Hearts and Spurs Read online

  “The Widow's Heart” by Linda Broday

  Skye O’Rourke thinks her imagination is playing tricks on her when she sees a man emerge from the shimmering desert heat. No one would willingly take a stroll under the scorching sun with a saddle slung on his back. She’s shocked to discover it’s Cade Coltrain, a man she once gave her heart to only to have him give it back.

  Can she trust him not to abandon her this time? Yet, trusting each other is the only way they can survive. And love might just save them if they believe….

  “Guarding Her Heart” by Livia J. Washburn

  Julia Courtland was on her way west to marry a man she had never met. Henry Everett, the marshal of Flat Rock, Texas, was the grandson of her uncle's best friend. It seemed like a good match for both of them, and the wedding was scheduled to take place on Valentine's Day.

  Grant Stafford thought the young woman who got on the stagecoach at Buffalo Springs was the prettiest thing he had seen in a long time. She wasn't too friendly, mind you, but she was sure easy on the eyes. Not that Grant had time to worry much about such things. He was the shotgun guard on this run, but more than that, he was an undercover Texas Ranger on the trail of the vicious outlaw gang responsible for a string of stagecoach robberies.

  Fate threw Julia Courtland and Grant Stafford together on a cold February day in West Texas, but it also threw deadly obstacles in their path. A runaway team, a terrible crash, and bullets flying through the air threaten to steal not only their lives but also any chance they have for happiness. If they're going to survive, they will have to learn to trust each other . . . and maybe steal their hearts back from fate.

  “Found Hearts” by Cheryl Pierson

  Southern belle Evie Fremont has lost everything—except hope. When she answers an advertisement for marriage to Alex Cameron who lives in the wilds of Indian Territory, she has few illusions that he could be a man she might fall in love with—especially as his secrets begin to unfold.

  Ex-Confederate soldier Alex Cameron needs a mother for his two young half-Cherokee sons more than he needs a wife—or so he tells himself. But when his past threatens his future on his wedding day, he and Evie are both forced to acknowledge their new love has come to stay—along with their FOUND HEARTS.

  “Open Hearts” by Tanya Hanson

  To honor her brother’s last request, Barbara Audiss takes on his identity. Letting loose her secret will get her arrested. But keeping it prevents her from giving her heart to handsome sheriff Keith Rakestraw.

  Furious at “Judge Audiss’s” latest verdict, Keith discovers she’s a fake and consequences seem easy: toss her in jail. Instead, he finds himself eager to give her his heart

  “Hollow Heart” by Sarah J. McNeal

  Madeline Andrews is a grown up orphan. Sam Wilding made her feel part of his life, his family and swore he’d come home to her when the war ended, but he didn’t return. With the Valentine’s Ball just days away, the Wildings encourage Madeline to move forward with her life and open her heart to the possibilities. But Madeline is lost in old love letters and can’t seem to let go.

  “A Flare of the Heart” by Jacquie Rogers

  Celia Valentine Yancey has no illusions she’ll ever enjoy wedded bliss, so chooses marriage over spinsterhood even if she has to marry a man her father picked. On the way to meet her groom, she endures armed robbery, a stagecoach wreck, a dozen hungry baby pigs—and an incorrigible farmer. Ross Flaherty retired from bounty hunting to become a farmer but now Celia has brought his worst fear to his door—in more ways than one. A ferocious wolf-dog and a dozen piglets are no match for this determined lady. Which is more dangerous—the Sully Gang or Miss Celia Yancey?

  “Coming Home” by Tracy Garrett

  Sometimes it takes two to make dreams come true.

  When a man who believes he’ll never have a home and family…

  Former U.S. Marshal Jericho Hawken should have been shepherding a wagon train to new territory, but he unwillingly left them vulnerable to a vicious raider. The murder of the settlers he was supposed to be guarding is the hardest thing he’s ever had to face…until he meets the sister of one of the settlers.

  …finds a woman who has lost everything…

  Instead of a joyous reunion with her brother, Maryland Henry has come to River’s Bend to take responsibility for her three orphaned nieces. Fired from her teaching position and with no other family on whom to rely, Mary believes Jericho Hawken is responsible for all her woes. Or is he what she’s been searching for all along?

  It takes a lot of forgiveness and a few fireworks to realize that together their dreams can come true.

  “Tumbleweeds and Valentines” by Phyliss Miranda

  When Amanda Love finds a tumbleweed lodged against her fence with an invitation to a Valentine Day dance stuck to it, she thinks someone must be playing a joke. No one would invite her. No one ever had. Besides, she has no time for such things. She has a candy store to run. Curiosity gets the best of her though. Finding her name scrawled on it as bold as can be sends ripples of surprise through her. As she embarks on a quest to find the sender’s identity, she examines herself and the secret dream she harbors of having a husband and children.

  Maybe, just maybe, someone had seen the yearning in her heart. But who?

  "The Second-Best Ranger in Texas"

  by Kathleen Rice Adams

  His partner’s grisly death destroyed Texas Ranger Quinn Barclay. Cashiered for drunkenness and refusal to follow orders, he sets out to fulfill his partner’s dying request, armed only with a saloon girl’s name.

