The Wrangler's Bride. Justine Davis

      Kate Fortune’s Journal Entry

      Heavens me! Thank goodness the family has discovered Tracey Ducet’s duplicity. I’ve known all along that she was a fake and a gold digger—since the real missing twin was a boy. I’m thrilled she was caught before she did the family serious harm. My biggest worry now is for Jake. I know he’s innocent, and it pains me to watch his suffering from the sidelines. I wish I could help him. I think it’s getting time to come out of hiding. My family needs me, and I can’t let them down.

      A LETTER FROM THE AUTHOR

      Dear Reader,

      It’s said that you pick your friends but you’re stuck with your family. I suppose all of us have thought that at one time or another—some of us more than others—because along with them comes all the chaos families are capable of creating. Unlike many whose own families aren’t the most functional, I’ve been fortunate enough to acquire a marvelous one through marriage. It’s a very large, semirowdy bunch, with a dynamic that is fascinating to watch, and a history that could match even the Fortune clan for drama, tragedy and triumph.

      Coming from a small family, I find large ones intriguing, if a bit intimidating. So I could relate to down-to-earth, only child Grant McClure’s situation, his rueful amusement and amazement at the dramatic family he found himself connected to by marriage. I was delighted to be able to do this story from his perspective, a look at the Fortunes through the eyes of a man who had never really felt like one of them, until an unexpected bequest taught him differently. Adding a heroine I could truly sympathize with, a burnt-out cop who has gone into retreat after the murder of her partner, and tossing in a clownish gentleman of a horse makes for an interesting brew.

      No matter what kind of family you have, I hope you’re finding the Fortunes interesting and that you’ll enjoy this chapter in their saga.

      The Wrangler’s Bride

      Justine Davis

      

www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To Paiute Mac—

      the original clown, and the kind of horse you never forget.

      JUSTINE DAVIS

      lives on Puget Sound in Washington. Her interests outside of writing are sailing, doing needlework, horseback riding and driving her restored 1967 Corvette roadster—top down, of course.

      Justine says that years ago, during her career in law enforcement, a young man she worked with encouraged her to try for a promotion to a position that was, at the time, occupied only by men. “I succeeded, became wrapped up in my new job, and that man moved away, never, I thought, to be heard from again. Ten years later he appeared out of the woods of Washington State, saying he’d never forgotten me and would I please marry him. With that history, how could I write anything but romance?”

      Meet the Fortunes—three generations of a family with a legacy of wealth, influence and power. As they unite to face an unknown enemy, shocking family secrets are revealed…and passionate new romances are ignited.

      GRANT MCCLURE: Down-to-earth rancher. He has no use for the opposite sex—especially city women who only want him for his good looks and money. But when he finally meets the woman of his dreams, will he accept that she cares for the real him?

      MEREDITH BRADY: Endangered police officer. She is the only witness to a crime, and she’s forced to seek a safe haven on Grant’s Wyoming ranch. Can she overcome her guilt-plagued conscience about her partner’s death and find happiness in Grant’s arms?

      JAKE FORTUNE: Business pressures and his demanding nature broke up his marriage to his devoted wife, Erica. But Jake has seen the error of his ways. Is a reconciliation with his estranged wife possible?

      BRANDON MALONE: Monica Malone’s adopted son. Following his mother’s death, the startling truth about his parentage is uncovered. And this discovery will have repercussions for the Fortune family….

      KRISTINA FORTUNE: Pampered princess. She is used to getting what she wants, especially from men who can’t resist her sexy charm. Is there any man immune to her beauty and brave enough to tame her willful spirit?

      LIZ JONES—CELEBRITY GOSSIP

      Listen up, all you fellow gossips! The scandal couldn’t get any juicier! Jake Fortune is in jail. Tracey Ducet—the woman who claimed to be the missing Fortune heiress—is a fake. Brandon Malone is the real lost Fortune twin. And most shocking of all, Ben Fortune—Brandon’s biological father—was responsible for his own son’s kidnapping!

      It’s true what they say—life is stranger than fiction! This is the stuff that Hollywood movies are made of—or at least a good movie of the week. Maybe I should take up screenwriting and submit a script to Brandon, who’s trying to break into the big-budget film business. I wonder who will be cast in the leading roles? Do you suppose we could get Harrison Ford to play Jake? After all, he does have experience playing a fugitive!

      Watching the Fortunes is more entertaining than a soap opera. I, for one, am dying to see the season finale!

      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 Fourteen

      Epilogue

      One

      Was she really that good, or was he just that much of a pushover?

      Grant McClure shook his head ruefully as he walked out to the main barn. It was probably a little of both; he’d always fallen in with Kristina Fortune’s maneuvers, even when he’d seen right through them. But his half sister was such a charmer, more full of high spirits than of any real maliciousness, it was hard to say no to her.

      So he hadn’t. And in the process he’d saddled himself with an unwanted guest for the foreseeable future. And at the worst possible time for him, and the ranch.

      With a smothered sigh, he leaned against the stall door as he listened to the ranch truck pulling away. Young Chipper Jenkins had been torn, excited about being trusted with the new truck, yet a bit disgruntled at being sent on such a non-cowboy errand to pick up some dude-type woman in town.

      “Hey!”

      Startled, Grant grabbed at his dark brown Stetson, suddenly canted forward over his brow. He whirled as a nicker that could only be described as amused came from the big horse behind him.

      “Darn it, Joker, knock it…off.”

      He ended the exclamation rather sheepishly as he heard his own words in the context of what the big Appaloosa