Once
Upon a Cowboy
Whisper
Creek # 1
By:
Maggie McGinnis
Releasing
June 30, 2015
Loveswept
Once Upon A Cowboy
Whisper Creek Series
In
this sexy Whisper Creek romance for readers of Kristan Higgins, Susan
Mallery, and Molly O’Keefe, a red-hot cowboy uses some Montana
magic to give a reclusive beauty her happily ever after.
Yoga
instructor Jessalyn Alcott radiates peace, calm, and serenity—on
the outside. Inside, she still feels like the broken, desperate girl
from the trailer park. She’s got dark secrets she can’t share,
which is why she never lets her relationships go beyond the third
date. But when she travels to the Whisper Creek dude ranch for a
friend’s wedding, Jess is enchanted by a cowboy whose deep blue
eyes, dimpled smile, and rock-hard body make it tough to remember why
she keeps running scared.
Cole
Driscoll has struggled to find his place on a family ranch where he’s
always played second fiddle. His future might be uncertain, but he’s
sure of one thing: He wants Jess by his side. Easier said than done.
When it comes to getting close, she’s full of excuses, and he longs
to fix the hurt he sees in her eyes. Now that she’s at Whisper
Creek, there’s nothing he wants more than to break down the walls
around her heart and heal her pain with the power of love.
“Oh,
lordy. I forgot my shoes!” Jess handed her carry-on bag to her
landlady and scrambled back through the door of her yoga studio.
Forgetting a jacket was one thing, but showing up for bridesmaid duty
at Montana’s Whisper Creek Ranch in flip-flops would send her
friend Hayley into serious bridezilla mode.
She
flew back down the stairs, but as she reached for the door, the
studio phone rang. She debated letting it go to voice mail, but since
Hayley had called six times already this morning to add items to her
packing list, she figured she’d better answer. She put the phone to
her ear, but before she could say hello, a voice rasped over the
line, and Jess’s eyes widened in fright.
“Knock-knock,”
growled a cigarette-fried throat that could belong to only one
person. Jess’s hand shook as her knees buckled. Then there was a
cackle. “What’s the matter? You forget how to play this game?
You’re supposed to say who’s
there?”
Jess
spun around, eyes taking in the gleaming hardwood floors of her yoga
studio, the mats piled neatly in one corner, the sunny little shop
area in the other corner, the brand-new door with its brand-new
locks. The busy Boston street outside her door was a far cry from the
dumpy Charleston suburb she’d left in the rearview mirror thirteen
long years ago, but South Carolina suddenly felt very, very close.
They
couldn’t possibly know where she was. They just—couldn’t.
But
they apparently had her number. She hadn’t heard this voice for
thirteen years, except in her nightmares, but here it was on the
other end of the phone.
She
took a deep breath in through her nose, exhaling carefully as she
gripped the receiver with white knuckles. At least it wasn’t Billy.
God help her—it wasn’t Billy.
“I’m
sorry. I think you have the wrong number.” She cringed as her voice
shook.
The
cackling laughter at the other end of the line dissolved into a
coughing spasm and a series of expletives. Then, “Bullshit,
princess. I have exactly the right number. Yours.”
Jess
slammed the phone back into its cradle, but missed and had to do it
again. She tried to take a series of calming breaths, but instead
ended up walking in circles, her heart thumping so fast that she
started to feel faint.
The
phone rang again, and she almost tripped. After four rings, the call
went to the ancient answering machine on the desk. The same voice was
still cackling as she left her message. “Not gonna answer now? Your
auntie calls for the first time in thirteen years, and now you’re
gonna play possum?”
There
was a long pause, another cough. “All right, then. I’ve waited
this long. Guess a few more days won’t hurt.” She coughed again,
and Jess winced. Two packs a day hadn’t killed her yet, but it
couldn’t be too much longer before they did. “We got a lot to
talk about, princess. Maybe you’ve gone and forgot about Billy, but
he ain’t forgot about you. Mack, neither. I think you know what I
mean. You call me. Same number.” Cough. Cackle. “We ain’t gone
nowhere since you left.”
The
answering machine clicked as Luanne hung up. If history held, she’d
light up another Salem Light, creak back in her crusty recliner, and
use her remaining teeth to chaw on a beef jerky she’d dipped in her
Old Milwaukee beer. Breakfast.
Jess
wrung her hands as she started pacing again. How
had they found her number?
How
had they found her name,
for God’s sake?
Someone
rapped on the door, and she grabbed her throat as her heart rate
spiked again. They
couldn’t be here. Not
possible.
“Yo,
Jess. Cabbie’s getting impatient.”
Oh,
thank God. Just Gianna.
She’d left the poor landlady standing on the sidewalk surrounded by
suitcases. Jess tried to calm her heart rate before she went back
outside, but it was useless. Finally, she headed through the door,
pulling it closed behind her and locking the three deadbolts.
Gianna
raised her eyebrows as Jess double-checked the last lock. “You
expecting zombies while you’re gone?”
Jess
swallowed hard. Worse.
“No.”
Gianna’s
eyes made a quick dart from the door to her. “You look
like you’re expecting
zombies. You all right?”
“Yes.
Fine. Just fine.” Jess opened the cab door and tossed in her
carry-on bag. “I’m late, that’s all.”
“You
got everything?”
Jess
pointed to her shoes, shaking her head. “I do now.”
Gianna
took her by the shoulders and kissed both cheeks. “You have fun out
there, missy. You haven’t had a vacation in way too long. You just
stay in Montana as long as you want to. I got everything covered
here.” She motioned Jess into the cab. “Go. Have fun. Enjoy the
wedding. Maybe find a cowboy so I can live vicariously through you,
okay?”
Jess’s
stomach jumped at the thought of one particular cowboy at Whisper
Creek. She hadn’t seen Cole since Christmastime, but she’d
checked in on him via the ranch’s website once or twice a month, or
maybe—ahem—daily.
“I’ll
do my best, Gianna. I will definitely do my best.” She blew her a
kiss and closed the door, but Gianna put a hand up to stop her.
“Almost
forgot. Mail came while you were inside. I was going to just hold it
till you got back, but this one looks important.” She handed a
manila envelope through the window, then waved and thumped the roof,
kicking the cabbie into gear.
As
the taxi reached the end of the street and careened onto the next
one, Jess held on to the door handle, cursing herself for not finding
a friend to drive her to Logan Airport. Even on a Sunday morning,
she’d rather navigate Boston traffic on a unicycle than put her
life into the hands of one of the city’s cabbies.
When
they entered the tunnel that dumped them out near the airport, Jess
tried not to think about how much an ocean weighed, or whether the
people who’d designed this underwater Slinky had gotten Ds
in Structural Engineering. She needed distraction as the cab inched
forward, and even the phone call of twenty minutes ago wasn’t
enough of one.
She
was debating whether it was legal to jump out of the taxi and just
wait for it at the far end of the tunnel when her gaze landed on the
envelope Gianna had slid through the window. She pulled it out of the
carry-on pocket where she’d stuffed it, then flipped it over to
look at it.
When
she saw the return address, she felt icy prickles slide up her scalp.
Then
her voice made a strangled, pitiful sound she hardly recognized, and
she dropped the envelope on the floor.
Link to Follow Tour: Here
Maggie
McGinnis, USA Today Bestselling Author of Accidental Cowgirl and
Driving Without a License, which was a finalist for Romance Writers
of America’s Golden Heart Award is a former high school English
teacher, an accomplished musician, and a certified black belt, who
lives in New England with her family.
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