Praise forJillian Hart
ROCKY MOUNTAIN MAN
This books intense emotions reach out to touch
readers. Betsys unwavering belief in Duncan and
willingness to fight to save him from himself is so
moving youll want to cry with happiness as
Hart plays on your heartstrings.
Romantic Times BOOKreviews
HIGH PLAINS WIFE
Finely drawn characters and sweet tenderness tinged
with poignancy draw readers into a familiar story that
beautifully captures the feel of an Americana romance.
Readers can enjoy sharp dialogue and adorable child
characterisations while shedding a tear or two.
Romantic Times BOOKreviews
MONTANA MAN
Ms Hart creates a world of tantalising warmth
and tenderness, a toasty haven in which the reader
will find pure enjoyment.
Romantic Times BOOKreviews
COOPERS WIFE
a wonderfully written romance
full of love and laughter.
Rendezvous
You dont owe me a thing, Claire.
I owe you everything.
You can keep your money, Joshua responded.
But that would be charity, and I can make my own way.
I dont doubt that one bit. The centre of his chest tightened. Hed make sure she was safe, no matter what it cost him. It was the right thing to do. But this wasnt about responsibility. He wanted good things for her, this woman with a place in his soul.
And then she came up on tiptoes, so close every hair on his body stood up on end, and pressed a silken kiss to his cheek. His heart thumped as she sank her white even teeth into her lush, rosebud-soft bottom lip, as if she were in deep thought. As if she were debating telling him one more time to butt out of her life.
No way, lady. Emotion drove him, a fierce need that had his fingers cradling her delicate chin. He breathed in her sweet rose scent and slanted his mouth over hers.
Jillian Hart grew up on her familys homestead, where she raised cattle, rode horses and scribbled stories in her spare time. After earning an English degree from Whitman College, she worked in advertising before becoming a writer. When shes not hard at work on her next story, Jillian can be found chatting with a friend, stopping for a café mocha with a book in hand, and spending quiet evenings at home with her family.
Novels by the same author:
LAST CHANCE BRIDE
COOPERS WIFE
MALCOLMS HONOUR
MONTANA MAN
BLUEBONNET BRIDE
MONTANA LEGEND
HIGH PLAINS WIFE
THE HORSEMAN
ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHRISTMAS
(short story in A Season of the Heart)
MONTANA WIFE
ROCKY MOUNTAIN MAN
ROCKY MOUNTAIN BRIDE
(short story in Western Weddings)
Rocky Mountain Widow
Jillian Hart
MILLS & BOON®
www.millsandboon.co.uk
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Praise
Excerpt
About the Author
Title Page
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eightteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Copyright
Prologue
Bluebonnet County, Montana Territory 1884
You shamed me again, woman. Ham towered on the board wagon seat beside her, nothing more than a shadow in the night. Again!
Claire rubbed the bump her gold wedding band made beneath the mitten on her left hand and tried not to give in to the rising resentment. He wasnt through maligning her for the night, not by a long shot. It didnt matter that she hadnt said a word while shed waited outside in the cold for hours until Ham decided hed had his fill of whiskey and poker.
Or that during this long wagon ride home across the high country plains, shed never said a word, either. Not of his drunken state, his careless driving, or the fact that the ground had hardened with ice and no other driver was out on the roads in this frigid night. That anyone else had more sense than that. But not Ham. No, not Ham.
He chucked in his throat, a disgusting sound, and spit with great skill. You made me look bad in front of the boys.
The boys being a table full of grown men playing poker in the smokiest, seediest saloon in the county. Claire held her tongue, because shed learned the hard way that when hed been drinking hard, Ham became mean and was always looking for the chance to get meaner.
He was not a good husband. Was there a chance he could be a decent father? She rested the palm of her hand on the round of her slightly swollen stomach. The doctor today had said she was doing well and the babys first kicks were strong. That was happy news. But shed had some spotting.
You must be careful. The doctors tone had been grave. Follow my advice. Go home. Put your feet up. Have Ham get Mrs. Simms to come over and take care of things for a spell.
She hadnt gotten up the courage to tell Ham anything, and he hadnt asked. He never did, especially when hed been drinking. The alcohol changed him, and when he was like this she had to be careful not to anger him.
Mama had warned her about men. Whenever one comes courting, hes the best man on earth, shed said. Punctual, attentive and decent. He has manners and treats you right. Once he gets a ring on your finger, then its a different matter.
You were so right, Mama. Claire glanced sideways at the man whod wooed her and charmed her and made her believe in the impossible.
As she looked at the bulky man swaying drunkenly at her side, reeking of cheap whiskey and stale tobacco smoke, it was hard to fathom a time when he had been mistaken for wonderful.
Her judgment had been poor and she regretted it greatly.
What are you lookin at, woman? Just like that, Ham had worked himself up into a fury. You dont got any right to judge me, woman! Ill drink what I want, when I want and with who I want.
