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A COWBOY’S SECOND ACT
To provide stability for his two young children, retired rodeo rider Josh Dempsey returns home to his family’s Arizona ranch, part of which is used as a mustang sanctuary run by Cara Alverez.
Working with horses helps Cara deal with a tragic loss. When Josh asks her for parenting help in return for his support with the sanctuary, Cara is torn. She is captivated by his adorable toddler son and baby daughter but isn’t sure she can survive another blow to the heart. Unless a cowboy looking for his own second chance can show her how to love again.
“I have a deal to propose.”
Cara’s suspicions flared. “What kind of deal?”
“I need help with my kids. I was thinking of you.”
“No.” She jerked back so quickly she bumped into the door.
“Hear me out first. You show me the ropes, and I’ll help you with the sanctuary.”
Did he not realize how hard this would be for her?
She looked at Nathan, smashing the last bite of hot dog into his plate rather than eating it. Kimberly had just started stirring and would whimper any second. Cara wanted to run and not stop until she was a thousand miles away. She also wanted to hold Kimberly. The two longings waged a war inside her. Eventually, one prevailed.
Going over to the carrier, she undid the straps and lifted the baby into her arms. “All right,” she murmured, and gently rocked the baby. “We have a deal.”
When the idea for Come Home, Cowboy first came to me, I was hesitant to explore it. In fact, I put the piece of notepaper on which I’d scrawled the basic premise into a file folder where it resided for several years. I convinced myself that a woman who tragically lost her child was too dark of a story line for a romance novel. As a mother myself, I couldn’t imagine how anyone went on, much less fell in love, in the wake of something so horrific.
Eventually, while brainstorming my new Mustang Valley series, I remembered my idea and instantly knew this was the perfect time. Maybe I finally felt ready to tackle such an emotionally layered story and such a deeply wounded character as Cara Alverez. Maybe I felt Josh Dempsey was exactly the kind of man a woman like her needed. Maybe the pieces just simply came together as they sometimes do.
Rather than being sad and depressing, Cara and Josh’s story was, for me, uplifting and inspiring and wonderfully satisfying. Their journey is anything but easy. In the end, however, their struggles prove worthwhile when they finally find their happy ending.
As always, warmest wishes,
Cathy McDavid
Facebook.com/pages/Cathy-Mcdavid-Books
Come Home, Cowboy
Cathy McDavid
For the past eighteen years New York Times bestselling author CATHY MCDAVID has been juggling a family, a job and writing, and doing pretty well at it, except for the housecleaning part. “Mostly” retired from the corporate business world, she writes full-time from her home in Scottsdale, Arizona, near the breathtaking McDowell Mountains. Her twins have “mostly” left home, returning every now and then to raid her refrigerator. On weekends, she heads to her cabin in the mountains, always taking her laptop with her. You can visit her website at cathymcdavid.com.
To Caitlin, who continues to fill my life with joy and make me the proudest mom in the world. I miss you, honey, but I know you are having the time of your life.
Contents
Twice every year, Cara Alverez fell apart. First, on the day of her sweet little boy’s birthday. Second, on the anniversary of his death. Today happened to be the latter.
Crying constantly since early morning and not fit company for anyone, she had kept to herself, shunning well-meaning, but ineffectual platitudes. After seven hours of hard work on one task or another, her chores were done. One problem remained. Her watch read 2:17 p.m. Far too much time left in the day to fill...and survive.
Dabbing at her damp eyes with a wadded-up tissue, Cara wandered to the horse stable. Yesterday, in preparation for this moment, she’d