Once a Rebel. Sheri WhiteFeather

      

      Praise for Sheri WhiteFeather:

      “WhiteFeather delivers hot sex, spicy sexual tension and pure old-fashioned love.”

      —Romantic Times

      “Not only does Ms. WhiteFeather…turn a phrase with considerable ease, she also delivers top-notch characterization and complex emotional development to create a pleasurable reading experience.”

      —Romantic Times

      “This book pushed the envelope right to the edge of the table and let it hang in precarious balance. The premise is edgy and sexy and the story is executed to perfection. The characters grabbed me by the heartstrings with their very emotional conflicts. The intensity of their attraction for each other nearly set the book on fire….”

      —Writers Unlimited

      “…this steamy, hot romance is fantastically written…the love scenes are passionate enough to ignite the pages. Ms. WhiteFeather knows her audience well and writes in a way to capture their attention while allowing them to ‘fall’ into the careful plotting and secrets of each character.”

      —Writers Unlimited

      Don’t miss Signature Select’s exciting series:

      The Fortunes of Texas: Reunion

      get swept up in twelve new stories from your favorite family!

      COWBOY AT MIDNIGHT by Ann Major

      A BABY CHANGES EVERYTHING by Marie Ferrarella

      IN THE ARMS OF THE LAW by Peggy Moreland

      LONE STAR RANCHER by Laurie Paige

      THE GOOD DOCTOR by Karen Rose Smith

      THE DEBUTANTE by Elizabeth Bevarly

      KEEPING HER SAFE by Myrna Mackenzie

      THE LAW OF ATTRACTION by Kristi Gold

      ONCE A REBEL by Sheri WhiteFeather

      MILITARY MAN by Marie Ferrarella

      FORTUNE’S LEGACY by Maureen Child

      THE RECKONING by Christie Ridgway

      Once a Rebel

      Sheri WhiteFeather

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Dear Reader,

      In 1999, the year my first book was published, the original Fortunes of Texas was in full swing. I wasn’t part of the original series, but like most of you, I was enthralled with the Fortune family. And now here I am, all these years later, participating in the reunion.

      If you’re curious about my hero and heroine, here’s the scoop. Ethan Eldridge, a large-animal vet, heals wounded creatures, and Susan Fortune, a psychologist, dedicates her life to troubled teens. Together, they create magic. At least for me. While writing their story, I consulted my own family: two open-minded teenagers and a veterinary technician husband who gave me his textbooks for research.

      The other authors on this series were wonderful. The ladies who live in Texas shared information about the Lone Star State, and on top of that, Karen Rose Smith was gracious enough to send me a signed copy of her original Fortune book, with pages marked for reference. I was especially captivated by Ryan and Lily Fortune, returning characters that play a significant role in my story.

      I hope you find THE FORTUNES OF TEXAS: REUNION an engaging experience, stories to treasure for years to come.

      Love,

      Sheri WhiteFeather

      To Patience Smith (our amazing editor) and the other authors on this series—seeing you in Dallas was a blast. To those of you who weren’t able to be there, we missed you.

      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

      Bonus Features

      One

      Susan Fortune approached the barn, the weathered wood calling to her like an old friend, stirring scattered memories, making them swirl in her mind.

      In the past seventeen years she hadn’t been home much. She’d returned now and then, but always in a rush, a day or two at Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. But being back in Red Rock, Texas, back on the Double Crown Ranch, felt different this time.

      Because this wasn’t a harried holiday weekend, a fast-paced trip she’d crammed into her busy schedule. This was the real thing. A homecoming that turned her heart inside out.

      Her cousin Ryan, the Fortune family patriarch, was dying.

      Susan moved closer to the barn, the slightly chilled, early February air stinging her skin. She’d spent the most important time of her life, her senior year in high school, on the Double Crown. Ryan had taken her in after her alcohol-enraged father had kicked her out. He’d offered her a place to stay, a place to feel loved, a home away from home, from the turbulence that had nearly destroyed her.

      And now here she was, wishing she could save Ryan, but knowing she couldn’t.

      Reflective, she looked around, watching the ranch hands do their jobs. And then a tall, tanned man in rugged denims, with a straw cowboy hat dipped low on his forehead, exited the barn. He strode toward a white dually, and suddenly she couldn’t breathe, every ounce of oxygen in her lungs refusing to cooperate.

      Was that Ethan Eldridge?

      Yes, she told herself. It had to be. He’d grown bigger, broader, more masculine, but she recognized him just the same. Even the way he wore his clothes bred familiarity. A hand-tooled belt that he’d probably made himself was threaded through his jeans, and the hem of each pant leg frayed around a pair of weather-beaten boots. When he adjusted his hat in a memorable manner, her girlhood dreams went up in a cloud of pheromone-scented smoke.

      She hadn’t seen him since they were teenagers, since she’d pined for him like the emotionally torn, desperate-for-affection female she’d been.

      Should she call his name? Get his attention before he climbed into his truck and drove away?

      Or would that make her look foolish? Susan Fortune, the reformed bad girl, flaunting herself in front of Ethan Eldridge all over again.

      Unsure of what to do, she simply stood where she was, the wind whipping her hair across her cheek. But before she could come to a decision, Ethan reacted to her presence. Like a solitary animal, a cougar sensing an intruder, he slowed his pace and turned around.

      Leaving Susan exposed to his gaze.

      Chiding herself, she smoothed her hair, batting it away from her face. She wasn’t reverting to promiscuity. If anything, she was able to diagnose her teenage self, the rebellious girl who’d paraded other boys in front of Ethan. Susan understood the wild child that had festered inside her. She’d graduated from Stanford and earned a Ph.D. in psychology.

      She decided