with her feelings, with her pain, with her fear. And she realized it h...
He was in his uniform, getting out of his patrol car, and she pulled into the church parking lot. He was leaning against the car parked next to hers when she opened the door of her car.“Need some help?” He reached for the back door. “I can get Rachel.”“Oh, okay.” But not really okay. Not when the...
Toby asked when he reached her side. “Christmas is gone,” she managed between sobs. Toby looked at Greta for an explanation. She said, “She’s not in her box.” “She was there when I checked on her at two last night. Maybe she’...
It was hard to discern one sound from another, and harder still to know if the queasy nervousness in her stomach was due to her bulls about to compete, or the way sounds faded in and out.A hand touched her arm. She smiled at her aunt Janie, who had insisted on attending with her, because it was a...
The diagnosis hadn’t been a surprise, but he’d been given a royally good chewing out for putting off this visit for so long. He guessed he’d just hoped it would go away. He’d guessed wrong. Rheumatoid arthritis didn’t go away. Neither would the cartilage damage in his knee. But at least surgery c...
She loved waking up on the ranch, to the quiet broken only by country sounds. Dogs, a cow in the distance, a tractor working in a nearby field. Carrying her cup of coffee, she walked out to the barn. After she’d gotten home last night, she’d put the pregnant dog in a stall...
“Careful there, Hoss.” Jason grabbed the boy by the arm and smiled at the gap-toothed kid. “You can’t be like Jell-O. You’ve got to keep your back straight without being stiff and keep your arms tucked to your side. No spaghetti arms, okay?” The boy nodded and Jason smiled again. The kid was shak...
Ryder had asked himself that question a few times on the drive over to Andie’s. In all the years he’d known her, he’d never had to ask himself that question. Okay, once, but that’s because he’d kissed her the night of her senior prom, a night when she’d decided it would be easier to go with him t...
Blake watched his daughter in the center of a group of family and friends. They were ready for the wagon ride and bonfire. Perfect timing. The sun was setting, and it would be down to eighty-five degrees soon. This time of year that was almost a cold front. Or at least that’s what the forecasters...
But there were outdoor heaters and blankets, and she had Callie in her lap. The cartoon was funny and sweet, even bringing tears to her eyes in places. Next to her, Dylan whispered a teasing comment from time to time, but usually got silenced by his mother or one of his sisters. There were probab...
“An hour ago you were warned that you could be in danger, and now you’re traipsing around town like you don’t have a care in the world?” Penelope’s eyes narrowed. “I was with my mother, and it seems that the only thing I have to be afraid of is you.” Her heart still hammered her ribs, even though...
Boone Wilder leaned against the exterior brick wall of a closed boutique store in a pricey part of Austin, Texas. The sun had set more than an hour earlier and the temperature had cooled to a balmy eighty degrees. Not bad for early September. But he wished he was at home in Martin’s Crossing sipp...