Wild At Hart
No man should look as good as Austin Wright. Especially when that man is a suspect in a string of burglaries. And, Sheriff Dinah Hart can’t afford the distraction. Roundup’s thieves are growing bolder and Thunder Ranch’s prize stallion, Midnight, is still missing, putting the Harts’ entire livelihood at risk. Dinah needs to focus, because she’s worked too hard to earn the town’s respect just to throw it away on a fling.
Austin knows he’s got a bad reputation. He’s been following his father’s self-destructive footsteps for far too long. Now he’s finally ready to take the first step toward fixing his life, and convincing people, especially Dinah, that he’s changed.
But when Austin discovers an unexpected connection to Midnight’s disappearance, will Dinah see him for the man he was, or the one he’s trying to become?
“See anything you like?” Austin drawled
Dinah turned on her heel and opened her mouth to tell him that she’d heard that line before. Why, maybe even a dozen times.
But Austin was standing much closer than she anticipated. Actually, they were standing so close that she could smell his cologne. And the starch on his shirt. And the worn leather of his old, scruffy boots. And, well, everything else about him that made him distinctly Austin Wright.
Reading her mind, he grinned slowly. “Brings back old memories, doesn’t it?”
Dinah’s chin snapped up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
A fresh set of lines showed up at the corners of his eyes. “Sure you do…and I do, too.” Leaning so close that it was almost uncomfortable, he whispered, “Remember when we used to see each other at the honky tonks? When we used to flirt a little too much? Stand a little too close?”
Oh, she remembered a whole lot of things, all right. Maybe too many for her own good.
Dear Reader,
I don’t exactly recall when my father first got Jet, his beautiful palomino. I do recall that we all thought Jet was a wonderful horse, and though I was very allergic to him, I’d sometimes walk with my dad to the barn or one of the pastures and visit him.
Jet’s life with my dad was fairly sedate. My dad would ride him when he could. Otherwise Jet lived a life of semiretirement, grazing and resting. By the time I was a senior in high school, my father was fairly involved in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Because of that, he was invited to ride in the arena one evening. So off Jet went to the Astrodome! I was sitting in the stands (loaded up with Benadryl), camera in hand, and then, all of a sudden, there they were. My dad and Jet on the Astrodome’s big screen! It would be hard to say who looked prouder—my dad or that horse.
I thought a lot about that moment when I wrote this book. I think there’s a time in everyone’s life when he or she is ready to shine, to have a second chance for glory. I did my best to let Austin and Dinah have that moment in this novel.
I can’t tell you what an honor it’s been to be a part of this continuity. I’m grateful for the other authors for their advice, and to our amazing team of editors for their guidance.
I hope you enjoy the book! And I’m as anxious as you to read Beau: Cowboy Protector by Marin Thomas, the next installment of the Harts of the Rodeo series!
Shelley Galloway
Austin:
Second Chance Cowboy
Shelley Galloway
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shelley Galloway grew up in Houston, Texas, left for college in Colorado, then returned to Dallas for six years. After teaching lots and lots of sixth graders, she now lives with her husband, aging beagle and barking wiener dog in southern Ohio. She writes full-time. To date, Shelley has penned more than thirty novels for various publishers, both as Shelley Galloway for the Harlequin American Romance line, and as Shelley Shepard Gray for Avon Inspire.
Her novels have appeared on bestsellers lists. She won a Reviewers’ Choice Award in 2006 and a Holt Medallion in 2009. Currently, she writes all day, texts her college son too much and tries not to think about her daughter going to college next year, too. Please visit her online at www.Harlequin.com or her website, www.shelleygalloway.com.
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This book is dedicated to my fellow Harlequin Continuity Authors, Cathy, C.J., Roz, Marin, Linda. What a privilege it’s been!
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