SPECIAL EXCERPT
FROM LINDA LAEL MILLER
Rancher Cord Hollister didn’t expect to ever see Shallie Fletcher again, especially after the way they left things so long ago. But when she returns to Painted Pony Creek, Montana, to find her birth mother, Cord is there to help and maybe even set things right between them.
Read on for a sneak peek at Country Strong,
the first book in the brand-new Painted Pony Creek series
about three best friends whose strength, honor and independence
exemplify the Montana land they love,
from #1 New York Times bestselling author
Linda Lael Miller!
ONCE IN HIS TRUCK, Shallie turned to him and said, “I know I keep saying thank you—but thank you, Cord. I’m so grateful for your help.”
“I owe you this. And more...”
“Why?”
“You’re a reminder, a happy reminder, of the past.” Before she could disagree, he said, “That was poorly phrased. I meant, we go back as friends...and I’ve always been attracted to you.” He hadn’t intended to say that, but there it was. Maybe he hadn’t really recognized it eighteen years ago, with Reba complicating his emotions. And maybe this feeling had crept up on him in the last week. But what he’d said was true. He also realized that what he felt was more than simply attraction.
“I’m not sure I buy that,” she said. “Anyway, the past is past, if you’ll forgive the cliché.”
He grinned. “Yeah, I can forgive the occasional cliché. And can you forgive me for being such an idiot...that night?”
“I get it. You were in love with Reba.”
“That was what? Two decades ago? And what I know now is that I missed an opportunity with you.”
Again, he could hear her intake of breath. “Oh, Cord, if you only knew.”
“If you only knew...”
“Stop the car.”
He pulled his truck to the side of the road as she released her seat belt, slid her arms around his neck and leaned toward him. And that was when they kissed.
We should’ve done this before, he thought. Almost did. That truly had been a missed opportunity, and the memory of it had never really left him. Even if he’d pretended it had...
After that kiss—initiated by her—Shallie felt as if her life had changed. It was like one of those defining moments in the romance novels she sometimes read. As if this was what she’d been waiting for all these years. And the truth? It was, she admitted. Despite a whole, and in many ways gratifying, other life with a man she’d loved, Cord was still the one she longed for. The one she couldn’t forget. And their kiss had brought her everything she wanted from him. Passion and compassion. Excitement and comfort. Memory and renewal. Strong and yet contrasting emotions all at once.
When Cord drove the rest of the way home, she didn’t talk, but neither did he.
What could they have said to each other? It was too soon, she told herself. She felt as if life had led her back to him.
by Linda Lael Miller
Available February 2020 wherever
HQN books and ebooks are sold.
Copyright © 2020 by Hometown Girl Makes Good, Inc.