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Praise for Laurie Paige:

“Laurie Paige doesn’t miss…”

—New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter

“Fan-favorite Laurie Paige has created her strongest and most engaging work to date. ”

—Affaire de Coeur on Father Found

“It is always a joy to savor the consistent excellence of this outstanding author. ”

—Romantic Times

“A dazzling display of creativity. The variation on a standard plot is extremely fresh, with superb characterization to carry it off. Readers will hang on the edge wondering how the situation can be resolved, but Ms. Paige comes up trumps with a thoroughly satisfying resolution. ”

—Romantic Times on Nothing Lost

“Laurie Paige weaves engaging characters and tender emotions into interesting situations and comes up with a good, solid love story every time. Enjoy the magic of Laurie Paige!”

—Kathleen Eagle, Romance Writers of America RITA^® Award Winner

Lone Star Rancher

Laurie Paige

Dear Reader,

Part of the fun of making up stories is imagining yourself in the environment. Having lived in Austin, it was easy to imagine the ranching country and sweeping vistas of Texas for the Flying Aces ranch. When Jessica hiked along the creek, I walked with her. When she checked the eggs for twin yolks, I remembered being six again and visiting my uncle’s egg barn. I also recall quite clearly being pecked by an irritated hen when I ruffled her feathers.

Writing Jessica and Clyde’s story took me back to Ryan Fortune and his family.

I was delighted to find that his twin daughter, Vanessa, was happy in her marriage, and that all had worked out well with the missing baby. (Did I mention that I get really involved in my characters’ lives?) Sometimes readers ask what happened to so-and-so in one of our fictional families. I enjoy exploring the possibilities with them. Life is full of twists and turns, and that’s the joy of writing: one gets a chance to explore the “road less traveled. ”

For Grandpa, Ryan and Kevin—

It was fun camping with you guys!

Contents

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

Bonus Features

One

Jessica Miller sighed in relief as she entered the dim coolness of the restaurant. Outside the temperature was in the nineties, not unusual for early August in New York City.

She was aware of the glances and outright stares when she followed the restaurant hostess to the table where her best friend waited for her. At five-ten and wearing sandals with two-inch heels, Jessica was tall enough to be a high-fashion model and, in fact, that was how she made her living.

With wide, bright blue eyes and light brown hair that needed little enhancement to make her look like a summer blonde, she had a face well known to the public.

“Jessica, I’m so glad you’re here,” her friend Violet Fortune said. “I was afraid the photo shoot wouldn’t be finished. ”