Groom by Agreement
A real home—it’s what Vienna Howe dearly wants for her young daughter. Yet the ramshackle property she just inherited hardly qualifies. She can’t afford the repairs—until foreman West McCall suggests they start a dude ranch together. For propriety’s sake, they’ll need a marriage in name only...a practical solution for two wary hearts.
Years ago, West convinced Vienna to marry a man of means, never realizing how cruel her husband could be. Guilt-ridden, he intends to secure the lovely widow’s future. But despite his reluctance to get close to anyone, this union might do more than fix Vienna’s ranch. It could open the door to a warm, loving future...
STACY HENRIE has always had a love for history, fiction and chocolate. She earned her BA in public relations before turning her attention to raising a family and writing inspirational historical romances. The wife of an entrepreneur husband and a mother of three, Stacy loves to live out history through her fictional characters. In addition to being an author, she is also a reader, a road-trip enthusiast and a novice interior decorator.
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A Cowboy of Convenience
Stacy Henrie
ISBN: 978-1-474-08444-4
A COWBOY OF CONVENIENCE
© 2018 Stacy Henrie
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Version: 2020-03-02
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“We could marry. In name only,” West hurried to add.
“Marry?” Her lips tightened in surprise. “I just told Bertram I wouldn’t be marrying for the foreseeable future—in name or not.”
West glanced down at her hand, which he still held. “I know, but it would be a marriage of convenience. A business arrangement. A way to make a go of this on our own, while still keeping things proper. You and Hattie would have the house and I’d bunk in the barn.”
It wouldn’t be as if she and West were actually married. Not like her and Chance had been. Vienna squelched a shudder at that thought.
“So what you’re saying is, if we do this, you’d get your dude ranch and I’d get a home?” The question sounded far more frank than she’d meant it, but she wanted to be certain she understood his motives before she made her decision.
A flicker of emotion that she couldn’t identify crossed his face. “Yes, I’d have my dude ranch and you’d have a home.” He withdrew his hand from hers, leaving her feeling a bit cold in spite of the sunshine.
After reading a fascinating article about the history of dude ranching, I knew I wanted to make that a part of Vienna and West’s story. Thankfully they didn’t complain!
The Eaton brothers—Howard, Alden and Willis—who were originally from Pittsburgh, are credited with operating the first dude ranch near Medora, North Dakota, in the 1880s. The tale is that a guest suggested the brothers charge people room and board to come visit, and the idea of the dude ranch was born. Howard Eaton is said to have been the one to coin the word dude in reference to their guests who came from back east to visit the Custer Trail Ranch. And he did, in fact, take guests on pack trips to Yellowstone National Park. The descriptions of the ranch as well as its numbers and buildings are based on accounts of the place in 1901.
Visitors to the Custer Trail Ranch weren’t mail-order cowboys; a lot of them could ride well. However, they did tend to dress more extravagantly than regular cowboys. The idea of traveling back east to recruit guests and needing references from them is also true. The story about Teddy Roosevelt, who was a friend of the Eatons, and his robber bedfellow is supposedly true, as well. In 1904, the Eatons left North Dakota and moved their dude ranch to Wyoming. Their ranch is still in existence today.
It wasn’t until 1904 that Golden Hair, from the story of the three bears, was named Goldilocks. Also, of interesting note—for years, the tale was meant as a cautionary one to children about not snooping about where they shouldn’t.
Having already set one story in the beautiful countryside near Sheridan and the Big Horn Mountains, I was excited to set another there. I also enjoyed giving Vienna