His Little Cowgirl

His Little Cowgirl
Brenda Minton

She's Your Daughter.The adorable girl in pink cowboy boots is his child? Six years ago, rodeo star Cody Jacobs left the woman he loved without looking back. Now, with newfound faith, he's come to make amends–only to discover the daughter he didn't know about. Struggling single mother Bailey Cross is rightfully wary to trust him with their child's heart–and her own.But Cody's not running away again. Hearing his little cowgirl call him "Daddy" has changed him. Suddenly, something else is more important than riding bulls and winning titles: a first chance at fatherhood. And a second chance at love.

Cody stared at the little girl

standing on the porch.

He couldn’t catch his breath. He stared into a tiny heart-shaped face he’d never seen before, and yet seemed so familiar. The little girl had Bailey’s straight blond hair and rosebud mouth. His gaze stopped at her eyes. It was there that he discovered the truth.

Six years traveling, riding bulls, and it came down to this. To a child with stormy blue eyes wearing jean shorts, a T-shirt and pink cowboy boots.

He had a daughter.

“I tried to tell you.” Bailey looked away, the breeze blowing her hair around her face.

“You didn’t try very hard.”

“The day you left I told you that I loved you and that we needed to talk. You laughed and walked away because ‘cowgirls always think they’re in love.’”

Cody remembered that day. He remembered thinking if he didn’t get away, he would drown in her. At twenty-five, he’d been too afraid of love to take a chance. He’d been too afraid of failure.

Now he had a daughter.

BRENDA MINTON

started creating stories to entertain herself during hour-long rides on the school bus. In high school she wrote romance novels to entertain her friends. The dream grew and so did her aspirations to become an author. She started with notebooks, handwritten manuscripts and characters that refused to go away until their stories were told. Eventually she put away the pen and paper and got down to business with the computer. The journey took a few years, with some encouragement and rejection along the way—as well as a lot of stubbornness on her part. In 2006, her dream to write for Steeple Hill Love Inspired came true.

Brenda lives in the rural Ozarks with her husband, three kids, and an abundance of cats and dogs. She enjoys a chaotic life that she wouldn’t trade for anything—except, on occasion, a beach house in Texas. You can stop by and visit her (not at the beach house) at her Web site, www.brendaminton.net.

His Little Cowgirl

Brenda Minton

Published by Steeple Hill Books™

And ye be kind one to another, tenderhearted,

forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s

sake hath forgiven you.

—Ephesians 4:32

This book is dedicated to:

Doug, for always supporting me in my dreams,

and to my kids for allowing me to be the

“crazy mom.” Dream big and never give up.

To all of my family and friends who have kept me

going forward when I wanted to quit.

To Janet Benrey and Melissa Endlich, for

everything they do and have done for me.

To Janet McCoy of McCoy Ranches, for taking the

time to answer my questions about bull riders and

bull riding. (Mistakes I’ve made are of course my

own.) To bull riders like Cord McCoy, who are an

inspiration and a role model to young people, and

who leave their own footprints of faith.

To the readers for reading.

To God for all of the blessings.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven