Her Secret Alaskan Family (Home To Owl Creek Book 1) Read online

  Her birth parents, Willa and Nate, were warm and generous people. They had showed Eric nothing but kindness and understanding. He’d been welcomed into the fold as if he were one of their own, and it made the entire situation so much easier to navigate. Now she had two dads! And she didn’t have to worry about her father being prosecuted. She couldn’t have asked for more.

  Every Saturday she and Beulah met up at the teahouse for conversation and camaraderie.

  Her grandmother was a hoot. She was teaching Sage so much about love and faith and their family. Although at first Sage had had to deal with a very guarded Connor, she had been able to peel back his layers to reveal a fiercely loyal and loving brother. Braden had been the biggest surprise of all. He’d come back to Owl Creek right after the truth about her identity was revealed. Right from the start he’d wrapped her up in a big bear hug and embraced her as his sister.

  She let out a contented sigh. Everything had come together beautifully in the end. All her fears had been put to rest. All of a sudden Sage looked up and Hank was standing in the doorway of her classroom with Addie sitting on his hip. Her stomach did somersaults at the sight of him in his green winter parka and dark jeans. She quickly made her way to his side.

  “Hank! What are you doing here?” she asked, concern ringing out in her voice. “Is everything all right with Addie? She’s not sick, is she?” Sage reached out and pressed her palm against Addie’s forehead. It felt as cool as ice.

  “Addie isn’t sick. She’s right as rain.”

  Sage let out a relieved breath. “Okay. It’s great to see the two of you, but I’m teaching right now. We’re about to do show-and-tell. We have a special guest coming.”

  Hank grinned at her, sending butterflies soaring in her stomach. “I know. I’m the special guest.”

  She frowned at him, uncertain if she was being teased. “You are?”

  He rocked back on his heels and gave her a smug look. “I sure am.” He winked at her.

  “Surprise!”

  Sage felt flustered for a moment. She loved having Hank in her classroom, but she wasn’t sure she would be able to concentrate due to his close proximity. He made her feel almost dizzy with happiness. She couldn’t even put into words the unbridled joy he’d brought into her life. Her life had truly changed by coming to Owl Creek!

  “Hey there! Most of you know me. I’m Hank Crawford, town sheriff. And this is my daughter, Addie. First, let me tell you how fortunate you are to have Miss Duncan as your teacher.”

  “She’s real pretty,” chirped Suzie Walters.

  “And nice!” Charlie chimed in.

  “She’s both of those things and more,” Hank responded. “She’s transformed this town in ways that are too huge to put into words. She gave us all hope when some of us had stopped believing. Miss Duncan has healed a lot of hearts, including my own.”

  Sage felt a tear trickle down her face. Addie reached up and tried to wipe it away. Sage leaned down and placed a kiss on her temple.

  Hank reached for Sage’s free hand. He entwined it with his own and dropped down on bended knee. Sage let out a gasp. Before she knew what was happening, a beaming Trudy came in and scooped Addie up in her arms, then stepped to the side.

  “Thanks, Mama,” Hank said before turning his focus back to Sage. “Before you came into my life I was determined to keep my heart hardened to the possibility of falling in love again. You showed me that taking leaps of faith is what we’re supposed to do in this lifetime. God wants us to love one another. And I do love you, Sage Duncan.” He took both of her hands and lifted them to his mouth for a kiss. “I want to treasure you for the rest of our days. I want to grow old with you. I want to have snowball fights with you and walk hand in hand every year on the owl walk trail. I want you to be Addie’s mother and show her what it means to be a caring, loving woman of faith. Sage, will you marry us? Will you be my wife and Addie’s mother?”

  Sage wanted to pinch herself. Was this really happening? It was like something out of her most precious dreams.

  She let out the breath she’d been holding. “Of course I will, Hank. I can’t think of a more blissful way to spend the rest of my life than with you and Addie,” Sage said, burrowing herself against Hank’s chest as the children in the classroom began to hoot and holler.

