Description
Riding and Regrets
Jody Bates just wanted to fit in and forget his past, but you can?t escape everything.
Jody Bates had a hard life as a kid, but he?s moved past that and is making a home for himself at the Mossy Glenn. Sometimes he smarts off, but he?s young, and he?s learning.
What he hasn?t learned yet is that you can never completely escape your past.
Jody has a few blank spots, things he can?t quite remember. Like a lot of kids, he did some stupid things and figures he?s lucky to have come out relatively unscathed. Sure there?s a scar here and there, but on the whole, he?s doing just fine.
But something that happens brings about an enormous change in his life. Jody finds himself with a kid he didn?t know he?d fathered and memories trying to surface about the drug-filled night the child had to have been conceived. Jody, at twenty, is overwhelmed and more scared than he?s ever been in his life.
Noel Cuthbert needed a change. He was tired of the bar scene, tired of getting dumped. He seemed to have a six-month expiration date per relationship. The last guy almost broke him in more ways than one, and moving across the country had sounded like a brilliant idea when he?d first thought of it.
Now he?s in Ashville, Montana, and his Aunt Gertie is doing everything she can to talk him into staying. She needs his help, and Noel needs to be needed.
And he?s never seen anyone who needs him more than the young man who walks into Gertie?s daycare with a screaming toddler on his hip.
Broncs and Bullies
Frankie never let anyone close, until Duke refused to give up on him.
Frankie Freemont knows everyone at the Mossy Glenn thinks he?s a jerk for breaking things off with Jody. Letting people get close to him just isn?t something Frankie does. And older men? No way. Frankie doesn?t do that daddy thing so many younger guys seem to like.
Which is why he can?t understand his reaction to Duke Edmonds. Duke has always made him nervous for no reason Frankie can figure out.
Duke suffers a concussion, and Frankie suffers the consequences of a bad choice he makes. With his family wanting him for only one thing?money?and Duke slowly breaking down his defenses, Frankie doesn?t know which way is up.
Duke is determined to prove to Frankie that he?s a good man?they both are. Duke?s worked hard to overcome his youthful past. He?s still ashamed of being a bully years ago, and does everything he can to make sure he never makes mistakes like that again. Being a better man is hard at times, but Duke?s spent his whole adult life doing so.
Now he and Frankie have to decide what they want, and how to go about getting it. That means making some changes that can break each man?s heart.
Hay and Heartbreak
There?s more than one way to imprison a man.
Daniel Edmonds spent almost a decade in prison for a crime he didn?t commit. After finally having his name cleared, he?d hoped things would get easier, but people still look at him like he?s a murderer, and talk about him in hushed voices as he walks past. When he discovers that he really can?t go home again, he has to decide what to do to survive.
Adapting to the outside world isn?t easy, especially for a man alone.
Fear of temptation to fall back into his old ways scares Daniel into near-seclusion. When given the chance to help his brother Duke and brother-in-law, Frankie, Daniel agrees. His pride takes a hit when he has to let them buy his plane ticket to Montana, but Daniel?s learning that family is more important than anything else.
That?s what he tells himself, although maybe he?s running, just a little, and not just trying to help Duke and Frankie. One thing is for certain?he doesn?t mind spending a little time on the Mossy Glenn Ranch.
Hector Gallegos works hard and keeps his head down. He hasn?t been interested in more than the occasional hook-up here and there. He?s growing tired of that lifestyle, though, after seeing so many happy couples?and one treble?at the Mossy Glenn.
When Dan Edmonds shows up to visit his brother, Duke, Hector can?t help but notice the man. Dan?s scarred face doesn?t dim the attraction that immediately flares between him and Hector.
Lust comes easy, but building something that will last is a challenge.
Vaqueros and Vigilance
What starts out as a one-night stand ends up changing two men forever.
Joaquin Almodovar has been disowned by his family and shot by a mad man. To say that he?s had a few bad months would be an understatement. When he finds out he can?t be the vaquero he?s always been due to the extent of his injuries, Joaquin is even more lost than ever.
He might be the best-lookin? man at the Mossy Glenn, according to Hector and the others, but that doesn?t make Joaquin a man at all. Not when he can?t cowboy up like he used to. Learning that there?s more to him than the job he?s always loved isn?t easy, and Joaquin?s not a hundred percent certain he?s up to the task. In fact, he?s lost so much faith in himself that he doesn?t know what or who to believe in anymore.
Time heals all wounds, the saying goes, but it sure doesn?t seem to be doing much to heal Joaquin. It?ll take the help of a man he shouldn?t trust to learn that there?s more to himself than how well he sits a saddle, and how good he is with a rope.
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