LITMIR.BIZ

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To my amazing daughter, who fills me with laughter and

       makes my days brighter. I love you, pooh!

       Chapter 1

      Ellie’s booted footsteps sank silently into the damp grass that separated the east stable from the closed corral. She stopped at the coral’s locked gate and propped her arms along the fence and tilted her face upward.

      The sun fell like magic against her upturned face. An unknowing smile tugged at the corners of her full lips as she drew in a deep, hungry breath.

      It had been a long time since she’d been at the ranch. She blew out the breath and turned her attention to the lone corralled horse.

      The female thoroughbred standing alone, isolated, was one of the Wilde Ranch’s latest acquisitions, one that Nate Wilde, the oldest brother, had bought at a ranch near Cheyenne several months ago.

      From her father, who was the veterinarian for the Wilde Ranch, Ellie knew they’d tried mating the Arabian a few times with several of their top-quality quarter horses. However, they had quickly realized that although they’d managed to tame her, it hadn’t been enough to allow her to tolerate another horse anywhere near her—at least not for mating.

      She stood grazing in the middle of the corral, content to be left alone.

      Ellie felt a certain empathy with the beautiful horse. She too found contentment in being alone.

      After several minutes Ellie turned away and again lifted her face upward, shielding her eyes from the brightly glowing sun.

      It was late spring, and nature had awakened from her winter sleep. The ranch was alive with noise from horses and cattle as well as sounds of men hard at work across the sprawling ranch.

      Spring was mating and branding season for the cattle, and with a new venture into crossbreeding horses, it was a busy time at Wyoming Wilde. The men were also hard at work preparing for one of their largest auctions, to come in the fall, and a lot depended on this season.

      The ranch had come a long way from the days when Jed Wilde had run the one hundred acre spread alone, trying to make ends meet. Now it was one of the most prosperous family-owned ranches in the country.

      Ellie glanced around, remembering the many times she’d visited the ranch growing up, accompanying her father on his visits.

      She’d always felt at home at Wyoming Wilde. As the only child of older parents, she’d been cosseted, protected—some would say overly protected—by both parents and outside of activities with them; the ranch had become a second home to her.

      Ellie had come as a complete surprise to her mother, told long ago she couldn’t have children. Because of that, her parents’ tendency toward overprotecting her had made Ellie more content at home, curled up with a book or playing with the few animals her parents had on their own land.

      With her love for animals, the ranch became her own haven. Only at the ranch did her father give her free rein to explore, allowing her to follow the ranchers around as they went about their duties. It was a place where she felt like any other child, playing, learning about the animals, without inhibition.

      A bittersweet memory flooded her mind. It was also the place where part of that independence her parents had afforded her had been taken away.

      She’d been young, only ten years old, not long after Jed Wilde had become a foster father for three young boys he’d later adopted.

      Ellie had been riding one of the horses, alone, something she knew her father wouldn’t approve of. But she had been so caught up in the sheer enjoyment

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