Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss

Jody Hedlund | Exclusive Excerpt: TO TAME A COWBOY

May 20, 2022

The moment Brody shuffled up the steps, his thoughts turned to Savannah. His pulse surged, as it had every time he pictured her. All the while he’d groomed the horses and calmed the new mustang, he relived the way she’d glided her fingers over his arm when she’d taken her bag from him. He doubted she meant anything by the touch. Probably hadn’t known she’d done it. But just thinking about the caress made the hair on his arm tingle again.

He’d never seen a woman as pretty. Or as kind. She’d fussed over the mustang off and on during the ride back to the ranch and had taken better care of her own horse than she had of herself. Weariness had marked her features long before she’d started yawning.

He didn’t know her history, and it wasn’t his place to probe. But if he had to guess, he’d say she was running from someone or something. No other reason a respectable woman like her would be wandering around South Park by herself without any traveling companions.

She’d needed a place to stay in a bad way. And he figured Healing Springs Ranch was safe. Besides, they had the room. . . .

A room . . . across the hallway from his.

He halted abruptly.

Ivy stayed in that room once in a while when she came over from Wyatt’s, and Linnea’s grandfather had used it when he visited for a few months last summer.

Brody stared through the darkness and swallowed hard. It wasn’t a good idea for Savannah to be upstairs near him. It was gonna be hard enough during the day to keep his thoughts in line around her. And her sleeping nothing but a hop away was only gonna make his thoughts wander all the more.

Naw. He shook his head. He was getting worked up for nothing. Even if they shared the upstairs, they wouldn’t be alone. Not with Flora sleeping in the room right at the end of the hallway.

At a whimper and then a cry, his senses heightened. Flora. He listened for a moment, waiting to see if the little girl was waking up.

When her cry came again, this time louder, he took the remaining steps two at a time and crossed to her room. Faint moonlight streamed past the flowy white curtains and outlined her delicate shape sitting in bed amidst the tangle of her covers.

She held up her arms toward him, crying softly.

He wasted no time in lifting and cradling her against his chest like he always did. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder . . . like she always did. Her tiny body was warm, and her curly red hair tickled his face. As he breathed in her soft scent of sunshine and prairie grass and rosewater, peace flooded his soul.

“You’re gonna be fine,” he whispered. “Ain’t gonna let nothin’ happen to you, darlin’.”

She nodded, and her crying tapered to sniffles.

He didn’t bounce her like he used to do when she was younger and woke at night crying. Last time he’d tried, she giggled and told him she wasn’t a baby anymore. Instead, now he just held her and swayed. That seemed to comfort her.

The earaches didn’t bother her as much anymore. And he had to admit, he was gonna miss these days once she did grow up. He’d already overheard Linnea telling Flynn that a girl of three and a half shouldn’t still be waking up almost every night. For once, Flynn hadn’t been the one worrying and had said that Flora was probably awakening out of habit more than anything, and if that didn’t bother Brody, then it didn’t bother him.

Didn’t bother Brody one lick. Never had, not from the day he’d arrived when he offered to do it since he was awake anyway.

He rocked back and forth, caressing her hair. When her breathing evened and she relaxed her hold, he knew she was asleep again.

Carefully, so he wouldn’t rouse her, he tiptoed to her bed, lowered her as gently as possible, and situated her stuffed rag doll back in her arms. As he lifted the covers over her and tucked them around her snugly, she opened her eyes. “I love you, Uncle Brody.”

With her big brown eyes peering up at him, his heart melted like always. “Love you too, darlin’.” He bent and placed a kiss upon her forehead. As he straightened, her eyes closed, and she snuggled her doll, falling asleep again in an instant.

He gazed at her, love filling all the broken places inside him. Though he wasn’t on speaking terms with the Almighty and hadn’t been for a long time, he could admit the Almighty had given him a lifeline in this child. She’d been the one thing that had kept him going during those times when all he’d wanted to do was fall into the abyss and drown.

With a last tuck of her blanket at her shoulders, he turned. Then froze.

Savannah was leaning against the doorframe, watching him.

For an instant, neither of them spoke or moved.

“I heard crying,” she finally whispered. “And I wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

“It’s okay.”

She nodded but made no move to leave. Her fair hair was loose from the leather tie and flowed in long waves over her shoulders. Her nightdress flowed around her too, so that she was almost angelic. Her attention shifted to Flora. “She’s the sweetest and prettiest thing I ever saw.”

Standing there in the soft moonlight and in the quiet of the night, Savannah was the sweetest and prettiest thing he’d ever seen.

 

DISCLAIMER:

This manuscript is the property of Baker Publishing Group.

No part of it may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from Baker Publishing Group.

TO TAME A COWBOY by Jody Hedlund

Colorado Cowboys #3

To Tame a Cowboy

They share a passion to heal what is broken, but it’s their own hearts that need to be made whole.

Brody McQuaid is a broken man, and he knows it. While his body survived the war, his soul did not. Besides loving his little niece, his only sense of purpose comes from saving the wild horses that roam South Park. Ranchers in the area have taken to killing the horses, which are competing with their cattle to feed on the open grass.

Savannah Marshall is a veterinarian on her family’s Colorado ranch. She longs to keep her father happy following the tragic death of her older brother, including marrying a man of his choosing. But days before her wedding, she gets cold feet and disappears to South Park. As she learns more about the destruction of the horses, she joins Brody in an attempt to save the wild creatures. But when Savannah’s family and the resentments of the area cattlemen catch up with them both, Brody and Savannah will have to tame their fears if they’ve any hope to let love run free.

Romance Historical | Romance Western [Bethany House Publishers, On Sale: May 3, 2022, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780764236419 / ]

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About Jody Hedlund

Jody Hedlund

Jody Hedlund is the author of over thirty historicals for both adults and teens and is the winner of numerous awards including the Christy, Carol, and Christian Book Award.

Jody lives in central Michigan with her husband, five busy children, and five spoiled cats. Although Jody prefers to experience daring and dangerous adventures through her characters rather than in real life, she’s learned that a calm existence is simply not meant to be (at least in this phase of her life!).

When she’s not penning another of her page-turning stories, she loves to spend her time reading, especially when it also involves consuming coffee and chocolate.

Bride Ships | Colorado Cowboys | Waters of Time

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