  Sister María Tomás thought she wanted to become a nun, but five years as a postulant have convinced her childhood dreams aren’t always meant to be. At last ready to relinquish the temporary vows she never should have made, she begs the only man she trusts to collect her from a mission in the middle of nowhere.

  When the ex-Ranger’s quest collides with the ex-nun’s plea in a burned-out border town, unexpected love blooms among shared memories of the dead man who was a brother to them both.

  Too bad he was also the only man who could have warned them about the carnage to come.

  HEARTS AND SPURS

  Linda Broday

  Livia J. Washburn

  Cheryl Pierson

  Sarah J. McNeal

  Tanya Hanson

  Jacquie Rogers

  Tracy Garrett

  Phyliss Miranda

  Kathleen Rice Adams

  http://prairierosepublications.com

  Hearts and Spurs

  Copyright © 2014 by Prairie Rose Publications

  Cover Design Livia Reasoner

  Cover Image: http://www.romancenovelcovers.com _

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  “The Widow’s Heart” Copyright © 2014 by Linda Broday

  “Guarding Her Heart” Copyright © 2014 by Livia J. Washburn

  “Found Hearts” Copyright © 2014 by Cheryl Pierson

  “Hollow Heart” Copyright © 2014 by Sarah J. McNeal

  “Open Hearts” Copyright © 2014 by Tanya Hanson

  “A Flare of the Heart” Copyright © 2014 by Jacquie Rogers

  “Coming Home” Copyright © 2014 by Tracy Garrett

  “Tumbleweeds and Valentines” Copyright © 2014 by Phyliss Miranda

  “The Second-Best Ranger in Texas” Copyright © 2014 by Kathleen Rice Adams

  Table of Contents

  The Widow’s Heart by Linda Broday

  Guarding Her Heart by Livia J.
Washburn

  Found Hearts by Cheryl Pierson

  Hollow Heart by Sarah J. McNeal

  Open Hearts by Tanya Hanson

  A Flare of the Heart by Jacquie Rogers

  Coming Home by Tracy Garrett

  Tumbleweeds and Valentines by Phyliss Miranda

  The Second-Best Ranger in Texas by Kathleen Rice Adams

  The Widow’s Heart

  Linda Broday

  Desperate and alone, Skye O’Rourke finds courage and a love she thought she’d lost when a man from her past emerges from the shimmering desert heat.

  Chapter 1

  South Texas 1881

  Her father had always warned her of how hot hell would be if she didn’t walk the straight and narrow.

  Him being a man of the cloth and on a personal level with such things, she figured he’d known that of which he preached.

  If ever there was a hell, this would be it.

  Skye O’Rourke brushed back the hair from her face and took in the shimmering horizon and the landscape that baked under the sun like a piece of old buffalo hide.

  God, how she hated this land and the incessant wind that dried crops and people, turning them to nothing but dust.

  Weary and heartsore, Skye rested her forehead on the fencepost she was trying to set back into the ground with no success. At that moment, she hated Matthew O’Rourke for dying, for leaving her all alone, for bringing her to this desolate place.

  And she cursed the blessed hopelessness that had squeezed out softness and dreams and laughter.

  But most of all, it was the endless quiet that filled her days. The only sounds now were the creak of the windmill that sang its own sad song and the pitiful lowing of her sick milk cow mixed in with the occasional cluck of a chicken that ran loose in her yard.

  Sometimes, she feared she was losing her mind.

  The yearning to hear another voice rose up so strong at times it nearly strangled her.

  This was no kind of life for a woman. If only she had somewhere to go and money to get there, she’d pack up and head back East. Somewhere far away from the heat of Texas. Somewhere to start a new life.

  Sweat trickled down between her breasts soaking her bodice. Skye undid the buttons until she reached the frayed ribbon on her chemise underneath. It didn’t matter. Nothing much mattered. No one would see her even if she were to strip off her dress.

  Impatiently, she shoved the fabric aside, desperate for a bit of cooling breeze.

  Tears clogged her throat. How could she go on? And who would care if she couldn’t?

  Movement in the distance caught her attention. She shaded her eyes from the sun. The tall figure of a man who had a gunbelt hanging low around his hips walked slowly toward her. He had something slung over his shoulder.

  A saddle?

  Why would a man walk in this heat?

  Had she finally gone mad, seeing a vision only in her mind? She rubbed her eyes and looked again. He was still there, and getting closer.

  Was this some new ploy of Hiram Dunston?

  The man terrified her. When she’d refused his advances, he became livid and attacked her. Hiram bore responsibility for ripping out the fencepost she struggled to set back into the ground. She felt certain he’d also sickened her milk cow in addition to setting fire to a wagon. Thank goodness it hadn’t been in the barn. She shuddered to think how she’d manage if she lost her horse.

  Erring on the side of caution, she strode to the house for Matthew’s old rifle. It didn’t shoot too straight, but at least it might scare off the man. She set her jaw. If it did turn out to be Hiram, she’d aim for his privates.

  Skye raised the rifle to her shoulder and was about to order the stranger to stop when he staggered and went down to his knees in the dirt.