All right, Ham, she said quietly, gently, for it was the wisest way to manage him when he was like this. When he was so irrational, he was like dynamite ready to explode and devastate everything.
And dont you go givin me that look.
It was better for her if she kept him calm, so it was desperation that made her set aside her anger. She didnt like the way he treated her. She didnt like how she had to behave to keep him rational. What else was she to do?
She wasnt big and strong like a man. There was no way she could stop or overpower him. No, the best she could do was to keep him from getting more upset while he was so drunk. They were almost home. By the time they reached the little shanty at the top of the hill, hed be ready to pass out.
And Ill be safe until morning.
She took a shaky breath and purposely tried to appear serene, as if nothing were wrong and hed never shattered one illusion about love and marriage.
Oh, so now you think youre bettern me. He spit out another stream of tobacco and swiped his chin with the back of his hand. Do ya? Im gettin tired of you and your attitude, woman.
Im sorry, Ham, she soothed, sensing he was near to balling up his fist. I didnt mean anything. I was just thinking about Home, she thought as the blow struck.
Pain shattered her left cheekbone where hed slugged her. Her head snapped to the side and the muscles in her neck tightened with more pain. Her head whirled, she saw dancing white lights in front of her eyes, and she clutched the seat to keep from falling.
Maybe thatll teach ya to smart-mouth me.
Tears blurred her vision. Her jaw hurt too much to speak, so she only nodded obediently. There was no other way to behave. She knew, because shed tried everything over time to find peace between them. Or at least, to avoid the pain she was in now. Her skull hammered from the shock and she swiped at her eyes.
Crying only made him angrier. She blinked hard until the blackness subsided and made sure she sat perfectly still. Shed learned a lot from her three years of marriage. Things she never thought anyone should know, but they made a difference now as Ham muttered on angrily about a womans place and how he worked hard and how costly she was to him.
He could rage on, use his fists and his words like weapons, but he wouldnt break her. Despite the chilly night, for winter had come early to these high Montana plains, and despite the fact that her coat was thin and she wore light mittens, she refused to so much as shiver.
She had every reason to fight, for she could feel the faint fluttery kicks of her child. Shed not been sure this new life was a blessing. A helpless baby would be vulnerable to Hams drinking and his temper. It was a serious situation, but oh, her heart lit up again, like a lamp left too long unlit, and burned so brightly.
I will love you enough to make up for it, little one, she vowed, willing the promise through her fingertips and into her womb. I swear I will take such good care of you. First thing was to figure out how to convince Ham to hire the neighbor lady to come do the heavier housework. And then
The wagon lurched, and in the dark night it was hard to know why. The horse gave a frightened whinny and the vehicle began to tip. Hams temper exploded. His swearing boomed as startling as thunder, frightening the horse more as he reached for the whip.
Stay on the damned road, you worthless nag! The whip shot into the air, hissing toward the mares flank. The rasp as the lash cut into flesh was followed by the mares sharp neigh of pain.
As if time had stretched out, Claire was aware of the wagon tilting to the right, and no matter how hard she tried to brace herself, she was falling. Hams weight pressed against her as he wrestled with the horse, fighting the mares panic. There was nothing but darknessno moonlight or stardust to see by, just the hulking blackness of the high rolling hill and the prairie floor below.
Were going to roll over. Her pulse filled her ears, making the screaming horse and Hams horrible shouting seem distant. Then came the clack and groan of the wagon wheels skidding.
Breaking.
They were going to die. There was no way she could stop it. This was the way her parents had died, and she could taste the panic on her tongue. Feel it crawl with icy fingertips across the back of her neck.
What about the baby? The seat beneath her seemed to heave and then suddenly, it was gone. She was falling, her arms flinging out. She tried to grab for anything, anything in the dark, but there was only air and gravity and the terrifying scream of the horse.
There was so much noisethe explosion as the wagon broke, the avalanche of earth beneath them, the horses hooves digging into the bank, and Hams voice bellowing foul curses. Loudest of all was the cadence of her pulse, eerily slow as time became meaningless. She was thrown backward through the dark and the night. Weightless.
The ground struck her like an ax in the center of her left shoulder blade. Air whooshed out of her lungs and pain slammed through her as the rest of her back crashed against the rocky earth. Her head reeled back and struck granite.
No, not my baby. She curled up to protect her child. She had to stay awake, she had to. But her vision flashed and her consciousness faded piece by piece, like a curtain being drawn against the sky. Wagon fragments and debris rained down on her.
Somewhere far away the mare squealed in pain, an eerily human-sounding scream of agony and then there was Ham rising up over her, miraculously standing, with the whip in his hand. She saw his mouth open and his arm raise, but her vision slid away.
There was nothing but blessed silence.
This was the last time, the very last time he was going to put up with Hamiltons villainy.
Rage beat through Joshua Gables veins with the power of a fueled train barreling down the bottom side of a long steep slope, and he wouldnt be surprised if, like a locomotive, steam whistled out of him. Likely the top of his head was near to blowing off he was so angry.