  “Oops. I almost forgot the ring.” Hank reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a cedar box. He lifted the lid to reveal a round diamond with smaller stones surrounding it.

  “It’s beautiful,” Sage whispered, holding out her ring finger so Hank could slide it on.

  “Not half as lovely as you are,” Hank said, leaning in to place a celebratory kiss on his fiancée’s lips.

  “Oh, Hank. Thank you for changing my life. Not only am I going to be your wife, but I’m going to be Addie’s mother. I came to Owl Creek to find answers about my birth family, but I found so much more. I found you. And Addie. And my birthright. And a town full of people I adore. I couldn’t ask for more, Hank. God has been so good to me.”

  “Neither can I, sweetheart. You made me believe in love again. And happy endings. I’ll always be grateful to you for bringing my heart back to life.”

  Sage beamed at Hank. Never in a million years had she imagined this blissful ending. Her entire being was filled with love and gratitude. “As long as we’re together I’ll have a joyful heart,” Sage said, wrapping her arms around Hank’s neck and pulling him toward her so she could place a tender kiss on his lips.

  “We are blessed beyond measure. I can’t wait for you to become my Owl Creek bride,” Hank said, his voice full of love and a deep certainty that foreshadowed their amazing future.

  “I’m finally home, Hank,” Sage murmured, wiping away a tear. “Right where I was meant to be all along.”

  * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Snowbound with the Cowboy by Roxanne Rustand.

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for joining me on this new journey to Owl Creek, Alaska. I really enjoyed writing Hank and Sage’s love story. I hope you loved it, as well.

  Writing this book was a labor of love and it challenged me in ways I haven’t been challenged before.

  From the moment Sage steps onto the page she is a woman with a huge dilemma. She can either lay claim to her legacy as Lily North or protect the man who raised her. Her loyalty is inspiring.

  Hank is a caring man and a loving father who wants to live his life with honor and integrity. Having been burned before in a relationship, he isn’t sure he wants to love again. Until Sage comes into his life. Both characters are incredible people who are better together than apart. For me, that’s the crux of it.

  Although Hank and Sage are the hero and heroine, Jane’s actions set the story in motion.

  Throughout the book I kept asking myself the question: Why would a woman steal another woman’s baby? To me, it’s inconceivable. Yet the North family forgave Jane and granted her grace. Astounding, right? So many times we let bitterness triumph over forgiveness.

  God’s command is to love another, a theme that resonates throughout the book. Love is everywhere in Owl Creek!

  I truly appreciate you spending some time reading Her Secret Alaskan Family and meeting this cast of characters!

  Blessings,

  Belle

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired story.

  You believe hearts can heal. Love Inspired stories show that faith, forgiveness and hope have the power to lift spirits and change lives—always.

  Enjoy six new stories from Love Inspired every month!

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  Snowbound with the Cowboy

  by Roxanne Rustand

  Chapter One

  “Got it. A two-year-old gelding, lacerations to the pastern and fetlock.” Sara Branson stared down at the clipboard braced against the steering wheel of her vet truck and tried to rein in her roiling emotions. “But tell me again. This is where?”

  “It’s part of the Langford Ranch—but go three miles past the main gate, then turn west.” The male voice seemed vaguely familiar. “This section of the ranch used to be the old Branson place. The house and barns are—”

  “Two miles from the highway, at the end of a long, curving lane.” Where a backdrop of pine-blanketed foothills climbed up to the base of the Montana Rockies, and the sun dropped behind those rugged, snow-covered peaks every night.

  She knew the property very well.

  But to her, it wasn’t part of the Langford Ranch and never would be. It had been her aunt and uncle’s ranch until eight years ago, when the bank abruptly foreclosed and Gus Langford snapped it up under shady circumstances.

  “Uh...right.” The male voice hesitated. “So you’ve been out here before and know where to go?”