  For several long beats of her heart, he struggled to rise. At last, he made it to his feet and once more shouldered the weight of the saddle. She dropped the rifle and ran to help, no longer afraid that he posed a threat.

  “Water,” he croaked when she reached his side.

  Up close, his sunburned face resembled a piece of leather. His blue eyes had glazed over from the heat.

  “Let’s get you to the house first. Leave your saddle. We’ll come back for it.”

  “No. All I have.”

  “Fine.” She draped his free arm around her shoulders. “Lean on me.”

  When they stumbled into the shadow of the sod house, he collapsed. She tugged the saddle from his grasp and hurried to the well. Pumping water into a pail, she ran back with it and handed him a cup full.

  “Sip slowly. Too much will choke you.”

  The stranger paid no heed, gulping it down. He dipped the cup in the pail and refilled it. Once more, he downed it in several big swallows. Then he dumped what remained in the bucket on his head. It ran down, drenching his midnight hair and shirt of the same color.

  At last, he looked up. “Skye?”

  “Who are you, mister, and how do you know my name?”

  “You don’t recognize me,” he rasped. “I’m not surprised. It’s been a few years. Although, there was once a time I didn’t think you’d ever forget me.”

  He looked vaguely familiar; something about those eyes the color of a deep silent pool of crystal water. Some of his features resembled Matthew.

  She sucked in a breath. “Cade?”

  A soft chuckle squeezed from his parched throat. “Yep. Where’s Matthew?”

  “Don’t you know? He’s dead.” Her voice hardened. “I wrote. Asked you to come. You didn’t.”

  Shock rippled across his face. He touched his stubbled jaw. “It would’ve been hard for a letter to find me. I’ve…moved around a lot. But I’m here now.”

  “And in a sorry state, I might add. You have no horse. The soles of your boots have holes. And I see the gun slung low on your hip. What’s happened to you? Where have you been? Why did you come now?” Skye hated the anger and resentment that made her spit the words out like so many bullets from a Gatling gun.

  Cade’s anger flared as well. “I’ll tell you in my own good time. As for why I’ve come…I had nowhere else to go.” He rubbed a hand over his eyes and spoke in a quiet tone. “If you want me to leave, say the word and I’ll move on.”

  “Of course I don’t. You’re Matthew’s brother.”

  Skye gazed into those startling blue eyes that once made her dream, made her yearn, and made her want to move heaven and earth to have him lying next to her.

  God help her! They still had that power.

  But he’d abandoned her, urged her to marry his brother. What kind of man did that? She’d not give him a chance to hurt her again. She’d learned a valuable lesson.

  A sweeping glance took him in. She saw no hint of the soft gentleness in the man she’d once given her heart to beneath a full moon. A hardness as unyielding as the cold piece of iron in his holster had settled over him now, from his chiseled jaw and piercing gaze to the deep lines in his face.

  Hard and frightening.

  An ache spread across her chest. Cade had died as surely as Matthew had. They just hadn’t buried him yet.

  “It’ll only be for a few days,” he said quietly. “Then, I promise I’ll be out of your life. Just let me rest up.”

  A few days could be an eternity when tempted by his nearness and her need to be held again by strong arms. Skye shoved the thought aside. It would destroy her. He’d made it clear he wasn’t going to stick around.

  “Where will you go?” she whispered.

  Cade shrugged and worked to get to his feet. He spoke in a flat, dead voice. “One place is as good as the next, I reckon. Learned a long time ago not to get too comfortable.”

  “What happened to you?” She needed to know, to understand.

  “I’ve done things.” He spread his legs as though bracing himself for a blow that would knock him to his knees. “Had to become someone else. I answer to Cade Coltrain now. In certain parts of the country the name strikes fear.”


  “But why? Why do you want people to be afraid of you?”

  “Didn’t seek it. Never. Just happened. You ask a lot of questions, Skye,” he said softly. “Be careful. You might not want to know the answers.”

  “Are you bringing trouble to my door?”

  “Not yet. I’ve covered my tracks.”

  A strangled sob rose up. It took everything she had, but she managed to swallow it back down. She’d not let him see her pain at what he’d become. Not if she could help it.

  “Are you wanted?”

  “Damn it, Skye. I warned you not to ask these questions.”

  “I simply want to know what to expect.”

  “Nothing. Don’t expect anything from me. I’ll only disappoint you.”

  “You’re so different. What happened to the Cade I knew?”

  “He died. When I sold my soul to the highest bidder.”

  Chapter 2

  “In exchange for what?” The shock on Skye’s face bruised his heart.

  “Certain…abilities. And I’m very, very good at what I do.” Cade instantly regretted his harsh tone. He wore a hard granite shell and had since he’d killed his first man. Wasn’t anything he planned or wanted. He’d only defended himself.

  But watching the light go out in an adversary’s eyes and knowing he took it eroded something deep down inside where hopes and dreams and honor lived.

  He doubted any of this would make sense to Skye. Clearly, she missed the softness in the man she used to know.

  His life now called for split-second reflexes and living in the shadows one step away from death.