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       “I’m sorry, Chase,” she whispered.

      “Shh,” he breathed, and held her. Damn, she was breaking his heart. “We’ve both made mistakes, Mal. I have to take some blame, too. If I hadn’t left you back then…if I’d stayed…” He wasn’t about to tell her that he’d returned, only to find she was al ready married, and all he could do was walk away from her a second time.

      Mallory raised her head and looked at him, her green eyes luminous. “No. I knew all along how much you wanted to be a Ranger. And you are such a good one.” She touched his face and he about lost it. “And you’re a good man, too.”

      What he was feeling and thinking right now was far from being good. “And you’re a good mother.” He couldn’t resist her any longer, and touched his mouth to hers.

      “Chase…”

      “Quiet, Mal. We’ve talked enough.” His mouth closed over hers, and he forgot about everything else but the woman in his arms.

      Patricia Thayer has been writing for over twenty years, and has published thirty books with Mills & Boon. Her books have been twice nominated for various awards in the USA, including the National Readers’ Choice Award, the Book Buyers’ Best, and a prestigious RITA® Award. In 1997 NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE won the Romantic Times BOOK Club Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Special Edition.

      Thanks to the understanding men in her life—her husband of over thirty-five years, Steve, and her three grown sons and three grandsons—Pat has been able to fulfil her dream of writing. Besides writing romance, she loves to travel—especially in the west, where she researches her books first hand. You might find her on a ranch in Texas, or on a train to an old mining town in Colorado, and this year you’ll find her on an adventure in Scotland. Just so long as she can share it all with her favourite hero, Steve. She loves to hear from readers. You can write to her at PO Box 6251, Anaheim, CA 92816-0251, USA, or check her website at www.patriciathayer.com for upcoming books.

       Dear Reader

      This is a first for me. I’ve written numerous western stories over the years, and several of the locations were in Texas, but I’ve never written a Texas Ranger as a hero.

      I have to admit I was a little intimidated just by their reputation alone. And I wasn’t quite sure what exactly their job entailed. Was it more of an honorary position? Did these men, and now women, just walk around wearing white hats and a silver badge?

      Then I talked with Carol Mathis, Administrative Technician for Ranger Company E in Midland, Texas. She eagerly answered all my questions about this elite group of 116 lawmen and women. The Rangers have protected the people of Texas since 1823. Their jobs include anything from going after kidnappers and bank robbers to helping find missing people. No job is too small or too large for a Texas Ranger. And, when it’s needed, they still climb on a horse to go after the bad guy.

      In my story, TEXAS RANGER TAKES A BRIDE, Chase Landon goes in search of a boy who’s been kidnapped by escaped convicts. The stakes are raised when he learns the child is his own son. Mallory Hagan, the woman he once loved but walked away from to become a Ranger, never told him of the boy. Now they have to put the past behind them and work together.

      Once again, it’s been my privilege to learn about the Rangers. They are truly heroes. Thanks, Carol, for all your help.

      Any mistakes in this story are mine and mine alone.

      Enjoy

       Patricia Thayer

      TEXAS RANGER

       TAKES A BRIDE

      BY

      PATRICIA THAYER

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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      To Helen,

      I loved your fierce loyalty to your family and friends,

       your joy for life, your bright smile

       and your special way with words.

      And I’ll miss you, my friend.

      Gentle Persuader, Helen Haddad,

       June 13, 1933–October 17, 2007

      CHAPTER ONE

      SHE HADN’T BEEN ABLE to shake the uneasy feeling.

      Mallory Hagan looked out the kitchen window toward the barn and corral area. Still no sign of Buck and Ryan. She trusted her father to take care of her eight-year-old son, but that didn’t stop her from worrying.

      On the plus side, he was a good rider, and his grandpa had taken him out on the trail many times. Just not overnight.

      And never had they been four hours overdue.

      Mallory paced the large ranch kitchen and stopped at the wall phone. Unable to stop herself, she picked up the receiver and called her dad’s cell phone. It went right to voice mail…again. They must be in a dead area.

      She looked up when the housekeeper, Rosalie, walked into the kitchen. “Still no sign of them?”

      Mallory shook her head. “I’m getting concerned.”

      “Do you think Buck is checking his watch? No. He has his grandson out there, teaching him the cowboy way of life.”

      Over the years the housekeeper’s once rich brown hair had turned salt and pepper. It was pulled back into a no-nonsense ponytail, revealing warm hazel eyes and defined cheekbones. Rosalie Dudley had been the only other female in the house since the death of Mallory’s mother over fifteen years ago. Mallory loved her like a second mother.

      “So you’re saying I’m being overprotective.”

      Rosalie smiled. “No, I’m just saying Buck wouldn’t let anything happen to the boy. You two are his life.”

      Buck Kendrick owned a lot of land in this part of West Texas. On his forty-three sections he ran a large cattle operation, along with numerous oil wells, dotting the mostly barren landscape of mesquite, ocotillo cactus and buffalo grass that survived the area’s lack of rainfall.

      Mallory knew her father would give it all up to have his wife by his side, and another half-dozen kids to inherit what he’d worked so hard to build. But she was his only child, and Ryan his only grandchild. And since her husband’s death, there weren’t going to be any more children. Sadness welled inside Mallory as she recalled her turbulent marriage to Alan. Toward the end she’d feared for her and her son’s safety.

      Living outside of Lubbock, Texas, she’d been able to play the part of the dutiful wife. And keep Buck from knowing the truth about her husband’s drinking and incomprehensible actions.

      She brushed aside the thought. “You know, Dad isn’t as young as he used to be.”

      “You better not let Buck hear you say that.”

      Mallory smiled. “Well, he still does too much. And I’m afraid he’s going to show off for Ryan.”

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