IT WAS AN OFFER SHE COULDN’T REFUSE…

Grace Sanders lost everything that mattered to her, her health to a debilitating disease and her husband to another woman. Experimental surgery gave back her health, but couldn’t repair her heart. Only time will heal the damage left behind by an unfaithful man so Grace throws herself into a new project—to save her trusting grandmother from being preyed on by an ex-con.

A MAN SHE COULDN’T TRUST…

Convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, Seth Taylor lost everything that mattered to him, years with his daughter and the belief he’ll never love again. Released from prison, he finds a job as a ranch foreman at the Cactus Rose Ranch in Cedar Falls, Colorado. His widowed boss refuses to let growing old destroy her dreams and she believes in second chances.

Second chances are what both Grace and Seth need to create their own Sweet Home Colorado.

Excerpt

Chapter One

Being stranded in the high mountains of Colorado with a blizzard on the way wasn’t what Grace Sanders had set out to do.  Low clouds wrapped wispy gray fingers around her car while the tree-covered mountainside disappeared into the gloom.  The eerie red glow from her emergency flashers illuminated the interior of the car.  With a groan she lifted her head from the steering wheel and stared out the windshield.

Anxious to get to the Cactus Rose Ranch, she punched in the roadside assistance number for the umpteenth time praying for a signal.  Nothing.  Damn.  Enough of this pity poor me crap.  She pushed the car door open.  Icy mist soaked her thin silk dress, making her teeth chatter.  California wear wasn’t suited to the frigid mountain temperatures.  She knew better, but getting home to protect her Nana from that smooth talking cowboy had been the only thing on her mind.  As far as she was concerned all men were pigs.

Making love to you is like screwing a corpse.  Even after all this time, the memory of her ex-husband Lee’s parting words still had the ability to wound.  He’d betrayed her, ripped a hole in her heart the size of Montana.  She pushed the unwanted recollection to the far corners of her mind.  Her bare skin prickled with goose bumps against the chill as the trunk popped open and she pulled out the heavy lug wrench.  With a sick taste of fear settling in the pit of her stomach, she stared at the spare tire bolted to the trunk floor.

Could she lift it?  Her spinal cord implant was working, but she couldn’t risk pulling lose any of the fine wires traveling up her spine and into her central nervous system.  How much did a tire weigh?  The doctors had said not to lift anything over ten pounds.  What to do?  Lord, she hated feeling helpless.  She unbolted the tire and tugged at it.  An instant strain started up her lower back and she had to let go.  “Damn.”  She kicked the flat tire with a vengeance.

From out of the dense fog, a semi barreled past and sprayed her with cold dirty water.  Brushing grit and hot tears from her face, she kicked the tire once again, only hurting her toe.  “Damn, damn, damn.”  She raised her foot to strike it a third time.

“Whoa, little lady, what’d that tire do to you?”

Grace jumped at the sound of a deep voice coming from behind her.  She was no longer alone.  Her heart beat an unsteady rhythm against her ribcage as she turned.  A big burly man had materialized in the dreary, misty evening rain.