The Maverick's Return. Marie Ferrarella

      

      Congratulations...it’s a girl!

      RUST CREEK RAMBLINGS

      Talk about mending fences—have you heard that rugged rancher Daniel Stockton is back in town? It’s been ten years since Dan left Rust Creek Falls with Anne Lattimore’s heart in tow. She soon married someone else and had a child, but their marriage didn’t last. We here at the Gazette think we know why. It has something to do with Anne’s beautiful daughter, Janie...

      Now that Dan has returned, will Anne find the courage to forgive him—and tell him that sweet Janie is really his? Will Dan find the courage to ask for a second chance? Stay tuned, you hopeful romantics, to see if love really can conquer all!

      “Looks like you’ve been cleared to go,” he told her as the other woman stepped away.

      Anne felt butterflies fluttering in the pit of her stomach. Why did she feel as if she was about to go out on a first date? She wasn’t, for heaven’s sake. This wasn’t even a date at all. She was just getting a cup of coffee with someone who had once meant a great deal to her.

      Someone you had a baby with, the voice in her head reminded her.

      With effort, Anne forced a ghost of a smile to her lips as she said, “Just let me get my purse and then I’m ready.”

      After taking out her purse from one of the bottom drawers, Anne rose to her feet. She glanced at the phone, willing it to ring.

      It didn’t.

      She had temporarily run out of possible excuses.

      “Okay,” she told Danny as she came around to the front of the reception desk, “let’s get that cup of coffee.”

      Taking her elbow to help guide her out of the clinic, Dan murmured, “I thought you’d never ask.”

      The butterflies went into high gear.

      * * *

      Montana Mavericks: The Great Family Roundup—Real cowboys and real love in Rust Creek Falls!

      The Maverick’s Return

      Marie Ferrarella

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      USA TODAY bestselling and RITA® Award–winning author MARIE FERRARELLA has written more than two hundred and seventy-five books for Mills & Boon, some under the name Marie Nicole. Her romances are beloved by fans worldwide. Visit her website, www.marieferrarella.com.

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      Contents

       Cover

       Back Cover Text

       Introduction

       Title Page

       About the Author

       Dedication

       Prologue

       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

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Epilogue

       Extract

       Copyright

       Prologue

      Daniel Stockton wearily walked into the log cabin he lived in at the Comanchero Ranch. For the last ten years, he’d been in charge of booking vacations for city dwellers who yearned to sample the cowboy life for a week or two and pretend they lived back in the days of the old Wild West. The dude ranch, one of Colorado’s most popular, was currently in the height of its busy season. Attendance was at an all-time high and would probably remain so until somewhere around the end of next month.

      As he concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other on the way to his secondhand sofa, Dan felt as if all those years had been packed into this last week and a half.

      He sighed and collapsed on the worn, cracked sofa in the center of his small living area.

      His stomach rumbled, asking to be appeased, but for now, Dan felt as if he couldn’t move more than the first two fingers of his right hand.