You have to walk before you can ride
Still reeling from the accident that claimed her thriving horse racing career, her engagement and almost her life, Maddie McGuire was determined. Determined to ride again, though she struggled to walk. Determined to start a new life on her own two feet. Determined to keep her past, and her identity, a secret. And she was determined not to get involved with anyone. Especially a man like Ross Noble. Strange and dark and interesting as he was, she had no room for distractions, or romance. Everyone in the village said he was trouble. And she could sense it. But there was something behind his brooding intensity...
“You’d better come in,” Ross said, his tone gruff and strangely awkward.
Maddie held her breath. Was he going to set off on one of his rants? She looked him straight in the eye, refusing to be daunted... To her dismay, her heart began beating loudly in her chest.
“About today...”
“Yes?”
He lowered his eyes, concentrating on his bare feet. His toes were long and finely formed, with broad flat nails and a dusting of dark hair above the knuckle joints; they made him suddenly seem vulnerable, those bare feet.
Looking up with a surge of embarrassment, she met his dark gaze again; there was a hint of amusement in his face. “I’m sorry, that’s all,” he said. “Sorry for being angry with you, especially in front of Bob Nelson.”
“Well, he didn’t have a bad word to say about you,” she remarked.
“He is one of the few who didn’t judge me after...”
“I know what you went through,” she told him. “And for what it’s worth, I wouldn’t judge you, either.”
“Wouldn’t you?” he said, holding her gaze.
He took a step toward her, and suddenly, somehow, she was in his arms.
I do hope you enjoy this book. It is the third in my Creatures Great and Small series, set in and around Little Dale and the beautiful Lake District fells in Northern England. I was brought up on a farm in the area and have always loved its timelessness and ancient traditions. To be able to immerse myself not only in the romances I love to write but also in a place that is so dear to me feels like a real privilege. It is heartwarming to know that as time slowly passes us all by, there are places and traditions that never seem to change, places where our ancestors lived and loved, laughed and cried, just as we do now and as our children and their children will do in the future.
Enjoy, and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to contact me at [email protected].
Eleanor
The Little Dale Remedy
Eleanor Jones
ELEANOR JONES was brought up on a farm in the north of England and learned to love animals and the countryside from an early age. She has ridden all her life, and after marrying her husband at just eighteen years old and having two wonderful children, they set up a riding center together. This is still thriving over thirty years later. Her daughter competes at the national level, and she is now a partner in the business and brings her adorable three-year-old son to work with her every day. Eleanor’s son is also married with two children, and they live nearby. Eleanor has been writing for what feels like her whole life. Her early handwritten novels still grace a dusty shelf in the back of a cupboard somewhere, but she was first published over fifteen years ago, when she wrote teenage pony mysteries.
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I would like to dedicate this book to my dear Aunt Gwen
Contents
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE