Two beloved novels of family, love and cowboys by bestselling author Brenda Minton
The Cowboy Next Door
Jay Blackhorse is determined not to be won over by city girl Lacey Gould and her niece. Still, they clearly need his help. Lacey’s clueless about caring for the infant her sister abandoned. Jay has a talent for stopping the baby’s tears. But when a dark secret from Lacey’s past blows into town, will Jay’s help be enough?
Jenna’s Cowboy Hero
Former football player Adam Mackenzie hopes to fix up a camp for underprivileged kids. But the city slicker doesn’t know horse tack from a touchdown. The pretty rancher next door seems to be the answer to his prayers. Army vet Jenna wants only to raise her twin boys and run her ranch-not fall in love. But can the gorgeous and kind Adam make her open her heart to love?
Praise for Brenda Minton and her novels
“Minton’s characters are well crafted.”
—RT Book Reviews
“This wonderful romance has good characters and a great story.”
—RT Book Reviews on The Cowboy Next Door
“[A] heartwarming story.”
—RT Book Reviews on Jenna’s Cowboy Hero
“This easy, sensitive story…is quite touching. Don’t miss [it].”
—RT Book Reviews on His Little Cowgirl
“A lovely story of faith, trust and taking one day at a time.”
—RT Book Reviews on A Cowboy’s Heart
Brenda Minton lives in the Ozarks with her husband, children, cats, dogs and strays. She is a pastor’s wife, Sunday-school teacher, coffee addict and sleep deprived. Not in that order. Her dream to be an author for Harlequin started somewhere in the pages of a romance novel about a young American woman stranded in a Spanish castle. Her dreams came true, and twenty-something books later, she is an author hoping to inspire young girls to dream.
Books by Brenda Minton
Love Inspired
Martin’s Crossing
A Rancher for Christmas
Cooper Creek
Christmas Gifts “Her Christmas Cowboy” The Cowboy’s Holiday BlessingThe Bull Rider’s BabyThe Rancher’s Secret WifeThe Cowboy’s Healing WaysThe Cowboy LawmanThe Cowboy’s Christmas CourtshipThe Cowboy’s Reunited FamilySingle Dad Cowboy
Visit the Author Profile page
at Harlequin.com for more titles.
The Cowboy Next Door & Jenna’s Cowboy Hero
Brenda Minton
CONTENTS
The Cowboy Next Door
Brenda Minton
Truly my soul silently waits for God;
From Him comes my salvation.
—Psalms 62:1
This book is dedicated to my mom,
Rosetta (Kasiah) Cousins (May 1937–November 1980). She taught me to dream and she encouraged me to use my imagination. She put up with baby birds and mice in the house, numerous wild kittens, possums, ponies, goats and puppies. And to my dad, Don Cousins, who is still excited by every accomplishment. You taught me the value of hard work, even when I didn’t appreciate it. I love you. And to the memory of Patsy Grayson, encourager, friend, blessing.
Chapter One
“Lacey, when are you going to go out with me?” Bobby Fynn hollered from across the dining room of the Hash-It-Out Diner.
“Maybe next week,” Lacey called back as she refilled an empty coffee cup, smiling at her customer, an older woman with curly black hair and a sweet smile.
“Come on, Lacey, you can’t keep turning me down.”
Lacey smiled and shook her head, because Bobby wasn’t serious, and she wasn’t interested.
“Ignore him,” Marci, the hostess, whispered as Lacey walked past.
Lacey shot her friend a smile. “He doesn’t bother me. I’ll be back in a minute. I need to get a pitcher of water.”
She hurried to the waitress station, set the glass coffeepot on the warming tray, and grabbed the pitcher of ice water. The cowbell over the door clanged, announcing the arrival of another customer. She hustled around the corner, pretending her feet weren’t blistered and her back wasn’t aching from the double shifts she’d worked for the last week.
If it wasn’t for the perfect piece of land she wanted to buy…
Two strong hands grabbed her arms, stopping her mid-stride and preventing a near collision. The pitcher of ice water she’d carried out of the waitress station sloshed, soaking her shirt. She looked up, muttering about clumsiness and met the dark gaze of Officer Jay Blackhorse.
Gorgeous, he was definitely gorgeous. Tall with black hair and brown eyes. All cowboy. All rugged and sure of himself. But not her type. He’d been back in Gibson, Missouri, for a month now, and she already had him figured out. He was too serious, not the kind of customer who chatted with a waitress, and she was fine with the knowledge that they weren’t going to be best friends.
Several men called out, offering him a chair at their table, as Lacey moved out of his grasp. Not only was he the law, his family also raised cattle and horses. He hadn’t lived in Gibson for the last seven or eight years, but he still fit in on so many levels that Lacey didn’t know how he could do it all.
She was still trying to find something other than round holes for her square-peg self.
She was the girl from St. Louis who had showed up six years ago with a broken-down car, one hundred dollars and the dream of finding a new life.
Jay waved at the men who called out to him, but he didn’t take them up on their offers to sit. Instead, he took hold of Lacey’s arm and moved her toward the door.
“Lacey, I need to talk to you outside.”
“Sure.” Of course, not a problem.
She set the pitcher of ice water on a table and followed him to the door, trying hard not to remember her other life, the life that had included more than one trip in the back of a police car.
It would have been a waste of breath to tell Jay she wasn’t that person any more. He didn’t know her.
He didn’t know what it had been like to grow up in her home, with a family that had fallen apart before she could walk. Jay had