The Maverick's Return Read online

  Congratulations...it’s a girl!

  RUST CREEK RAMBLINGS

  Talk about mending fences—have you heard that rugged rancher Daniel Stockton is back in town? It’s been ten years since Dan left Rust Creek Falls with Anne Lattimore’s heart in tow. She soon married someone else and had a child, but their marriage didn’t last. We here at the Gazette think we know why. It has something to do with Anne’s beautiful daughter, Janie...

  Now that Dan has returned, will Anne find the courage to forgive him—and tell him that sweet Janie is really his? Will Dan find the courage to ask for a second chance? Stay tuned, you hopeful romantics, to see if love really can conquer all!

  “Looks like you’ve been cleared to go,” he told her as the other woman stepped away.

  Anne felt butterflies fluttering in the pit of her stomach. Why did she feel as if she was about to go out on a first date? She wasn’t, for heaven’s sake. This wasn’t even a date at all. She was just getting a cup of coffee with someone who had once meant a great deal to her.

  Someone you had a baby with, the voice in her head reminded her.

  With effort, Anne forced a ghost of a smile to her lips as she said, “Just let me get my purse and then I’m ready.”

  After taking out her purse from one of the bottom drawers, Anne rose to her feet. She glanced at the phone, willing it to ring.

  It didn’t.

  She had temporarily run out of possible excuses.

  “Okay,” she told Danny as she came around to the front of the reception desk, “let’s get that cup of coffee.”

  Taking her elbow to help guide her out of the clinic, Dan murmured, “I thought you’d never ask.”

  The butterflies went into high gear.

  * * *

  MONTANA MAVERICKS: The Great Family Roundup— Real cowboys and real love in Rust Creek Falls!

  Dear Reader,

  Welcome back to Rust Creek Falls, Montana! This time, we explore the dynamics of the Stockton family and find out just what happened ten years ago to break up the family of four brothers and three sisters, sending older brothers Luke, Bailey and Daniel to parts unknown. This particular installment deals with Daniel, who might have physically left Rust Creek Falls ten years ago, but he left his heart behind in the keeping of one Anne Lattimore. Anne attempted to find Dan not once but two separate times in the last ten years, all to no avail. And then, suddenly, without any warning, one afternoon Dan is there, on her doorstep. It’s hard to tell who is more surprised: Anne, who had given up ever seeing him again, or Dan, who discovers that in the last decade, Anne had gotten married, had a baby and then, eventually, divorced the man who is still in her life because of the daughter he dotes on.

  The story revolves around secrets that need to be revealed and a love that had really never died.

  As ever, I thank you for taking the time to read one of my books and from the bottom of my heart, I wish you someone to love who loves you back.

  All the best,

  Marie

  The Maverick’s Return

  Marie Ferrarella

  USA TODAY bestselling and RITA® Award–winning author Marie Ferrarella has written more than two hundred and seventy-five books for Harlequin, some under the name Marie Nicole. Her romances are beloved by fans worldwide. Visit her website, marieferrarella.com.

  Books by Marie Ferrarella

  Harlequin Special Edition

  Matchmaking Mamas

  A Second Chance for the Single Dad

  Meant to Be Mine

  Twice a Hero, Always Her Man

  Dr. Forget-Me-Not

  Coming Home for Christmas

  Her Red-Carpet Romance

  Diamond in the Ruff

  Dating for Two

  Wish Upon a Matchmaker

  Ten Years Later...

  A Perfectly Imperfect Match

  Once Upon a Matchmaker

  The Fortunes of Texas: The Secret Fortunes

  Fortune’s Second Chance Cowboy

  Montana Mavericks: The Baby Bonanza

  A Maverick and a Half

  Montana Mavericks: What Happened at the Wedding?

  Do You Take This Maverick?

  The Fortunes of Texas: Cowboy Country

  Mendoza’s Secret Fortune

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

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  To

  Marcia Book Adirim,

  Whose multilevel mind

  Always leaves me in complete

  Awe

  Contents

  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 Eighteen

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from The Cowboy Who Got Away by Nancy Robards Thompson

  Prologue

  Daniel Stockton wearily walked into the log cabin he lived in at the Comanchero Ranch. For the last ten years, he’d been in charge of booking vacations for city dwellers who yearned to sample the cowboy life for a week or two and pretend they lived back in the days of the old Wild West. The dude ranch, one of Colorado’s most popular, was currently in the height of its busy season. Attendance was at an all-time high and would probably remain so until somewhere around the end of next month.

  As he concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other on the way to his secondhand sofa, Dan felt as if all those years had been packed into this last week and a half.

  He sighed and collapsed on the worn, cracked sofa in the center of his small living area.

  His stomach rumbled, asking to be appeased, but for now, Dan felt as if he couldn’t move more than the first two fingers of his right hand. The hand that was currently wrapped around the remote control for the TV that had been in the cabin when he’d initially moved in. The cabin was too quiet and he just wanted some background noise to distract him.

  Even now, after all these years, he didn’t like being alone with his thoughts.

  Aiming the remote at the twenty-four-inch TV screen, he pressed the power button, content to watch whatever program came on. He just wanted some company he didn’t have to explain anything to. The tourists who came to the ranch always seemed to be filled to the brim with questions.

  Most of the time, that didn’t bother him, but there was this one family this last week that had a kid with them—Harlan—who just wouldn’t stop asking questions no matter what. The kid, all of eleven or twelve, was obviously trying to trip him up.

  Dan felt as if his head was throbbing and, quite possibly, on the verge of exploding.

  The pay at the Comanchero Ranch was fairly decent and he did get to spend most of his life on horseback, which he loved, but there were times—like this last week—when the loneliness caught up
to him, wrapping its tentacles around him so hard he could scarcely breathe. That was when he found his patience to be thin and in relatively short supply. And when that happened, his tolerance went out the window.

  This afternoon he’d come dangerously close to telling Harlan’s parents that they needed to take their son in hand and teach him some much-needed manners. But he’d managed to hold his tongue long enough to get those “dudes” back to the ranch house where they were staying.

  However, it had been close. Closer than he really liked.

  “Get a grip, Dan. This isn’t a bad job. And you sure as hell can’t afford to lose it,” he told himself as he got up again.

  His stomach was growling way too much. It was time to rummage through his refrigerator and find something that could pass for food.

  As he walked to the small refrigerator, his back was to the TV when he heard it.

  The voice from his past.

  Dan froze, listening. Convinced that he was imagining things.

  It couldn’t be, he told himself. It was the loneliness getting to him, wearing away his edge, nothing more.

  He forced himself to proceed to the kitchen and open the refrigerator. Instead of getting something to eat, he took out a bottle of root beer, twisted off the cap and closed the refrigerator door.

  He’d just put the bottle to his lips when he heard it again.

  The voice from his past.

  “This is Travis Dalton and you’re watching The Great Roundup. We’re coming to you live from Rust Creek Falls, Montana, and I’m here talking to Jamie Stockton, the valiant dad of year-old triplets. Jamie, until just recently, had to juggle being both father and mother to these fine, hearty little human beings. Tell us how that felt, Jamie.”

  “I don’t mind admitting that I was pretty overwhelmed at first,” the young man the narrator had addressed as Jamie answered.

  The root beer slipped from Dan’s hand, meeting the floor at an obtuse angle. Mercifully, it avoided shattering. Instead, a small shower of foam emerged from the bottle, christening his boots and the bottom of his jeans.

  Dan didn’t notice.

  His eyes were glued to the TV, staring at the screen.

  Staring at Jamie Stockton.

  His younger brother.

  The wave of loneliness Dan had been harboring turned into a twelve-foot sweeping tidal wave, all but drowning him in memories.

  Memories he had been struggling so hard to bury and ignore for the last twelve years.

  Listening to the voice of the young man telling his story caused those years to instantly melt away as if they had never happened.

  Except that they had.

  Chapter One

  Daniel shifted from foot to foot, standing before the closed ranch house door.

  His brother’s door.

  He had absolutely no idea what to expect. What if, when his brother Jamie opened the door and saw who was knocking, he slammed it in his face?

  Of course, there was a small chance, one that he was silently rooting for, that Jamie would mercifully allow him to plead his case.

  The way he felt, however, the odds were probably against that happening.

  It had taken Dan more than a whole month of intense soul searching to finally get up the nerve to take this giant step, to leave Colorado and travel all this distance back to Rust Creek Falls, Montana.

  Back to his hometown and his roots.

  Back to the place where it had all fallen apart twelve years ago.

  Ironically, the very things that were drawing him back to Rust Creek Falls were the same things that had caused him to stay away so long in the first place.

  The same things that made him hesitate reconnecting this last whole month.

  Dan had raised his hand to knock on the door a total of three times now. And all three times his courage had failed him, causing him to drop his hand back down again to his side.

  Come on. You didn’t come all this way back to Montana just to chicken out at the last minute. This isn’t you.

  Except that, maybe, it was. Why else had he not tried to get back in contact with any of his siblings for over a decade?

  The first two years of his self-imposed exile he’d been with his two older brothers, Luke and Bailey. But then they had gone their own separate ways, too, leaving him to fend for himself.

  The simple truth of it was he was tired of being alone. Tired of having no one who shared at least part of the same memories from his childhood and adolescence.

  Tired of not having any family.

  It would have been different if he’d never had any siblings. He had very nearly made his peace with that. After all, he really had no idea where any of his brothers or sisters were anymore.

  But then he’d heard Jamie’s voice on that broadcast last month and everything had changed.

  Suddenly, he felt as if he was part of something again. He knew that at least Jamie was still back in Rust Creek Falls. All he had to do was reach out, reestablish that familial connection with his younger brother and just like that, he would have a family again.

  It had sounded so easy when he had first thought of it. But now he wasn’t so sure.

  At least find out if he’ll talk to you.

  Taking a deep breath, Dan raised his hand again and this time, his knuckles finally made contact with the door, creating a rhythmic sound as he knocked.

  He could feel his heart pounding as he stood there, waiting.

  It was late afternoon, almost early evening. What if there was no one at home? What if Jamie and his triplets were away on vacation? After all, that could be a possibility, Dan thought.

  Or what if Jamie was home, opened the door and then told him to go to hell?

  Dan’s breath caught in his throat, all but turning solid.

  What if—?

  Suddenly, there was no more time for speculation or waffling. No more time for hypothetical what-ifs. The door opened and an older, adult version of the boy he had left behind twelve years ago, the young man he’d seen more than a month ago on his TV, was standing in the doorway, looking at him.

  For a moment, the expression on Jamie Stockton’s face was blank. It was the kind of expression a person wore when they opened their door to someone they didn’t recognize.

  But then, in the next moment, a multitude of emotions washed over Jamie’s face in quick succession, one after the other.

  Like a man caught in a dream, Jamie stared at him. And then, finally, he asked hoarsely, “Daniel?”

  Dan’s lips quirked in a quick, nervous smile. “Yeah. It’s me,” he confirmed, still feeling incredibly uneasy and uncertain about this reunion that he had instigated.

  And then Dan cleared his throat and forced himself to push on and say something further. “I would have called ahead first, but I didn’t know how you would react to seeing me and I didn’t want to take a chance on you turning—”

  Dan didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. Whatever else he was going to say about his concerns regarding their first meeting in twelve years evaporated when Jamie pulled him into his arms and enfolded him in a giant bear hug.

  “Oh my God, Danny. It really is you!” Jamie cried, holding on to him tightly, as if he was afraid that if he opened his arms, his older brother would suddenly just vanish.

  When after a couple of minutes Jamie gave no sign of releasing him, Dan finally had to say, “Um, Jamie, I think you’re crushing my ribs.”

  “Oh, right. Sorry.” Jamie let his arms drop. He took a step back and looked at Dan. Disbelief highlighted his face as his eyes raked over every square inch of his older brother. “It’s just that I never thought I’d see you again. Come in, come in,” he urged, gesturing into his house even as he ushered Dan in and closed the door behind him. />
  “Is everything okay? Are you here for a visit? Are you staying?” And then Jamie stopped asking questions. He took a deep breath, as if trying to get hold of himself. “Sorry, I don’t mean to overwhelm you. It’s just that there are so many things I want to know.”

  Before Dan could say a single word in response, Jamie broke out in another huge smile. “Damn, but it’s good to see you!” he cried, pulling Dan into another heartfelt, although slightly less rib-crushing, bear hug.

  This time, he released Dan without being prompted. A long sigh escaped him as he took a step back again.

  “You’ve lost weight,” Jamie finally noted.

  “I wasn’t exactly fat to begin with,” Dan reminded his brother with a self-conscious laugh.

  “No, you weren’t. But I don’t recall your face looking this gaunt before—Damn, it’s so great to see you,” Jamie exclaimed again. “I thought... Well, for a while, I thought—” Jamie waved his hand. “Never mind what I thought. You’re alive and you’re here and that’s all that counts.” He blinked back tears that threatened to spill out. “Sit down. Make yourself comfortable,” he urged, gesturing toward the leather sofa in his living room.

  Relieved, Dan sat down beside his brother. “This is quite a welcome,” he told Jamie, then confessed the fear that had almost made him turn around and go home before Jamie even knew he was there. “I was afraid you’d be angry with me.”

  “You mean for leaving?”

  Dan nodded, looking uncomfortable as well as embarrassed. “Yes.”

  “I was,” Jamie admitted. “I was really angry for a while. Angry and bitter that you and Luke and Bailey had just picked up and left us. Left me,” he emphasized because that was what had been at the heart of his initial anger. “But then I realized that it wasn’t your fault. After Mom and Dad died in that car crash, Grandma and Grandpa didn’t exactly make it easy for the three of you to stick around.”

  As his brother spoke, memories of his grandparents assailed Daniel. Reliving those harsh days, even now, was painful. But he needn’t explain them to Jamie, he realized, when his brother continued.