Roughneck Cowboy. Marin Thomas

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      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      Marin Thomas grew up in Janesville, Wisconsin. She attended the University of Arizona in Tucson on a Division I basketball scholarship. In 1986 she graduated with a B.A. in radio-television and married her college sweetheart in a five-minute ceremony in Las Vegas. Marin was inducted in May 2005 into the Janesville Sports Hall of Fame for her basketball accomplishments. Even though she now calls Chicago home, she’s a living testament to the old adage “You can take the girl out of the small town, but you can’t take the small town out of the girl.” Marin’s heart still lies in small-town life, which she loves to write about in her books.

      To my niece, Tylesha

      Find your inspiration—

      the one thing that feeds your soul.

       That makes you yearn to be more than you

       ever imagined you could be. Chase after it

       and don’t look back. There will be times you

       want to give up. Don’t. Dig harder. Longer. Deeper.

       The good stuff is always at the bottom.

       Everything you need to succeed is already inside you.

       Believe in yourself and dream big.

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter One

      “I gotta use the bathroom, Dad.”

      Well, shoot. Lost in thought, Travis Cartwright had all but forgotten that his eight-year-old daughter, Charlie, rode in the front seat with him. They’d departed Houston, Texas, hours ago and she’d yet to release the glower from her face.

      He sucked at fatherhood and had no one to blame but himself. His job as a roughneck kept him separated from his daughter for weeks on end, then whenever he returned to the mainland, he spent most of his time catching up on sleep and yard work.

      “Keep an eye out for a place to stop.” Another ten miles and they’d clear the outskirts of Tulsa, Oklahoma. From there they’d drive northwest until they reached their final destination—the Lazy River Ranch. “I’m hungry. How about you, kiddo?”

      One shoulder, no bigger than the bottom of a coffee mug, lifted, remained elevated a second, then dropped back into place. Her elfin face stared straight ahead, pale eyelashes blinking rhythmically in time with the windshield wipers.

      Keep trying. “Snow’s coming down faster.” As dusk descended, flakes danced in the truck’s headlights and ribbons of white swirled across the road. Was he nuts for making this trip two days before Thanksgiving? “Maybe there’ll be enough snow to play in tomorrow morning.”

      “I hate snow.”

      Not the greatest attitude, but he’d take words over a shrug any day. Charlie was nothing more than an imp—a blond-headed sprite with blue eyes. He’d called her Twinkie as a toddler. Dripping wet, his daughter didn’t weigh more than forty-five pounds. What Charlie lacked in size she made up for in pure stubbornness.

      Charlie inherited her slight build and fair coloring from her mother. Julie had split right after Charlie’s birth and hadn’t bothered to leave a forwarding address. Lucky for him Travis’s mother, Charlotte, had been there to help him raise Charlie.

      I’m sorry, Travis. So sorry. His mother’s dying words clanged around inside his brain. He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them wide. Silence—thank God. СКАЧАТЬ