A COWBOY’S PROTECTION
Rancher Wyatt Marshall always does what’s right. He raised his three brothers and is currently hosting at-risk teens on his family’s ranch. So when Susannah Bradley and her children seek refuge at the Circle M, fleeing an abusive husband, Wyatt immediately invites her into his home… His heart, though, is off-limits.
Susannah is drawn to the stoic cowboy, but the ever-honorable Wyatt keeps her at a distance, refusing to get in the way of Susannah starting a new life. But for the first time, Susannah is free to go after what she really wants…and increasingly what she wants is the life she has on the Circle M—with Wyatt.
Susannah gave Wyatt a smile.
“There’s something comforting about watching children sleep,” Susannah said. “They relax like there can’t be anything wrong in the world.”
“Then we lose that trust when we realize the world isn’t always going to take care of us.”
“Which you found out at an early age.” Despair wavered in her voice. “I wish my children hadn’t learned it so soon.”
Wyatt closed his hands over her shoulders, massaging gently at the tense muscles under his fingers. “It’ll be all right. You’ll get through this. I’ll make sure of it.”
She sighed. “That feels good.”
His body tightened at the husky tone of her words, but only a deep breath betrayed him. When she tilted her head to one side, he moved his grip to the cords between her shoulders and neck, still kneading at the stiffness.
“Wonderful,” she whispered. After a few moments, she turned around to face him. In the dim light of the hall, she gazed up at him, her eyes wide and dark. “You’re wonderful.”
Families are wonderful. And complicated. They’re built in different ways, through marriage and childbirth, but also through great friendship and mutual caring. Sometimes, everyone lives in the same little town—or the same big city—and they see each other nearly every day. Then again, some families are separated by long distances, even oceans or continents. Soon, I’ll have one daughter and son-in-law living on the East Coast and one on the West Coast, with other members of the family spread out from Florida to Delaware. We get together only occasionally, but when we do, it feels as if we’ve never been apart. That’s the best kind of closeness a family can know.
The Marshall Brothers books are all about family. Wyatt Marshall has held his together since he was sixteen, taking responsibility for his three younger brothers while his own hopes to be a husband and dad were dashed. As a teenager, Susannah Bradley ran away from her parents to start what she thought would be a terrific new life. Despite her two beloved children, though, her marriage has fallen apart. When Susannah takes refuge at Wyatt’s ranch for the summer, these two wounded souls are drawn together, but taking a chance on new love is never as easy the second time around.
I hope you enjoy Wyatt and Susannah’s story, the fourth book in the Marshall Brothers set. Please feel free to write to me—I love hearing from readers at my website, lynnettekentbooks.com, or via regular mail at PO Box 204, Vass, NC 28394.
Wishing you all the best and happy reading!
Lynnette Kent
A Family in Wyoming
Lynnette Kent
LYNNETTE KENT lives on a farm in southeastern North Carolina with her six horses and six dogs. When she isn’t busy riding, driving or feeding animals, she loves to tend her gardens and read and write books.
The Marshall Brothers owe their happy endings to many of my friends and family…especially Abby, who let me borrow a family story of her own, as well as Sarah, Sandy, Pat and Lynna, who took a sincere interest in these tales and offered ideas, advice and lots of loving support; Pam, who has ridden through most of my books with me and is the specialist when it comes to motivation and backstory; and, as always, Martin, Elizabeth and Rebecca, who have learned to live with my characters and talk about them as if they were part of our family, meanwhile putting up with a distracted and occasionally desperate writer in residence.
To all of you, I offer my most heartfelt thanks!
I’d also like to say a word of appreciation to Adrienne Macintosh, my editor for the Marshall Brothers books, who has been generous, patient, insightful and kind.
Working with you has been a pleasure and a privilege.
Contents
June
Lying