  That was the understatement of the year, and the whole sad situation still made her heart ache. “I’m just leaving a ranch north of Pine Bend. I’ll be there in—” she consulted the GPS on the dashboard of her truck “—roughly thirty-five minutes. Are you the foreman?”

  “In a matter of speaking.” His short laugh wasn’t very convincing. “Temporarily, anyhow.”

  He ended the call before she could ask his name.

  By the time she arrived and pulled to a stop in front of the horse barn, she’d lectured herself back into the calm, professional persona of the good veterinarian she was.

  This was simply another vet call. No personal issues. No anger over the past. Nothing could change what had happened, after all. And the man who’d called her was just some employee who’d had nothing to do with Gus Langford’s actions, so he certainly didn’t deserve any snarky comments from her.

  But she still wished she could give the late Gus Langford a piece of her mind.

  She surveyed the two-story log house at the far side of the parking area in front of the barns, where she’d stayed for long stretches during the school year, whenever her parents had temporarily split up over one ruckus or another, plus every summer until she graduated from high school. Aunt Millie and Uncle Warren had been like a second set of parents in a stable, warm and loving home.

  But even from here she could see the wraparound porch was sagging and the roof needed repair, and as she pivoted to look at the barns, they seemed to be in even worse shape.

  Langford, rest his soul, had been one of the richest ranchers in the county. If he’d been so determined to steal this place from her aunt and uncle, why hadn’t he bothered with maintenance afterward?

  He’d probably cared only about gaining the additional grazing land for his vast herds of cattle. And nothing about the love and dreams and backbreaking work that had gone into making this place a home, which made the situation seem even worse. She’d been a classmate to Tate Langford, one of Gus’s sons, and had seen his two older brothers around town while growing up. They’d all been decent kids, far as she knew, but over the years they’d probably grown up to be just like their father.

  Grabbing her satchel from the seat next to her, she rounded the back of her truck and swiftly added extra supplies from the various doors in the vet box. Sutures. Surgical equipment. IV sedative. Antibiotics. Sterile saline for flushing the wounds. Bandaging materials.

  No one had come out of the house, the machine shed or the two barns to greet her when she arrived, so she headed straight for the horse barn. The tractor-wide double doors were closed against the mid-February bite in the air, so she opened the smaller walk door and stepped inside to the sound of an old country song blaring on the radio.

  A wave of nostalgia washed over her as she took in the long cement aisle flanked with a dozen box stalls on each side. Pine paneling rose halfway up each stall front and its sliding door, with vertical metal pipes forming the barrier along the top half of the stalls for ventilation and visibility.

  Partway down, a young sorrel stood cross-tied in the middle of the aisle with a broad-shouldered man in jeans and black shirt hunkered down at its side. He was expertly wrapping one of its front legs.

  “Hello, there,” she called out. “I’m Dr. Branson. Someone called, and—”

  The man finished the last wrap of the bandage around the leg, stood abruptly and turned to face her, his expression stunned. “Sara?”

  “Tate?” Her heart flip-flopped in her chest. She felt as stunned as he looked, and it took a moment to find her voice with so many painful high school memories crashing through her thoughts.

  Guilt.

  Remorse.

  Heartache.

  In high school, the first time he’d angled a heart-stopping grin in her direction she’d felt herself falling, falling into the depths of his silver-blue gaze, too mesmerized to even speak, even though she’d known he was way too wild and irresponsible—a magnet for the popular, flirty girls. Not a guy who’d want a plain, ordinary nerd like her.

  But nothing had ever been predictable where Tate Langford was concerned.

  “W-what are you doing here?”

  He blinked. “That was you on the phone?”

  “Calls roll over to my cell phone if the clinic receptionist is on another line.” She tipped her head slightly. “Guess I forgot to introduce myself.”

  “As did I.” He shook his head in disbelief. “It’s been a long time.”

  “Fourteen years.” She felt a flare of warmth in her cheeks, realizing it sounded as if she had been actually paying close attention to that passage of time all these years, like some lovesick puppy. “I mean—since high school graduation.”

  “And now you’re the vet in town.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Quite an improvement over the crotchety old buzzard who owned the clinic years ago. Knowing what he was like, I’m sure he drove a hard bargain.”

  “I don’t know. The vet who bought the practice from him left to join her fiancé’s practice in Idaho. I signed the papers a few weeks ago.”

  “I thought your parents wanted you to go to med school, like they did.”

  “Adamantly. But I had a change of heart.” Coupled with a surge of rebellion leading to an estrangement that still hadn’t fully healed.

  Life hadn’t been any easier for Tate, though, given his father’s reputation as a controlling, volatile man who never backed down. In high school, Tate had once told her that he hated the ranch and couldn’t wait to leave. And once he did, he was never, ever coming back.

  She cocked her head and studied him. “I remember your dad wanted every one of his sons to stay on the ranch. But by the time I left for college I heard all of you had left. For good.”

  “Yeah, my dad’s plans didn’t work out so well, either. All of us dreamed of escaping the ranch, and we did.” A corner of Tate’s mouth lifted in a wry smile. “Devlin went into the Marines, Jess left to rodeo and then I followed suit. When we disrupted Dad’s plans for building his ranching dynasty, he was so riled that he told us to never come back. He was not a forgiving man.”

  She furrowed her brow, thinking. “I’ve only been back a few weeks, but I think I might have seen Jess around town.”

  “Probably. When Dad got Parkinson’s he wasn’t happy about swallowing his pride and asking Jess to come back. Ironic, because Jess had been saving his rodeo earnings for vet school, and gave up his own dreams to take over the ranch. Dad died a year later, and I doubt he ever thanked Jess for coming home.”

  “What about Devlin?”

  “He was severely injured in a bomb blast, and got a medical discharge from the Marines. He moved back last spring. Now he’s
an active partner in the ranch.”

  “So you and your brothers ended up ranching after all.”

  Tate rested a hand on the gelding’s sleek neck. “Not me. I came back a few days ago, and I’ll be home for just a few months. Too many bad memories here to suit me.”

  “I don’t blame you.”

  In grade school, he’d lost a younger sister in a tragic accident, and less than a year later his mother died. The whole town knew how harsh Gus had been with his sons after that. For all of their land and wealth, no one would’ve wanted to be in their shoes.

  Which made her own behavior toward Tate in high school seem all the worse. Maybe he didn’t remember anything about it, after all these years, but seeing him again made that emotional baggage weigh heavily on her heart.

  She swallowed hard and shook off her thoughts as she approached the two-year-old gelding, ran a comforting hand down his neck and shoulder and carefully unwrapped the leg. “You’ve done a good job of keeping this leg clean. He’s up to date on all of his vaccinations, right? Including tetanus?”

  Tate nodded. “I checked his records. All good.”

  “What happened?”

  “Barbwire,” he said with disgust. “If I was going to stay here longer, I’d have time to replace all of it with something safer—at least around the horse pastures. Some cattle went through the fence last night. At least a hundred head of Angus were in the horse pasture this morning, and by then, this colt had gotten tangled up in the downed wire.”

  “The cattle probably didn’t even see the fence during that heavy snowfall. Did you get them all rounded up?”

  “Yep. At least they were contained in an adjoining pasture. My brothers came over to help drive them back.”

  She administered an intravenous sedative, and waited until the gelding’s head sleepily lowered. After injecting some anesthetic, she examined the edges of the lacerations, flushed them with sterile saline and probed the depths of the wounds.

  She retrieved suture materials from her satchel and got to work. “I’m only suturing the cannon bone area,” she said without looking away from the leg. “Fortunately, the wounds on the pastern are minor. In that area, sutures tend to pull out when the joint flexes. I’d have to do something more involved.”