Authors: Ariel Tachna
Readers love the Lang Downs
series by
A
RIEL
T
ACHNA
Inherit the Sky
“…a well-crafted, beautiful book that I would recommend to anyone looking for a love story that takes courage.”
—Guilty Indulgence
“This story is beautifully, realistically handled.”
—Joyfully Jay
Chase the Stars
“I loved the opportunity to revisit Lang Downs… I enjoy the world and the characters enough to be eager to spend more time there.”
—Reviews by Jessewave
“Ms. Tachna has the talent to take everyday life and weave it into something special that leaves the reader sitting back just feeling good and wanting more.”
—Hearts on Fire
Outlast the Night
“Ariel Tachna does it again. Beautiful installment to a beautiful series.”
—multitaskingmommas Book Reviews
Conquer the Flames
“A great book, one of the best in this series.”
—MM Good Book Reviews
“Thanks, Ariel, for a great return visit to Lang Downs. I'm looking forward to the next story in the series.”
—Rainbow Book Reviews
By A
RIEL
T
ACHNA
Best Ideas
Château d’Eternité
With Nessa L. Warin:
Dance Off
Fallout
Her Two Dads
Highland Lover
Home for Chirappu
In Search of Fireworks
The Inventor’s Companion
The Matelot
Music of the Heart
Once in a Lifetime
Out of the Fire
Overdrive
The Path
Rediscovery
Revelations in the Dark
Rose Among the Ruins
Seducing C.C.
Stolen Moments
A Summer Place
With Madeline Urban:
Sutcliffe Cove
Testament to Love
Why Nileas Loved the Sea
G
AMES
L
OVERS
P
LAY
Amorous Liaison • Best Behavior • Ride ’em Cowboy
H
OT
C
ARGO
Healing in His Wings
With Nicki Bennett:
Hot Cargo • Something About Harry
L
ANG
D
OWNS
Inherit the Sky • Chase the Stars • Outlast the Night • Conquer the Flames • Cherish the Land
P
ARTNERSHIP
IN
B
LOOD
Alliance in Blood • Covenant in Blood • Conflict in Blood • Reparation in Blood
Perilous Partnership • Reluctant Partnerships • Lycan Partnership • Partnership Reborn
Partnership Reforged
With Nicki Bennett
All For One • Checkmate • Under the Skin
T
HE
E
XPLORING
L
IMITS
S
ERIES
Exploring Limits • Stretching Limits • Refining Limits
Breaking Limits • Transcending Limits • No Limits
Published by
D
REAMSPINNER
P
RESS
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Copyright
Published by
D
REAMSPINNER
P
RESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cherish the Land
© 2015 Ariel Tachna.
Cover Art
© 2015 Anne Cain.
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/.
ISBN: 978-1-63476-087-4
Digital ISBN: 978-1-63476-088-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015904661
First Edition June 2015
Printed in the United States of America
This paper meets the requirements of
ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
To everyone who asked for more.
Caine Neiheisel – owner of Lang Downs (
Inherit the Sky)
Macklin Armstrong – co-owner of Lang Downs, Caine’s partner (
Inherit the Sky)
Seth Simms – Chris’s brother, moved to Sydney to get an engineering degree, Jason’s best friend
Jason Thompson – Seth’s best friend, Patrick and Carley’s son, just finished vet school
Chris Simms – Seth’s brother, year-rounder on Lang Downs (
Chase the Stars
)
Jesse Harris – Chris’s partner, year-rounder, mechanic (
Chase the Stars
)
Sam Emery – business manager for Lang Downs (
Outlast the Night
)
Jeremy Taylor – year-rounder on Lang Downs, Sam’s partner (
Outlast the Night
)
Thorne Lachlan – year-rounder on Lang Downs, former Commando (
Conquer the Flames
)
Ian Duncan – year-rounder on Lang Downs, Thorne’s partner (
Conquer the Flames
)
Patrick and Carley Thompson – year-rounders on Lang Downs, Jason’s parents. Patrick is head mechanic
Neil Emery – foreman on Lang Downs, Sam’s brother, married to Molly, father of Dani and Liam, Ian’s best friend
Kami Lang – station cook
Sarah Lang – Macklin’s mother, now married to Kami
Devlin Taylor – owner of Taylor Peak, the neighboring station, Jeremy’s brother
Nick Walker – former Commando, Thorne’s best friend
Kyle and Linda – year-rounders. Linda has a daughter Laura from a previous marriage.
Charlie White – year-rounder at Taylor Peak
Michael Lang – deceased founder of Lang Downs, Caine’s great-uncle
S
ETH
S
IMMS
tossed his lunch bag on the counter as he walked into his apartment. Ilene would fuss if he left it there, but he needed a shower to get
the grease off his hands and out of his hair first. He’d deal with his lunch bag after he was clean. She wasn’t due home for another hour anyway.
As he stood under the hot water, Seth wondered, not for the first time, what he was still doing in Sydney now that he’d finished his degree. The job at the local mechanic shop paid the bills and let him root around under the bonnet of as many cars as he wanted, but it was work he could have done when he was sixteen without any of what he’d learned in his mechanical engineering courses. He and Ilene argued about it at least once a month, but looking for anything else would feel too much like making a commitment to stay in Sydney. He didn’t hate Sydney the way he’d hated some of the other places he’d lived growing up, before he and his brother Chris moved to Lang Downs, but it wasn’t home either. Lang Downs was the only place to ever have earned that designation.