Authors: Patricia; Potter

Defiant (46 page)

BOOK: Defiant

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Jeff had grown as tall as Wade. He was more thoughtful now, though he would probably always have a reckless, adventurous streak. Texas Ranger blood, Mary Jo called it. Wade, however, thought Mary Jo definitely had a part in it.

He nudged his horse into a canter, his right arm falling to the saddle horn. His fingers had never fully regained their dexterity, and his elbow was stiff, but he'd learned to function well despite those two problems. He'd taught himself to shoot with his left hand, though he hoped to God he would never have to use a weapon again against a human being.

He doubted that he would. Civilization was coming west. Matt Sinclair had moved on five years ago when Last Chance had died, surrendering to dust after a rail line had bypassed it in favor of a more centrally located ranching town. Matt had become a good friend of the family and had stood as godfather to young Matt, but they had heard nothing in the past five years except for a gift on each of the children's birthdays. Wade often wondered what would have happened to him, to them all, if Matt had not been sheriff. He was an extraordinary man. But he had been restless those last years in Last Chance, and then one day he had come by the ranch to say goodbye.

Wade thought of him often and wished him well.

Another light flared up inside the house, and the door opened. Mary Jo always seemed to sense his presence, was always there to greet him when he returned from a trip. Just as she opened the door, Hope darted out and threw herself in his arms.

“Daddy,” she screamed happily. “We had puppies.”

“You did?” he said with a small grin. “I would have liked to have seen that.”

She giggled. “You're silly.”

“So are you,” he said, then planted a kiss on her forehead as she wriggled down. “And I like you just that way.”

The pups would be Jake's grandlitter, and he would be unbearably proud. He was getting stiff in his old age, but he still felt as if he owned the family rather than the family owning him. And sure enough, he too was at the door, the now graying tail thumping as enthusiastically as always.

Wade held out his arms to Mary Jo. “Our brood keeps growing,” he said, nibbling at her lips. She looked just as pretty as she did ten years ago.

“Hmmmm,” she said, standing on tiptoes to kiss him with the passion that had not faded with time. It had grown instead, the early desperation changing into something sweeter, everlasting.

“Welcome home,” she whispered.

Wade put his an arm around Mary Jo and, filled with a happiness that never ceased to astound him, walked into heaven.

About the Author

Patricia Potter is a
USA Today
âbestselling author of more than fifty romantic novels. A seven-time RITA Award finalist and three-time Maggie Award winner, she was named Storyteller of the Year by
Romantic Times
and received the magazine's Career Achievement Award for Western Romance. Potter is a past board member and president of Romance Writers of America. Prior to becoming a fiction author, she was a reporter for the
Atlanta Journal
and the president of a public relations firm in Atlanta. She lives in Memphis, Tennessee.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by Mimi Bark

ISBN: 978-1-5040-0638-5

This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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New York, NY 10014

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