The Loner's Thanksgiving Wish. Roxanne Rustand

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       Mei’s jaw dropped. “You think I got whatever I wanted, on some silver platter? Or that my life here was happy?”

      Jack hadn’t meant to insult her, but from the mixture of hurt and defensiveness in her eyes, apparently he had. “Sorry.”

      She shifted uncomfortably. “Me, too. Coming back here has made me … oversensitive, or something,” she added.

      She headed out the door, and without another word, she strode down the hallway with her heels clicking against the floor in a rapid staccato beat.

      He watched her go. Five more sessions in her classroom meant five more opportunities to see if he could get past Mei Clayton’s prickly defenses. Did she have a warm heart hidden behind all of that armor?

      Rocky Mountain Heirs: When the greatest fortune of all is love. The Nanny’s Homecoming—Linda Goodnight July 2011 The Sheriff’s Runaway Bride—Arlene James August 2011 The Doctor’s Family—Lenora Worth September 2011 The Cowboy’s Lady—Carolyne Aarsen October 2011 The Loner’s Thanksgiving Wish—Roxanne Rustand November 2011 The Prodigal’s Christmas Reunion—Kathryn Springer December 2011

      Dear Reader,

      I hope you have been enjoying each month of the six-book Love Inspired Rocky Mountain Heirs series, which began in July and will end in December 2011. Five of my favorite authors are a part of this series, and they were all absolutely wonderful to work with!

      The Loner’s Thanksgiving Wish is a story that spoke to my heart. It deals with the problems of fitting in and of being different, and the fresh perspective one can have if they return home later, a little older and wiser. It also is the story of two people who were deeply attracted to one another back in high school but who never would have had a chance to be together back then, given their family circumstances. How many of us have wondered about the special gal or guy we knew when we were young?

      I love to hear from readers! You can contact me by snail mail at P.O. Box 2550, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52406; through my website at www.roxannerustand.com; or at my blog (the All Creatures Great and Small place) at http://roxannerustand.blogspot.com.

      Take care, and God bless!

       The Loner’s Thanksgiving Wish

       Roxanne Rustand

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      “For know that I have plans for you,” declares the

      Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you,

      plans to give you hope and a future.”

      —Jeremiah 29:11

      With thanks and appreciation

      to all of the wonderful authors who were

      part of the Rocky Mountain Heirs series.

      Chapter One

      Mei Clayton veered off the trail near the summit of Belle’s Peak, found the edge of the cliff where she’d often picnicked as a teenager and surveyed the panorama of rugged ranching country below.

      To the west, shadowed by the massive, snowy peaks of the Rocky Mountains, lay the distant, rustic cowboy town of Clayton, Colorado. Her hometown, named after a great-grandfather she’d never met. The last place she wanted to be.

      Especially for an entire, interminable year, though that’s exactly what she had to do, thanks to a stipulation in her grandpa George’s will.

      A year—but not one day more.

      Mei and each of her five cousins all had to comply, or none would receive a single penny. And though Mei would have preferred to continue teaching in San Francisco, she just couldn’t let the others lose out on the inheritance some of them badly needed.

      Delaying her inevitable, awkward arrival, she’d parked along the highway to hike one of the easier trails in this part of the Rockies, just to savor one of the few good memories she’d kept close to her heart during her years away.

      Maybe she’d never felt accepted by the Clayton family, but she’d loved every moment that she spent hiking and climbing these rugged peaks.

      Yet even up here, she hadn’t found a sense of solitude and peace. The snow-dusted trail offered an easy climb and breathtaking vistas, and she’d already run into several other local hikers taking advantage of the bright sunshine on this first weekend of November.

      She’d hoped to do a little climbing and had brought her gear in a backpack. But the snow was deeper at this higher elevation, and she needed to turn back. Get in her car. And face her return to the town she’d so desperately wanted to leave as a teen.

      Though it was her impending conversation with her widowed mother that truly had her stomach tying itself in a tight knot. How would Mom react when she heard the news about her son? Lucas had been in a few scrapes when he was a teenager, but nothing like the one he was in now.

      At the sound of voices and the merry jingle of bear bells, she stopped at one side of the trail to let a pair of hikers pass.

      One of them continued on, but the girl pulled to a stop. “Mei?”

      Mei looked up in surprise at the pretty teenager standing in front of her in a puffy pink down jacket and jeans. “Jasmine?”

      Her cousin Arabella’s ward tucked a long strand of silky brown hair behind her ear, her eyes sparkling. “What are you doing back in Colorado so soon? We didn’t expect you until Christmas.”

      Warmed by the girl’s obvious happiness, Mei felt some of her tension ease. “I … had a change of plans.”

      “Well, I think it’s great you’re here. Arabella has been looking forward to you living in town again, and now you’ll be here in time for the wedding!”

      “Whose?” Mei recalled her mother’s last email—a rare event in any case—that had mentioned the latest romance involving Jasmine’s foster mother, and smiled. “Arabella and Dr. Turner? Already?”

      A flash of confusion crossed the girl’s face. “Mine. You didn’t hear about it?

      “Yours?” Mei asked faintly.

      Jasmine had lived with Arabella for a couple years and had graduated from high school this past spring. Maybe she was of legal age, but …

      “We’re getting married on Christmas Eve.” Jasmine’s smile widened as her hiking partner turned back to join her. “You remember Cade, right?”

      “Cade Clayton?” A flood of memories rushed through Mei as she stared up at the handsome young man in a denim jacket and jeans looping an arm protectively around Jasmine’s shoulders.

      Oh, she remembered Cade, all right. Years ago, his mother had married Mei’s infamous uncle Charley.

      Memories flooded back from the day when Mei was getting her hair trimmed at the Hair Today beauty salon and Cade’s mother happened to be sitting in the next chair.

      Lorelei freely admitted she’d picked the wrong branch of the family tree and definitely the wrong man.

      She’d claimed the only good thing that came out of her marriage was little Cade … but she was sure glad that at least her older son Jack was no blood kin to the Claytons.

      Mei