LITMIR.BIZ

       One

      How the hell could her father have gambled away all of his savings? As in, every last penny to his name. His reckless way of living finally caught up with him...with them. He’d lost major things before: his car, his retirement funds, all of her mother’s jewelry—save for the one piece Annabelle had hidden away. But he’d gone too far this time.

      As if Annabelle Carter didn’t have enough on her plate. She’d come home to Stone River, Texas, to start over. She’d brought her sweet twins, six-month-old Emily and Lucy, and planned to offer them a new life and begin building her dream...a vision of her late mother’s.

      But, no. Now Annabelle was driving to the ranch next door to do damage control. As she turned onto the long drive, flanked by a pristine white fence, she pulled in a breath. The arched, metal sign over the entrance was a good indicator of the amount of money these people had. The stone columns suspending the sign were nothing short of remarkable. The beauty started from the street and she could only imagine what she was about to see at the end of this drive.

      Pebblebrook Ranch was one place she’d never ventured into. It was owned by the hoity-toity Elliott family, and they didn’t necessarily run in the same circles. The five–thousand-acre spread boasted several massive homes. Just one of their mansions was worth more than Annabelle’s entire farm.

      And that was when they’d actually had livestock. Her father, however, had gambled animals away, too. She’d been gone two years, living in Houston, and in that time he’d completely lost everything.

      Rage ripped through her. What would he have done had she not come back home to nurse her own wounds? A fresh wave of anger surged through Annabelle as she remembered her sister and fiancé’s betrayal. And the crippling effects of her sister’s recent death. So much pain, Annabelle wasn’t sure how to log it all inside her heart.

      Now she had to deal with Colt Elliott on top of everything else. She’d never met the man, but she knew of the Elliott brothers. Sexy ladies’ men, all much older than her. If she recalled correctly, Colt was a twin. Were the twins the youngest of the siblings?

      None of that mattered. What mattered was that her father had borrowed money to pay off the farm loan before it could go into foreclosure, without informing her. Of all people to go to, her father had gone to Colt Elliott. Not that there were many people who could’ve helped, but Neil Carter could have come to Annabelle first. She didn’t have that chunk of cash, but she would’ve gone through hell before borrowing from the Elliotts.

      Now her father owed Colt instead of the bank. Perfect. Just perfect. The loan had been so close to being paid off, but her father just couldn’t hang on any longer. He’d gone through all the money he’d put aside. Thankfully, Annabelle had set aside money for her sister’s funeral expenses, or her father would’ve gone through that, as well.

      According to her father, he and Colt had come to an agreement that he had to pay off the debt within three months. The bimonthly payments couldn’t be a day late or a penny short or the farm would permanently belong to Colt.

      Fine. Annabelle had no problem taking over her dad’s end of the bargain. She refused to lose the only thing she had left. Her childhood home would not go to the family whose hobby was probably sitting around counting their wad of cash.

      Annabelle’s father claimed Colt was helping, but she didn’t believe that for a second. People like the Elliotts didn’t just do things out of the kindness of their hearts. In terms of wealth and influence, they were a giant leap above all other people in this town. With their mansions on the sprawling estate, the billions of dollars that passed through the farm from all their livestock...the rest of the businesses in the area didn’t even compare. They were Stone River’s answer to a cattle monopoly...if that was a thing. Random people didn’t just go to Pebblebrook. It was like some sacred ground that mere peons didn’t dare trespass on.

      Well, too bad because she wanted to know what Colt’s agenda truly was. She suspected he wanted her land for himself and she was going to have no part of that. She had her own dreams: marriage, siblings for her twins, opening her bed-and-breakfast. She’d already lost so much—she wasn’t about to lose her home or her future.

      Annabelle approached the sprawling three-story log and stone home. Sturdy wooden porches stretched across the first and second floors and two balconies extended from double glass doors off the third floor. Probably bedrooms. She imagined Colt on a balcony overlooking his massive estate, as if he were a king overlooking his kingdom. Annabelle swallowed. She couldn’t even fathom the money these people had.

      When a horse came from around the side of the two-story stable, Annabelle immediately forgot about the house. And it wasn’t even the striking black stallion that had her attention.

      Hellllo, Shirtless Stable Boy.

      She may be nursing a shattered heart but she wasn’t dead, and this hottie with excellent, tanned muscle tone was a perfect temporary distraction. How much work did it take to get ripped like that? Ranching certainly produced some fine—

      Annabelle jerked as her car hit something and came to an abrupt stop. Gripping the wheel, eyes squeezed shut, she had no clue what had just happened, but she’d been distracted and obviously ran into...oh, please don’t be a person or an animal.

      Opening one eye at a time, she saw nothing but the barn and grassy fields...and the shattered post where the fence had been. Mercy, she’d been so caught up in the hunk on horseback, she’d run into the fence. Way to make an entrance.

      As if she needed another problem in her life.

      Mortified and shaken up, Annabelle shut off her car, thankful the babies weren’t in the backseat. Her door jerked open, startling a squeal out of her.

      “Are you all right, ma’am?”

      That perfect Southern drawl combined with the bare chest she now stared at was enough to render her speechless. But even that couldn’t override the reason she came. Just because she’d wrecked her sporty car, her only material possession worth any money, didn’t mean she could deviate from her plan. What was one more setback at this point?

      “I’m fine,” she stated, trembling more from the sight of the sexy stranger than the actual accident.

      Annabelle swung her legs out and came to stand, but the cowboy didn’t back up. With one hand on her open car door and the other on the hood, he had her trapped. On any other day, she would’ve welcomed this stranger getting in her space and making her forget her cheating fiancé, but today there was no time for lustful thoughts. She shivered again as his eyes swept over her.

      “Sorry about the fence,” she stated, shoving her hair away from her face. “I’ll pay to have it repaired.”

      With the savings that were supposed to go toward realizing my mother’s dream.

      “The sun was in my eyes,” she went on. No way was she about to admit she’d been staring at his perfect...riding form.

      “Don’t worry about the fence.”

      Now he stepped back, but just enough for her to take in his well-worn cowboy boots, fitted jeans over a narrow waist...that glistening chest and his tipped cowboy hat. Black, of course.

      “What brings you to Pebblebrook?” he asked, propping his hands on his hips.

      Annabelle pulled in a breath. “I’m here to see Mr. Elliott. My name is Annabelle Carter and I live next door. Well, I used to a few years ago, but I’m back now.”

      Despite the chiseled jaw and the heavy-lidded gaze, the man’s mouth tipped into a slight grin. “Well, ma’am, Mr. Elliott is busy right now. Is there something I can help you with? A glass of sweet tea? You look like you could use a break.”

      Sharing a sweet tea, or anything else with

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