The Lionhearted Cowboy Returns. Patricia Thayer

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       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Originally born and raised in Muncie, Indiana, PATRICIA THAYER is the second of eight children. She attended Ball State University, and soon afterwards headed West. Over the years she’s made frequent visits back to the Midwest, trying to keep up with her growing family.

      Patricia has called Orange County, California, home for many years. She not only enjoys the warm climate, but also the company and support of other published authors in the local writers’ organisation. For the past eighteen years she has had the unwavering support and encouragement of her critique group. It’s a sisterhood like no other.

      When she’s not working on a story, you might find her travelling the United States and Europe, taking in the scenery and doing story research while thoroughly enjoying herself accompanied by Steve, her husband for over thirty-five years. Together they have three grown sons and four grandsons. As she calls them, her own true-life heroes. On rare days off from writing you might catch her at Disneyland, spoiling those grandkids rotten! She also volunteers for the Grandparent Autism Network.

      Patricia has written for over twenty years and has authored over thirty-six books for Silhouette and Harlequin Mills & Boon. She has been nominated for both the National Readers’ Choice Award and the prestigious RITA^®. Her book NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE won a RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice award.

      A long-time member of Romance Writers of America, she has served as President and held many other board positions for her local chapter in Orange County. She’s a firm believer in giving back.

      Check her website at www.patriciathayer.com for upcoming books.

      To all the men and women in our Armed Forces.

      Thank you for your service to our country.

      And to my Tom in the U.S. Army, you make a mother proud. Stay safe and God speed.

      Chapter One

      HE’D been to hell and back, but he’d finally made it…home.

      Jeff Gentry stood on the porch of the foreman’s cottage at the Rocking R Ranch. The sun was just coming up, but he was already feeling the Texas summer heat. He drew a long breath of the familiar country air, loving the earthy smells of cattle and horses. This place was where he’d grown up, where he’d been part of a family. As a kid, it was the first place he’d ever felt safe.

      This had been the meaning of home to him, once. Could it be again?

      For the past decade, the U.S. Army had been his home. Ten years was a long time. During his military service, he’d traveled the world and seen far too much destruction and death to resemble the kid who’d left the ranch at twenty. Now he had his own personal nightmares he needed to forget. And he lived with a particular one that had changed his life for good. He rubbed his thigh, still feeling pain. But, like the doctor had told him, he’d been one of the lucky ones.

      He didn’t feel so lucky. The last mission had robbed him of his life as he’d known it, and of his future. And now he’d been sent home to figure out his next move. Could he come back to San Angelo and rejoin the Randell family?

      “Morning, son.”

      Jeff turned to see his father approach the porch. He put on a smile. “Hey, Dad.”

      At fifty-five years old, Wyatt Gentry-Randell was still a formidable man. He walked tall, his spine straight. His muscular frame resulted from years of physical labor handling rodeo stock. He smiled easily, and he was a soft touch when it came to his wife and children.

      Years ago, he’d married Maura Wells and taken on her two small children, Jeff and Kelly. The day Wyatt had adopted them had been the best day of Jeff’s life. Wyatt had erased a lot of years of painful memories for their mother, for all of them. And two more siblings, Andrew and Rachel, had been added into the mix.

      Oh, yeah, he loved this man.

      “What brings you out here?” Jeff asked, knowing that most of the family had given him what he’d asked for: space. “Do you need my help with anything?”

      Wyatt handed him a mug filled with steaming coffee. “No. I just wanted to spend some time with my son. It’s nice to have you home.”

      Jeff took a sip. “It’s good to be back.” It wasn’t a lie exactly. He enjoyed being here with his parents.

      He leaned against the porch railing and looked around the impressive ranch. Every well-cared-for outbuilding had recently been painted glossy white. For over twenty years, twin brothers Wyatt and Dylan had run their rough-stock business here. Not only did Uncle Dylan raise Brahmas, he had a bull-riding school, too. Both were very profitable enterprises, and also came under the umbrella of the Randell Corporation, of which every family member was a paid shareholder.

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