THE LARKVILLE LEGACY
A secret letter … two families changed for ever
Welcome to the small town of Larkville, Texas, where the Calhoun family has been ranching for generations.
Meanwhile, in New York, the Patterson family rules America’s highest echelons of society.
Both families are totally unprepared for the news that they are linked by a shocking secret.
For hidden on the Calhoun ranch is a letter that’s been lying unopened and unread—until now!
Meet the two families in all eight books of this brand-new series:
THE COWBOY COMES HOME
by Patricia Thayer
SLOW DANCE WITH THE SHERIFF
by Nikki Logan
TAMING THE BROODING CATTLEMAN
by Marion Lennox
THE RANCHER’S UNEXPECTED FAMILY
by Myrna Mackenzie
HIS LARKVILLE CINDERELLA
by Melissa McClone
THE SECRET THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
by Lucy Gordon
THE SOLDIER’S SWEETHEART
by Soraya Lane
THE BILLIONAIRE’S BABY SOS
by Susan Meier
About the Author
Writing for Mills & Boon® Cherish™ is truly a dream come true for SORAYA LANE. An avid book reader and writer since her childhood, Soraya describes becoming a published author as “the best job in the world,” and hopes to be writing heartwarming, emotional romances for many years to come.
Soraya lives with her own real-life hero on a small farm in New Zealand, surrounded by animals and with an office overlooking a field where their horses graze.
For more information about Soraya and her upcoming releases, visit her at her website, www.sorayalane.com, her blog, www.sorayalane.blogspot.com, or follow her at www.facebook.com/SorayaLaneAuthor.
The Soldier’s
Sweetheart
Soraya Lane
For Natalie & Nicola.
Thank you so much for your encouragement,
support and friendship.
I don’t know what I’d do without our daily email chats!
CHAPTER ONE
NATE CALHOUN held up one hand to shield his face from the sun. He’d forgotten what it was like to look out over the land, to see grass stretching so far into the distance that he couldn’t tell where their ranch ended and the next one began.
Sand he was used to, but not grass.
He pulled the door shut behind him and stretched out his right leg, trying not to grimace. His damn calf wouldn’t stop throbbing, and no matter how much he tried to ignore it, walking wasn’t as easy as it used to be.
Nate glanced up at the main house, knew exactly what he’d find if he walked over. Nancy, their long-time housekeeper, would be clearing the breakfast dishes; there’d still be the smell of strong coffee lingering in the air, and there’d probably be some leftovers waiting to be eaten. But he wasn’t ready to be part of that life again, didn’t know when he’d be able to answer the questions his family seemed so intent on asking him whenever he spent time with them.
It was why he’d walked away from them all on his first night back and taken over the unused guesthouse.
Nate turned and walked a track that was still oddly familiar to him. As a boy, right up until he’d left the ranch to join the army, he’d wandered to a massive tree tucked far enough away from the house to be private. Where a weathered timber swing had tilted back and forth in the breeze. Somewhere that he’d never shared with anyone except for …
Who the hell was that?
Nate stopped and squinted. He was close enough to see the tree but not close enough to figure out who was sitting on a swing that he’d expected to be long gone by now.
He straightened and tried his hardest not to limp, even though he knew that disguising his injury was impossible.
Then the mystery figure on the swing turned his way.
Nate gulped. Hard. Before grinding his teeth together and walking toward her.
It was Sarah. After all these years, he’d managed to find Sarah Anderson under his tree.
Some things would never change.
She stood as he approached, a shy smile making her lips tilt ever so slightly in the corners, a faint blush creeping across her cheeks.
“Hey, Nate.”
He did his best to return the smile, but the truth was that simple things like grinning at a friend didn’t come so easy to him anymore. And besides, he didn’t even know if he could call Sarah a friend these days, not after what had happened between them.
“Sarah,” he managed, stopping a few paces from her.
She hesitated, flushed all over again, before leaning awkwardly into him and giving him a hug.
Nate stiffened, tried to relax and found it impossible. Even with Sarah’s gentle embrace, her arms so softly around him, her long hair brushing against his cheek. Once, he’d thought he’d never want to leave the comfort of Sarah’s arms. Now it only made him want to run.
“You look good, Nate,” Sarah told him as she pulled away and sat back down. “It’s so nice to see you back here. I can’t believe you’re home.”
Nate nodded, thrust his hands into his back pockets. “It’s—” he couldn’t lie to her, not to Sarah “—different being back.”
“I’m so sorry about your father.” Sarah’s eyes flooded with tears as she reached for him, her fingers curling around his forearm as she leaned forward again. “He was always so nice to me when I was here with you.”
Nate smiled. He didn’t even have to force it. “Yeah, he was pretty fond of you, too.” Back in the days when he and Sarah were joined at the hip, his dad had loved him having Sarah over all the time. Everyone had, because there wasn’t a person in Larkville who didn’t like Sarah Anderson.
He looked up as she removed her hand from his arm and immediately wished he hadn’t. Because he’d never forgotten the warm amber color of her eyes or the way she seemed to be able to look straight through him, to see what he was thinking, what he was feeling.
Only there was no way that even Sarah could know what was going on inside of him, not now.
Sarah sighed like she wasn’t sure what to say, before turning a sunny smile his way. “Have you heard that I’ve been roped into organizing the Fall Festival?” Sarah shook her head. “I mean, I’m looking forward to the tribute for your dad, but trying to get everyone in this town into line is harder than it looks, I tell you!”
Nate couldn’t help but smile back at her, and for once it was genuine, not him trying to act happy to get the people around him off his back. “I bet you’re loving it.”
Sarah glared at him, a playfulness there that had been missing in his life for so long